IMAGINE you are a castle on a hill.
You have plenty of food to eat, comfy beds and a beautiful view of the mountains around you.
But you’re scared of being invaded so you turn off all the lights, draw up the moat and shoosh anyone who speaks above a whisper.
This makes sense if you want to avoid trouble and make sure that you are looked after personally.
So what happens when a tired traveller comes, desperately needing to sleep and eat? Can they find this place of rest?
On Sunday, Pastor Rob spoke about the phrase that “we are in the world but not of it”.
It’s an expression we throw around a lot in church, but what does it actually mean?
Pastor Rob explained that as Christians, we live in the physical world but we don’t put stock in the things that it offers like wealth and career.
1 John 2:15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
So why does God want us to be separate from these things?
He wants us to learn to rely on Him, and to help us stand out in the darkness.
Sometimes, I don’t want to put my head above the parapet. I don’t want to seem weird and I’m worried that my friends will judge me.
But God needs us to step up and show all the good things He has done in our lives.
Our castles should be fully lit on top of a hill to show people how God has blessed us.
He doesn’t want us to keep the Holy Spirit experience a secret.
Instead, He wants us to share it with everyone in the world.
Matthew 5:15-16 “Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”