Leaving a legacy

Our church celebrated its centenary a few years ago and as part of the celebrations, some large photo boards were commissioned showing notable figures and important events from the past. 

I stood there in front of the boards one Sunday and thanked God for those who had gone before, who had often sacrificially given of their time, money and talents to lay the foundation that we were building on today, not just of a church building but a thriving community.

There were difficult times over the years, even within my memory, of upsets, disagreements and even parting of the ways, but Godly men and women had persevered through these hardships and now, on this Sunday morning, we were going again to lift up the name of Jesus to see him honoured and to give thanks for all he is doing in this day.

Legacy is something that is very important to me. I have been handed a good legacy from those in my family who went before and even though I did not appreciate for many years what they passed on to me, I do now. I am standing on the foundation they laid through prayer and hard work and making some very good choices.

Recently we have visited some National Trust properties in UK and read about men and women who worked incredibly hard, with entrepreneurial skill to create something of lasting value for those who came after. Their efforts often blessed the locality and even the nation with their creativity and philanthropy. The tragedy has often been that sometimes those who followed completely squandered their inheritance. Fortunes have been lost on the horses or at the gambling tables and in one case, amazing treasures had to be sold to cover the debts. What did those forebears think of that I wonder? 

However, the Bible is also full of those who have been handed a Godly inheritance who ignored it, turned away from God and caused great damage to their own lives but also, even more tragically, upon the people of the land. These people deserted God and bowed down to idols and encouraged the people to do the same.  This led to disaster with invading armies overrunning the land and eventually the people were taken off into exile, despite warnings from God through the prophets. 

All of us will have been passed an inheritance. Some may have had a Godly heritage, and some may have not even known where their unwanted legacy came from. Some legacies of broken lives, debt or addiction are very unwelcome but just because we inherited a problem does not mean we have to pass on one.  There are so many stories both in the Bible and in our nations of those who have chosen a different, better path. It’s always possible with God to change things for the better.

I received a good inheritance, and I want to leave a good legacy for my children and grandchildren, but I also want to make sure that not just my family but my brothers and sisters in Christ receive something of value from me. I hope that if in another 100 years there are more photo boards (or their 22nd century equivalent) of the life of our church, I will have contributed something to a thriving church. 

The crucifixion - perfect in every way

What happens when the Son of God, the King of the Universe is put to death by wicked men?

The crucifixion happened because God permitted it. As Jesus himself said, he could have called up a hundred legions of angels to stop this awful crime at any point.

Once Jesus had been nailed to the cross, the first sign was darkness coming over all the land from the sixth to the ninth hour (12 noon to 3 pm). Luke adds the details that the sun stopped shining. This was no solar eclipse over in a couple of minutes. This was creation bowing its head in homage and grief as the Lord of all light was crucified. How could the sun still shine as the Prince of Peace, the Son of God was murdered. It had to be done in the darkness of night.

Then, Jesus’s heartrending words, ‘My God why have you forsaken me?’ As the sins of the world were laid upon Jesus and the wrath of God fell on his beloved son, the perfect Lamb of God, Jesus was separated from his loving Father. What a sacrifice. 

As the time came for Jesus to die, he cried out in a loud voice.  Jesus did not die the death of the crucified in exhaustion, unable to hold up his body anymore and suffocating to death. He died in triumph with the loud cry on his lips, ‘It is finished’. Jesus gave up his spirit and breathed his last.

The work of salvation was complete. The wrath of God had fallen on Jesus for all the sins of sinful, wicked men and Jesus, the perfect, innocent Son of God could now proclaim his victory over sin, death, the grave, sickness and all the other outworkings of man’s rebellion to their Creator. 

The temple curtain, woven of a heavy material more like a carpet, was supernaturally torn in two from top to bottom – nothing a man could do. Access to the holy place, to the Father had now been granted to all who came in humility trusting in Christ’s work of salvation and not their own efforts. 

Matthew recorded two more events, first a great earthquake which then caused tombs to break open and the bodies of holy people came to life. This speaks I think of salvation now coming to all, even those from the past, who then testify about Jesus in the city. What better testimony could there be to challenge the lies of the Romans that Jesus’s disciples had stolen his body. Instead, people known to have died have arisen as a foretaste of the many who would come to life by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Finally, the ungodly Roman centurion, the one who had carried out the execution, proclaimed, ‘surely this was the Son of God.’ Salvation had come to all – Jews, Gentiles and even Romans. 

These were not random events but carefully orchestrated to reveal to all those willing to see that Jesus’s crucifixion was in the hands of God the Father. The great work of salvation for all who believe and trust in the Lord Jesus was complete, and they would now have access to him and eternal life in heaven.

What a wonderful work salvation is – complete and perfect in every detail. 

A prayer drive - cleansing our roads

The penny finally dropped when yet again, the A1(M) was closed because of an accident. This motorway runs north past the town where we live and is a major route to surrounding towns and villages, as well as the first and only road between London and Edinburgh.

The increasing regularity of closures, often for hours, or even a day, caused by accidents or breakdowns was becoming a huge source of inconvenience to us all. In our church circles, the road closures meant people unable to get to church or connect groups apart from the irritation of hold-ups and delays to our normal lives.

We might check the road before we left home, and all was clear. By the time we were 10 miles or even less down the road, we were stuck in yet another long queue for which there was no exit in the foreseeable future. 

Something had to be done.

We are great believers in prayer walks and regularly pray over our town centre, the shops and businesses, praying for them to prosper, praying good businesses into the empty premises and generally blessing the area.

What the A1(M) needed was a prayer walk or better still a prayer drive. We felt that our part of the road was from Baldock services to the M25 on both sides. Driving during the day, when the road is very busy was not an option, so we set out at 9pm. We drove at about 50mph – not too slow to irritate other road users but not too fast to miss what God might be saying.

As we drove, we listened to God but at the same time blessing the road and praying for safety on it. We prayed against demonic interference in any shape, curses that may have been made and looked out for tell-tale signs of fiendish presence such as lengths of video or audio tape by the side of the road.

We felt God told us to call the road to its original purpose as a major arterial highway between the north and south of the country. Historically, many had used it to travel north / south including those on foot such as the Jarrow marches. It is a significant route that needs to be kept clear of accidents and breakdowns as hold ups and delays negatively affect the whole nation, not just those of us living locally. 

We blessed the road to safety and applied the blood of Jesus to the particularly bad patches where there always seemed to be accidents. Another couple, who had been unable to join us on the night, travelled down the road later with wooden stirrers (used in coffee shops) with Scriptures on them which they tossed out of the window onto the grass verges. They should cause no harm to anyone or animals and over time the wood will rot. 

We finally encouraged any church member travelling on the road to continue to bless it and pray for ongoing safety. So far, our prayers have been answered.

I would encourage you, if you have a major road or motorway or even train line nearby to where you live to follow our example, especially if you have been experiencing delays, for any reason. Choose the stretch that you feel is part of your area and travel both ways along it, praying safety and cleansing and blessing the road or rail.  Declare its purpose to join north / south or east /west or connect significant towns or cities and declare the road or rail off limits to the demonic but cleansed by the blood of Jesus.

In our crowded isles, we need every transport connection to function well so our goods and people can travel easily around the country. Everyone, whether they realise what we have done or not, will be delighted when transport flows easily and it can only benefit us all. 

Let your Kingdom come Lord Jesus.