JOHN:  Good morning and a very 
warm welcome to Virtually 
Keswick
Convention.  Here we are live in
the Pencil Factory, we are
on-line, we are virtually 
together, even as we long to be
together physically.  Can you 
believe it?  It is July, we are
half way through what has been 
an extraordinary year for almost
everyone on the planet.  For 
many of us it hasn't been the
easiest year.  Anna, you are a 
mum of 3, a busy lady, how have
you found this year.
ANNA:  Yes, spending more time 
with my family, having them
around all the time is 
challenging, with home schooling
kids of
3 different ages, juggling, yes,
how about you John?
JOHN:  I can't complain too 
much.  We have a 6 month old and
a 3
year old, our 3 year old is zoom
bombing us a bit too often and
God has been growing in us 
patience and I am sure.  But I 
can't
complain.  I wonder few you, how
this year has been?  As I said
before, for many of us this year
has been tricky.  I think
wherever you are, whoever you 
are, you need to hear these 
words
from the apostle Paul in Romans 
15 Verse 4.  He says the Old
Testament scriptures were 
written to give us hope.  That 
is our
prayer for the virtual Keswick 
Convention, as we hear God's 
word
in the seminars and the 
everyoning celebration, as we 
look at
the psalms, it won't just be 
interesting and engaging and a 
nice
way to spend time.  But God by 
his spirit might give us
endurance to live for him.  One 
of the advantages on-line, if
you haven the been to Keswick 
Convention before or it is hard 
to
come here, you can dip in and 
have a taste, if that is you, we
would love to hear from you, say
hello via social media using
the hash tag and the comments 
section of the website.  Great
this morning to hear from Peru 
and New Zealand, here are some 
of
our favourite comments.
ANNA:  , Yes, tuning in to K 4 K
hope hunters, that is our kids
club, brilliant to see you.
JOHN:  I love some of you are 
getting artistic, here it is in
our tent usually, there is a 
massive banner saying all well 
one
in Christ, here they have made 
their homemade banner, top marks
for you.
ANNA:  Great to be at Keswick 
again, Graham and
Helen.
JOHN:  Saying they are enjoying 
the convention and missing us
all and the beautiful country 
side, thank you for sending them
in.  Keep sending them in.
ANNA:  I love seeing your coffee
mugs and snacks, it is making
me jealous of your snacks, 
accepted in send in those as 
well.
ANNA:  Today a hope and grief.  
The seminar, the kids and youth
streams.  Psalm 3.  To access 
those, click on either the red 
or
the green tiles.
Let's pray together.  Father 
God, you know the pressures that
each of us have been under.  We 
pray that as we come together
now, you might grant us your 
peace.  That we might be free 
from
distractions, to listen to your 
word and praise your name. 
Amen.
One great wayed that, to lift 
our voices together and
sing in praise of Him.  Let's do
that with one another now,
wherever we are, all creatures 
of our God and King, lift up 
your
voice and to him sing.
JOHN:  Alleluja, next we will 
hear from Jonathan Carswell as 
he
brings us books and bargainous 
offers.  After that we will hear
from the Derwent Project, that 
is the project to refurbish the
Pencil Factory, yesterday Martin
said this was a work in
progress, it is, but I like this
industrial chic look, many of
you have been praying for this 
and giving financially.  So 
great
to have an update.
JONATHAN:  Can you keep a 
secret, I will let you into a 
secret
of mine, I really like to read 
kids books, Christian kids books
because the author who spent 
time thinking how they can 
present
difficult Bible truths simply to
little ones.  Not so little
anymore, but I do need things 
presenting simply, so we have 
put
together a pack of 3 books 
designed for kids, but great for
adults as well.  So read them 
with your kids but be learning 
for
yourself.  Sally Lloyd-Jones has
done an excellent book called
thoughts to make your heart 
sing.  Walks through the psalms 
and
the takes the meditations of the
Psalmist and presents them in a
way that kids can enjoy to.  
Looking at the wonder of 
creation
for example and helping us lead 
on to being blown away by who
God is and how big he is, 
thoughts to make your heart sing
by
Sally Lloyd-Jones.  Then music 
for kids is a great way to learn
and teach.  An album calls 
DumbRocks, Bible truths to 
memorable
music, music that will not drive
you mad and annoy you, on a
long journey, but music that the
whole family can enjoy.  Then
finally some years ago, Alex 
nottier wrote a devotional 
psalms
day by day, a kids book, psalms 
for my day, Alec Motyer, walking
through the psalms, where kids 
with learn from, these kids you
can buy, but if you buy all 3 
together we will knock off ten
quid off the normal price and 
get all 3 for  22, whether you 
are
little or not so little get 
these books that will point you 
to
Jesus, we will pray they will 
have a big impact on our life.
145 years Keswick Ministries 
served the wider church, 
inspiring
Christians with their walk with 
Christ, a few years back, the
Trustees passed a vision, the 
Derwent Project with the aim to
transform this derelict site.
The whole council was unanimous,
this was God's time, we stepped
out in faith to raise funds to 
purchase the site.  So many
wonderful answers to prayer.  We
weren't sure about the details
back then, but encouraging to me
to see how the vision have
becoming the reality today.  I 
am really excited that even last
year, children and youth were 
able to start to use part of the
Pencil Factory for their 
programme.  What an answer to 
prayer.
Our vision for the project was 
to create a new home which would
bring together Christians from 
across the generations to hear
God's word on one integrated 
site.  Hoped it would be 
available
for year round teaching and 
training, serve churches in 
Cumbria
and the north and be a base for 
the Keswick staff team.  Hoped
it would be a venue for the 
international members of the 
Keswick
Fellowship as well as also a 
place to serve the local Keswick
community.  It has been 
fantastic to see all of that 
begin to
happen.
I can't wait to see the site 
packed next summer with 
Christians
from all ages and all walks of 
life.  Coming together to
celebrate the God given vision, 
to hear God's word, to become
like God's son and to serve 
God's mission.
Together we have
reached so many milestones and 
all through the generous
donations of Keswick Ministries 
supporters, yet there is still
some way to go.  So would you 
consider partnering with us
helping us to reach our goal as 
soon as possible?
Please consider making a one off
donation of  50 or  100, your
donation will help us to provide
the remaining windows as well
as the heating and hot water 
needed for groups to use the 
rooms. 
We also need a new staircase to 
open up the upper rooms for more
church groups and our growing 
training courses.  Finally your
donations will help us for a new
elevator that will ensure
disabled access throughout the 
building, you can give on a
monthly basis, which helps us as
we can plan ahead more easily.
JOHN:  Working with young 
leaders as part of the youth 
team.  It
is great to see people coming 
along business and investing in
the kids, with God's help they 
can play their part in lives
changed.  They can go home 
equipped with new gifts and 
skills
they can use back in their home 
churches.  Derwent Project has
such potential to touch so many 
more lives and for some that
might mean following in the 
footsteps of folks for whom
convention played a significant 
part in them taking the gospel
to thousands abroad.  The 
opportunities are endless.
ANNA:  Well it is indeed 
thrilling to be in the Pencil 
Factory
this year, I don't think this is
the first year on the Pencil
Factory site?
JOHN:  Not quite, great for us 
to be here.
ANNA:  Bewe are not all one on 
this site but something to look
forward to, you can see the 
books on the convention website.
I
know our family loved the 
DumbRocks CD.
Now we are very excited to have 
EMU music bring us our sung
worship this week, let's join 
together with them and sing 
again
now.
ALANNA: while we were still 
sinners Christ died for us, 
choosing
us to be God's children.  What 
security and assurance we have 
in
Him.  Let's sing of these truths
together.
JOHN:  What a wonderful song, 
wonderful truths, thank you, now
we will continue that journey 
which Christopher Ash has been
leading us on, Psalm 2 to 6.
ANNA:  David Sleeman is bringing
our reading from Psalm 3, he
has grown upcoming every year 
and now in the youth work.  We
caught up with him and asked him
how going through the kids and
youth work has impacted on his 
Christian life.
DAVID:  Kids and youth work is 
such a great time.  It is 
amazing
to be with so many other 
Christian guys praising and 
worshiping
God, great time to think about 
what God's word means to me and
how God is shaping my life and 
where he is calling me to grow.
JOHN:  Great, before we have 
God's word read and preached 
let's
pray.  Psalm 19 Verse 17 says 
the statutes of the Lord are
trustworthy making wise the 
simple.  Father we are indeed
simple, our ways are not your 
ways.  Our thoughts are far from
your glorious thoughts.  Oh how 
we need your wisdom Father, give
us wisdom to know how to speak, 
and think and live rightly and
in ways that please you, we pray
this in Jesus precious name
amen.
ANNA:  Amen.
DAVID:  Psalm 3 a psalm of David
from when he fled from
Absalom's son.
CHRISTOPHER:  Well good morning.
I want to speak with you this
morning about pressure.  That 
psalm that we have just herd 
read,
Psalm 3, how many, many, many 
thousands all around, it is too
much!  Have you ever said that? 
You know what it is to be under
pressure, to be squeezed maybe 
in your workplace, squeezed
pressure of time and tasks and 
pressure of people.  Some
pressure of being locked down, 
maybe in a family where things
have been difficult.  Pressure, 
pressure in a neighbourhood,
pressure of course for much of 
the church of Christ, much
grittier than that, pressure of 
persistent persecution, Psalm 3
addresses the question of 
pressure, yesterday in Psalm 2 
we
watched spell bound really as 
God in heaven laughs at the 
absurd
riot against God and his 
anointed his Messiah, his 
Christ, we
watched that Son, that Christ, 
that King, promised that he is
going to rule the world.  It is 
a great start to the psalms
together with Psalm 1 but how is
that world dominion going to
come?  And the answer, Psalm 3 
begins to give us the answer as
the psalm tells the story.  The 
answer is that the worldwide
dominion will come through very 
deep suffering.  And Psalm 3,
you will see at the top it says 
the psalm of David when he fled
from Absalom his son.  We are 
fast forwarded from the 
beginning
of David's reign to that 
dreadful time 2 Samuel Chapters,
15,
16, 17, 18 when David has been 
on the throne for a while, his
son Absalom rebels and carries 
most of the people with him and
David has to flee Jerusalem 
because of that.  Now, in some 
ways
Absalom's rebellion, David had 
it coming to him.  In some ways
it was his fault, 2 Samuel 11 
his adultery with Bathsheba,
deceit, arranging for her 
husband to be killed.  It is a 
dark
story.  You see the destruction 
that comes to David's family
because of that.  Yet, unlike 
his predecessor King Saul who
never really repented, David had
repented and wonderfully he has
been forgiven and he is still 
God's anointed King.  Absalom is
wrong to rebel and as David 
flees we see God's anointed King
under tremendous pressure.  As 
so often in the psalms what we
see lived out in David's life 
and the drama that a thousand
years before Christ, foreshadows
a greater drama in the life of
the Lord Jesus Christ.  We are 
going to see this pressure on
David, we are going to see this 
pressure fulfilled in the Lord
Jesus Christ and then we are 
going to see all the aspects of
this psalm overflowing from 
Christ to his people.
I want to say 4 things to you 
this morning.  One from each 
pair
of verses, from this psalm, the 
first is this, from Verse 1 and
2.  It is sobers you and I need 
to expect pressure in Christ. 
The first  2 verses a crescendo 
"how many are my foes?"  Squeeze
and pressure and cause 
disstress, they are there in the
first
line, how many of them are my 
foes there?  Then in the second
line it goes up a notch.  Many 
are rising against me not just
that they are there and static 
and rising against me in
rebellion, exactly what happened
to David in Absalom's
rebellion, rose against him in 
rebellion.  David knew that, 
some
of David's suck sector sores 
know that, Hezekiah, David's 
heir
Hezekiah surrounded, how many 
many, all around, it is
frightening rising against.  But
if David knew it and Hezekiah
knew it.  The Lord Jesus 
supremely knew that.  This is 
the
rebellion at the beginning of 
Psalm 2 that riot.  Not 
everybody
against Jesus, but almost all 
who mattered, the people at the
centre of government and the 
popular Pharisees, today they 
would
be the social media stars and 
YouTubers, they were against 
him. 
The Romans, the imperial power 
against him, Herod, everybody 
who
mattered was against him.  How 
many?  You see the Lord Jesus
walking this earth surrounded by
those who hated him, plotting
to kill him.  Rising against 
him. 
What surprises the climax of 
this crescendo, comes in Verse 
2. 
The worse thing they do is not 
simply to be there the first
line, not even to rise against 
him in rebellion, the worst 
thing
they do in Verse 2 is to say 
something.  Many are saying of 
my
soul, they are saying something 
which goes right to the heart of
David's being, the core of his 
being, they are saying something
which reaches deeper than a 
sword can reach right to his 
heart. 
They are saying there is no 
salvation for him in God.  God's
not
going to save him.  That little 
word you see after that, we are
not sure what it means but 
probably a pause for thought, so
let's pause there and think.  
They are saying to him, it is 
not
just that we are rebelled 
against you, but God's not going
it
help you.  There is no salvation
for him in God.  This lockdown
will never end.  You will be 
squeezed and squeezed and 
squeezed
until you are crushed.  They 
said that to David as he brooked
Kidron to the east of Jerusalem,
climbed the Mount of Olives. 
They said that to the Lord 
Jesus, on the night before he 
died
crossed the brook Kidron, to the
garden of Gethsemane.  God is
not going to help you.  On the 
cross, they jeered at him.  I
don't think there is any 
salvation for him in God, God is
not
going to help him!  It is worth 
pondering how that jeering would
have gone to the soul of Jesus. 
Jesus has spoken with great
confidence, I have got power to 
lay down my life, power to take
it up again and my Father has 
given me that, I am the Son of
God, but now made sin for us.  
Now the burden and darkness and
ugliness of our sin crushes in, 
on him.  He hears these voices
saying, "you are fooling 
yourself if you think you have a
heavenly Father to help you, 
says he is the Son of God, 
doesn't
look like it now!"  Can we 
really go on trusting himself as
Peter puts to the one who judges
justly?  Terrible pressure. 
You and I if we are followers of
Jesus, must expect this
pressure in Christ.  We must 
expect that the whole church of
Christ will be squeezed by a 
sceptical world, persecuted all
over the world, squeezed by the 
world the flesh and the devil.
All around the people of Jesus, 
are people who think God isn't
going to help us.  If you live 
in India, the Hindu don't think
God is helping you, they think 
you are believing the wrong God.
If you live in Japan, those who
follow Shintu, they think you
need to worship the spirits of 
the shrines.  If you think in a
Islamic country, - if you belong
to a Buddhist culture, you
can't expect the god to help 
you, if you work in a secular
culture, don't expect god to 
help you.  Might have given help
to
your parents or grandparents - 
this is the normal experience of
Jesus Christ, if you think of 
children growing up in a 
Christian
home and they begin to hear it 
at an early age.  It is the 
sense
that the raised eyebrow of 
surprise, when they talk 
innocently
about Jesus, the curled lip of 
the sneer at secondary school,
the cold shoulder of exclusion 
of the parties if they are too 
up
front about following Jesus at 
college.
I think of a friend of mine just
recently, acted honorably and
has been shunned and vilified 
for it.  I think of two good
friends of mine, falsely accused
of something they didn't do and
having to endure a long process 
to clear their names.  Pressure.
Of course there is a particular 
twist to this if we are
Christian people because of our 
own sin.  One old writer in the
middle ages said that one of the
devil's tricks is this, he,
when you are tempted to a sin, 
the devil as it were whispers in
your ear, this is no big deal, 
it is fine, it is not a big 
deal. 
Then when you have done it.  The
devil said to you, that is
awful, how can you expect help 
from God?  It maybe that you 
have
something in your past, 
something which you remember, 
some lust
you acted out on, some cruelty 
that you exhibited, some deceit
when you - something that haunts
your nightmares and if you
think, I am under pressure, I 
can't expect God to help me.  
This
taunt, "God is not going to help
you" is is more deadly to David
than arrows, more painful to 
Jesus than the nails, more 
grievous
to his followers.  Don't be 
surprised expect that.
But then, David changes and the 
psalm changes gear in Verses 3
and 4.  If the first thing is to
expect this pressure, this is
the normal Christian life to be 
under pressure, the second is,
verses 3 and 4 claim the 
promises in Christ, but you O 
Lord, it
is emphatic, David claims 4 
Kingly privileges, first safety,
you
are a shield about me.  Verse 3.
We talk about shielding from
the Coronavirus, here is a 
better shielding.  I have set my
King
on Zion my holy hill, you are a 
shield about me Father, if I
give up my life, I don't because
I am forced to, but I give it
up because it is your will to 
save inissers.  You and I for
Christian people, the Lord Jesus
says to us all sorts of things
may happen to you, you maybe 
persecuted or killed but Jesus 
says
in Luke Chapter 21 not a hair on
your head with perish even if
you are killed, a shield, 
safety.
Then dignity, you are my glory, 
Verse 3, the royal dignity, they
were busy trying to mess with 
for David as he flees Jerusalem.
In Absalom's rebellion, the Lord
Jesus with his glory veiled,
the wonder and the glory of God,
you get glimpses into the
miracles, mostly veiled, and 
vilified,.
Most followers of Jesus are 
unimpressive and don't have face
recognition, we are not the 
people on the glamor magazines 
or
the celebrities, but the Bible 
says whole creation is standing
on tiptoe waiting to see the 
glory of the children of God.  
The
day will come if you are a 
follower of Jesus, however
unimpressive you maybe, when the
universe will look at you and
think, wow, what extraordinary 
glory and dignity there is, a
son, or a daughter of God, 
safety, dignity,  victory, Verse
3. 
Lifter of my head.  It is an 
image of victory, David fled 
with
his head covered in disgrace and
down in satness and defeat.  He
is a loser, they said of David 
you are a loser, they said of 
the
Lord Jesus you are a loser, 
crucified in nakedness and 
shame. 
You are a loser, they say of 
Jesus people, you are losers. 
Bible says if you follow Jesus 
just as Jesus is a winner, so 
you
will be winners, that lovely 
phrase in the book of 
Revelation. 
You go on trusting Jesus and one
day you will share in the
government of the new heaven and
earth with the Lord Jesus,
safety, dignity, victory,.
Then the power of prayer, I 
cried allowed to the Lord, I 
prayed
and he answered me, that is the 
privilege of the King, Psalm 2. 
Ask of me, you can pray, I will 
hear, the Father will hear the
son when he prays.  I cried 
allowed, he answered me from his
holy hill.  We met that in Psalm
2.  The place Mount Zion, and
in the name of Jesus, you and I,
we belong to Jesus, we may cry
allowed to the Lord and he will 
answer.
So verses 3 and 4 say you are 
under pressure, claim the
promises, remember what you have
in Christ, you have safety. 
You have dignity.  You have the 
assurance of victory, you have
the privilege of prayer, you can
do all of these things.
But then there is wonderfully, 
in Verses 5 and 6 we meet
something very surprising and 
beautiful.  In Verses 1 and 2 
say
there is pressure and verses 3 
and 4 say claim the promptses
that you have, promises that you
have in Christ as Christ
claimed those Kingly promises, 
Verses 5 and 6 say to us "now
enjoy those promises," if verses
3 and 4 are proclaiming, Verses
5 and 6 saying, David saying I 
am going to enjoy them.  "I lay
down and slept and woke again 
for the Lord sustained me."  
Clear
in Verse 6 nothing has changed, 
not that Absalom's rebellion was
crushed, but it was, but not 
crushed at this stage, Verse 6 
many
thousands of people, set 
themselves against me all 
around, it is
just as bad as it was if not 
worse.  Were David and indeed 
for
Jesus at the cross.  But he 
says, I am going to lie down and
sleep.  I lay down and slept.  
Means not that I once lay down
and slept and woke again but 
that is what I do because I 
trust
that the Lord will sustain me.  
You and I know that sleep is
exactly what you don't do when 
you are under pressure, pressure
messes with sleep doesn't it?  
Some of us know that very, very
well.  I am sure some of you 
that at least as well as I do,
pressure he ises with sleep.  If
people are hunting you for your
life, the last thing you want to
do to go quietly to sleep.  But
David did and Jesus did.  Think 
of Jesus earthly life, night
after night watched from enemies
from early in his ministry,
determined to kill him and 
destroy him.  His life had a 
price
on.  Night after night he went 
to sleep and slept and woke
again, the Lord sustained him.  
This of that extraordinary
occasion on a boat, in a storm 
on the lake in Galilee.  You see
the Sea of Galilee with the 
great storm and the Lord Jesus
asleep on the boat.  All the 
powers of chaos and hell trying 
to
destroy him, he says, I slept.  
I went to sleep, I woke again
because the Lord sustained me.  
One old writer said, truly it
must be a soft pillow indeed 
that could make David forget his
danger and the same with Jesus. 
What a soft pillow it is the
promises of God.
You and I can enter into that in
some measure, I no he that
sleep is complicated, and there 
are manner of reasons why we
might not sleep.  The Bible 
recognises that, there are times
when the Lord Jesus spent all 
night in prayer, times when the
apostle Paul had sleepless 
nights, not as simple as that 
but the
point is we can enjoy the 
security and the dig any and the
wonder that we have in Christ.  
Not that we hold on to it with
gritted teeth.  But there are 
times when we can go to sleep. 
Confident that we will wake 
again because of what we have in
Christ.
Now, there is an obvious 
objection to this, all very well
to
say, I will sleep and I am 
confident I will wake again. 
Sometimes people don't.  So the 
obvious objections, sometimes
they don't and people die, so 
what about that?  Now here is 
the
thing, I think this is very 
wonderful.  Once or twice in the
Old
Testament waking from sleep is a
picture of resurrection.  Not
usually, normally it means 
waking up in the morning, once 
or
twice it is a picture of 
resurrection.  Jesus uses that
language, so Jairus, his 
daughter has died.  Jesus comes 
to the
little girl's house and he says 
she is not dead, she is
sleeping.  Everybody laughs at 
him.  He goes up to her bedroom,
and in the most wonderful moment
he says to this young girl, he
says "it is time to get up now" 
he wakes her from her sleep and
she rises from the dead.  Says 
about Lazarus in John Chapter 11
he says our friend has fallen 
asleep.  Jesus disciples say, 
well
that is fine, the fever is over,
he will get better from his
illness.  No, you haven't got 
it.  He has fallen asleep, he 
has
died.  But I am going to wake 
him up.  So right from the very
beginning of the Christian 
faith, sleep became a picture 
of, of
death that would be followed by 
resurrection.  Paul writes in 1
Thessalonians 4, those who are 
asleep,.
From very early on Christian 
days, Verse 5 to hint at this
deeper truth.  Not only does the
King fall asleep and wake again
and again because the Lord 
sustains and his people too, but
on
that day when you and I fall 
asleep in the sleep of death, if
we
belong to Jesus, who is raised 
from the dead, we may fall 
asleep
confident that in Him we will be
raised.  Sometimes you see if
you look, I love looking at the 
gravestones in a country
churchyard, you see some 
fascinating things, every now 
and again
you will see some old 
gravestone, the name of the 
person died. 
Then say something like "fell 
asleep ..." and the date, or 
"fell
asleep in Jesus ..." and the 
date.  You have the moving 
picture
of the family weeping as they 
lower the coffin into the grave.
Yet if the Christian believers 
and if the one who has died
belongs to Jesus, they can say, 
"good night" they can say in the
most extraordinary way that what
we are doing with their loved
one is to say good night and 
fallen asleep in Jesus.  Carolyn
and I were walking around 
Westminster Abbey a while back, 
poets
corner, I found depressing, 
Oscar Wilde and they are a 
million
miles away from faith but they 
were in poet's corner, but then 
I
saw a Protestant poet "here 
lies, expecting the second 
coming of
our saviour Jesus Christ."  I 
wanted to, I mean I am very
English, I wouldn't do this, I 
wanted to dance a jig and shout
Hallelujah!  There is somebody 
who has fallen asleep in Jesus
and waiting for their return 
confident they will wake.  The
wonderful thing about Verse 5 is
this, you and I if we belong to
the Lord Jesus Christ, not that 
night by night we will fall
asleep, but when that day comes,
when we fall asleep in the
sleep of death we may do so 
confident that we will wake 
again in
Christ.
Look at Jesus says an old writer
and let faith teach you how to
sleep and how to die.  
Remembering that the same God 
watches
over you in your bed and in your
grave.  That is a deep truth
and there is certainly hope in 
that.  Expect pressure, claim 
the
promises, enjoy the promises and
then finally in the last 2
verses, look forward to the 
victory in Christ.  Arise O Lord
Verse 7 that is the prayer they 
used to say in the Old Testament
when the ark of the covenant 
went out with the people when
leading into battle.  Arise me, 
save me says the King.  That is
exactly what the mockers say 
that God won't do.  To save him.
There is no salvation for God 
Verse 2.  Save me O my God.
Then there is a confidence, you 
strike my enemies on the cheek,
that is insulting gesture, the 
disgrace, the slap on the cheek.
You break the teeth of the 
wicked.  The breaking of the 
teeth is
probably an image of the wicked 
being like a lion or a beast of
a pet forof some kind, you break
their teeth and they can't chew
up their pray.  Since the worst 
thing they have done is to say
something, I wonder if breaking 
their teeth means what they say
is less impressive.
Verse 2 there is no salvation 
for him in God sounds impressive
doesn't it?  When you break the 
teeth and it sounds like this. 
- it is not quite so good, 
doesn't sound impressive.  
"Arise O
Lord" and God will rescue his 
King, he did rescue David in 
some
measure.  He was restored to his
throne after Absalom's
rebellion, supremely he rescued 
and saved the Lord Jesus Christ,
rescued him, raised him from the
dead, gave him that dignity,
that rule over the world that he
promised him in Psalm 2.  So
Verse 8 look at Verse 8.  
Salvation, that is what the 
psalm is
about, salvation, rescue.  
Salvation belongs to the Lord.  
He
will save his people.
Blessing be on your people.  The
point of Verse 8 I think is
this that because God saves the 
King, because Jesus is saved and
raised from death and victory, 
and triumph and governs the
world, in Jesus, blessing or 
flows to all Jesus people and if
you belong to Jesus Christ, 
whatever pressures you maybe
enduring, whatever pressures you
maybe under and for many of our
brothers a and sisters in the 
world, pressure can be acute
persecution and sometimes death.
Whatever the pressures that
you are experiencing as a 
follower of Jesus and you and I 
are to
expect them, we say, well I am 
under pressure, we should say to
one another, that is normal, 
that is how it is, that is how 
it
is going to be.  We claim the 
promises we have in Christ.  We
begin to enjoy those promises 
that we have in Christ.  We
understand that there is hope 
because Jesus is saved, 
salvation
belongs to the Lord, he saves 
his King.  One, 19th century
Scottish writer says, when waves
of calamity are dashing over
the church.  We can use this 
psalm.  Remember that Jesus used
it.  My head, he means Jesus, 
our covenant head used this 
psalm. 
While I use his strains, the 
human heart will recall the
humiliation where he was 
comforted by and he says, we can
use
any clause, every word of the 
psalm, we can sing it in 
sympathy
with Jesus, hated by the world 
that hated him.  Loved and kept
by the Father who loved and kept
him and lifted him up. 
Sustained as he was, you and I 
will be in Christ.
Well the lying down and sleeping
will come again in tomorrow's
psalm.  If I can saithe this as 
you watch this on Tuesday,
tonight, I hope you will be 
given grace to lie down and 
sleep
and I hope you will be wake 
again and I hope tomorrow you 
will
join me for Psalm 4.  By the 
time you hear that, you will be
wide awake because it is another
tremendous psalm.  Let's be
quiet just for a moment, have a 
quiet pause and then I will say
a prayer.
Gracious God our heavenly Father
enthroned in heaven
we thank you that you saved 
David at this time of pressure. 
We
thank you above all that you 
saved the Lord Jesus Christ your
righteous son, that you raised 
him from the dead, that he
continued to trust you.  We pray
that as we walk in the
footsteps of the Lord Jesus you 
would give us grace, in all the
pressures of our lives to trust,
to enjoy the promises that we
have in Jesus, to sleep. and to 
wake.  To know that on that day
when we sleep the sleep of 
death, we do so because we sleep
in
Jesus and we will wake in 
resurrection.  Now we pray that
something of the joy of that 
assurance would give us hope, in
the darkest days and we ask it 
for Jesus sake, amen.
Ananias
ANNA:  Isn't it wonderful to 
have that joy of assurance and 
to
give us hope under pressure.  
One way to remind us of that 
hope
is to sing the truth.  We will 
do that now,: I will sing the
wounderous story.
ANNA:  Well Psalm 3 Verse 3 
says.  But you O Lord are a 
shield
around me.  My glory, the one 
who lifts my head high, I call 
out
to the Lord and he answers me.  
I lie down to sleep, the Lord
sustains me.  Father God we pray
that even though we expect
pressure in Christ, we might 
claim the promises in Christ, 
and
enjoy these promises.  That we 
might know you as a shield 
around
us as our glory, that you might 
answer us when we call out and
sustain us through the pressures
of life.  That through whatever
storms life might bring our way,
we may lift our voices in song
and tell your wounderous story, 
that one day, we might indeed
join your saints in glory 
gathered by the crystal sea.  
Amen.
JOHN:  Amen.
ANNA:  Thank you so much for 
joining us this morning, from
wherever you are, let us know 
how you have been experiencing 
the
Keswick Convention, on the 
website, using your hash tag, 
show us
your favourite mugs in coffee 
break now, somebody had tea and
toast yesterday which sounds 
great.
JOHN:  We have a dedicated 
prayer team who are happy to 
pray
confidentiality with you, coming
next, we have the children and
youth streams, if you want to 
access those, go to the website
and use the red or the green 
tabs there, next we have Jo 
Jackson
talking of the subject of hope 
and grief.  Join us at 11:15
after a short coffee break thank
you.
ANNA:  Welcome back, I hope you 
have got a cup of something warm
and a snack to fuel you through 
our seminar session, Jo Jackson
giving us a talk on the topic of
hope and grief.
JOHN:  Children's and youth 
streams can be accessed through 
the
website.  After the seminar, Q&A
with Jo, use the number below,
the earlier you can get the 
questions in the better.  Before
we
start let's pray.
Father you know our hearts as we
watching this this morning, you
know that many of us are 
grieving in all sorts of ways.  
Father
you know that many of us know 
people who have grieving.  So we
ask that you would speak to us, 
that you would comfort us, that
you might equip and enable us to
be comfort to others.  We ask
this in Jesus name amen.
ANNA:  Amen.
JOHN:  Jo.
JO:  Hello, my name is Jo 
Jackson and this seminar we will
be
thinking about hope and grief.  
In light of Co-vid 19.  I am
really sad that we can't be 
together in person and it is 
very
strange talking to a camera.  
Because we don't have the normal
introductions that I imagine we 
would do at the beginning of a
seminar, I thought it would be 
worth start by telling you a
little bit about who I am given 
we are not together in person, I
am a Christian.  By the Lord's 
grace brought up in a Christian
family and began following Jesus
when I was a child.  It really
is a testimony to his 
faithfulness and grace that 
still today I
am trusting in Jesus.
I married to Mark who is a 
Minister in the Church of 
England, we
have 4 children, all who are 
around Primary School age.  As 
well
as looking after them.  I serve,
work for All Souls Church
Langham Place as their Director 
of Counselling.  Offer pastoral
care and biblical counselling to
members of the church family
and beyond.  I am a psychologist
by training.  My passion is to
see how the riches of Christ are
his word meet the realities of
our everyday life and I am 
hoping that is what we will do 
today
together as we think about hope 
and grief.  So let me pray as we
get going.  Father God thank you
that you are with us no matter
where we are.  Thank you that 
you have brought us together to
look at your word, to learn from
you and Father I do ask that
you would speak to each one of 
us.
Please warm our hearts and
point us to the sure hope that 
we have in Christ.  In the midst
of grief I pray Lord in Jesus' 
name amen.
So I don't know what comes to 
mind when you hear the word 
grief. 
I expect for most of us we think
automatically about the loss of
a loved one.  Grief most 
certainly is that.  That is one 
of the
most intense and profound 
experiences of grief.  But grief
is
more than that as well.  In fact
it is the response to a loss of
anything that we held dear.  A 
job, a relationship, a home.
A
situation.  An expectation.  A 
hope.
The Bible has all sorts of words
that it uses nor grief. for 
grief, it
talks about mourning, sorrow, 
lament.  I whilst grief is
primarily an emotional response 
to loss, it is also more than
that, it involves our thinking 
and our behaving and our 
physical
being.  It affects our sleep and
our appetite and energy levels. 
It is a whole person response to
loss. and trials.
Now I imagine there will be some
people here for whom grief is a
very present and painful 
reality.  You know you are in a 
season
of acute grief and I am so 
pleased that you are with us.  
For
others of us that won't be such 
a present reality but we know
what it is like to grieve.  And 
if we think about just the last
few months, the lockdown and all
the changes that have come
about as a result of the 
pandemic, I expect we will all 
have
experienced loss of various 
kinds.  I think about the people
I
know and there are people who 
have lost their jobs.  Who have
lost connection with others, 
lost financeable security.  The 
way
that we study and work and shop 
and socialise has all been
rewritten.  I expect all of us 
have experienced the loss when 
it
comes to physically meeting 
together.  Both with friends and
family but also with church.  
Our church family.  Having to do
services on-line, or meeting 
in small-groups via zoom there 
is a
loss with that, it is hard.  I 
also know friends who have had 
to
cancel weddings, had to give 
birth by themselves because the
husbands weren't allowed in the 
hospital ward.  Operations
cancelled, treatments postponed 
as well as people who have lost
loved ones.  Mothers, fathers, 
aunts, sisters and who have had
to have funerals on-line or in 
such a limited way that they
weren't even able to receive a 
hand shake or hug at the time
they needed it the most.  We all
have experienced losses.  And
we will all be called no doubt 
to walk alongside other people 
in
the midst of grief.
So, let's have a look and see 
what God has to say about grief.
And the hope that he offers.  I 
thought it would be useful to
base our time in a particular 
passage and I have chosen 1 
Peter
1 because that is a passage that
speaks very clearly about grief
and hope so if you have a Bible,
do grab it, do turn up 1 Peter
Chapter 1 so we can keep looking
at it throughout our time and I
will read it together now.
Praise by to the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In
his great mercy he has given us 
new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of 
Jesus Christ from the dead and 
into
an inheritance that can never 
perish, spoil or fade.  This
inheritance is kept in heaven 
for you, who through faith has
been shielded by God's power 
until the coming of salvation 
that
is ready to be revealed in the 
last time.  In this you greatly
rejoice.  So now, for a little 
while, you may have had to 
suffer
grief in all kinds of trials.
BeA proven genuineness of your
faith, of greater work than 
gold, which perishes, may result
in
praise, honour and glory when 
Jesus Christ is revealed.  
Though
you have not seen him you love 
him and even though you do not
see him now, you believe in him.
Are filled with an
inexpressesable and glorious 
joy, you are receiving the end
result of your faith, the 
salvation of your souls.
Well the first thing I would 
love us to see from the passage,
grief is to be expected.  Have a
look at Verse 6 in the middle
Peter writes "now for a little 
while you have had to suffer
grief in all kinds of trials" 
grief is to be expected.  Grief 
is
normal.  Peter was writing to 
Christians who lived in a 
society
that was hostile to their faith.
Slandered maligned, family and
livelihoods were threatened.  We
know from scripture and
experience that persecution is a
reality for Christians but not
only the trial we face, there 
are all kinds of trials.  That
come from living in this fallen 
world.
As we know the arifle of sin in 
this world, back in Genesis the
willful rebellion, starting with
Adam and Eve and tracking
through to death and judgment 
and brokenness into every aspect
of life, every element, every 
sphere of us and our world. 
Physical death is now a reality,
a certainty for everyone and
the shadow of death which is 
seen and experienced in all 
these
smaller losses in all kinds of 
trials.  From disappointments, 
to
disease, from depression to 
divorce.  It leaves no one
untouched.  Co-vid 19 is just 
one small example of God's
judgment.  A painful reminder of
the awfulness of sin.  We live
in a world that is full of 
trials and grief is to be 
expected. 
Within the psychological world 
there has been discussion about
how as a society we have been 
grieving both individually and
collectively over the things we 
have lost as a result of Co-vid
19 and an anticipatory grief 
over the things we will 
anticipate
we will lose and perhaps one of 
the reasons why this pandemic
has been so disorientating, 
perhaps especially for us in the
west is that we actually don't 
expect grief.  You know there is
a narrative in our society that 
life should get better.  That we
should go from strength to 
strength.  We should get a 
better
job, we will earn more money and
become more successful.  There
can be a positive spin put on 
almost anything and under normal
circumstances death is rarely 
talked about, we hide it away in
nursing homes and try our best 
to ignore the fact that we will
all one day die.  Sooner or 
later.  Yet, the pandemic has
brought death to our doorstep in
a whole new way.  I am sure I
am not the only one who earlier 
on would look at the statistics
and try to work out how likely I
was to die according to age
bract, should I die if I got the
virus.  In our society we don't
normally expect grief in trials,
it doesn't fee normal.
As a church, I think whilst we 
are more comfortable talking
about death, grief, I am not so 
sure.  You know, I was recently
working with someone who was 
grieving the loss of her child. 
She would talk about how she 
would go to church and people
wouldn't know how to relate to 
her, either be the awkward
silence or people would avoid 
her.  Or they would come and try
and encourage her by, by 
offering her sort of theological
platitudes in telling her to 
remember the good things that 
God
has given her or know that even 
in this he is working for good
or that probably God is like to 
give another child.  Even though
they meant well and even if 
there was perhaps truth in it, 
it
was very difficult for people to
grieve with her.  To mourn with
her, without trying to make 
things seem better.
You know one of the great 
privileges of doing my job is 
that I
get to see how sin and suffering
is such a present reality in
everyone's life.  You know, I am
under no illusions now about
how much you and I both 
struggle.  But I realised that a
lot of
people don't see that.  They 
walk into church and seems like
everyone is doing really well.  
Everyone is happy and smiling
all the time and, when people 
don't feel that, when they feel
grief and when they are in a 
season of mourning, they can
actually be very difficult to 
come to church.  They can even
feel ashamed or embarrassed 
about crying in church.  I don't
think is how it should be 
because as we have seen, grief 
is
actually normal for the 
Christian, it is to be expected.
God's
word tells us that that is the 
case.  Whilst in some ways that
might sound depressing, 
recognising that grief is to be
expected, well it frees us in 
many ways.  It frees us from
thinking that there is something
uniquely wrong with us or our
lives when we face trouble or 
loss.  You know that the world
tells us if we meet the right 
person, pursue the right career,
raise our children and take the 
right visit mines, then you will
be fine and - this world is not 
our home.  In Verse 4 Peter
talks about an inheritance that 
cannot spoil or fade, everything
in this world does perish spoil 
or fade.  So when grief comes
your way, please don't think 
that God is singling you out for
some special kind of torture.  
Or that you have necessarily 
done
something specifically wrong 
that you are suffering in this 
way. 
He tells us that grief is to be 
expected.
Not only that,
knowing that grief is normal, it
is to be expected in the
Christian life, it means we 
don't have to pretend that
everything is fine.  The command
to rejoice always doesn't mean
that there is no room for 
sadness and sorrow.  There is 
nothing
unspiritual about grief.  We are
not failing as a Christian.  In
fact it is the opposite.  The 
gospel actually gives us grounds
to grieve, to mourn because we 
know very well that this world
isn't what it should be that it 
is under judgment.  In one sense
grief is the right response to 
the sadness and sin and 
suffering
around us.
But also grief knowing grief is 
to be expected, it frees from a
wrong understanding of the 
gospel, following Jesus doesn't 
mean
we will be free from hardship 
and loss.  When we face trouble 
it
doesn't mean that somehow God is
letting us down, that he has
stopped loving us or stopped 
being good or broken promises.  
I
know people whose faith has been
ship wrecked on the rocks of
trials because they thought that
God was somehow not keeping up
his end of the bargain, that 
somehow he owed them a life free
from trials and grief.  When 
they face unexpected loss, they
turn away from him.  It might be
worth taking time to think
about what gospel you are 
believing.  Because I think we
probably all tempted to think 
that somehow God owes us a good
life.  But he hasn't promised us
a life free from trials and
grief.  But, for his children, 
he has promised that grief will
not be the end.  This is the 
second thing I would love us to
see, have a look at 1 Peter 1 
verses 3 to 4.
Praise be to the God and Father 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, in his
great mercy he has given us new 
birth into a living hope through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the death and into an
inheritance, that can never 
perish, spoil or fade.  The 
moment
you put your trust youth  in 
Christ, you have been given new 
birth into
a living hope.  Not a dead hope 
based on wishful thinking but a
hope that is alive.  So you 
notice through the resurrection 
of
Jesus Christ, from the dead and 
certain as Jesus rose from the
dead, which by the way is a 
foundation of our faith, as 
certain
as that happened so our hope is 
guaranteed.  Just as sure as
Jesus now lives, so our hope is 
living.
Yes, Paul Miller wrote about how
cynicism is increasingly the
dominant spirit of the age.  You
know the idea that you don't
invest emotionally in anything, 
it is a protection mechanism. 
If you don't care, you are less 
likely to get hurt.  If you
don't hope, then you won't be 
disappointed.
I have to admit I have sympathy 
with this point of view.  But as
Christians we should never be 
cynical about our hope in Jesus.
Because it will in no way 
disappoint.
His resurrection points
to a day when death and mourning
and sorrow and pain will be no
more.  When sin and struggle and
suffering will be done away
with.  When everything that was 
lost will be restored, when
everything that was broken will 
be mended, everything that is
sad undone and ourselves and 
this world will be made new and
more glorious than even the best
things in the world.  So much
so that even the highest 
experience of joy and love and 
beauty
and life will seem like shadows.
More wonderful than anything 
else we will see our Father
face-to-face and no longer have 
to struggle walking by faith
because we will be able to walk 
by sight and see him with our
own eyes.
The hope we have in Christ 
doesn't get rid of trials, but 
it
guarantees that no matter how 
deep or wearisome or grief is, 
it
won't last forever, God has put 
a limit on it.  We are told for
those in Christ, a day is coming
whenever tear will be wiped
away and those mourning will be 
comforted, weeping may be for
the night but rejoicing in the 
morning.  So that grief and
trials is only for a little 
while.  Did you notice that how
Peter described it?  I love that
because it makes it sound so
kind of trivial and limited, 
which in the midst of grief it
doesn't sound that way but that 
is really is what it is.  Grief
is only for a little while.  The
resurrection of Christ from the
dead, is a guarantee that death 
will someday die and that what
awaits us will never perish 
spoil or fade, and that our 
future,
our living hope will be 
revealed. 
These are great and precious 
promises.  Ones we need to cling
to, as I said if you are in the 
midst of grief, it feels it will
never end.  I know people who 
are in deep depression and can't
see the light at the end of the 
tunnel or people who have been
so hurt by life, and 
disappointed that they are 
afraid to cry
because if they start crying 
they might not stop.  But no 
matter
how strong our feelings or bleak
our situation, as Christians we
have hope.  So cling to it.  
Memorise these promises, buy 
into
your hearts, speak about them, 
sing about them, talk to the 
Lord
about them, talk to yourself 
about them.  When things feel
overwhelming say to him Lord, I 
can't cope, I don't understand
this grief.  It feels like it 
will never end but help me to
trust that it will do.  Help me 
to cling for this hope even just
for today.  Help me to know that
this won't last forever.
The Lord tells us that grief 
will be expected but for the
Christian grief it is not the 
end.  So finally, what does it
look like to grieve and hope?  
Well there are lots of things we
could say here, let me highlight
a couple of applications.  The
first is to lament.  We have 
seen that grief is to be 
expected
in the Christian life but there 
is a distinctive way we grieve
as Christians.  That is we bring
our grief before the Lord.  He
doesn't call us to bear it 
silently or stoically ignore it.
We
aren't only to unload it to a 
therapist or a friend, bring it 
to
the Lord, the Bible word for 
this is lament.  Part of the
reasons why the psalms are so 
precious to people in pain is 
they
are filled with lament.  People 
crying out to God, crying out,
asking for him to act.  The 
psalms of lament show us what it
looks like for the Christian to 
grieve well, they are raw and
honest and sometimes 
uncomfortably so, but they are 
prayers and
songs of faith, precisely 
because they are said to the 
Lord.  So
lament.  Lament with your whole 
heart.
One of my favourite verses from 
the psalms, Psalm 62 Verse 8
trust in him at all times you 
people, pour out your hearts to
him.  For God is our refuge.  
God invites us to pour out our
heart to him.  To tell him 
everything and anything that is 
in
our hearts.  Learning how to do 
that in lament is one of the key
ways that as Christians we 
grieve in hope.  By the way if 
you
are wanting to walk alongside 
someone else who is in the midst
of grief, then learning to 
lament with them is a great 
place to
start.  After all, the psalms 
were written to be said or sung
collectively.  This is something
that we can do together.  Now
there is lots that could be said
on this topic but there is a
seminar tomorrow specifically 
looking at lament.  So I would
encourage you to go to that and 
think more about what it looks
like to lament and so to grieve 
in hope.
Well the first way to grieve and
hope is to lament, the second
way is to look to Jesus.  Now 
when life is hard we may
theologically know that comfort 
is found in Jesus and yet we
often turn to other things.  We 
try to distract ourselves, binge
watching Netflix or YouTube or 
immersing ourselves in work or
computer games.  We might seek 
comfort in a bottle of wine and
chocolate.  We might try to even
alleviate the pain through
pornography or self-harm or 
obsessive exercise.  Whilst 
these
might provide some momentary 
relief, it does not last.  You
know, often leaves us feeling 
more empty and more alone in our
grief.
But there is one person who can 
provide the 
comfort and the
strength and the solace that you
need.  That of course is Jesus. 
It is uniquely him because he is
the one who has gone before us. 
He is the one who knows what it 
is to grieve.  You know, it is
just totally mind blowing to 
think that we have a friend in
Jesus who didn't remain distant.
Who didn't protect himself
from loss or avoid the pain of 
grief, but came to this world 
and
emptied in to the worst of our 
experiences in the profoundest 
of
ways.  He lost material comfort.
Financial security.  A home. 
He wept at the grave side of 
friends.  He was let down and
abandoned by those who are 
closest to him.  He knows the 
pain of
loneliness.  Ultimately, he bore
the weight of our sin, all of
it.  On the cross, experienced 
the incomprehensible loss of his
Father's love.  Jesus 
experienced more grief than 
anyone else. 
The man of sorrows and 
unacquainted with grief is how 
Isaiah
describes him and he did it for 
us.  He was forsaken so we would
be forgiven, gave up everything 
so we might gain everything,
subjected himself to grief so 
that we will never have to 
grieve
alone.  So, when you face grief,
keep looking to Jesus.  Know
that he is with you.  Pour out 
your heart to him.  This is how
we grieve in hope.
Let me pray for us.
Thank you Father that you give 
us a living
hope through the resurrection of
your son Jesus Christ.  Father
we pray that when we, and others
experience grief, we would keep
looking to Jesus, keep clinging 
to our hope knowing that grief
is to be expected but that we 
will never grieve alone and that
a
day is coming that will put an 
end to all grief and loss.  In
Jesus name we pray.  Amen.
JOHN:  Jo thank you so much for 
so helpfully pointing us towards
living hope.  Now we have got a 
bit of time to put your
questions to Jo, Jo is tuning 
in, are you there?  Where are 
you
speaking to us from?
JO:  Yes I am speaking from 
London, but I was in Keswick 
only
last week.
JOHN:  Ah we missed you.  A 
whole tonne of questions, I will
crack on.
JO:  By all means.
JOHN:  How old should we relate 
to people who are grieving? 
What should we say?
JO:  Great question, so, I 
suppose what I often bear in 
mind is
how Jesus related to people who 
are grieving and in particular,
I think of his responses to Mary
and Martha at the death of
their brother Lazarus.  You will
remember that with Mary he wept
with her and with Martha he 
spoke truth and pointed her to 
the
resurrection of the dead.  We 
all need both of those.  We all
need people who will weep with 
us, and people who will speak
truth to our hearts to reassure 
us, to comfort us.
So we will probably have 
different tendencies, some of us
more
likely to seek more truths and 
some more likely to do the
weeping.  Both of those in mind,
a few, I suppose follow-up
comments about that.  Learning 
how to listen well to someone is
really important.  Communicating
that you want to hear that you
want to understand that you are 
with them, mourning alongside
them is something that is so 
valuable and such a precious 
gift
to someone who is facing loss 
and sorrow.  So being able to do
that well but also not being 
afraid at the right time with
gentleness and compassion.  So 
to point them to Jesus, perhaps
ask if you can pray with them or
for them, perhaps carefully
consider a verse 
or a passage that communicates 
God's love or
presence with them is something 
that is a wonderful thing to do.
JOHN:  That is great thank you 
for answering.
ANNA:  How do we help someone 
who is not a Christian to 
grieve?
JO:  Many ways all of those 
things apply, there is a 
fundamental
difference that someone who is 
not a Christian doesn't have 
that
sure hope.  But you want to 
communicate God's love for them 
by
being with them in their grief. 
That is something that when
people don't have hope, find it 
very difficult to do, it is
difficult to mourn with people 
and, I think having the strength
knowing that God is your 
strength means that you actually
can
get into the pit alongside them.
And, also I would say, don't
be afraid again to speak of 
Jesus but, I think we, of course
we
need to be aware, when a 
non-Christian is grieving it is 
not the
time to think great, they are at
their most vulnerable, now is
the time to win them for Christ.
Now is not necessarily the
time, we don't want to take 
advantage of someone who, who is
very vulnerable.  And so in one 
sense I would often well, pray
about it, ask for permission, 
you know, ask if they would be
willing for you to pray for 
them.  Tentatively ask if you 
could
share with them as a comfort to 
you and pray that you might show
them something of God's immense 
love for them.  In the midst of
their grief and loss.
ANNA:  That's great Joe thank 
you, for not to be afraid to get
in the pit with them.  That is 
helpful to know.
JOHN:  Jo a connected question 
and one I came across myself, I
am eager to hear your answer: 
what do you think is the best 
way
to support someone who does not 
believe in Christ.?
JO:  This is an incredibly 
painful situation to be in, if 
that
is asked by a particular person 
who is facing that situation, my
heart goes out to you, all of us
are likely to face this
situation.  I don't think there 
is any easy answer but the Lord
is good and the Lord is just.  
We are called when we don't
understand it to put our hope 
and trust in Him.  Know that He
will do right.
With any grief and as well as 
when grieving for
a non-Christian, the Lord calls 
you to come to Him, to pour out
your heart to Him.  Don't be 
afraid to tell Him your doubts,
fears, concerns, anger, regrets,
all of that, he longs to hear
and he will be with you in it.  
Remember His heart.  He wept
over Jerusalem, he longed for 
the lost to come to him.  It
breaks his heart when someone 
dies not trusting in the Lord
Jesus.  But ultimately that is 
not our decision to make, we
don't know what might have 
happened in those last hours or
minutes for that person.  We are
still called to put our trust
in the Lord and depend on Him.
JOHN:  Thanks so much.  That is 
really helpful.  Thank you.
ANNA:  Great one from Paul here 
Jo, you mentioned as an aside
the pandemic was a judgment of 
sin.  Can you just briefly 
unpack
a bit about the relationship 
between judgment sin and 
suffering?
JO:  Yes thank you.  The world 
is broken and it is 
fundamentally
broken because of our sin and 
because of God's judgment the
pandemic is most certainly an 
evidence of God's judgment but I
say that with one big caution, 
it is not a personal judgment. 
As Jesus reminded us in the 
gospel, it is not a personal
judgment on any individual but 
it is a demonstration of a wake
up call to the world that we 
have a broken relationship with 
the
Lord and yet he is calling us 
back to him.  So yes it is, it 
is
God's judgment and we can't shy 
away from that.  He is being
patient in giving us these 
warning signs, beckoning us to 
come
to him but by no means is it a 
personal judgment on any
particular individual that they 
are somehow more sinful than
someone else and more deeply 
hurt in the pandemic than 
others.
ANNA:  Helpful thanks Jo.
JOHN:  A personal one, I think 
it is helpful.  My sister died a
year ago today from cancer, 
thank you so much for the 
ministry
today, it is certainly a word 
for me for the moment.  
Wonderful
to see her faith grow through 
the suffering and ours, is it 
odd
that we feel more grief now than
we did at first.
JO:  Thank you for the 
encouragement, I am sorry to 
hear about
your loss.  I would say no, it 
is actually really common to 
feel
more bereft later on.  When 
someone dies there is initially 
so
much to do, there is so much 
change to take place, lots of
things to focus our attention 
on, that are to do with the 
person
we lost, planning a funeral, 
sorting out their, the immediate
after affairs, not only that, 
everyone else knows you have
experienced this loss and comes 
to your aid.  They will be
asking about it and praying for 
you I hope.  Perhaps bringing
you meals.  You will be very 
much in people's minds and it is
very present.  Yet as time goes 
by, time goes on for other
people.  Yet it doesn't for your
sister, it doesn't for the
person you have lost and in one 
sense it doesn't for you as the
person who is bereaved.  You are
still facing that loss and you
face that loss everyday and it 
is harder when other things move
on and yet that hasn't been able
to move on.  No I don't think
it is uncommon, perhaps it is a 
reminder for us all who are
looking after others, who have 
lost loved ones.  Keep that in
mind, a year on, two years on, 
to still ask them about their
loss and ask canning how we can 
pray for them, for the hope we
have in Jesus.  And for us as we
experience that loss, be
patient, be kind because that is
how God treats us.  So no, keep
going.  Keep looking to Him.
JOHN:  Thanks Jo, I have heard
people say, mark the landmarks
when the person misses the loved
one, anniversary, birthday.  It
is helpful.
ANNA:  Is there a time period 
where you think it is helpful to
seek professional help or a 
point at which you think 
actually we
should do that now?
JO:  So interestingly, at least 
within the NHS, it is often not
advised to have counselling or 
therapy after bereavement for at
least 6 months and that kind of 
guideline is put in place
because there is a sort of 
normal process to grieving, to 
loss,
that takes time.  Whilst you 
know, those initial stages are
difficult and painful and we 
think we definitely need the
support we can get.  Actually 
that is not the time to seek
professional help.  Yet there 
may well be a time if the grief 
is
complicated by other things, it 
will be useful to do so.  I
would say, don't neglect to, to 
make the best use of your family
and friends.  So whilst I 
absolutely wholeheartedly 
believe that
professional help is a gift of 
God to the church and there may
well be a good time to seek that
out and I would do so for
(inaudible) about it.  Or, ... 
church family, ask people for 
the
help you need, don't be afraid 
to communicate how you feel, to
others, asking them for prayer, 
seek wise counsel, people who
love you and who know you and 
who will walk with you and will
support you no matter what.  So 
if you do seek professional
help, by all means do so, but do
so with your church family
supporting you all the way.
JOHN:  Just really briefly, 
final question: is the Christian
hope just for tomorrow?
JO:  Jam tomorrow?  We hold on 
until heavennened the rest of it
is difficult?  I would say no.  
There of course is this
wonderful hope that will make 
all things right, that we look
forward to, but here and now, 
fundamentally we have the Holy
Spirit which is the greatest 
gift to us and that assures us 
of
God's love for us, His presence 
with us, that He will never
leave us or fore sake us, he 
gives us purpose knowing that 
God
will use everything, nothing 
will be wasted.  That we now 
have a
calling to live to continue to 
live for Him.  It gives us 
power,
he gives us power, the Holy 
Spirit gives us power to live 
for
Jesus, no matter what we are 
facing.
JOHN:  Jo thanks so much.  I 
will pray as we finish.  Father
thank you that we have your 
spirit with us.  Giving us 
power,
giving us confidence, 
reassurance that we are yours, 
thank you
that you have given us church 
friends and family to encourage 
us
in the way.  Thank you that we 
have that future and living 
hope,
one day we will be with you and 
your son.  Pray that you will
help us as we help those who 
struggling with grief and as we
struggle with our own grief, we 
ask this in Jesus name amen.
Thanks so much Jo, see you soon.
ANNA:  Thanks Jo, this is the 
end of our seminar slot.  Stay
tuned for Pete and Christine 
Winmill who will bring the Count
Everyone In devotion to you, 
accessible devotion, accessible 
to
all of those with learning 
disabilities as well as the 
usual
programme of events with our 
evening celebration starting at 
8
we have a special afternoon 
planned for you, there is going 
to
be a concert by awesome cutlery,
featuring special guests I know
that lots of family filming.  
That is
2:00 o'clock here here on
the website.  Tune in for that. 
Otherwise whatever you are
doing, wherever you are, have a 
great afternoon.
CHRISTINE:  Hello and thanks for
joining us again, welcome to
council everyone inn of this 
Virtually Keswick, my name is
Christine, I am here with my 
husband Pete and with January
Janneke Klos,
each day we are bringing a 
verse, prayer and a verse to 
learn to
sign.  Today, hope because Jesus
was saved.  Here is our Bible
reading.  Lord you are like a 
shield that keeps me safe.  You
bring me honour, you help me win
the battle.  (On screen)
Now let's go to Janneke and see 
what she has to say about that.
JANNEKE:  Sometimes I have days 
when everything seems to go
wrong.  I wake up in the 
morning, get out of bed and the 
first
thing I do is stub my tow 
against the bed.  At breakfast I
spill
my coffee down my lovely clean 
shirt.  I cycle to work, I am
half way there, my bike tyre has
a puncture.  Then I finally get
to work, I realise the lift is 
not working and I have to carry
all of my heavy bags up 4 
flights of stairs.  Then to top 
it off
at lunchtime, I realise I left 
my lunch at home.  Things like
that, they are really hard 
aren't they?  They feel like 
such a
battle and the more I try and 
fight them, the more things tend
to go wrong.  On days like 
these, I find hope and comfort 
in
Psalm 3.  Because the battles 
that I face everyday, the big
battles but also the little ones
are the ones I don't have to
fight on my own.  Jesus wants to
fight them for me, Jesus wants
to save me.  I need to make sure
that I tell him about all the
battles that I face every single
day.
PETER:  Thanks, really 
interesting isn't it it is good 
to look
at the Bible and find out what 
things are going on and how they
relate to us today.  I wonder?  
Have you had a hard day today? 
Does your day feel like it is a 
battle?  Well let's tell Jesus
about it.  Let's ask him for 
help.  (On screen)
Well it is over to Janneke again
to bring us our verse of the
week and to remind us of the 
signing.  I wonder?  Have you 
been
practising?  I know I still need
to.
JANNEKE:  May the God who gives 
hope fill you with great joy. 
May you have perfect peace as 
you trust in Him.  May the power
of the Holy Spirit fill you with
hope.
Romans 15 Verse 13.
PETER:  Thank you Janneke, got 
any better yet?  I am still
struggling a bit myself, plenty 
of time to practice, it is
good-bye from today and we look 
forward to seeing you back here
tomorrow.  Bye!
