Rob Law, the chap in the clip, had been shaped for something all his life and he was moved to act; to put his gifts and talents to work. The road to his success wasn’t always a bed of roses; he had numerous setbacks but he persevered and is making a success of his life.

 

I think in many ways he’s a really good example to us. Shockingly he’s making a difference in the world because of a plastic child’s suitcase on wheels! Can you imagine the difference we could make with the gift that we’ve been given – the gift of Jesus, the son of the living God. God has shaped each of us for something life changing … what shall we do with it?

 

The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15 : 11 – 32) 

 

Our second reading came from Luke’s Gospel, the parable of the Lost Son. This story has three main characters in it; the Father and the two sons.  Each are different. They are different ages, have different personalities, no doubt different gifts and abilities and hearts. Their lives are made up of different experiences  but one thing is true in each of them – that as life changes and opportunities present themselves they all have choices to make.

 

The Father could have given up his youngest son for lost and protected himself from further hurt – but he chooses to embrace and forgive. 

 

The youngest son had a passion to see the world – he could have taken the safe (but boring) route and just stayed on the farm. He didn’t – he took a risk and asked for his inheritance. Later on, when things hit rock bottom and he was literally wallowing in the mire he could have given up and stayed where he was. Yet again he took a risk and chose to come home … maybe risk-taking was part of his shape.

 

The older son had choices too. He chose to say on the farm when he too could have gone travelling. And in the midst of the celebrations for his redeemed brother he chose to stay away; to remain ‘lost’ to the love of father and brother.

 

Life Zones

 

In the Shape Book ‘SHAPE – finding and fulfilling your unique purpose for Life’ by Eric Rees, there is a chart about purpose and using our shape. The chart shows three zones in which can operate.

 

1.  ‘Drone Zone’.  This is safe, easy. It’s where we are coasting and not really engaged fully. It’s as if we have twelve cylinders but we’re only firing on two!  We are shaped for something but we’re not fulfilling our potential. The truth is that we might be very happy in this zone because it’s not taxing us and it’s safe. I expect that the older brother was very comfy at home … he could have seen the world like his bother (and maybe made a better job of it because he could manage money better).

 

2.  ‘Panic Zone’. This is where we are operating out of our league; we’re doing things that we are not really shaped for. It’s a very scary place to be where things can easily get out of control. Panic zone is where the younger son was in his wild, carefree spending spree.

 

3. ‘C Zone’. This is the place where gifts and abilities match our job or area of ministry. The C Zone is where we are confident and yet we get challenged; where there is some safety and control and so we can try things out, committing ourselves to discover what God’s purposes are for us and then Go For It!

 

Be honest – which zone are you in? Are you happy there? Would you like to move a bit, even a little bit?

 

Feedback from SHAPE

 

I have heard a variety of feedback from this series.  I know that some of you are not so sure and it doesn’t seem to have connected with you. For me personally it hasn’t made me think of a change in direction but that’s possibly because my shape matches my job and I am already in the C Zone.

 

But for others what we’ve been studying has stirred up things inside you and you want to do something about it.  What happens next is up to you – and me, if you choose to share those purposes with me.

 

Recently the Church of England launched an initiative to raise the profile of vocations to the ordained ministry and last week the diocese held an evening to ask church leaders to raise this with congregations. It maybe not something you’ve considered before but is God calling any of you to be ordained? Have you prayed about it?  Do you think you might have the right shape for it?

 

Might God be calling you to Reader ministry?  Or to offer to help in J Club?  Has he shaped you to be a sidesperson, a welcomer and all you need is the opportunity to try things out?  Maybe you’re in the ‘Drone Zone’ and have  few of your twelve cylinders which need employing.

Please think, pray and talk to someone; come and see Ian or me, talk with one of the wardens or readers.

 

We are all shaped for something; God has in mind a purpose for each one of us.  And we have a choice – put our shape into God’s hands – step into the ‘C Zone’ or not.  

 

SHAPE in Action

 

One person who is stepping into the ‘C Zone’ this week is our own Sarah Hill. When we were thinking about gifts and abilities Sarah knew that she had songs inside her given by God and waiting to come out at the right moment. As she came to suggest some songs for this service she felt that there wasn’t quite the right song in any of our music books to end our series. So she has stepped out in faith and written one.

 

I said to Sarah yesterday, as we spoke about it that it may not end up as a classic, in lots of hymn books – it may not even make it past this week!  But this very act of ‘going for it’ is SHAPE in action.

 

I am very excited to see what 2009 hold for us – as we as individuals see what God is shaping us for and as a body together what God is shaping St. John’s for. 

 

A Prayer

 

Father,

I abandon myself into your hands.

Do with me whatever you will.

Whatever you may do I thank you.

I am ready for all, I accept all.

Let only your will be done in me and all your creatures.

I wish no more than this, O Lord.

Into your hands I commend my soul.

I offer it to you with all the love of my heart.

For I love you Lord and so need to give myself,

surrender myself into your hands without reserve

and with boundless confidence

for you are my Father.

Amen

 

Charles de Foucauld (1858 – 1916)

 

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SHAPE 5 :  Experience

 

Introduction (The SHAPE programme)

 

Here we are at the last of our SHAPE sermons (well not quite the last as next week I’ll be asking you … ‘so what?’. You will know by now that we are who we are because of a number of things.

 

I am who I am because the spiritual gifts God has given me since becoming a Christian.

 

I am who I am because of the particular heart or passions I have – this involves the emotional part of us.

 

I am who I am because of the abilities God has given me from birth- the things we are naturally good at.

 

I am who I am because of my personality. How my heart, mind, soul and strength show themselves.

 

I am who I am because of my life experiences.

 

Today we’ll be thinking about our lives and all that we’ve experienced so far. Last month Rosalynd and I went to the cinema (‘the pictures’ as we still call it and our children look blankly at us!)  I was very struck by one of the adverts which preceded the film – let’s watch it.

 

(Orange Advert “I am Mark Beaumont”, available at http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=roRw5TS9VlE)

 

Mark Beaumont is shaped by all the people he’d ever met and all the things (both the good and the bad) which ever happened to him. So are we. Do you agree with that?

 

Life Experiences

 

As we’ve been looking at our SHAPE over the last few weeks it seems to me that some elements of our shape are pretty well set, (our personalities don’t change a great deal neither do our natural abilities, although we may still discover new abilities as we get older). Some move and change a bit (our passions change and God can give us more spiritual gifts as and when we need them.)  But our life experience changes daily. Something could happen today (totally unexpected) which will change me forever. I simply don’t know … now that’s both exciting and unsettling. But I do know that in everything God is in control and God knows the outcome.

 

I cold have chosen the end of Romans 8 for one of our readings. Verse 28 says this :  ‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.’ (NIV)  or …

 

‘And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love him.’ (NLT).  I love two things in that second New Living Bible translation :

 

‘God causes’; that tells me that there is a grand design to the universe and our part in it, when things happen (good and bad) it’s not luck or fate or random chance.

 

‘everything to work together for good’. Everything – my stupid mistakes, my painful experiences, my sins, my illnesses, my joys, my successes, my achievements.  God is in the business of change; after all he changed crucifixion to resurrection.

 

When I was little I loved to watch my mum making cakes – because I got to lick out the bowl. When I was  student I used to make up a small bowl of cake mixture and eat the lot raw!

 

Does anyone else like raw cake mix?  When you think about it the individual ingredients are quite revolting.  Eating a spoonful of flour is vile (I imagine!), so is raw egg and a spoonful of butter. But with a little mixing they are transformed. How much more can God transform us and bring some good out of life’s tragedies.

 

So what should we do with this lifetime of experiences – the good and bad?

 

1.  Embrace and Accept Them.

 

Don’t hide from them. Don’t forget them and don’t run from them. In our first reading this morning we heard Paul say, “Have you suffered so much for nothing – was it really for nothing?” (Gal. 3:4).  It’s true that the past shapes us but it must not have a grip on us. You cannot change your past, you can only change your present and your future. And I believe that God wants to use our past for good.

 

Perhaps there are things in your past which you cannot make any sense of (I know that is true for me – especially as I recount the mistakes I’ve made, the terrible things I’ve said – often without thinking, and the sadness which has touched me). I sometimes fail to see how God can possibly use some of those things for good. But you know I’m in good company in not always seeing God in life’s experiences; Jesus warned his disciples in John 13:7, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

 

For some of us ‘later’ may mean sometime in the future, for others it may not be until heaven, when we see God face to face that we can understand and fathom the big ‘why’s’ in life.  Our call is to accept and embrace the experiences which have made us the people we are today. But we need to do more than just embrace.

 

2.  Learn from Them

 

My Bible reading notes this Thursday said this, “If you’re still making the same mistakes at fifty that you were at twenty, you need to ask God for wisdom.” Do any of you have friends who seem to make the same mistakes over and over?  Perhaps in relationships or work choices, or just life in general.

 

We need to examine our life experiences and look out for a couple of things :

 

·               Benefits (joys, times of enjoyment or fulfilment). Ask,  ‘why was it good?’ – maybe because your shape matched what you experienced.

 

·               Patterns (especially patterns in failure). Ask, ‘how can I avoid that happening again?’ Job 32:7 says this, ‘Experience will tell. The longer you live, the wiser you become.’  That’s only true if you examine your experiences and learn from them.

 

 

3.  Use them to help others

 

The Apostle Paul had a very full life; he knew incredible highs and fantastic lows. He used his experiences in life to see others come to faith in Jesus, he saw lives transformed. But life was not always easy for him. He experienced being misunderstood, being lied about, he was beaten up, flogged and put in jail. In the end he was put to death because he was a Christian.

 

Yet when things were at their bleakest he could see the bigger picture. In Philippians 1 : 12 (written from prison) he wrote, ‘Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.’

 

His experiences (bad as they were) were actually helping other people to come to faith and be encouraged in faith. If we’ve accepted and embraced our life experiences and learned from them then we can use them to affect other people.

 

i). To Minister to others

 

The best person to empathise with and minister to someone who has cancer is a cancer sufferer. The best person who come alongside someone who’s going through redundancy is someone who’s been there before.

 

You cannot simply say ‘I know how you feel’ because no-one can know how you are feeling except you! But can say, ‘I know how I felt’ or ‘I imagine how you might be feeling … because something similar happened to me.”

 

In 1998 my mum died very suddenly; it was my first really close bereavement. For six years, up to then, I had taken funerals and ministered to the bereaved.  All my knowledge about how people feel when losing someone close came from lectures and textbooks and observing how other people coped. The first funeral I took after my mum died was a new experience. I don’t think I did anything differently but I had a new empathy for the family. I could enter into their pain in a different way, because of my own life experience.

 

Every experience you’ve had (good or bad) can be used to minister to others and help them. Don’t underestimate this and don’t waste your life experiences, use them.  In fact if you don’t use them, they may very well be wasted experiences. But in using them God can start to bring some good out of them.  

 

 

ii). To Motivate others

 

Another for motivate is ‘encourage’; you can use your life experiences to encourage others. You could inspire others, “I did such and such, so could you.”  I know I’ve been inspired by the way other people have faced difficulties.

 

You probably know that I enjoy theme parks and rollercoaster rides. Well, I remember being in the queue for ‘Air’ the rollercoaster ride where you hang upside-down and literally fly around the course. I was very worried but in the queue I head other people’s comments such as : “Great Ride.” “I’ve done it five times already.”  I thought to my self, If they can do it so can I!

 

Encouraging from personal experience is always better than just teaching or sharing book knowledge.

 

One thing which a friend of mine does is to keep a ‘journal’. It’s a bit like a spiritual diary where you write down the experiences you’ve had as a reminder of what you’ve leaned of God and the things which God has done. I kept one during my sabbatical which I read this week as I wrote this.

 

iii).  To Mentor others

 

The word ‘mentor’ seems a bit grand; it comes from the Greek writer Homer’s poem ‘The Odyssey’ written about eight centuries BC. In the poem a king goes off to war and leaves his realm in the hands of a man called Mentor. This man also raises and teaches the king’s son in his absence – that’s how we get the name mentor!

 

I don’t know if you know that in our diocese I am a mentor to a group of clergy who were ordained in June of this year. I will mentor them for the four years of their curacy. My job is to come alongside them, to encourage them and to share my experiences of ministry with them. They can run ideas by me and we can share ideas together. Ian has a mentor – someone other than me to talk with and share with.

 

Proverbs 25 : 11-12 (Message version) says this, “The right word at the right time is like a custom-made piece of jewellery; and a wise friend's timely reprimand is like a gold ring slipped on your finger.”    

 

Do any of you have one?  An older Christian who can give time to encourage and teach. Are you willing to be one or are you already a mentor? (Even if you are not formally called one).  We can mentor people of our own age or older or younger; all we need is to be spiritually more mature or experienced. If you want to investigate this more being a mentor or having one) come and chat to me.

 

Final Thoughts

 

As I look out into the congregation this  morning I see faces and lives; Collectively I see a wealth of life experiences … some I know about and some I can’t even guess.  Experiences in :

·   Business

·   Retirement

·   Parenting

·   Marriage (and divorce)

·   Illness

·   Mission

·   Bereavement

 

Imagine if we embraced them, learned from them and used them for the good of Fareham – what an impact that would be.

 

We’ve spent five Sundays thinking about our shape. Next week is going to be summed up in two very important words … think about them this week –

 

SO WHAT?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

SHAPE Personality Sermon.  Mark 12:28-34

By Ian Hill,    26^th October 2008

 

So we reach week four of our SHAPE series, looking at how God has made us, and what he has shaped us for – so just a quick recap, on the first week we looked at our spiritual gifts, on the second week at our heart and passions, last week we looked at our abilities and next time we will be looking at our experience.  That will actually be in two weeks as next week is a family service and Brian Powell will be helping is focus on the Bible as it is Bible Sunday.

 

So this week we’re looking at personality, at our God given personality.  Personality isn’t something that some people have more of than others.

 

In God’s eyes, none of us are dull, dull, dull, desperately dull and tedious.  We all have a personality, and we are all different.  For some of us, “boring jobs” would be dull, dull, dull and desperately tedious, but I have known people in so called “boring jobs”, who are far from dull, and who actually enjoy their job.  So, if personality isn’t to do with how dull we are, what are we looking at today?

 

Well, we are looking at our identity, and our starting point is the gospel passage – Love the Lord your God with all your Heart, and with all your Soul, and with all your Mind, and with all your Strength.  We love God with every fibre of who we are, and we serve God out of who we are, we serve God and worship God from the starting point of our identity.

 

Understanding our personality can be explored using two questions which we will be using the Gospel passage to unpack:

 

1.         How do you relate to other people?

 

2.         How do you respond to opportunities?

 

And, like all of the elements of SHAPE, there is no right or wrong answer in the usual sense – the right answer is that who we are, because that is how God made us, and the wrong answer is to try to pretend to be somebody other than the person God made us to be.  Our personality affects the way we think, the way we feel and the way we act.

 

Adrian Plass writes that: “Feelings are negative, unreliable, misleading and irrelevant in the context of Christian experience, according to many Christian teachers and preachers.  And how right they are!  One can only express wildly passionate, tearful agreement with this view.”  As Adrian Plass satirises, our feelings are an important part of the person God made us to be, and so we need to value and respect our feelings, they matter to God.

 

The way we think, the way we feel and the way we act are core and central to how we relate to God, how we worship him and how we serve him.  And no matter how much we reckon the world would be a better place if everyone was just like me, they aren’t; and it wouldn’t be; so we need to work together and we need each other.

 

It is a lie of our consumerist, western culture that you can be whatever you want to be.  God didn’t create you with the potential to be whatever you want to be, you are custom built to his particular design specification to be the ideal person for what he has called you for – you are the best person in your situation.  You can pretend to have a different personality, but that isn’t what God made you for, God made you who you are, with the personality he gave you, and he expects you to develop that God given personality to its full potential.

 

So, what makes us up?  We should love the Lord our God with: all our Heart, and with all our Soul, and with all our Mind, and with all our Strength.  We are all made up of all of these aspects, but tend to be more geared towards just one or two.  So, taking these in turn:

 

With all our Heart:     Our Heart is what expresses who we are, what pours out of us, so is also linked to talking.  Jesus said in Matthew 12:34 “For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks”.  Heart people often can’t help but speak, it can be such a struggle to keep quiet, but heart people can be great communicators.  Heart people make sure that other people know what they care about, and they draw people on side with their enthusiasm, they can motivate people for the causes which excite them.  Heart people are full of advice – whether it is helpful or not is another matter, but heart people will always try to offer a solution.  So, if we are a heart person, we do need to be careful that we offer advice that will actually be helpful, rather than just offer advice out of a need to feel helpful

With all aspects of our personality there can be weaknesses as well as strengths, things which we need to guard against and be careful of.  For heart people, the weaknesses can be:

• We can be inclined to gossip, not to keep secrets, because we just can’t help but tell people what we know.
• We can be inclined to lash out verbally, to tell people where we think it is at, whether that is helpful or not.  Proverbs 14:3  “A fools mouth lashes out with pride, but the lips of the wise protect them”.
• It can be hard to listen.  Heart people can be a bit too keen to interrupt and to say their bit, sometimes not even listening to what the other person is saying, but just listening for a break to say their bit.

Heart people have a lot to offer, but maybe we need to sometimes pause before doing so.

Proverbs 12:18:   “The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”

 

So, if you are a heart person, how do you relate to other people?  As heart people, we like being with people, and particularly engaging with them, we will like talking with them, but need to be careful not to talk at them.  We could have a great ministry of welcome and encouragement as we will like striking up conversations with people.

And, if you are a heart person, how do you respond to opportunities?  As heart people, we like to solve problems and give advice, we won’t necessarily solve the problem or respond to the opportunity, but we will have an opinion.  When an opportunity presents itself we need heart people because we need people with advice and ideas on what we should do and how we should solve the problem.

 

And one final word of warning to heart people – we need to “do”, not just to talk about doing, we need to listen, not just talk and we need to realise that other people may be in a different place to us and not just presume that they are as interested in something as we are.

 

And with all our Soul:             When you read the Psalms, the soul is usually a synonym for emotions, our soul is the instinctive emotional part of us that responds to situations.  Soul people are people who are motivated and driven by their feelings.  Soul people, feelers, are passionate people, people whose heart breaks when they see injustices.  They are emotional people, and sometimes cannot but help their emotions to show.  We need feelers because we need more than just communication, talking and doing – we need compassion.  God’s heart breaks when he sees injustices in this world, and as a church we need to feel and know God’s breaking heart.  Feelers like people, want to draw alongside people and want to empathise with them.  But, there are again weaknesses which feelers need to guard against:

• Sometimes feelers, driven by their emotions can struggle to step back and see the bigger picture.  The media loves to play with our feelings, and so will often choose an extreme situation presented in a way which will tug at our heart strings, and sadly sometimes encourage us to follow our feelings and make a wrong decision.  Feelers need to be wary of having their emotions manipulated by others.
• Feelers can be emotional up and down people, who sometimes need careful handling.  We need to be careful not to let our emotions get in the way of our relationships with people.  Paul writes in Galatians 5:15-16 “If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.  So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”
• Feelers can decide whether or not to so something based on their emotions.  God often calls us to do things we don’t feel like doing!

 

So, how do feelers relate to other people?  Well that depends on whether they like them or not, feelers may get on very well with some people, but we may struggle big time with others.  If somebody is not accepting, or is challenging something we feel passionately about then we can find it difficult, but if they agree with us, then we can really fire each other up and encourage each other.  Feelers may also want to withdraw from other people at times, as we need space to deal with our emotions and just “be” on our own.

And how do feelers respond to opportunities?  Maybe opportunity is the wrong word, and situation is a better word, feelers will feel strongly about certain situations and their heart will ache to see change.  Whether there is an opportunity or not, feelers might try to see change come about because they see that it is needed.  Feelers can however also get discouraged if the opportunities aren’t there and they feel that there is no way that they can see the necessary change happen.  Feelers in these cases can sometimes create their own opportunity where one didn’t exist before.  When an opportunity presents itself we need feelers, because we need to understand how it will impact on other people, and because we need to feel God’s heart in any given situation.

 

The warning to feelers is that we should let God control and lead us, not just our emotions or feelings.

 

And with all our Mind:           We are expected to use our brain when we come to God, God does not call us to leave our brain at the church door.  Jeff Lucas wrote in a recent Christianity magazine:

“A friend told me he'd asked a few probing questions during a house group about some of the more bizarre practices associated with revivalism. As he expressed his rightful concerns, buttock-clenching tension filled the room, and he suddenly felt tagged as a hard-hearted cynic. Someone in the group then prayed that God would 'release him from his theologising' which is one intercession that will never be answered, because scripture insists that we know the truth that sets us free.”

 

Thinkers love Bible study, love engaging with God’s word, going deeper.  Psalm 119 verse 97 says “Oh, how I love your law!  I meditate on it all day long.”  When I was a teenager I knew a number of Christians who discouraged people from studying theology because it was, apparently, dangerous for faith.  That is rot, it is true that if you go into a very hostile theological environment it can be dangerous – but it is not studying God and God’s word that is dangerous it is people who have rejected it!  Thinkers get excited by theology.  You can often tell a thinker by their bookshelf, sorry bookshelves, sorry bookcases!!  The number and type of books can give them away.

 

We need thinkers because we need people who will consider things and help us navigate through complex situations, and we all need to know that our faith is rigorous, but we don’t all need to understand why.  We need scientists, writers, philosophers, inventors and innovators.

The weaknesses of thinkers can be:

• There can be a tendency towards pride, the “I understand this and you don’t, so what input could you possibly have” tendency – a thinking personality neither gives superiority or even better insight into situations than others have.  Linked to this, we can never fully understand God, and accepting that there are aspects of God which we just don’t understand, and can never understand, and have to take on faith can be very hard for thinkers, and can challenge their pride.
• Thinkers can have a tendency to think far too long and hard about something, and never quite get round to doing.  Thinkers have to learn when to call it a day and start doing.  James writes in Chapter 1 verse 22 “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says”.
• Thinkers can also have a tendency towards perfectionism, wanting to tie up the loose ends and not bearing to have not wrapped everything up.  The last 20% of a job can take 80% of the time – thinkers need to learn when good enough is good enough, and that good enough is probably only 80% or less.

 

So, how do thinkers relate to other people?  Thinkers can have a tendency to place thought before people, and to engage with people at an intellectual level rather than at a personal level.  But, on the other hand, we can often value bouncing ideas off other people and having a good discussion, rather than just small talk which we can find difficult.  As thinkers we need to value other people and ourselves for who we are, not just for their and our intellect.

 

And how do thinkers respond to opportunities?  Thinkers will think about opportunities, we will ponder them and consider all the pros and cons, if you are lucky we might even make a decision and start to act.  Opportunities and situations are there for reflection, as thinkers we are very good to have on board when an opportunity presents itself, if others can bear to wait, because as thinkers we may well see potential pitfalls and advantages before they happen and offer a voice of wisdom.

 

The warning to thinkers is that we need to humble ourselves before the Lord and not just think, but do.

 

And with all our Strength.      Strength people are activists, they are doers, they get things done, they are the practical workers.  Paul writes in Romans 12:5-6 “There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord.  There are different kinds of working, but in all of them, and in everyone it is the same God at work”.  I suppose it is obvious to say that we need doers in church, if it wasn’t for doers, this church would never have been built, and I know that there is a small army of doers who do a tremendous amount to look after this church and keep it running.  Doers, like all the categories are essential, but again there are weaknesses:

 

• Sometimes doers can just jump in with both feet first and start doing something without having thought it through – so we can end up having to make several attempts to get it right when a bit of forethought would have slowed down the start but reached the finishing line sooner.
• Doers can sometimes start something without thinking about the amount of work involved, and then get bogged down, or spend time on it which they should be spending on something else, or just overworking and burning out.  Doers need to be careful to ensure that they are doing what God has called them to do, and not more.  Jesus has given us life in all its fullness, not a full life – there is a difference!
• Doers can often struggle with being, and in fact can only “be” by doing being.  It is important that all of us spend time being with God, being with people and feeding ourselves – we all need time out whether it is a struggle or not.  Doers are not always good at receiving but need to receive like anyone else.

 

Doers can sometimes need to be needed, so stop others exercising their gifts and so that the church develops an unhealthy dependency on the doer.  Doers need to involve and develop other people, even if they won’t do the job as well as we would – our form of perfectionism is that we can tend to expect other to do things as well as we can.

 

So, how do doers relate to other people?  Doers relate best to other people who do things, and we can sometimes get a bit irritated with people who are just being.  Other people can be a huge cause of frustration to us if they slow us down, and also a huge source of great blessing to us when we are working on something together. 

 

How do doers respond to opportunities?  Often we jump in with both feet first and start running before we have even realised where we are running to.  OK, I exaggerate, but as doers an opportunity is something which needs to be done, and so long as it is something we can do, it poses no problem.  Maybe we should choose to pause, to allow others to catch up, and to get the counsel of others so that we know we are going about the opportunity in the right way.  Doers are needed when we have opportunities and will get things done.

 

The warning to doers is to watch your pace, slow down if necessary, pause if necessary, listen to others, even if they are saying things you don’t want to hear, seek wise counsel before acting.  Be careful lest your doing crowds out space for being with God.  We need to listen, understand, feel and “be” as well as “do”.

 

So, in conclusion, God has given you a renewed personality when you came to Christ, he is transforming each of us so that we show more of the strengths of our personality and fewer of the weaknesses.  We need to recognise this and work with him, forming our God given personality more into his likeness.  And, surely God will use us, with our personality because he created us with that personality for his purpose.

 

So, before we continue with our service, let’s take a few moments to consider our God given personality, to think about any weaknesses and bring them before God, to think about the strengths and how God can use our personality in his service, and then I will lead us in a short prayer committing our whole person to God.

 

Heavenly Father, we thank you that in your great goodness you created each one of us unique to your own perfect specification.  Help us to accept ourselves as the person you created us to be.  Help each one of us to understand ourselves better, our strengths as well as our weaknesses, and, we ask, please continue to help us to hone our personality focussing on the strengths rather than the weaknesses.  Amen

 

Let’s now stand and sing the creed on page 3 of your books as we bring our whole person before God to contemplate how amazing he is.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

SHAPE 3 :  Abilities

 

Introduction (The SHAPE programme)

 

Here we are at the third week of SHAPE. I think that this series is really making an impact given the feedback that some people are giving me. In fact after last week’s sermon, where I said that I loved doughnuts, I even had a gift come to our door on Sunday afternoon of a bag of doughnuts!  So can I just say that I forget to mention last week that I also love steak and am rather partial to oysters! Enough frivolity … we are who we are because of a number of things.

 

I am who I am because the spiritual gifts God has given me since becoming a Christian.

 

I am who I am because of the particular heart or passions I have – this involves the emotional part of us.

 

I am who I am because of the abilities God has given me from birth- the things we are naturally good at.

 

I am who I am because of my personality.

 

I am who I am because of my life experiences.

 

I am who I am because of my SHAPE.  Today we’ll be thinking about what we are naturally good at and how that affects the rest of our shape and out ministries.

Different Abilities

 

A few words from our reading this morning : “God gives the ability to do certain things well.” (Rom. 12:6 - NLT)  Do you know that a scientific study has shown that the average person has between 500 and 800 abilities. There is therefore no such thing as a ‘no talent’ person … the trick is to spot what your abilities are and to harness their power. 

 

We are all different and all have different natural abilities. These days in our local schools recognize this and also the fact that people learn in different ways; some learn better visually, some by hearing, some by doing. Let me tell you a story of school which didn’t know this.  Are you sitting comfortably …?!

 

Once upon a time there were some animals who decided to start a school for animals.  They decided that their courses would include running, climbing, swimming and flying and that all of the animals should take all of the courses.  That’s where the problem started. 

 

The duck was much better than his teacher at swimming.  But he only made passing grades in flying and was very poor in running.  So they made him drop swimming and stay after school to practice running.  This caused his webbed feet to be badly worn and his grade dropped to average in swimming.  But everybody felt less threatened and more comfortable with that – except the duck. 

 

The rabbit started at the top of his class in running but because of so much remedial work in swimming he caught pneumonia and had to drop out of school. 

 

The squirrel showed outstanding ability in climbing but he was extremely frustrated in flying class because the teacher insisted that he start from the ground up rather than the treetop down.  He damaged his muscles from over extension so he only got a C in climbing and a D in running. 

 

The eagle was the problem student and was punished for being a nonconformist.  For instance in climbing classes he beat all the others to the top of the tree but he insisted on using his own way to get there.  Finally because he refused to participate in swimming class he was expelled. 

 

God has designed specific animals to excel in specific areas and he doesn’t expect them all to do all the other things.  When we expect everybody to fit in the same mould all we’re going to get is frustration, discouragement, mediocrity, and failure.  A duck is made to be a duck; it’s not made to be something else. 

 

God Given

 

If God is really calling us to do something he will equip us with the abilities to do it. (Hebrews 13 : 21) God gives and honours all sorts of abilities. As I look out at you all this morning I can see loads of abilities staring back at me.

 

The ability to cook, to sew, to grow and nurture plants, the ability to change a fuse and change a washer, the ability to teach, to sell, to care, to write, the ability to make things, see a problem and its solution, the ability to fix a computer … etc.

 

I saw a quote when preparing for this week which said, “Your abilities match your call” so if you are keen to find out what your calling is then there’s no better way to begin than looking at your natural abilities or talents.

 

Matthew 25 : 14 – 30 The Parable of the Talents

 

In our Gospel reading this morning Jesus told a parable about some talents. Of course the ‘talents’ in the story were not abilities at all – they were a unit of currency; it was the largest measurement of money in those days.

 

 

Since a talent was actually a measurement of weight, it did not have a constant value. People needed to play the markets, to buy and sell in order to make the most of their investments.

 

Two of the servants used their God given abilities to put that money to work … to the best of their abilities. The third servant didn’t use his abilities at all; he didn’t even use his common sense to put his one talent in a bank to gain a little interest. Well at least, thankfully, he didn’t put the money in the Bank of Iceland and could at least get his money back when the master returned!

 

So often Christians have used this parable as a picture of multiplying talents but it is far more basic and fundamental than that – it’s about whether or not we have identified and are actively using our natural abilities for the Lord’s work. Or to put it in the language of this sermon series …

 

Are we using the way we’ve been SHAPED?

 

Using our Abilities

 

The reality is that we are usually much better at spotting what we are not good at rather than what we are but the fact is we do have abilities and they have been given to us to be used.

 

1. To Honour God

 

1 Corinthians 10 : 31 ‘whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.’. You can honour God by using your natural abilities – in your work, or hobbies … whatever. Using those abilities is saying to God that you are grateful for them and you know he has given them to you to be used. Simply using them honours the Lord. False modesty and hiding your light under a bushel is almost a sin!

 

2. To Serve Others

 

1 Peter 4 : 10  ‘Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others.’  Don’t you think that some people seem to have more abilities than others – or is it just that they are using theirs more than the rest us?

 

No-one is good at everything so we need each other. The person sitting next to you is not just a bonus – they are a necessity. Turn to the person next to you and tell them they are a necessity! A good piece of advice I have been given is to make friends with people who are good at the things you are not! Perhaps that’s why my best friend is Rosalynd. We do have such a lot in common but equally we are good and excel at different things.

 

3. To make a living

 

Deuteronomy 8 : 18. ‘Remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.’ The Apostle Paul had lots of spiritual gifts: he was an evangelist, a pastor, a church planter (the Bible calls this an apostle), he spoke in tongues. But he had a natural ability to make tents and used this talent to make his living so that he wasn’t a burden to the churches he was leading.

 

Producing wealth is an ability – ever thought that? If you produce a lot of money then you have lots to share; blessings to give.

 

4. To be an example to others

 

1 Timothy 4 : 15 ‘Continue to do those things; give your life to doing them so your progress may be seen by everyone.’ God wants people to see us using our abilities so that they will make the connection that they God given.

5. To build up the Church

 

Ephesians 4 : 12  ‘to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.’  There is no ability which you have which cannot be used to encourage and built up another Christian. Look around this building and you’ll see the results of people using their abilities. Perhaps some of you are here because a friend had the ability to drive you here; perhaps some of you are Christians because someone used their ability to make friends and one day you came along with them.

 

Final Thoughts

 

Why don’t you take a few minutes this week to do an audit of your abilities. Sit down with a cup of tea and make a list of the things you are good at – just a few of the 500 to 800 natural abilities we are born with. Do it with a friend if that’s more helpful. Highlight the ones which you are not using to their full potential.

 

If you don’t use these talents a number of things will happen; you will lose out, God will lose out and the world will lose out. I saw a slogan this week which said, ‘There is nothing as sad as wasted talent’. I suspect that all of us have unused or underused talents; what a shame.

 

God has made an enormous investment in each one of us. He created us; he gave us new life in Jesus Christ and if the parable of the talents tells us nothing else it tells us that one day God will ask us, “What did you do with all those natural abilities I gave you?”

 

I don’t know about you but when I get to heaven I want to hear God say to me, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Come and share in your master’s happiness.”

 ______________________________________________________________________________________

SHAPE 2 : Heart

 

Introduction (The SHAPE programme)

 

Here we are at the second week of SHAPE. It’s not too late to join a house group and there are some booklets on the table which accompany the course – do take one and get the most out of these next few weeks.

 

Last week I told you that each one of is a masterpiece and no two of us are precisely the same. We are who we are because of a number of things.

 

I am who I am because the spiritual gifts God has given me since becoming a Christian.

 

I am who I am because of the particular heart or passions I have – this involves the emotional part of us.

 

I am who I am because of the natural abilities God has given me from birth.

 

I am who I am because of my personality.

 

I am who I am because of my life experiences.

 

In short I am who I am because of my SHAPE.  Today we’ll be thinking about what drives us – what gets us going in the morning (and I’m not talking about three shredded wheat!).

 

The Heart

 

As I’ve read the SHAPE book I read two words which seem to be interchangeable regarding this ‘thing’ which drives us. One is ‘heart’ and other is ‘passion’.  I’m going to avoid using the word passion as much as possible because I think it can be a bit off-putting. I know that when I get passionate about something it can be both an incentive and an inspiration to some but also a bit of a turn-off to others. It is also such a strong word that some of you might be fooled into thinking that you are not passionate about anything.

 

What is Jamie Oliver passionate about at the moment? He has a heart for proper cooking and proper ingredients. I am not sure people always share his heart and his passion. He ought to use some of these pictures which were sent to me this week to enthuse people about vegetables (Vegetable carvings).

 

 Where is your heart?

 

Where is your heart just now?  What are you interested in ? What do you hope for?  What dreams have you got? What issues or projects or people get you excited or makes your pulse race?

 

This is what I mean when talking about your ‘heart’ – I suppose that it might also be termed your heart’s desire.  Philippians 2 : 13 says ‘God produces in you desires that please him’ (Living Bible).

 

God wants us to be people of heart, to be enthusiastic and excited about issues and about him; and when I follow the desires of my heart not only is it fulfilling for me but God is pleased. Doing the work and mission I am shaped for brings God pleasure.

 

You see, passionate people (people who act on the God-given heart’s desire) get things done.  Let’s consider a few people we might have heard of who have or had a real heart for things.

 

People with Heart

 

William Wilberforce’s heart’s desire was to see slavery abolished and justice won for all races – it took him decades.

 

John Whitcliffe was passionate that the English people in the 15^th century could read the Scriptures in their own language and set about translating them – it led to his downfall.

 

Alice Sahar saw a need for Palestinian orphans to find a home and education and her heart was moved. Alice founded the Jeel Home for Boys in Bethany where we send the proceeds of our Christmas Card appeal. Sadly, Alice died last week (do pray for her ‘children’). 

 

People who act on their hearts desire so often change things; they please God.

But how about people closer to home?  I am just going to highlight a few people who I see as being ‘people of heart’ … I could easily add more to the list but we’d be here all day.

 

Jane Tredgett has a heart for Traidcraft and Tearfund. It’s that heart which keeps her finding out what they are doing and how we might be involved. She is off to India this week with a Tearfund Team to look at some of their projects there; we’ll be praying for her and commissioning her at the end of this service.

 

Jeannette Poulter has a heart for those who live alone and God kept niggling at her to do something – the result was ShellSeekers and we know how that ministry has blossomed and grown.

 

Mike Homer has a heart for prisoners which meant that he was happy to share visiting a prisoner with me – even though he sometimes had to get to Devon on his own to visit.

Ian Cranstone shared last week that God have him a heart for young people and for teaching which meant that he went from van driving (via house husbanding) to teaching.

 

Dorothy Clapcott has a heart for people. Dorothy wrote to me this week (as she often does). I quote, “The gift God has given to me is to write encouraging letters. I can sit and talk to people who feel lonely or isolated. Every day I pray in tongues then ask God which people he wants me to pray for especially.”  Here is a heart for people which leads to action.

 

Motivated people get things done; the Bible calls this ‘being fruitful’ (John 15 : 8)

 

Look along your row or in front – who else here are people who are acting on their heart’s desire? (How many people are looking at you?)

 

Not everyone will share our heart’s desire, which is often OK. Rosalynd gets really excited about waterfalls; Tony Bailey gets excited at football; neither do anything much for me but I have my own God-given hopes and dreams which I want to act upon and put at his disposal.

 

We ought though to share a heart for God and for sharing him in the world … but God has given us differing heart’s desires to see that become reality.

 

Matthew 22 : 1 - 14

 

Our second reading this morning was Matthew 22 : 1 – 4; the parable of the wedding feast.  In the parable we have a passionate king whose heart’s desire was to share his happiness at his son’s marriage with friends and relatives. Unfortunately the guests couldn’t care less, their hearts were not moved and they were cold to the whole thing. The king got more passionate and tried to encourage them, “The food will be brilliant, it’ll be great. Come!” But they were unmoved.

 

The result was that they missed out on a wonderful event. They had been given an invitation and yet they did nothing about it.

 

Has God given you a heart for something which you are ignoring or not doing anything with?

 

What stops you from following your heart?

 

Let me offer four suggestions.

 

1. Disappointment. You’ve had this dream for some time and nothing seems to be happening or working.

 

2. Fear. What will happen to me if it all falls apart? It could be good but I can’t try it out because of the risks.

 

3.  Lack of self belief.  Why would God call me, of all people?  Other people would be better – what would I know?

 

4.  Rejection.  Perhaps you did try to act on your heart’s desire but the time wasn’t right, or you weren’t right so it failed. Does bitterness and anger stop you trying again? 

 

You will know that when Mike Terry felt a call to ordained ministry he went forward for selection and was not recommended for training. Last year (two years on) he went again and was successful. Next June he will become The Rev’d Mike Terry!

 

 

Some of you may be nursing a battered heart which is stopping you fulfilling your SHAPE.  If so :  open that battered heart to Jesus – no-one can change a heart like Jesus.  Let him heal it and let it beat again.  Then listen to it (stop, take time, search).

 

One last thing – you need to check your heart’s desires. Proverbs 19 : 2 says, “desire without knowledge is not good.”  Just because you love something and have a passion for it doesn’t mean you’re gifted at it. I could say, “I love doughnuts – I think I’ll open up a doughnut shop!” Not sensible!

 

Quite possibly ‘heart’ is of prime importance in understanding our shape but we need to look at our whole shape when we are seeking God’s purpose for our lives and ministries for all aspects of our shape are connected. We need to listen (both to God and to wise friends), to take advice and most importantly to PRAY.

 

Final Thoughts

 

Do you have a passion for anything? Well, God does, he is passionate and emotional and if we spend time with him we’ll discover that he rubs off on us – we’ll become ‘heart people’ too. If you need more enthusiasm (more heart) then tell him. The word ‘enthusiasm’ has its roots in two Greek words, “en” (in) and “theos” (God). The closer to God you get, the more enthusiastic you’ll become.

 

In Isaiah 6, Isaiah has an incredible encounter with the living God – he is filled with a passion for God because he has been cleansed and forgiven. When he hears God say, “Whom shall I send?”; all he can do is follow his heart and he answers simply, “Here I am, send me!” 

 

Follow your heart – please the Lord! (Phil 2 : 13)

SHAPE 1 : Introduction & Spiritual Gifts

 

Play You Tube Video, “Who am I? by Casting Crowns”

 

Introduction

 

Who am I?  It’s a question which has exercised the minds of people for as long as people have had thoughts. I’m sure that you’ve heard about people going off to ‘find themselves’ … a pity they were careless enough to lose themselves in the first place if you ask me!

 

During the next eight weeks we are going to be exploring this question in some depth in six Sunday sermons and then following them up in our house groups. You will get the most from the series if you do join a small group (it’s not too late to sign up today) but if you can’t make a small group then we have some work books for you to work through (perhaps with a friend).

 

Who am I?  (The Song)

 

Well the author of that song we listened to gave a few suggestions

 

I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow,
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapour in the wind.
And you've told me who I am. I am yours.

Who am I?  (The Scriptures)

 

The authors in our Bible readings tell us things too :

‘I am known by God – inside and out’ (Psalm 139:1-4)

‘I am fearfully and wonderfully made.’ (Psalm 139:14)

‘I am a branch of the true vine’ (John 15 : 5)

‘I am made to bear fruit’ (John 15 : 5)

‘I am made to be a disciple of Jesus’ (John 15 : 8)

 

The Apostle Paul summed it all up in Ephesians 2 : 10 when he said that we are shaped by God and in fact we are ‘God’s masterpiece’. (NLT) Ever thought of yourself as a masterpiece?

 

Who am I?  (The SHAPE programme)

 

Each one of is a masterpiece and no two of us are precisely the same. We are who we are because of a number of things.

 

I am who I am because the spiritual gifts God has given me since becoming a Christian. The Bible gives a long list of gifts which the Holy Spirit gives to people for the building up of the church.  (more later)

 

I am who I am because of the particular heart or passions I have. Different things excite us and drive us. I have heart for young people (and cooking!) – I don’t have a heart for DIY!

 

I am who I am because of the natural abilities God has given me from birth. I can play the piano, I can talk … a lot! (My school report said, ‘if his brain worked as fast as his mouth, he’d be a genius!’)

 

I am who I am because of my personality. I am outgoing, I am happy in other people’s company. I need my emotions to be touched rather than my intellect.

 

 

I am who I am because of my life experiences. My upbringing, my work experience, my family circumstances, my joys and successes, my pains and failures have all made me who I am.

 

I am who I am because of my SHAPE.  The job I did in the NHS suited me because God had shaped me for it. I minister and work in a certain way because of my shape. (I believe that God has shaped me for parish ministry and not to be an archdeacon or a bishop).

 

I am tempted by certain things because of my shape. I am a certain kind of friend because of my shape – the friends I have are determined by my shape.

 

In the Scriptures we read about God shaping people:

 

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

before you were born I set you apart;

I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. (Jer. 1:5)

 

God shaped Jeremiah from conception. Our shape is no accident – it’s God’s work of art; we are all different shapes but God can use them all.

 

Have you ever thought about your shape?

 

Have you ever thought about your shape?

 

Well during the next eight weeks I hope each of us will be doing just that; I hope too that at the end of the series we may have a better idea of what God has shaped us for … and not just as individuals but as the body of Christ here at St. John’s.

 

Very important to say that this is not six weeks of navel gazing just for its own sake – the series comes as we approach the end of our Year of Refreshing. My hope is that the course will help us to discover what has God got for us in the coming year and years and I hope what we discover in these weeks will literally be life changing.

 

I didn’t make up the SHAPE acrostic; it is taken from a book called ‘SHAPE – finding and fulfilling your unique purpose for Life’ by Eric Rees. I’ve read many accounts about how churches and individuals have been impacted by doing the programme. Some folk have found that they have been landed with a job or ministry in church to which they are simply not shaped. They may have been doing it for years but didn’t know why it was hard and unfulfilling. They discovered what God had really shaped them for and then got on with that.  I have even read of people who changed their careers or paid jobs for the same reason.

 

I believe that discovering our shape and listening to the Lord’s leading will help each one of us and St. John’s as a whole to grow in discipleship and ministry.

 

Letter

 

Before we look at Spiritual Gifts I want to read you one of the letters which someone put into the Year of Refreshing box.  (letter from Rachel Hicks).

 

Spiritual Gifts

 

Do you know what spiritual gifts God has given you?  Have you specifically asked him for any? Let me say that in general there are four gifts which God gives to people.

1.  Gift of Forgiveness (Romans 5 : 15) God pours out his gift of forgiveness on those who love him. Being forgiven by God is not something to be expected or taken for granted – it’s a gift.

2.  Gift of Eternal Life (Romans 6:23)  The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ.

 

3.  Gift of Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5) God has poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit into us, giving us a new start and the power of god himself in our lives.

 

4.  Special Abilities (spiritual gifts) When we are filled with the Holy Spirit God gives us special abilities which are needed for the benefit of God’s work in the world.

 

The Bible lists many, many spiritual gifts from the outwardly supernatural (prophecy, speaking in tongues, healing and miracles) to the seemingly ordinary (administration, serving, hospitality). Spiritual gifts are different to natural abilities in that natural abilities are things we are born with – spiritual gifts come when we become a Christian and dedicate our lives to God. God can turn our natural abilities into spiritual gifts if we seek him. “Spiritual gifts produce spiritual results”.

 

We all have different gifts (that’s why we need each other in church) but every single one of us has at least one spiritual gift. You need to know what your spiritual gifts are so that you can work best for God.

 

Does anyone remember the film Chariots of Fire? Eric Liddle, the runner said, “I was made by God to run.” (he could have said ‘I was shaped by God …’). He followed it up by saying, “When I run I feel God’s pleasure.”  God made some people to run (obviously not me!) and when they run God says, “That’s great! If you are doing what God has shaped you for you will experience God’s pleasure.

And another thing, when you use your spiritual gift someone gets blessed. That’s why it’s so important that we know our gifts and use them. God gets pleasure, others get a blessing and probably so do you.

 

The small group booklet has an exercise to help us think about what our spiritual gifts are. It’s not always easy to recognize our own gifts and so let’s help and encourage each other in this.

 

A word of warning.  Be careful as we are all fallible and we may not recognize a gift in ourselves or others because we think it should look like one thing and it appears like something else.

 

What does James Bond look like? (photos)

 

What does the gift of evangelism look like?

 

·   Peter at Pentecost (Acts 2) – looks brash, upfront, bold and direct 

·   Paul in Athens (Acts 17) – looks intellectual and persuasive, uses reason and logic, it’s quiet

·   Jesus healing the blind man – looks gentle, uses little words at all but is touch based, it’s hands on

 

It is the same gift but has a different expression or style. That is true with so many of the gifts they will look different because they are used by people who are shaped differently.

 

To sum up for this week – your spiritual gifts.

 

 

4 Factors with Spiritual gifts

 

DISCOVER THEM.  Look hard, use the tools we have produced, listen to what those who know you have to say. Try them out. You’ll  never know if you have the gift of preaching if you don’t have a go. You’ll never know if you have the gift of hospitality if you keep to yourself all the time.

 

DEDICATE THEM TO GOD.  God has shaped you in a certain way and when we ask for gifts from God he gives them. Pray that God will direct you to use these gifts wisely to bless others.

 

DEVELOP THEM.  Gifts are like muscles – use them or lose them!

 

DEPLOY THEM.  Practice them and look for every opportunity to put them to good use.    If you had bought an expensive gift for a friend, and you took it over to him, and a year later you went over to his house, and he hadn’t even bothered to unwrap it, you’d be hurt.  In fact, I think you’d be offended. 

 

God has put some wonderful gifts in your life, and He says, “I want you to unwrap each one and use them for my glory.”

 

Lord, I thank You for all that I am,

For all that You have made me.

For all the abilities that You have given me,

Lord, I give you all that I have,

Lord, I give you all that I am.

I give You my gifts and abilities,

And I thank You that I can serve You in my family,

with my friends, and with my neighbours. Amen.

 

Shirley Crutchley 7/08

Lyrics – Who am I? sung by Casting Crowns

 

Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth
Would care to know my name
Would care to feel my hurt
Who am I, that the Bright and Morning Star
Would choose to light the way
For my ever wandering heart

 

Not because of who I am
But because of what You've done
Not because of what I've done
But because of who You're

 

Chorus:
I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapour in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours

 

Who Am I, that the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love and watch me rise again
Who Am I, that the voice that calmed the sea
Would call out through the rain
And calm the storm in me

I am Yours
Whom shall I fear
Whom shall I fear
'Cause I am Yours
I am Yours