Who do you think you are?

Father God, You are the One who formed us, knew us, and called us by name. As we gather today, open our hearts to hear Your voice and to understand who we truly are in Christ. Amen. Introduction / Background Part of “Staycation: Mission at Home” What God said to the exiles – Make family. Harsh Question Sometimes the question “Who do you think you are?” can be a harsh question. It can be asked in outrage that you would dare to do something, or dare to question something. That’s not the sort of question we are looking at today. Today, we are looking at identity. What is it that makes you who you are?

TV Show The TV show, “Who do you think you are?” is all about family history. Interesting though it is, there are some occasions when the discovered history has no obvious relationship to the persons current life. On other occasions you can see the consistency of the family characteristics or particular set of skills, through the generations. These only represent a part of each of us, in much the same way that our medical history is not defined by our parents medical history, although there is a strong link. Unlikely Birth In the film “The Meaning of Life” there is a song, the Galaxy Song, which tells us all about our galaxy, but also includes the line: So remember, when you're feeling very small and insecure How amazingly unlikely is your birth There are all sorts of things that make your birth unlikely. Supposing your parents had never got together? Or their parents … and so on. You would not be here. Supposing they had for some non-medical reason, been unable to have children around the time you were born – perhaps they were forced apart by war, or economic circumstances. You would not be here. But you are – all of those apparently random circumstances have led to you and I. You are a product of the genetic material of your father and mother, this combines in ways that science says is largely unpredictable. Some scientists estimate the number of possible viable human genetic combinations to be around 10^1024. So, you are not 1 in a billion, you are 1 in 10 with 1024 zeros. That makes you pretty unique. That’s the number of different ways you can be knit together in your mother’s womb. (Psalm 139:13-14) Identical Twins – Different People Even if your DNA does not make you unique, your circumstances most certainly do. I have twin girls, we are pretty sure that they are identical, that they share the same DNA, but one was born first and one second. When they were babies, they had different birth weights, and freckles in different places, or we’d never have been able to work out who’s who. The circumstances of our family life, the community we grew up in, our friendships, our work environments and many other things also make us who we are.

What does the Bible say The Bible tells us who we are in quite a different way – who we are from God’s point of view. Ephesians 2:10, that was part of our reading today, tells us that we are God’s workmanship, saved by His grace, which is His gift to each of us, so that we can do the work prepared for us. Hebrews 13:14 “For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.” So here on Earth in this life, we are the same as the exiles from Israel when they arrived in Babylon. We do not really belong here. 1 Peter 2:9, tells us that we are chosen, all of us, as a holy nation.

Colossians 3:12, tells us that we are chosen and dearly loved and that we should behave with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Jeremiah 29:4–7, tells us that we are put in a particular place by God, and that we should build our families in that place. John 20:21, tells us that we are sent to where we are.

Acts 1:8, tells us that we are powered by the Holy Spirit. Matthew 5:14, tells us that we are a light to the world. 2 Corinthians 5:20, tells us that we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His appeal through us. We carry His message, we deliver it carefully, so as not to upset the people whose country we live in. We make our message relevant to them, as though we were a native. These are just a few verses that give us a little idea of who God says we are.

So, here’s a summary of our mission – Mission Impossible style, because without the Holy Spirit, it IS impossible: Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to live with unwavering faithfulness in the exact place God has deployed you. Your objectives are as follows: Build and bless — establish roots, strengthen families, and bring peace to your community. Pray and serve — operate with spiritual intelligence, responding to God’s guidance at every turn. Shine and witness — illuminate the darkness with the light of Christ, revealing hope where others see none. Reconcile — act as an agent of restoration, repairing what is broken and healing what is wounded. Walk in the good works — complete the assignments God has already prepared, each one tailored to your calling. Point toward the city to come — keep your eyes fixed on the ultimate destination, reminding others of the Kingdom that awaits. As always, should you or any member of this Kingdom Force be misunderstood, opposed, or rejected by the world, know this: your Commander will never disavow you. He claims you, equips you, and stands with you—even when the world does not recognise who you are or whose mission you serve. This message will never self‑destruct. Your mission is ongoing, Spirit‑powered, and already authorised by the King. Because of that it becomes possible, and gives us hope.

For our activity, we are going to build something that represents the hope we offer. The building bricks can be turned into whatever might inspire you to remember this message. I’d suggest, a house – somewhere that offers a family connection. A tower, that provides the protection that God offers. Proverbs 18:10 says “The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.” A wall, like a sea wall, that prevents the chaos of the sea reaching the land, and preserves the homes of those living near by. Or whatever, but please be ready to explain your thoughts.

So, who do you think you are? You are not: a random accident, a product of chance. merely the sum of your genetics, your upbringing, and your circumstances. We are God’s workmanship, so we are: chosen, loved, placed, sent, empowered, and illuminated by His Spirit. an ambassador of Christ, carrying His message into the exact place He has deployed you. Our mission is not theoretical, distant, or optional, it is already authorised by the King of Kings. So as you built your small creation today, whatever it was, let it remind you of the hope you carry, the peace you bring, and the identity you live out. Closing Prayer Father God, May we walk in the good works You have prepared for us. May we shine with the light of Christ. May we bless the place where You have planted us. And may we remember, always, who we are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Pray for workers

Preached on 14 June 2026 @ Christ Church, Billericay.  Recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjpozCozY1s from 26:10 to 43:04

Prayer

Father God, guide us as followers of Jesus, shaping our lives in His way and His wisdom. Help us grow as faithful disciples who reflect Your compassion in our daily walk.

Ordinary People

Jesus and his disciples have been travelling through the towns and villages of Galilee. We can read some of the things that have been happening in the previous chapters. He is proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God.

Kingdom of God.

The promise of Daniel 2:44 is coming to pass.

“In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.”

The expectation would be high, but anyone can say the Kingdom of God is near. It’s easy to say, but what does it mean. In our time we have plenty of people who are willing to stand up and tell us all how they would magically improve society, but what are any of them actually doing?

Jesus isn’t trying to raise a mob, He is demonstrating to the people what the Kingdom of God means by healing every disease and sickness. In a time when there was almost NO meaningful medical practise, this was truly something they needed, it was truly something revolutionary.

Harassed and helpless

Jesus notices the people suffer harassment and feel helpless. We still have those people today. Go into any town centre and watch the people for a while. Many may look like they have their lives under control, but most of them probably don’t. For a few, it’s obvious that they’re struggling, and I’m not only talking about the homeless.

They are like sheep without a shepherd.

Not about them

In this passage, Matthew is not really talking the people, he is really talking about Jesus’s disciples, the 12 who were with Jesus then. It is for them to look after the harassed and helpless. What he says also applies to Jesus’s disciples now – the millions, including You and I who follow Him in our daily lives.

Too few workers

Jesus calls the 12 together and tells them “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” All those people they are looking at, all those people Jesus has healed – many of them are ready to be claimed for the Kingdom of God.

Instruction to Pray

Then we hear Jesus say something really unusual “Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Hardly ever do we hear Jesus give instructions to pray for something specific. He does plenty of teaching about how to pray. Some encouragement to always pray and not give up. The other instances of direct instructions to pray relate to very specific short term situations. For example, in the Garden of Gethsemane, he tells his disciple to pray that they do not fall into temptation. When He’s talking about the destruction of Jerusalem, He says pray that it will not happen in winter, or on a Sabbath.

This instruction to pray for workers in the field to collect the harvest doesn’t seem to only apply to this occasion, but for all time. That makes it a unique command.

How often do we pray for workers in the field to come and collect the harvest in our town? When was the last time I heard that in any of our intercessions? – I can’t remember.

How God answers prayer

Maybe we don’t pray this prayer because of what happens next. Jesus immediately gets them in to teams and sends them off to be workers in the field. They become the answer to the prayer they haven’t yet had time to pray. Our God answers our prayers, and maybe we don’t want to be that answer.

Training

For the disciples it’s time to put into practice what they have been watching Jesus do. If we look back at chapter 8 and just reading the headings we will see what’s been happening:

Jesus Heals a Man With Leprosy

Jesus Heals Many

Jesus Restores Two Demon-Possessed Men

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralysed Man

Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman

Jesus Heals the Blind and the Mute

Now, it’s their turn! We might consider this a training exercise.

The disciples - pairs

It is interesting how the disciples are listed in 10 verse 2. Simon and Andrew, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew, The other James and Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot.

If you want to check the names here against the names in the other gospels there are plenty of places that will help you with that, I’m not talking about the names. I’m seeing that they are paired up. He sends the twelve out in pairs, not as individuals. If you’ve ever had the JWs knock at your door, you’ll know there are always at least two. Yet so often we have ONE evangelist. I think we may have missed something important here.

The disciples – take nothing

Then they are given some instructions. They are in a mixed area, there are Gentiles, Samaritans, and Jews living there. Jesus tells them to only go to the Jews, they are the people who will be best able to understand the message. They are the people who have the greatest expectation, and they are the people whose leaders are letting them down so badly.

The message they are to take is the same one Jesus has been proclaiming – ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Then they are to do what they have seen Jesus doing – heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons.

Nothing difficult really!!!

There are more instructions in the following verses, that seem to make it even harder:

⁹ Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts— ¹⁰ no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep.

So, leave your jackets and coats on the chairs, put your wallet and bank cards with them, and off you go to Basildon, or Pitsea, or Vange perhaps, to bring the message that the Kingdom of God is near. You’ll have to walk, or perhaps hitchhiking might be allowed.

You should have a lovely Sunday Afternoon.

My Experience

I remember doing some Evangelism training. In 2011, Warner took me to a “Through Faith Missions” training weekend in Woking. In those days they were doing walks in the surrounding towns and villages, “The Walk of a Thousand Men” it was called. We slept on the church floor on the Friday night, and attended various classroom sessions, then did some practice.

Firstly we had a survey and were allocated a street. This is door-knocking in disguise. Then in the evening we were taken to the local Wetherspoons. The objective here was to engage the men in the pub in relevant conversation. We were given enough money to buy ourselves and someone else a pint. That was all we were allowed to have with us. For each of these things we were paired up with others on the training course.

Even with the training, to say that I was out of my comfort zone would have been a massive understatement. Doing the survey was not too bad, but the best conversations we had were with members of other churches. As for the pub, there were no conversations, except the one I had with my fellow novice. Near the end of the evening, I asked one of the leaders to show me how it was done. He was only marginally more successful and didn’t manage to establish a real conversation.

Reflection

After my licensing, at a reception in the church hall I answered a number of questions for our congregation. One of the things I said there, was that if I believed that God said “Go”, I would go. That promise has to be tested from time to time.

These experiences are never a waste of time, some of the classroom sessions had been really useful, and I learnt a little about myself and my mission too. If I were to undertake this type of evangelism, I would need a lot more training and a very specific call.

The disciples

So, how did the disciples get on? Annoyingly, Matthew doesn’t tell us, but fortunately Mark does:

6¹² They went out and preached that people should repent. ¹³ They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Much, much better than the little group of trainees in Woking 15 years ago. I can think of four reasons why that might be:

• I was exploring my calling, as I suspect others were. The disciples were hand-picked by Jesus for this specific task.
• The disciples had seen a number of miracles first hand. If you talk to people who have seen or received miracles, you will see they have a different approach, a kind of enthusiasm and excitement you can’t get any other way.
• The disciples were offering to fulfil a real need – healing, we were only offering conversation, so far as the people we were speaking to were concerned.
• It’s possible the disciples were recognised in the towns and villages. We were most definitely not, coming from a town 30 miles away.

Conclusion

Jesus looked at the crowds with compassion—harassed, helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He still looks upon our towns, our neighbours, and our generation with the same compassion today.

His response was not simply to feel compassion; it was to call and send ordinary people. People with doubts, fears, limitations, and very little equipment—yet people who had been with Him.

The harvest is still plentiful. The workers are still few. And the command to pray for workers still stands, none of us should forget to pray this prayer regularly and repeatedly. And when we pray that prayer, we must be ready for God to place our own names among the answers, even if He has never done that before.

May we be willing to go where He sends, to speak as He leads, and to trust that the God who calls ordinary people also equips them with extraordinary grace.

Amen.

References 

https://sermoncentral.com/sermons/enter-into-his-gates-100-psalms-melvin-maughmer-jr-sermon-on-assurance-of-salvation-63700

Expositors Bible Commentary for both readings

Matthew for everyone - Tom Wright 

https://www.psephizo.com/biblical-studies/the-pattern-and-practice-of-ministry-in-matthew-9-to-10/

https://desperatepreacher.com/texts/mat9_35/mat9_35.htm

https://www.1517.org/articles/gospel-matthew-935-108-pentecost-3-series-a-2023

https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-11/commentary-on-matthew-935-108-9-23-3

https://biblehub.com/q/who_are_the_lost_sheep_of_israel.htm 

https://3cephas-notes.blogspot.com/search/label/evangelism 

gemini created the image and answered questions.  copilot suggested prayers, and some text.  

Hyundai Inster at 1000 miles

We have just passed the 1000-mile mark, so here are my thoughts on the Inster.

Buying a car in February is not usually a good idea, but for us, in a year with little ice and snow, it has worked out quite well.

Looks	"It looks like a toy", my son said when he first saw it in a car park.  It is a small car.  Other than that its quirky and you either like it or not.  I don't particularly, but it's easy to spot in a car park, and there aren't that many of them.
Capacity	One of the requirements was that it would carry all our tools to the allotment.  Spade, fork, hoe, strimmer - etc.  It is more than capable of that.  The door pockets, though, are too slim to carry a standard de-icing, tool and there is almost no storage space around the front. It is a 4 seater, there is no way you could get 5 in it.
Ride	The car generally is comfortable, and deals with the bumps well for its size.  It is generally stable and corners well.  It doesn't like speed bumps though.
Range	There are options for a longer range - 229 miles.  We judged the cost to be too much for a relatively little gain.  Our range is approximately 200 miles when the car is fully charged.  That's from 100% to 0%.  You'll never get to zero so in reality the range is about 180 miles
Running cost	We are currently running at 4.3 miles/kWh, which is pretty good.  We normally run in ECO mode (there are 4 modes: Normal, Sport, Snow, ECO) except when we forget, as it always defaults to Normal.  ECO mode cannot be pre-set.  This is a failure of the design.
Charging	So far we have only charged at home.  Our old pod-point does the job very nicely - it charges at up to 7kW - the maximum for a home charger.  A charge from 25%-80% takes about 5 hours.  The pod-point was installed before all the 'smart' chargers were available, so having a charging timer on the car is very important.  The instructions we were originally given by the sales team were incorrect.  No surprise there, their promises of after sales support are entirely hollow, but that is sadly normal. However, they are not entirely to blame for it taking me 800+ miles to work it out.  The menus on the car are dumb.  There are two EV icons.  One sets the max charging percentage (normally 80%).  The other allows a timer to be set.  It is unnecessarily complicated, requiring a departure time so be set, a cheap rate time to be set and an option to only charge in cheap rate.  We have none of that, and even if we did, we wouldn't necessarily want the car to be in charge.  I like to charge when my house battery is reasonably full, and it's a sunny day.  That's the cheapest way for me.  There is also an option to reduce the charge rate - which would mean we could get more from the sun, I haven't tried this yet.
Driver Aids	There is a vast array of mainly poor driver aids. Speed limit warning (road sign recognition) The car scans for road signs and sets the speed limits accordingly, If I breach the speed limit there is a beeping until I return to the correct speed.  So far it has been wrong many times.  Sometimes, it reads '30' as '80', which is above the maximum speed limit in the UK.  Other times it picks up the speed limit signs on the slip road that I have not taken at a junction, then beeps for ages. It will also recognise warning signs - school, bend, etc.  However, it completely fails to recognise traffic lights.  Lane Tracking The lane tracking can be advisory, or active, when it will turn the wheel.  This works well enough on a dual carriage road with good markings. However, the car performs 'course corrections' every couple of seconds; I find the wheel moving that frequently to be very disconcerting.  It is most annoying on a narrow single track road, when it is trying to keep the car in the centre of the lane, despite my need to stay close to the left curb to avoid the oncoming articulated lorry, or move away from the side of the road to avoid the pot-hole pit that would damage the car. It gets very confused when a lane splits into two. It will follow one of them, and needs to be firmly overridden. Distance Management The car will allow the use of its forward radar to track the car in front.  It will stop when the car in front stops.  To get it to start again you must press a button.  It will accelerate and decelerate, keeping the distance reasonably stable, but not exceeding your set speed limit.  If the car in front changes lane, turns off the road, or turns onto a roundabout, the car will react to the empty space in front of it, and accelerate quite fast. On a 50mph road, the car in front slowed to approximately 20 MPH and turned left.  The Inster slowed to maybe 5MPH, and took 4-5 seconds to decide it was safe to accelerate.  On two occasions it has simply forgotten to slow down, and I have had to perform an emergency stop. Cyclists and motor cyclists are not recognised. Once a low trailer was not recognised. Collision Avoidance When the car thinks that it is about to collide with something, the right-hand dial (that measures power use or recovery)  flashes red with 'collision' or some such message in it.  Mostly this is not an issue, there will be no collision.  Once or twice, when there may have been a collision, the alert has not occurred. Driver Attention - you are being watched There are two 'driver attention' warnings. One says keep your hands on the wheel.  Mostly that is a good warning, but it occurs occasionally when it shouldn't.  Mostly, I don't always hold the steering wheel like I'm hanging on for dear life. The other is the 'eyes on the road warning', which occurs mainly on a bright sunny day, when my head is held in such away that I can see the road through the glare. There is one other that I have only seen once - the 'take a break' warning. I have no idea what triggers this, I assume it 'thinks' I'm going to sleep.
Security	For a car to be secure, it must be reasonably difficult to steal, but allow easy access to its owner.  Superficially this is true, but there are a few missing tricks on the ease of use front.  The most notable is that it is possible to lock the key inside the car!  This is a "back to the 1970's" security failure, but now we know, we will adjust our behaviour accordingly.  The other security feature I don't like is the need to unlock the car to access the charging port.  There are times when this could be unhelpful.  The odd thing is that it automatically locks the car when the cable is unplugged, not when the charging port door is closed. I don't know how easy it is to steal, but as It's not exactly a desirable motor, I doubt I will ever find out. The rear door is on a separate locking/unlocking mechanism and isn't part of the main car.

Breakdown Cover

I went looking for breakdown cover, (https://breakdown.covermy.co.uk/) I found a nice cheep policy which is listed as defacto 5*. However, the terms and conditions prove that it is not really breakdown covers it only covers 363 days of the year.  I was also rather concerned about the use of language.

 

 Here are the Ts&Cs:

 

 

• The vehicle(s) meets the criteria set out in the policy wording.

• The vehicle(s) are in a good state of electrical and mechanical repair at the point of purchasing a policy.

• The Insured Vehicle must have been maintained and serviced in line with the manufacturer’s guidelines and have a current MOT certificate (where applicable), valid insurance and road tax.

• You understand that You are unable to make a claims for assistance under any policy for the first 46 hours from the start date of the policy as you have selected.

• When European cover has been purchased, You must notify us a minimum of 48 hours in advance of any trips to the EU and declare the travel dates and destination(s) of Your trip.

• When You have selected to include an excess You will be required to pay this before any service is provided.

 

Field of Blue 2026 (2 - Norsey Woods)

On Sunday afternoon, we visited Norsey Woods. The advantage of Norsey over Hockley is mainly that I know it, and where the bluebells will be.   They did not disappoint. We expected the wood to be heaving with people, as the car park was full, so we went to another entrance and parked in the road. Once in the wood, it did not seem that busy. Perhaps that's because I follow paths that are not way marked.

The carpet of blue is interrupted by logs or fallen trees at times, but it continues into the distance, giving the wood a blue-purple floor.

I try very hard not to step on any of the bluebells.  It's not always possible because sometimes they have tried to invade the path.  Here we can see a path that has been made by a number of people walking on them for a considerable time - so sad that the carpet is ruined.

Celandine and wood anemone are still flowering, the anemones in particular add a sprinkle of white to the blue carpet.

It was a warm day, so the wood ants are busy building their nests ready for the summer breeding programme.  They don't care about the bluebells or the visitors, unless you're dumb enough to get involved in the nest construction.

Field of Blue 2026 (1 - Hockley Woods)

We had never been to Hockley Woods.  It's a popular place, perhaps especially in school holidays, we know this because the car park is full, and we had to park in a local road.  All the roads we drove through had parking restrictions at different times, we found one where the restriction was earlier in the day.

Then into the woods, we decided to follow the path that goes around the edge.  There were few, if any bluebells.  Plenty of wood anemones, and some celandine.  It's a very open wood, but the fields of blue seemed to be missing.  There was however a path off the main path where the bluebells are incredible.

Anemones

Celandine

The path took us across a broken down fence to part of the wood where there was a great field of blue, a proper carpet - but not one I would like to walk on.  Stunning views all around.  The path looped back to the main path, so we returned to entrance, and then the car.

It was now approaching 13:30, so time for lunch.  The Bull is just down the road.  It was heaving.  We got a table and ordered our food.  The wait was not too long.  The food was poorly served.  My chicken was 'out-of-the-fridge' cold, they took it away and (re-?)heated it.  Then parts were red hot and other parts just hot enough.  We probably won't go there again.

 

Road Angel Halo Pro - Setup and Initial Use

Road Angel Halo Pro

I bought Road Angel Halo Pro for our new car.  This is the picture you will most often see.  It is misleading.  The camera had a bigger footprint than suggested by this image.

The camera comes in a nice cuboid box, with a 32 Gb SD and micro SD on the outside under the cellophane.

Installing it was 'fun', the sort of fun you don't want to have.  So, don't follow the instructions, because if you can't make it connect it will be stuck to your windscreen.  I did the setup with the camera on the passenger seat.

The camera provides a Wi-Fi SSID to connect to.  It's the only way to communicate with it.  To get the app I downloaded from the Play Store to connect I had to turn off my VPN (normal), and delete the VPN profile.  Not great.  Then comes the re-naming, so that it doesn't present default values to anyone standing outside my car.

1) rename the Wi-Fi and set a password.  Now essentially start set-up again.  Delete everything from the app.

2) rename the device and set a password.  Now essentially start set-up again.  Delete everything from the app.

One other thing that tripped me up.  It knows my time zone - London, but it chooses to display the date in m/d/yyyy (American) format. 

Now, and only now, stick it to the windscreen and put the cabling behind the various bits of interior decor (where you can).

Now to get the videos off I have to delete the VPN profile, stop my home Wi-Fi from autoconnecting , connect to its Wi-Fi and run the app.  Too much like hard work - there has to be a better way.

So that I know what's happening, when It's powered up, it tells me it is working in an English language voice, and it tells me it's got GPS the same way.  Just occasionally it shouts something in a language I don't understand. 

It will also report collisions with your car in a car park, when you're not there, but to make that bit work, you need to buy an extra connection kit - bit of a cheek, to advertise a feature like that, that I can't use out of the box. 

Which has this as a 'best buy'.  Well I haven't seen any of the others, but on what I have seen so far I wouldn't recommend it - but I'm stuck with it (literally).