Billboard | St Mark S Forest Hil

Church Billboard

At the front of St Mark's building there is a billboard which normally gets changed each month.

People may wonder what the meaning of particular posters are.

Every month we will provide an explanation so there is no confusion.

Have you seen those images comparing the size of the earth to the sun and then comparing the sun to other supergiant stars? The size of our galaxy, the size of the universe is beyond human comprehension.
In comparison, we, our lives, our whole world, are minuscule… tiny, microscopic specks floating in infinity. It’s the kind of stuff that may bring on an existential crisis. But the Bible makes a different point.

Psalm 147 shows God the creator commanding the universe with the ease of a master conductor.
“He counts the stars
and knows each of them by name.
Our Lord is great and powerful.
There is no limit to what he knows…
He gives a command to the earth,
and it quickly obeys.
He makes the snow fall until the ground is as white
as wool.
He makes sleet blow through the air like dust.
He makes hail fall like rocks from the sky.
No one can stand the cold he sends.
Then he gives another command, and warm air
begins to blow.
The ice melts, and water begins to flow.”
Psalm 147: 4-5, 15-18 (ERV)

In this image it is the universe that is dwarfed by God. Yet there is more. While skillfully orchestrating the universe like a divine symphony, God is also attentive to the minuscule likes of us.

“He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds” (verse 3). He is even described as causing the grass to grow on the hills and providing animals with their food (verse 8 & 9).

Similarly, in Psalm 139, God is described as knitting together the unborn child in the womb. The God who holds, names and commands the gas giants that are bigger than our mind can comprehend, also leans in close and personal to the smallest amongst us. He deliberately and carefully handmakes each human body. He sees every detail of our being and our lives. Nobody is a nobody to God.

What does it mean to you that the creator and commander of the universe sees and knows you? How does God’s loving attentiveness to the macro and the micro challenge your perception of Him or bring you comfort?

PRAYER
Dear God, I praise you. You are more mighty than I can understand. You command the universe yet care for my every need. May I trust in your power and goodness today and everyday to come. Amen.

Sometimes getting dirty can be fun. Painting, cooking, gardening, sport, can all be activities we do for fun that may get us a little messy. Sometimes getting clean can be fun. Having a shower and putting on fresh clean clothes after a sweaty, muddy, soccer game feels great.

But there are also times when getting dirty is downright disgusting. I remember watching horrified as my dad cleaned out a blocked sewerage trench - reaching down into the stinky sludge with his bare arms. And there are times when the dirt just won’t budge. The stain on a beloved piece of clothing. Or much worse a psychological or spiritual sense of being tainted, guilty, that just won’t go away.

While most dirt, even sewage sludge, can be scrubbed away with a good cake of soap, spiritual
cleansing doesn’t come that easy. The bible describes spiritual cleansing, the washing away of all one’s wrongdoings and moral guilt, as something that can only be done by Jesus Christ.
“Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” Ephesians 5:25-27

Jesus Christ sacrificed his life to make us spiritually clean forever. By dying on the cross he paid the price for our wrongdoings and guilt. All who trust in Jesus’ loving act of cleansing will stand before God “without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish” and even better be considered “holy and blameless” in God’s sight.

The dirt and mess in this world is inevitable and temporary, but eternal purity through Jesus Christ will last forever. Read God’s word the Bible, see what Jesus is offering you and get clean forever.

Prayer
Dear God, I want to be spiritually clean, holy and blameless in your sight. Thank you for loving me so much that Jesus sacrificed himself to make me clean. Please help me to trust this everyday. Amen.

If you were to imagine the best version of yourself, what, or who, would you imagine? I don’t have much trouble thinking up the best version of myself. She’s kind, funny, easy going but still passionate in all the right places; she’s supportive and encouraging to her loved ones; she forgives easily and keeps calm in tense situations…. The list could go on. I do however have a very hard time being the best version of myself. My own emotions, bodily limitations, troublesome thoughts and even selfish inclinations seem to keep getting in the way of being who I would really like to be.
Do you know that Jesus has a vision of you, even better than you can imagine, that he desires to form and grow you into?
There are at least three ways the Bible speaks of Jesus helping us find and be the best version of ourselves.
Firstly, Jesus took the spiritual consequences of our sins for us by dying on the cross. Jesus willingly took the punishment for us so we can be forgiven and freed from all the ways we mess up and fall short. If we trust in what Jesus did, we don’t need to live as guilty or ashamed anymore. We can live knowing we are loved and declared innocent and that makes a big difference to how we treat ourselves and others. Here’s two Bible verses explaining this, have a look at 1 Corinthians 5:17-21and 1 Peter 3:18.
Secondly, Jesus sends his Holy Spirit to all who trust him. By his Spirit, Jesus is guiding, comforting and transforming his people to be the glorious version he created them to be. To be all the things I mentioned above that I aspire to… kind, forgiving, encouraging and so much more. We are not alone in an effort to be better versions of ourselves, Jesus is with us by the Holy Spirit to help us in this. See John 14:25-2 and 2 Corinthians 3:17-18.
Thirdly, there is a time in the future when those who trust Jesus will be completely and perfectly transformed into the best version of themselves. This life and world is not going to last forever. There is a time when it will all come to an end. Those who have rejected forgiveness through Jesus will be judged and punished by God. However, those who trust in Jesus will be forgiven and made perfect in every way, physically, spiritually and emotionally. To get a glimpse of this read
Philippians 3:18-21 and 2 Corinthians 5:1-5.
Would you like to be the best version of yourself? A perfect version even? Jesus has the desire and power to help you become that if you trust in him.
PRAYER
Dear Jesus, I want to be better. I want to be the best version of myself. The one you want me to be. Please help me to trust in your forgiveness and power to transform me. Amen.