Read Genesis 1
A young Bible college student listened intently to his lecturer as he expounded the meaning of ‘day’ in Genesis. It was stated with some competence and authority that the word ‘day’ need not mean a literal 24 hour day but could be referring to any length of time. The young student asked, ‘Could it refer to millions of years?’
‘Yes, of course,’ came the reply.
‘Could it refer to a thousand years’ came the follow up question.
‘Yes’.
‘Could it refer to smaller times frames, such as a year or a week?’ said the student.
‘Well, yes I guess so,’ came the considered reply
‘The student plied the lecturer with one more question. ‘Could it refer to one literal, 24 hour day?’
‘Oh no! Definitely not!’ was the immediate reply from the lecturer.
Others who want to remove the historicity have argued that Genesis 1 and 2 are poetic and need not be taken literally. Even though they have done literal research or study of Hebrew poetry, these people speak confidently about such matters. Technically, there have been many studies showing that Genesis 1 and 2 are NOT poetry and have very little poetic structures or forms in them. They are structured as narrative, historic narrative to be precise. Interestingly, those who take Genesis as poetry (and hence not bound to literal interpretation) accept as literal the most poetic bits (Genesis 1:26-28) in Genesis and reject the most non-poetic bits (Genesis 1:1-25) as non-literal.
Others argue that the form of the narrative in Genesis and it’s structure determine its meaning and that such structures make it clear that a literal interpretation cannot be maintained (literal theorists). As you research these arguments and their structure they are almost always based on the assumption that any structure mitigates against literal interpretation. We must ask ourselves if structure automatically mitigates against literal interpretation. There is no intrinsic reason to answer ‘Yes’ at this point!
In today’s academic world scientists speak of evolution as though it were factual. Such historical science has never been tested in the laboratory, nor can it be. The theories have been re-categorised as fact and anyone who questions evolution is automatically assumed to be a backwater idiot that knows nothing. This truth makes it hard for Bible colleges (striving to be accepted as academic) and professional Christians to accept the creation of Genesis 1ff as literal history.
Where do you stand? What do you think of Genesis 1 and following? Does it scare you to accept it as literal history? Do you believe that the history of the world occurred as the Bible described?
Prayer:-
à Student Life. Students at USQ head into exams next week. Please pray especially for the Christians in Student Life there – that they would honour God, even though they are so busy and stressed.
à Please pray for students Chris, Kaylee, & Derek (USQ), Tim & Amy (QUT), and Emily (CQU) who are the organisers of the two week Byron Bay short-term mission at the end of November – that they can balance their exams, plus organisational details for the trip.
If you do not believe the historicity of Genesis 1ff, spend time praying and asking God to show you why you don’t believe it?
Monday 31 October 2011
Saturday 29 October 2011
Saturday October 29, 2011
Read: Revelation 7:13-17
If I were to promise you a million dollars next week, would you do it tough this week? Would you willingly, even joyously, go without and suffer a little bit waiting for that million dollars? Most people would say ‘yes’ and see a week as nothing compared to what’s coming up.
When we think about heaven and the eternal glory to be revealed in us, it’s not that much different. One day heaven’s treasures will be opened up for us. Our life now may seem long and arduous, but in comparison to eternity it really is only as short as a week! Focusing on the end of the week keeps us going and allows us to persevere.
As the Apostle John saw this grand vision of heaven he saw some people dressed in white robes. Having asked about their identity and origins, he was told that these were the ones who had come out of the tribulation. Now the word ‘tribulation’ and the study of the end times has caused much debate and anguish among believers.
However, several passages shed light on what kind of tribulations we can expect as followers of Christ. In Rev 1:9 the Apostle shares with us (and in Christ) the tribulation. In Acts 14:22, we are told that we must pass through many tribulations to enter the Kingdom of God. In Romans 12:12 we are called to be patient in tribulation. In Mark 13:19, 24 etc we are warned that we are in the days of tribulation, though they may intensify as the Lord’s return nears.
The message of the Scriptures is consistent. We, as followers of Jesus, are to expect tribulation and persecution. We should expect the evil one to throw everything at us as we seek to grow the Kingdom and take the message of salvation to the ends of the earth. Things will get tough as we stand up for Christ and walk in obedience! But the end of the week is coming. Our heavenly inheritance is waiting for us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on the finish line and let us NOT grow weary!
Prayer Points:
> Exams are around the corner, let’s pray for each other during this potentially stressful time.
> Please pray for health, and God's wisdom in how to organise our time most efficiently.
If I were to promise you a million dollars next week, would you do it tough this week? Would you willingly, even joyously, go without and suffer a little bit waiting for that million dollars? Most people would say ‘yes’ and see a week as nothing compared to what’s coming up.
When we think about heaven and the eternal glory to be revealed in us, it’s not that much different. One day heaven’s treasures will be opened up for us. Our life now may seem long and arduous, but in comparison to eternity it really is only as short as a week! Focusing on the end of the week keeps us going and allows us to persevere.
As the Apostle John saw this grand vision of heaven he saw some people dressed in white robes. Having asked about their identity and origins, he was told that these were the ones who had come out of the tribulation. Now the word ‘tribulation’ and the study of the end times has caused much debate and anguish among believers.
However, several passages shed light on what kind of tribulations we can expect as followers of Christ. In Rev 1:9 the Apostle shares with us (and in Christ) the tribulation. In Acts 14:22, we are told that we must pass through many tribulations to enter the Kingdom of God. In Romans 12:12 we are called to be patient in tribulation. In Mark 13:19, 24 etc we are warned that we are in the days of tribulation, though they may intensify as the Lord’s return nears.
The message of the Scriptures is consistent. We, as followers of Jesus, are to expect tribulation and persecution. We should expect the evil one to throw everything at us as we seek to grow the Kingdom and take the message of salvation to the ends of the earth. Things will get tough as we stand up for Christ and walk in obedience! But the end of the week is coming. Our heavenly inheritance is waiting for us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on the finish line and let us NOT grow weary!
Prayer Points:
> Exams are around the corner, let’s pray for each other during this potentially stressful time.
> Please pray for health, and God's wisdom in how to organise our time most efficiently.
Friday 28 October 2011
Friday October 28, 2011
Read: Revelation 7:9-12
Heaven is going to be a wonderful place. Unfortunately it’s presented in today’s media in terms and images that are relatively boring! Of course it is! Satan wants nothing more than to turn people off going to heaven. Hell is presented as a wild party with all your mates and good food and wine and song and… heaven is a harp, a cloud and one lonely, boring old angel!
But as we read in Revelation the fulfilment of the ages and the times we see that people from every nation, tribe and tongue are gathered around the throne and the Lamb. People are singing praises and glory and honour to God. All evil, all wickedness, all lying and deceit, theft, vandalism, corruption and fraud, all sickness, all disease and death itself have been swallowed up in victory. Those who stand before the throne are standing eternal and the new creation (that new heaven and earth) is theirs for the taking.
Think back to Genesis 12, 15 and 22, those passages we spoke about this week. All that was promised to Abraham has come to fruition. The promise has been completely fulfilled as God’s elect gather around the throne and sing praise and glory to Him. People are gathered from every nation, tribe and tongue in that wonderful heavenly assembly. But right here, right now our churches, our earthly assemblies, are a fore taste of that heavenly assembly. Our churches should be mirroring to some degree the diversity of that heavenly gathering. In our churches, ethnicity, tribe or race should be no barrier to worshipping together, for we will all one day stand together around the throne and the Lamb!
What a great motivator for mission! What a great encouragement to get the Word, the Gospel, out to all nations, all tribes and all tongues. What a great encouragement for us to be proactive in preaching the gospel to all nations. Abraham was promised that through his a blessing will go to all nations. Jesus came in fulfilment of that promise. He commanded us to take the gospel to every nation on earth; and here in Revelation we see the fulfilment of that promise.
As an individual, as a cell group and as a congregation we have a joyous privilege of being a part of God’s mega plan to establish His eternal kingdom. We have the extreme joy of being able to be used by God to share the message of that kingdom with people in our local community, people in our cities, people in our nation and people in other nations. Our “Parish boundary” covers the entire globe! You can be active in that mission today by sharing the good news of the faith, by testifying to the grace of God in Christ Jesus and by inviting people into that kingdom. Hallelujah!
Prayer Points:
> Most importantly, pray that even though the next couple of weeks might be busy, that our time with God would not be sacrificed, but continued to be kept a priority.
Heaven is going to be a wonderful place. Unfortunately it’s presented in today’s media in terms and images that are relatively boring! Of course it is! Satan wants nothing more than to turn people off going to heaven. Hell is presented as a wild party with all your mates and good food and wine and song and… heaven is a harp, a cloud and one lonely, boring old angel!
But as we read in Revelation the fulfilment of the ages and the times we see that people from every nation, tribe and tongue are gathered around the throne and the Lamb. People are singing praises and glory and honour to God. All evil, all wickedness, all lying and deceit, theft, vandalism, corruption and fraud, all sickness, all disease and death itself have been swallowed up in victory. Those who stand before the throne are standing eternal and the new creation (that new heaven and earth) is theirs for the taking.
Think back to Genesis 12, 15 and 22, those passages we spoke about this week. All that was promised to Abraham has come to fruition. The promise has been completely fulfilled as God’s elect gather around the throne and sing praise and glory to Him. People are gathered from every nation, tribe and tongue in that wonderful heavenly assembly. But right here, right now our churches, our earthly assemblies, are a fore taste of that heavenly assembly. Our churches should be mirroring to some degree the diversity of that heavenly gathering. In our churches, ethnicity, tribe or race should be no barrier to worshipping together, for we will all one day stand together around the throne and the Lamb!
What a great motivator for mission! What a great encouragement to get the Word, the Gospel, out to all nations, all tribes and all tongues. What a great encouragement for us to be proactive in preaching the gospel to all nations. Abraham was promised that through his a blessing will go to all nations. Jesus came in fulfilment of that promise. He commanded us to take the gospel to every nation on earth; and here in Revelation we see the fulfilment of that promise.
As an individual, as a cell group and as a congregation we have a joyous privilege of being a part of God’s mega plan to establish His eternal kingdom. We have the extreme joy of being able to be used by God to share the message of that kingdom with people in our local community, people in our cities, people in our nation and people in other nations. Our “Parish boundary” covers the entire globe! You can be active in that mission today by sharing the good news of the faith, by testifying to the grace of God in Christ Jesus and by inviting people into that kingdom. Hallelujah!
Prayer Points:
> Most importantly, pray that even though the next couple of weeks might be busy, that our time with God would not be sacrificed, but continued to be kept a priority.
Thursday 27 October 2011
Thursday October 27, 2011
Read: Romans 4
There are many people in this world trying to prove themselves, trying to earn love and respect, trying hard to fit in and win acceptance. You’ve only got to look at teenagers of the world to see what I mean.
And sadly, there are many people out there that trying hard to earn God’s approval and love by doing things that they think will please God. Most of the world’s religions are based on this concept - if you do enough things to please the ‘god’ you will have salvation or whatever they promise! But in reality, you can never be sure that you have done enough to please that particular god. You can never be sure that your good deeds outweigh your negative or bad deeds! Hence you’re stuck in a life of uncertainty!
Abraham became a model to us of one who trusted God. ‘Abraham’ believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness’. He didn’t work at earning the love and promises of God but believed God. King David wrote the same thing for us. He wrote for us that the man who has his sins covered by God, and who’s transgressions are paid for by God, is truly blessed.
We can never do enough good deeds to make God love us. We can never win His approval. Trying to earn God’s love is a life of misery and unfulfilment!! But (here’s the good news), when we believe in God, when we trust that Jesus has loved us by dying on the cross and by rising to eternal life, we are freed from that burden. Trusting that God loves me, frees me from trying to earn God’s love and allows me to live in the light of God’s love. My good works are not a seeking to gain ‘brownie points’ with God, but are an outworking of my gratitude for God’s love. I know God loves me (it’s proven at the cross of Christ), so I live my life out of gratitude. Living a life of gratitude for God’s love can never be a burden because we know that God loves us. We know that He is pleased with us and we know that each and every good work we do pleases Him, because He has already lavished us with His love.
Such a love from God is incredibly liberating. When a teenager knows he or she is loved by God, he/she no longer needs to goof off to try to impress the crowd. When a husband knows he is loved by God he no longer needs to put his wife down or joke about her to make himself.
Prayer Points:
> Pray for our teenagers as they come face to face with many anti Christian beliefs.
There are many people in this world trying to prove themselves, trying to earn love and respect, trying hard to fit in and win acceptance. You’ve only got to look at teenagers of the world to see what I mean.
And sadly, there are many people out there that trying hard to earn God’s approval and love by doing things that they think will please God. Most of the world’s religions are based on this concept - if you do enough things to please the ‘god’ you will have salvation or whatever they promise! But in reality, you can never be sure that you have done enough to please that particular god. You can never be sure that your good deeds outweigh your negative or bad deeds! Hence you’re stuck in a life of uncertainty!
Abraham became a model to us of one who trusted God. ‘Abraham’ believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness’. He didn’t work at earning the love and promises of God but believed God. King David wrote the same thing for us. He wrote for us that the man who has his sins covered by God, and who’s transgressions are paid for by God, is truly blessed.
We can never do enough good deeds to make God love us. We can never win His approval. Trying to earn God’s love is a life of misery and unfulfilment!! But (here’s the good news), when we believe in God, when we trust that Jesus has loved us by dying on the cross and by rising to eternal life, we are freed from that burden. Trusting that God loves me, frees me from trying to earn God’s love and allows me to live in the light of God’s love. My good works are not a seeking to gain ‘brownie points’ with God, but are an outworking of my gratitude for God’s love. I know God loves me (it’s proven at the cross of Christ), so I live my life out of gratitude. Living a life of gratitude for God’s love can never be a burden because we know that God loves us. We know that He is pleased with us and we know that each and every good work we do pleases Him, because He has already lavished us with His love.
Such a love from God is incredibly liberating. When a teenager knows he or she is loved by God, he/she no longer needs to goof off to try to impress the crowd. When a husband knows he is loved by God he no longer needs to put his wife down or joke about her to make himself.
Prayer Points:
> Pray for our teenagers as they come face to face with many anti Christian beliefs.
Wednesday 26 October 2011
Wednesday October 26, 2011
Read: Genesis 22
When Abraham was old and his wife was well beyond the age of child bearing, God did the impossible. Abraham and Sarah had a child in their old age! Beyond that, when Isaac their ‘Son of the Promise’ was older (some estimates are about 30 years of age!!!) God tested Abraham. Read vs 1 carefully. God tells us immediately what is happening so that we are not confused or mislead about God’s character! We know it’s a test but Abraham does not!
Abraham is given a command from God and even though it contradicts everything human logic and human wisdom would do or agree to, he agrees and walks forward in obedience! Make no mistake about it - God expects us to be obedient even if our logic or wisdom tells us otherwise. There is no substitute for God fearing obedience! Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, then He would bring Isaac back to him. So he walked forward in obedience.
As we would expect, having read vs 1, God intervenes before any harm comes to Isaac and Abraham is blessed because of his obedience. The promise of Genesis 12:1-3 is confirmed and God reaffirms that all the families of the earth will surely be blessed because of Abraham’s obedience.
Obviously, that promise finds fulfilment in Jesus. Through Christ Jesus the families of the earth are blessed. Eternal salvation is offered to all who call on the name of the Lord. Everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Prayer Points:
> Praise God for the Youth who regularly come every Friday evening.
> Give thanks to God for the growth and commitment seen in many of their lives.
When Abraham was old and his wife was well beyond the age of child bearing, God did the impossible. Abraham and Sarah had a child in their old age! Beyond that, when Isaac their ‘Son of the Promise’ was older (some estimates are about 30 years of age!!!) God tested Abraham. Read vs 1 carefully. God tells us immediately what is happening so that we are not confused or mislead about God’s character! We know it’s a test but Abraham does not!
Abraham is given a command from God and even though it contradicts everything human logic and human wisdom would do or agree to, he agrees and walks forward in obedience! Make no mistake about it - God expects us to be obedient even if our logic or wisdom tells us otherwise. There is no substitute for God fearing obedience! Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, then He would bring Isaac back to him. So he walked forward in obedience.
As we would expect, having read vs 1, God intervenes before any harm comes to Isaac and Abraham is blessed because of his obedience. The promise of Genesis 12:1-3 is confirmed and God reaffirms that all the families of the earth will surely be blessed because of Abraham’s obedience.
Obviously, that promise finds fulfilment in Jesus. Through Christ Jesus the families of the earth are blessed. Eternal salvation is offered to all who call on the name of the Lord. Everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Prayer Points:
> Praise God for the Youth who regularly come every Friday evening.
> Give thanks to God for the growth and commitment seen in many of their lives.
Tuesday 25 October 2011
Tuesday October 25, 2011
Read: Genesis 15
I wonder how many times you have said that you would do something and then haven’t don’t it. There’s always a good reason though, isn’t there? How many times have you said that you wouldn’t do something and have done it, anyway? There are always mitigating circumstances aren’t there?
But it’s not like that with God! When God promises, He remains faithful. But sometimes, like Abraham, we doubt God. Abraham had already been through much turmoil and tumult! The episode with Lot taking the best land, the battle with the kings in the valley may have left him shaken and despondent, much like life’s events leave us despondent and wondering about God’s faithfulness.
God came to Abram in a vision and reaffirmed the promise to him. But Abram replied to the Lord that he had no children. He was distraught that God’s promise may fall null and void. But God promised Abram as many descendants as there are stars in the sky.
God even entered into a covenant with Abram to reassure him. A covenant is a bond, written in blood. In a covenant agreement, the parties would cut up an animal and walk between the animal parts effectively saying that they agree to be treated like the animal should they fail to keep their part of the covenant. When God makes a covenant with Abram, He Himself passes between the animal pieces assuring Abram of His willingness and ability to keep the covenant. God will keep His promise.
As we think about our own situation, God hasn’t made us idle promises either. He has entered into a new covenant with us through the blood of His own Son, Christ Jesus. As the Apostle Paul wrote, all the promises of God are YES in Christ Jesus. They are fulfilled in Him. We can rest secure and assured that whatever God has promised He will fulfil. He will keep His end of the covenant and He will deliver.
Prayer Points:
> Thank God for all of the new Mum’s to Play Pals each fortnight.
> Thank God for the helpers who faithfully come and assist out.
I wonder how many times you have said that you would do something and then haven’t don’t it. There’s always a good reason though, isn’t there? How many times have you said that you wouldn’t do something and have done it, anyway? There are always mitigating circumstances aren’t there?
But it’s not like that with God! When God promises, He remains faithful. But sometimes, like Abraham, we doubt God. Abraham had already been through much turmoil and tumult! The episode with Lot taking the best land, the battle with the kings in the valley may have left him shaken and despondent, much like life’s events leave us despondent and wondering about God’s faithfulness.
God came to Abram in a vision and reaffirmed the promise to him. But Abram replied to the Lord that he had no children. He was distraught that God’s promise may fall null and void. But God promised Abram as many descendants as there are stars in the sky.
God even entered into a covenant with Abram to reassure him. A covenant is a bond, written in blood. In a covenant agreement, the parties would cut up an animal and walk between the animal parts effectively saying that they agree to be treated like the animal should they fail to keep their part of the covenant. When God makes a covenant with Abram, He Himself passes between the animal pieces assuring Abram of His willingness and ability to keep the covenant. God will keep His promise.
As we think about our own situation, God hasn’t made us idle promises either. He has entered into a new covenant with us through the blood of His own Son, Christ Jesus. As the Apostle Paul wrote, all the promises of God are YES in Christ Jesus. They are fulfilled in Him. We can rest secure and assured that whatever God has promised He will fulfil. He will keep His end of the covenant and He will deliver.
Prayer Points:
> Thank God for all of the new Mum’s to Play Pals each fortnight.
> Thank God for the helpers who faithfully come and assist out.
Monday 24 October 2011
Monday October 24, 2011
Read: Genesis 12:1-3
By the time we get to Genesis 12 in our Bible reading from chapter 1, it’s already clear that unless God steps in and acts decisively then the world will continue to spiral downwards. Just think about human achievement from chapters 1-11. Adam and Eve have disobeyed God and caused all humanity to live apart from and separated from God. Murder and violence have become ripe. The state of man’s heart has become so bad that God was so grieved that He put an end to all life except that of Noah and his family. The people have failed to spread across the earth as commanded and sought to build a tower to the heavens. They sought to make a name for themselves as they settled in the plains of Shinar (Babylonia).
It’s not looking too crash hot for the human race, but God does step in! In what seems like a trifling affair, God makes a promise to a relatively unknown person called Abram. But Abram was a descendant of Shem, Noah’s Son!
The promise to Abram is no ordinary promise! It is the promise that will span the future history of the world and touch all the people’s of the planet. It is eternal in its consequences. So what is that promise? There are 3 elements to that promise:-
¨ Abraham will be made into a great nation
¨ His descendants will live in their own land
¨ They will have a great name.
¨ The blessing will flow to all the people’s (“families” is a good translation of the Hebrew word) of the earth.
Added to this, the promise to Abraham is a promise of blessing. The word ‘curse’ is used five times in Genesis 1-11 and here in 3 verses we have 5 blessings! God is about to offset the curses coming out of the fall! He has begun to work powerfully in human history.
Prayer Points:
> Praise God for the new Mum’s who have been coming to M.O.P.’s.
> Pray for the leaders that they will have God’s wisdom in all necessary decisions to be made to cope with the growth of this wonderful ministry.
By the time we get to Genesis 12 in our Bible reading from chapter 1, it’s already clear that unless God steps in and acts decisively then the world will continue to spiral downwards. Just think about human achievement from chapters 1-11. Adam and Eve have disobeyed God and caused all humanity to live apart from and separated from God. Murder and violence have become ripe. The state of man’s heart has become so bad that God was so grieved that He put an end to all life except that of Noah and his family. The people have failed to spread across the earth as commanded and sought to build a tower to the heavens. They sought to make a name for themselves as they settled in the plains of Shinar (Babylonia).
It’s not looking too crash hot for the human race, but God does step in! In what seems like a trifling affair, God makes a promise to a relatively unknown person called Abram. But Abram was a descendant of Shem, Noah’s Son!
The promise to Abram is no ordinary promise! It is the promise that will span the future history of the world and touch all the people’s of the planet. It is eternal in its consequences. So what is that promise? There are 3 elements to that promise:-
¨ Abraham will be made into a great nation
¨ His descendants will live in their own land
¨ They will have a great name.
¨ The blessing will flow to all the people’s (“families” is a good translation of the Hebrew word) of the earth.
Added to this, the promise to Abraham is a promise of blessing. The word ‘curse’ is used five times in Genesis 1-11 and here in 3 verses we have 5 blessings! God is about to offset the curses coming out of the fall! He has begun to work powerfully in human history.
Prayer Points:
> Praise God for the new Mum’s who have been coming to M.O.P.’s.
> Pray for the leaders that they will have God’s wisdom in all necessary decisions to be made to cope with the growth of this wonderful ministry.
Saturday 22 October 2011
Saturday October 22, 2011
Read: Matthew 8:28-34
As Jesus confronted the demons in the men that had spent quite some time living among the tombs, deprived of any normalcy, they pleaded to go into the herd of pigs near by. Pigs to Jews were unclean. Jesus allowed them and the entire heard rushed down the steep bank and drowned in the lake. If satan is a murderer and a liar, we would expect his minions to be murderers and liars as well. We see here the destructive nature of satan and his demons.
Even worse than the demonic destruction is the reaction of the crowd that came out to meet Jesus. Some ran back to town and reported what had happened. When they saw Jesus they pleaded with Him to leave their region. They didn’t ask nicely. They didn’t drop a hint. They pleaded with Him. They begged him to leave. Had they known the true identity of this stranger in their midst, they would have begged Him to stay!
We should not be surprised when people ask us to leave or chase us away as we seek to share the gospel with them in word and deed. If they rejected Jesus and asked Him to leave we can expect the same treatment. We should be surprised, however, when believers ask Jesus to leave. What do I mean by that? I have been in so many churches where people are desperate to leave after the first hour. They plan so many things on Sonday that fellowship and being in Jesus’ presence is just not an option. Is not that simply another way of asking Jesus to leave? Some just want their religious fix and want to get out as quickly as possible. Some are desperate to get home for lunch. Others are meeting family or going out somewhere. Whatever the reason, these believers are asking Jesus to leave their presence.
Let me encourage you to think differently and radically about the Lord’s Day. Right here, right now I want to encourage you to dedicate the entire day (all 24 hours of it) to the Lord and to His people. Make a covenant with God that you will always seek to set apart the entire Lord’s day for Him and His people. Don’t be satisfied with giving the Lord an hour or 2. Give Him the entire day. Don’t be happy to get a religious fix. Soak up the Lord’s presence and swim in His grace and mercy.
A good passage to read and meditate upon is 1 John 4:11-12.
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
Notice what God says? He promises to live in us (plural not single) as we (plural not single) love one another. Read 1 John 3:18. It’s very hard to love one another as we’re racing off to another engagement from church. It’s very hard to love each other as we put work or chores or unbelieving family above our brothers and sisters in the Lord or as we place an hour or two time limit on our meeting time. If we do not love each other in action and in truth, we need to ask if God is really living among us or in us.
Let me encourage you to pray a prayer along the following lines and seek to keep your vow to the Lord week in, week out.
Lord God, you have called us to be in your presence each Lord’s day and to fellowship together. I confess that this has not been my priority of late. Other things have crept in. Please forgive me for this. Lord in your presence I make a pact to seek to keep the Lord’s Day each week for you and your people and to be proactive in edifying the body of believers that I worship with.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
With your cell group, seek to do something next Sonday at Church that will enhance the fellowship and love shared in your body.
Prayer Points:
> “I want to personally thank you for making a stand. However, it’s important to realise that the agenda for the same-sex marriage isn’t over, and this is just round one”. Jim Wallace
> Keep praying for our country and for the unity of family life here.
As Jesus confronted the demons in the men that had spent quite some time living among the tombs, deprived of any normalcy, they pleaded to go into the herd of pigs near by. Pigs to Jews were unclean. Jesus allowed them and the entire heard rushed down the steep bank and drowned in the lake. If satan is a murderer and a liar, we would expect his minions to be murderers and liars as well. We see here the destructive nature of satan and his demons.
Even worse than the demonic destruction is the reaction of the crowd that came out to meet Jesus. Some ran back to town and reported what had happened. When they saw Jesus they pleaded with Him to leave their region. They didn’t ask nicely. They didn’t drop a hint. They pleaded with Him. They begged him to leave. Had they known the true identity of this stranger in their midst, they would have begged Him to stay!
We should not be surprised when people ask us to leave or chase us away as we seek to share the gospel with them in word and deed. If they rejected Jesus and asked Him to leave we can expect the same treatment. We should be surprised, however, when believers ask Jesus to leave. What do I mean by that? I have been in so many churches where people are desperate to leave after the first hour. They plan so many things on Sonday that fellowship and being in Jesus’ presence is just not an option. Is not that simply another way of asking Jesus to leave? Some just want their religious fix and want to get out as quickly as possible. Some are desperate to get home for lunch. Others are meeting family or going out somewhere. Whatever the reason, these believers are asking Jesus to leave their presence.
Let me encourage you to think differently and radically about the Lord’s Day. Right here, right now I want to encourage you to dedicate the entire day (all 24 hours of it) to the Lord and to His people. Make a covenant with God that you will always seek to set apart the entire Lord’s day for Him and His people. Don’t be satisfied with giving the Lord an hour or 2. Give Him the entire day. Don’t be happy to get a religious fix. Soak up the Lord’s presence and swim in His grace and mercy.
A good passage to read and meditate upon is 1 John 4:11-12.
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
Notice what God says? He promises to live in us (plural not single) as we (plural not single) love one another. Read 1 John 3:18. It’s very hard to love one another as we’re racing off to another engagement from church. It’s very hard to love each other as we put work or chores or unbelieving family above our brothers and sisters in the Lord or as we place an hour or two time limit on our meeting time. If we do not love each other in action and in truth, we need to ask if God is really living among us or in us.
Let me encourage you to pray a prayer along the following lines and seek to keep your vow to the Lord week in, week out.
Lord God, you have called us to be in your presence each Lord’s day and to fellowship together. I confess that this has not been my priority of late. Other things have crept in. Please forgive me for this. Lord in your presence I make a pact to seek to keep the Lord’s Day each week for you and your people and to be proactive in edifying the body of believers that I worship with.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
With your cell group, seek to do something next Sonday at Church that will enhance the fellowship and love shared in your body.
Prayer Points:
> “I want to personally thank you for making a stand. However, it’s important to realise that the agenda for the same-sex marriage isn’t over, and this is just round one”. Jim Wallace
> Keep praying for our country and for the unity of family life here.
Friday 21 October 2011
Friday October 21, 2011
Read: Matthew 8:28-29
As Jesus entered Gentile country He was met by two demon possessed men. By combining the various gospel accounts we know that these two men were very strong. They were unable to be bound. They were rather crazy and they were often naked. They lived among the tombs - which for the Jews was the epitome of uncleanness. They would cut themselves and cry out. They were so feared that whole villages avoided them and left them alone.
Yet when these two men met Jesus we read their response.
"What do you want with us, Son of God?" they shouted. "Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?"
Clearly the demons know that there is an appointed time for judgement and ’torture’. They know that Jesus is the one that is judge and Lord. They submit to Him without question! They need His permission to do anything.
What great confidence this episode engenders upon believers. Demons, spirits and all things evil submit to the Jesus we worship. He really is Lord of all. In our battle against the spiritual forces and rulers we need fear nothing or no one. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus rules over all. In the hour of battle, in the midst of temptation, in the centre of attack we can call upon Him. When we are feeling tired, dismayed and overwhelmed we can call upon Him.
Jesus, the Jesus you worship, is the one who will judge the world and make right the wrongs, the evils, the sufferings of this world. He is there for you, right now. All you need to do is call upon Him.
Prayer Points:
> We praise God for the amazing support of marriage from Christians and non-Christians alike.. Pray that the Green’s Party will be convicted by God in their desire to push for same sex marriage.
> Pray for our Government leaders and for all decisions currently being passed.
As Jesus entered Gentile country He was met by two demon possessed men. By combining the various gospel accounts we know that these two men were very strong. They were unable to be bound. They were rather crazy and they were often naked. They lived among the tombs - which for the Jews was the epitome of uncleanness. They would cut themselves and cry out. They were so feared that whole villages avoided them and left them alone.
Yet when these two men met Jesus we read their response.
"What do you want with us, Son of God?" they shouted. "Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?"
Clearly the demons know that there is an appointed time for judgement and ’torture’. They know that Jesus is the one that is judge and Lord. They submit to Him without question! They need His permission to do anything.
What great confidence this episode engenders upon believers. Demons, spirits and all things evil submit to the Jesus we worship. He really is Lord of all. In our battle against the spiritual forces and rulers we need fear nothing or no one. Our Lord and Saviour Jesus rules over all. In the hour of battle, in the midst of temptation, in the centre of attack we can call upon Him. When we are feeling tired, dismayed and overwhelmed we can call upon Him.
Jesus, the Jesus you worship, is the one who will judge the world and make right the wrongs, the evils, the sufferings of this world. He is there for you, right now. All you need to do is call upon Him.
Prayer Points:
> We praise God for the amazing support of marriage from Christians and non-Christians alike.. Pray that the Green’s Party will be convicted by God in their desire to push for same sex marriage.
> Pray for our Government leaders and for all decisions currently being passed.
Thursday 20 October 2011
Thursday October 20, 2011
Read: John 8:31-59. focus on verse 44
There are so many promises in our world today. The mass media is responsible for many of these promises. Ladies, use this machine for 3 minutes a day and you’ll look like a glamour model. Guys, use our machine and you’ll be sporting a six pack by Summer. But everyone knows that a glamour look or a six pack, well honed body will never develop on just 3 minutes exercise a day!
An advertising billboard promises fun and adventure as you join a dating agency to have an affair. Life is simply too short. But in over 20 years of ministry, I’ve never seen any positives come out of an affair.
Another ad promises untold wealth if you follow a simple investment scheme. If it were so simple, wouldn’t we have millions of millionaires already from that scheme? Wouldn’t it have cancelled itself out as more and more become millionaires?
Promises! Promises! Promises! Jesus hit the nail on the head. Satan is a murderer and a liar. He makes grand promises but he is speaking his native tongue and is seeking only to murder and destroy. Think back to the Garden of Eden. Satan lied to Adam and Eve. God had commanded that when they ate of the forbidden tree (that is, when they disobeyed Him) they would surely die. And what did satan do? He promised that they would be like God. He lied that they would not die. You know the result, don’t you? You are living in the result – a world separated from God and in desperate need of rescue and redemption.
Let me encourage you to take stock of your life and think about what promises you are building your life on. What promises are driving you and motivating you? Which promises do you come back to time and time again? Is it the promise of wealth? Is it the promise of excitement or bodily pleasure? Is it the promise of arousal or stress release? Is it the promise of a great thrill?
Even more so, how many of God’s promises are stored up in your heart? How many promises of God have you claimed by faith? How many of His promises guide your life, your words and your hands each day? How are you building your life on His promises?
Paul the Apostle said that he had learnt to be content no matter what situation he was in. Whether he was rich or poor, well fed or hungry, clothed or not, he was able to be content. My Christian brothers we too can find that contentment as we turn to God and indulge ourselves in His promises, as opposed to the promises of the world and the evil one. As we live by His Word and His promises we will find true, lasting and real contentment.
With your cell group, write out ‘promise cards’ for each person with 10 promises for each person that speak to his/her heart uniquely.
Prayer Points:
> Continue to uphold the Chaplaincy concerns on a Federal level.
> Continue to pray that God’s victory will be seen and that the powers of evil will not prevail.
There are so many promises in our world today. The mass media is responsible for many of these promises. Ladies, use this machine for 3 minutes a day and you’ll look like a glamour model. Guys, use our machine and you’ll be sporting a six pack by Summer. But everyone knows that a glamour look or a six pack, well honed body will never develop on just 3 minutes exercise a day!
An advertising billboard promises fun and adventure as you join a dating agency to have an affair. Life is simply too short. But in over 20 years of ministry, I’ve never seen any positives come out of an affair.
Another ad promises untold wealth if you follow a simple investment scheme. If it were so simple, wouldn’t we have millions of millionaires already from that scheme? Wouldn’t it have cancelled itself out as more and more become millionaires?
Promises! Promises! Promises! Jesus hit the nail on the head. Satan is a murderer and a liar. He makes grand promises but he is speaking his native tongue and is seeking only to murder and destroy. Think back to the Garden of Eden. Satan lied to Adam and Eve. God had commanded that when they ate of the forbidden tree (that is, when they disobeyed Him) they would surely die. And what did satan do? He promised that they would be like God. He lied that they would not die. You know the result, don’t you? You are living in the result – a world separated from God and in desperate need of rescue and redemption.
Let me encourage you to take stock of your life and think about what promises you are building your life on. What promises are driving you and motivating you? Which promises do you come back to time and time again? Is it the promise of wealth? Is it the promise of excitement or bodily pleasure? Is it the promise of arousal or stress release? Is it the promise of a great thrill?
Even more so, how many of God’s promises are stored up in your heart? How many promises of God have you claimed by faith? How many of His promises guide your life, your words and your hands each day? How are you building your life on His promises?
Paul the Apostle said that he had learnt to be content no matter what situation he was in. Whether he was rich or poor, well fed or hungry, clothed or not, he was able to be content. My Christian brothers we too can find that contentment as we turn to God and indulge ourselves in His promises, as opposed to the promises of the world and the evil one. As we live by His Word and His promises we will find true, lasting and real contentment.
With your cell group, write out ‘promise cards’ for each person with 10 promises for each person that speak to his/her heart uniquely.
Prayer Points:
> Continue to uphold the Chaplaincy concerns on a Federal level.
> Continue to pray that God’s victory will be seen and that the powers of evil will not prevail.
Wednesday 19 October 2011
Wednesday October 19, 2011
Read: 1 John 5:18
C S Lewis wrote a book called ‘The ScewTape Letters’ in which a senior demon (Screwtape) talks to, or corresponds with, a junior demon (Wormwood) and tries to pass on what he has learned.
As we read through a couple of quotes, we need to remember that two demons are speaking and the Enemy refers to God! Enjoy some quotes and be challenged by Lewis’ insights of spiritual warfare from the perspective of a demon.
"We want the Church to be small not only that fewer men know the Enemy but also that those who do may acquire the uneasy intensity and the defensive self-righteousness of a secret society or a clique." -- P.34
"Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy's ground. I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours. He made all the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one. All we can do is to encourage the humans to take pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden. Hence we always try to work away from the natural condition of any pleasure to that in which it is least natural, least redolent of its Maker, and least pleasurable." -- P.41-42
"Talk to him about 'moderation in all things.' If you can once get him to the point of thinking that 'religion is all very well up to a point,' you can feel quite happy about his soul." -- P.43
"The Enemy's demand on humans takes the form of a dilemma; either complete abstinence or unmitigated monogamy. Every since Our Father's first great victory, we have rendered the former very difficult to them. The latter, for the last few centuries, we have been closing up as a way of escape. We have done this through the poets and novelists by persuading the humans that a curious, and usually short-lived, experience which they call 'being in love' is the only respectable ground for marriage; that marriage can, and ought to, render this excitement permanent; and that a marriage which does not do so is no longer binding." -- P.81
"There are things for humans to do all day long without His minding in the least -- sleeping, washing, eating, drinking, making love, playing, praying, working. Everything has to be twisted before it's any use to us. We fight under cruel disadvantages. Nothing is naturally on our side..." -- P.102
"The pleasure of novelty is by its very nature more subject than any other to the law of diminishing returns. And continued novelty costs money, so that the desire for it spells avarice or unhappiness or both. And again, the more rapacious this desire, the sooner it must eat up all the innocent sources of pleasure and pass on to those the Enemy forbids." -- P.117
Here’s a truth worth knowing. Satan cannot harm us! He cannot take away our salvation. He cannot undo the Grace of God that has been lavished in our lives. But read this very carefully: He can distract us. He can fill our lives with distractions. He can lure us into less important, less eternal things and pursuits!
Activate your faith by reading Colossians 3:1-2 and be seeking to set your heart and mind in the heavenlies for the entire day/week/month/year.
Prayer Points:
> Chris & Judy Ayers, Poland. We need prayer for the general coordination an direction of ministries the structure and function of church leadership and our role in all of the above.
> Pray for our Polish pastor who just announced his engagement.
C S Lewis wrote a book called ‘The ScewTape Letters’ in which a senior demon (Screwtape) talks to, or corresponds with, a junior demon (Wormwood) and tries to pass on what he has learned.
As we read through a couple of quotes, we need to remember that two demons are speaking and the Enemy refers to God! Enjoy some quotes and be challenged by Lewis’ insights of spiritual warfare from the perspective of a demon.
"We want the Church to be small not only that fewer men know the Enemy but also that those who do may acquire the uneasy intensity and the defensive self-righteousness of a secret society or a clique." -- P.34
"Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy's ground. I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours. He made all the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one. All we can do is to encourage the humans to take pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden. Hence we always try to work away from the natural condition of any pleasure to that in which it is least natural, least redolent of its Maker, and least pleasurable." -- P.41-42
"Talk to him about 'moderation in all things.' If you can once get him to the point of thinking that 'religion is all very well up to a point,' you can feel quite happy about his soul." -- P.43
"The Enemy's demand on humans takes the form of a dilemma; either complete abstinence or unmitigated monogamy. Every since Our Father's first great victory, we have rendered the former very difficult to them. The latter, for the last few centuries, we have been closing up as a way of escape. We have done this through the poets and novelists by persuading the humans that a curious, and usually short-lived, experience which they call 'being in love' is the only respectable ground for marriage; that marriage can, and ought to, render this excitement permanent; and that a marriage which does not do so is no longer binding." -- P.81
"There are things for humans to do all day long without His minding in the least -- sleeping, washing, eating, drinking, making love, playing, praying, working. Everything has to be twisted before it's any use to us. We fight under cruel disadvantages. Nothing is naturally on our side..." -- P.102
"The pleasure of novelty is by its very nature more subject than any other to the law of diminishing returns. And continued novelty costs money, so that the desire for it spells avarice or unhappiness or both. And again, the more rapacious this desire, the sooner it must eat up all the innocent sources of pleasure and pass on to those the Enemy forbids." -- P.117
Here’s a truth worth knowing. Satan cannot harm us! He cannot take away our salvation. He cannot undo the Grace of God that has been lavished in our lives. But read this very carefully: He can distract us. He can fill our lives with distractions. He can lure us into less important, less eternal things and pursuits!
Activate your faith by reading Colossians 3:1-2 and be seeking to set your heart and mind in the heavenlies for the entire day/week/month/year.
Prayer Points:
> Chris & Judy Ayers, Poland. We need prayer for the general coordination an direction of ministries the structure and function of church leadership and our role in all of the above.
> Pray for our Polish pastor who just announced his engagement.
Tuesday 18 October 2011
Tuesday October 18, 2011
Read: 1 John 5:19
The Bible couldn’t draw any clearer demarcation or battle lines. There are only two sides and no fence sitters. There are no people wavering in between. Believers are the children of God and the whole world is under the control of the evil one. That is a radical statement and hard to come to grips with.
This means that lovely little old lady down the street who doesn’t believe in Jesus is under the control of the evil one. It means the political parties that stand apart from Christ are under the control of the evil one. It means the non Christian specialist is under the control of the evil one. God says that the WHOLE WORLD is under the control of the evil one. Can you see how radical that one verse really is?
There are many many many many many implications from this for believers. Let me list just a few of them.:-
1. First and foremost, you and I need to be praying a whole lot more than we are at present. Prayer is our chief weapon. We are called in Ephesians 6 to be praying on all occasions. Before we evangelise, we should pray. Before we meet for “worship” we should pray. We should heed the injunction to ‘pray continually’. We need to be praying with our eyes wide open, given the current state of the world.
2. We need to start seeing our world (relationships, business dealings, social life, relaxation times, spending habits etc etc) through the lens of Scripture. We need a Biblical world view of our entire world.
3. We should expect the battle to be on our doorstep each and every single day.
4. We need to be making the most of every opportunity to share the love of Christ, the compassion of Christ and the Word of Christ with the people in our world. Each and every single day there are multiple opportunities to share. We need to start seeing them and courageously taking them.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, march onwards valiantly and courageously.
Prayer Points:
> Pray for Chris & Judy Ayers and family as they minister to the Polish people.
> Pray for their church’s relationship and function with it’s mother church in Wroclaw.
The Bible couldn’t draw any clearer demarcation or battle lines. There are only two sides and no fence sitters. There are no people wavering in between. Believers are the children of God and the whole world is under the control of the evil one. That is a radical statement and hard to come to grips with.
This means that lovely little old lady down the street who doesn’t believe in Jesus is under the control of the evil one. It means the political parties that stand apart from Christ are under the control of the evil one. It means the non Christian specialist is under the control of the evil one. God says that the WHOLE WORLD is under the control of the evil one. Can you see how radical that one verse really is?
There are many many many many many implications from this for believers. Let me list just a few of them.:-
1. First and foremost, you and I need to be praying a whole lot more than we are at present. Prayer is our chief weapon. We are called in Ephesians 6 to be praying on all occasions. Before we evangelise, we should pray. Before we meet for “worship” we should pray. We should heed the injunction to ‘pray continually’. We need to be praying with our eyes wide open, given the current state of the world.
2. We need to start seeing our world (relationships, business dealings, social life, relaxation times, spending habits etc etc) through the lens of Scripture. We need a Biblical world view of our entire world.
3. We should expect the battle to be on our doorstep each and every single day.
4. We need to be making the most of every opportunity to share the love of Christ, the compassion of Christ and the Word of Christ with the people in our world. Each and every single day there are multiple opportunities to share. We need to start seeing them and courageously taking them.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, march onwards valiantly and courageously.
Prayer Points:
> Pray for Chris & Judy Ayers and family as they minister to the Polish people.
> Pray for their church’s relationship and function with it’s mother church in Wroclaw.
Monday 17 October 2011
Monday October 17, 2011
Read: Mark 1:22-34. Ephesians 6:12
Many Christians live as though they are on a permanent break rather than on the battle field. Since satan entered God’s territory disguised as a serpent, we have been on the battlefield. Satan has been seeking to destroy God’s creation ever since he himself fell into temptation. He has been seeking to lead God’s people away from genuine and holistic worship through a myriad of schemes and devices.
It’s no accident that your TV is filled with hatred, anti-Jesus rhetoric and lusts, covetings and perverted sexuality. It’s no coincidence that the popular magazines of today are encouraging our teens and pre teens to experiment with sex, to try homosexuality and to rebel or disagree with parents, to stand up and fight for their rights and to chase their pleasures and desires. It’s not sheer happenstance that various political parties and other groups are demanding the legalisation of things that God has said are sinful and wrong. Abortion, same sex marriage, free drug use, lower ages of consent and promiscuity all contradict God’s Word.
These are all schemes of the evil one to destroy God and His creation and to stop people from finding God and, hence finding eternal life in Christ Jesus, His one and only Son. These are all schemes to stop you, my believing brother or sister, from spending quality time with God and in His Word. Satan doesn’t want you to grow in knowledge and love of God. He doesn’t want you to spend intimate time in fellowship and prayer with other believers. Make no mistake about and don’t be naïve. If he can get you to stay at home watching soft porn, semi-naked women or dreaming about that bigger better house and nicer car, he’s won the battle. Our battle, our daily battle is with the evil one and his minions.
When Jesus walked this earth, haven’t you realised that the evil spirits were the first ones that recognised the true identity of Jesus? They knew Him and fled from His presence. They cowered before Him. It was the people, even the people of Israel (who should have welcomed Jesus with procession and singing and praise) that hounded Him to the cross and crucified Him and sought to rid the world of Him. But Jesus was victorious. He has won. In Him, we have won as well! Hallelujah.
Read Ephesians 6:12. Spend the day thinking about where the battle lies with you. How are you fighting? Where are you fighting? How is your victory in Christ manifesting itself?
Prayer Points:
> Pray that Student Life would be able to start movements at the Universities in Cairns, Townsville and Mackay over the next twelve months.
Many Christians live as though they are on a permanent break rather than on the battle field. Since satan entered God’s territory disguised as a serpent, we have been on the battlefield. Satan has been seeking to destroy God’s creation ever since he himself fell into temptation. He has been seeking to lead God’s people away from genuine and holistic worship through a myriad of schemes and devices.
It’s no accident that your TV is filled with hatred, anti-Jesus rhetoric and lusts, covetings and perverted sexuality. It’s no coincidence that the popular magazines of today are encouraging our teens and pre teens to experiment with sex, to try homosexuality and to rebel or disagree with parents, to stand up and fight for their rights and to chase their pleasures and desires. It’s not sheer happenstance that various political parties and other groups are demanding the legalisation of things that God has said are sinful and wrong. Abortion, same sex marriage, free drug use, lower ages of consent and promiscuity all contradict God’s Word.
These are all schemes of the evil one to destroy God and His creation and to stop people from finding God and, hence finding eternal life in Christ Jesus, His one and only Son. These are all schemes to stop you, my believing brother or sister, from spending quality time with God and in His Word. Satan doesn’t want you to grow in knowledge and love of God. He doesn’t want you to spend intimate time in fellowship and prayer with other believers. Make no mistake about and don’t be naïve. If he can get you to stay at home watching soft porn, semi-naked women or dreaming about that bigger better house and nicer car, he’s won the battle. Our battle, our daily battle is with the evil one and his minions.
When Jesus walked this earth, haven’t you realised that the evil spirits were the first ones that recognised the true identity of Jesus? They knew Him and fled from His presence. They cowered before Him. It was the people, even the people of Israel (who should have welcomed Jesus with procession and singing and praise) that hounded Him to the cross and crucified Him and sought to rid the world of Him. But Jesus was victorious. He has won. In Him, we have won as well! Hallelujah.
Read Ephesians 6:12. Spend the day thinking about where the battle lies with you. How are you fighting? Where are you fighting? How is your victory in Christ manifesting itself?
Prayer Points:
> Pray that Student Life would be able to start movements at the Universities in Cairns, Townsville and Mackay over the next twelve months.
Saturday 15 October 2011
Saturday October 15, 2011
Read: Matthew 8:18-22
Over the last 20 years of my Christian life I have learnt that there’s a world of difference between what some believers claim and what they are really willing to do. This was clearly illustrated to me by a couple that sadly told me of the church they were in. As new comers to the church many people promised to invite them to lunch or dinner soon. Six years later, no one had come through and offered to have them over for a fellowship meal. How often we make grand promises and never get to them.
Jesus experienced the very same thing! He taught the crowds and was approached by several people who made great claims, incredible promises. One said, ‘I will follow you where ever you go’. Another wanted to follow but asked, ‘First let me go and bury my father.’ In each instance, Jesus revealed the true cost of discipleship. He made plain to them what it means to follow Jesus. It may not be a walk in the park!
Let us make a pact right here and right now to let our ‘yes’ be yes and our ‘no’ be no. Let us make a firm resolve that we will not make rash or grand promises. But rather, let us consider carefully our words and vows and let us be exceedingly diligent in fulfilling them! God does not appreciate half hearted vows or unkept vows. If we promise it, He expects us to do it!
Tomorrow is our time for gathering and ‘worship’. In being granted faith and repentance, you have entered into several vows and promises. You have promised to be a part of the body of Christ. You have promised to use your gifts (spiritual gifts, that is) and your abilities to serve the body and to edify others. If nothing else, look up 1 Corinthians 12:7 and think about for a while. You have also promised to support the church financially. What will all this look like tomorrow? How will your following of Jesus play itself out tomorrow in the congregation? How will you serve? How will you give?
Service by its very nature is costly and may sometimes hurt or make us uncomfortable. But rejoice! Praise God in your service for the cross was no picnic for Jesus either. He suffered and died. He rose again and filled you with the Holy Spirit so that you can serve and give and even die if necessary as Christ has done for you.
Activate your faith by being actively involved in the life of the congregation. That means you’ll have to spend some time today praying and thinking about what that involvement will look like.
Prayer Points:
> Continue to Pray for Jim & Faye Lyons and their ministry to schools and churches in showing the DVD, “The Price Tag of Sex”.
Over the last 20 years of my Christian life I have learnt that there’s a world of difference between what some believers claim and what they are really willing to do. This was clearly illustrated to me by a couple that sadly told me of the church they were in. As new comers to the church many people promised to invite them to lunch or dinner soon. Six years later, no one had come through and offered to have them over for a fellowship meal. How often we make grand promises and never get to them.
Jesus experienced the very same thing! He taught the crowds and was approached by several people who made great claims, incredible promises. One said, ‘I will follow you where ever you go’. Another wanted to follow but asked, ‘First let me go and bury my father.’ In each instance, Jesus revealed the true cost of discipleship. He made plain to them what it means to follow Jesus. It may not be a walk in the park!
Let us make a pact right here and right now to let our ‘yes’ be yes and our ‘no’ be no. Let us make a firm resolve that we will not make rash or grand promises. But rather, let us consider carefully our words and vows and let us be exceedingly diligent in fulfilling them! God does not appreciate half hearted vows or unkept vows. If we promise it, He expects us to do it!
Tomorrow is our time for gathering and ‘worship’. In being granted faith and repentance, you have entered into several vows and promises. You have promised to be a part of the body of Christ. You have promised to use your gifts (spiritual gifts, that is) and your abilities to serve the body and to edify others. If nothing else, look up 1 Corinthians 12:7 and think about for a while. You have also promised to support the church financially. What will all this look like tomorrow? How will your following of Jesus play itself out tomorrow in the congregation? How will you serve? How will you give?
Service by its very nature is costly and may sometimes hurt or make us uncomfortable. But rejoice! Praise God in your service for the cross was no picnic for Jesus either. He suffered and died. He rose again and filled you with the Holy Spirit so that you can serve and give and even die if necessary as Christ has done for you.
Activate your faith by being actively involved in the life of the congregation. That means you’ll have to spend some time today praying and thinking about what that involvement will look like.
Prayer Points:
> Continue to Pray for Jim & Faye Lyons and their ministry to schools and churches in showing the DVD, “The Price Tag of Sex”.
Friday 14 October 2011
Friday October 14, 2011
Read: Luke 9:22-27
When I think of putting on a cross, or taking up a cross, I often think of jewellery - perhaps a gold plated cross on a gold plated box chain. Rarely if ever do I think of taking up the cross as Jesus meant it to be.
To understand the idiom of taking up one’s cross we need only remember that graffiti, crude graffiti, have been discovered in ruins of Roman provinces. It was vulgar and disgusting and was not the discussion or talking point of polite society. Ordinary folk avoided the concept and the thought of crucifixion.
As Jesus taught the disciples about His death, He may have seen someone being led to the site of crucifixion in the distance. Having said that He was about to be killed He hints at His own death by commanding that His followers must follow Him and take up their cross! Becoming a follower of Jesus is synonymous with dying, with giving up one’s life and handing it over to Jesus in full.
We need to be clear. Taking up the one’s cross was not like going to court where you would be able to have your say and perhaps, if you mount enough evidence, get let off! There was no reprieve from the cross. When you took it up you were a dead man walking. The only future you had was death!
Jesus lays down three concepts and truths in one verse! Look again at vs 23 and see if you can find three things you are meant to be doing! We have to deny ourselves. Take up our cross and we must follow Jesus. Unfortunately in our super spiritual western world, we have spiritualised this command and turned into a call to flimsy discipleship - exactly what Bonheoffer called cheap grace.
To take up one’s cross means to be ready to die. It means a certain death. If you are ready to die, will you not give willingly and readily to those in need? To deny oneself is to put one’s needs and desires at the bottom of the list, not the top. While it could mean spending a bit more time praying and other such spiritual activities, it will equally mean giving food to the poor, giving clothes off our back to the needy and maybe even a room for the homeless! It may mean walking beside the lepers of our society or not having that luxury item so that the children in the hospital can have a few nice Christmas presents. It may mean forsaking family time over Christmas day to cook a lunch for the down and outs. Following Jesus is more than just trying to pray and read our Bibles regularly. Following Jesus means walking the road that He walked. He came to serve and not to be served. Check out Mark 10:45. He gave of himself. He spent Himself for others. He had compassion on the crowds and met their needs. He loved others with His very life.
Make no mistake about it. If we are going to be serious about our faith and if we are to do justice to Scripture in our lives then we have to rethink our application of Scripture. Let’s make Jesus our model of application and let’s imitate Him as much as we can!
With your cell group think of a way that you can take up your cross, deny yourself and follow Jesus this Christmas. Start planning now.
Prayer Points:
> Pray that God would continue to draw students to Himself on campuses throughout Australia.
When I think of putting on a cross, or taking up a cross, I often think of jewellery - perhaps a gold plated cross on a gold plated box chain. Rarely if ever do I think of taking up the cross as Jesus meant it to be.
To understand the idiom of taking up one’s cross we need only remember that graffiti, crude graffiti, have been discovered in ruins of Roman provinces. It was vulgar and disgusting and was not the discussion or talking point of polite society. Ordinary folk avoided the concept and the thought of crucifixion.
As Jesus taught the disciples about His death, He may have seen someone being led to the site of crucifixion in the distance. Having said that He was about to be killed He hints at His own death by commanding that His followers must follow Him and take up their cross! Becoming a follower of Jesus is synonymous with dying, with giving up one’s life and handing it over to Jesus in full.
We need to be clear. Taking up the one’s cross was not like going to court where you would be able to have your say and perhaps, if you mount enough evidence, get let off! There was no reprieve from the cross. When you took it up you were a dead man walking. The only future you had was death!
Jesus lays down three concepts and truths in one verse! Look again at vs 23 and see if you can find three things you are meant to be doing! We have to deny ourselves. Take up our cross and we must follow Jesus. Unfortunately in our super spiritual western world, we have spiritualised this command and turned into a call to flimsy discipleship - exactly what Bonheoffer called cheap grace.
To take up one’s cross means to be ready to die. It means a certain death. If you are ready to die, will you not give willingly and readily to those in need? To deny oneself is to put one’s needs and desires at the bottom of the list, not the top. While it could mean spending a bit more time praying and other such spiritual activities, it will equally mean giving food to the poor, giving clothes off our back to the needy and maybe even a room for the homeless! It may mean walking beside the lepers of our society or not having that luxury item so that the children in the hospital can have a few nice Christmas presents. It may mean forsaking family time over Christmas day to cook a lunch for the down and outs. Following Jesus is more than just trying to pray and read our Bibles regularly. Following Jesus means walking the road that He walked. He came to serve and not to be served. Check out Mark 10:45. He gave of himself. He spent Himself for others. He had compassion on the crowds and met their needs. He loved others with His very life.
Make no mistake about it. If we are going to be serious about our faith and if we are to do justice to Scripture in our lives then we have to rethink our application of Scripture. Let’s make Jesus our model of application and let’s imitate Him as much as we can!
With your cell group think of a way that you can take up your cross, deny yourself and follow Jesus this Christmas. Start planning now.
Prayer Points:
> Pray that God would continue to draw students to Himself on campuses throughout Australia.
Thursday 13 October 2011
Thursday October 13, 2011
Read: Matthew 13:45-46
Dietrich Bonheoffer was one of the few Christians in Nazi Germany willing to stand up to the regime and call it for what it was - a regime committed to anti Christian values and sinful objectives. For his part, he was arrested and sent to prison. He was executed in prison only a short time before the Allies brought freedom to the land! His words were not the words of an ivory tower scholar but a brother in the Lord who paid the ultimate price for standing up for Jesus.
Let me quote to you a section of his book, The Cost of Discipleship’.
Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting today for costly grace. Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks’ wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace is represented as the Church’s inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Grace without price; grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing....[45]
Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the love of God taught as the Christian 'conception' of God. An intellectual assent to that idea is held to be of itself sufficient to secure remission of sins.... In such a Church the world finds a cheap covering for its sins; no contrition is required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin. Cheap grace therefore amounts to a denial of the living Word of God, in fact, a denial of the Incarnation of the Word of God.[45-46]
Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything they say, and so everything can remain as it was before. 'All for sin could not atone.' Well, then, let the Christian live like the rest of the world, let him model himself on the world’s standards in every sphere of life, and not presumptuously aspire to live a different life under grace from his old life under sin....
Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession.... Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.[47]
Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man’ will gladly go and self all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.
Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of His Son: “ye were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon His Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered Him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.
Costly grace is the sanctuary of God; it has to be protected from the world, and not thrown to the dogs. It is therefore the living word, the Word of God, which He speaks as it pleases Him. Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus. It comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. Grace is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow Him; it is grace because Jesus says: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Read Luke 9:23 and meditate on your life and where you might be seeing cheap grace and how you can change.
Prayer Points:
> Scott & Rachael Adamson, Student Life. Pray for a productive semester of school for Rachael and the children.
Dietrich Bonheoffer was one of the few Christians in Nazi Germany willing to stand up to the regime and call it for what it was - a regime committed to anti Christian values and sinful objectives. For his part, he was arrested and sent to prison. He was executed in prison only a short time before the Allies brought freedom to the land! His words were not the words of an ivory tower scholar but a brother in the Lord who paid the ultimate price for standing up for Jesus.
Let me quote to you a section of his book, The Cost of Discipleship’.
Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting today for costly grace. Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks’ wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace is represented as the Church’s inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Grace without price; grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing....[45]
Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system. It means forgiveness of sins proclaimed as a general truth, the love of God taught as the Christian 'conception' of God. An intellectual assent to that idea is held to be of itself sufficient to secure remission of sins.... In such a Church the world finds a cheap covering for its sins; no contrition is required, still less any real desire to be delivered from sin. Cheap grace therefore amounts to a denial of the living Word of God, in fact, a denial of the Incarnation of the Word of God.[45-46]
Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Grace alone does everything they say, and so everything can remain as it was before. 'All for sin could not atone.' Well, then, let the Christian live like the rest of the world, let him model himself on the world’s standards in every sphere of life, and not presumptuously aspire to live a different life under grace from his old life under sin....
Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession.... Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.[47]
Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man’ will gladly go and self all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble, it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.
Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of His Son: “ye were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon His Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered Him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.
Costly grace is the sanctuary of God; it has to be protected from the world, and not thrown to the dogs. It is therefore the living word, the Word of God, which He speaks as it pleases Him. Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus. It comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. Grace is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow Him; it is grace because Jesus says: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Read Luke 9:23 and meditate on your life and where you might be seeing cheap grace and how you can change.
Prayer Points:
> Scott & Rachael Adamson, Student Life. Pray for a productive semester of school for Rachael and the children.
Wednesday 12 October 2011
Wednesday October 12, 2011
Read: Acts 14
Would you join the local soccer club that advertised that it was guaranteed to lose again this season? Would you join the local choir that guaranteed itself to come last in the local eisteddfod? It sounds ridiculous but in the eyes of the world, Christians and Christianity are losers. Unfortunately, Paul, in Acts 14, doesn’t help our reputation.
Paul had been to Lystra and after healing a man, was barely able to stop the crowds from offering sacrifices to himself and Barnabas as gods. Having succeeded they were persecuted and stoned! Many thought that Paul was dead. But having been revived, he continued to teach. It’s here that we read those incredible words ‘We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God’. These words should not surprise us, but in reality they do, don’t they? Jesus himself said that if the world hated Him and persecuted Him, then they will treat us the same! We should expect hardship as a believer but all too often we expect comfort, blessing and easiness.
Think of Jesus as our example and forerunner. To bring the Kingdom of God He had to endure life in our world. But more than that, He had to endure the unjust accusation by one of His 12 disciples. He endured the unjust trial in which false witnesses sought to bring His demise. He endured the brutal treatment by the soldiers - the mocking, the spitting, the beating. Our King endured the nailing to the cross and the crown of thorns. He endured separation from the Father and He gave Himself over to death. Jesus endured hardship so that you and I can enter the Kingdom of God and be adopted as Sons of the living God! What He tells us is that because He Himself endured we too will endure. But, He will walk with us as we endure! More on that later.
Prayer Points:
> Thank God for the Committee of Management we've had this year! Please pray for them as they will be handing over the reigns soon to our new committee team for 2012. Praise God for the 2011 team’s willingness to serve in this area next year, and for the amazing job done by the team this year.
Would you join the local soccer club that advertised that it was guaranteed to lose again this season? Would you join the local choir that guaranteed itself to come last in the local eisteddfod? It sounds ridiculous but in the eyes of the world, Christians and Christianity are losers. Unfortunately, Paul, in Acts 14, doesn’t help our reputation.
Paul had been to Lystra and after healing a man, was barely able to stop the crowds from offering sacrifices to himself and Barnabas as gods. Having succeeded they were persecuted and stoned! Many thought that Paul was dead. But having been revived, he continued to teach. It’s here that we read those incredible words ‘We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God’. These words should not surprise us, but in reality they do, don’t they? Jesus himself said that if the world hated Him and persecuted Him, then they will treat us the same! We should expect hardship as a believer but all too often we expect comfort, blessing and easiness.
Think of Jesus as our example and forerunner. To bring the Kingdom of God He had to endure life in our world. But more than that, He had to endure the unjust accusation by one of His 12 disciples. He endured the unjust trial in which false witnesses sought to bring His demise. He endured the brutal treatment by the soldiers - the mocking, the spitting, the beating. Our King endured the nailing to the cross and the crown of thorns. He endured separation from the Father and He gave Himself over to death. Jesus endured hardship so that you and I can enter the Kingdom of God and be adopted as Sons of the living God! What He tells us is that because He Himself endured we too will endure. But, He will walk with us as we endure! More on that later.
Prayer Points:
> Thank God for the Committee of Management we've had this year! Please pray for them as they will be handing over the reigns soon to our new committee team for 2012. Praise God for the 2011 team’s willingness to serve in this area next year, and for the amazing job done by the team this year.
Tuesday 11 October 2011
Tuesday October 11, 2011
Read: 2 Corinthians 6:1-10
The Chinese Church had it right. We got it wrong! Brother Yun in his sequel to The Heavenly Man talks about a region in which many Christians were sent, only to be slaughtered for their faith. He made the passing comment that when times get tough and dangerous, we in the West often pull out our missionaries and workers. We refuse to send people in. The Chinese church is overwhelmed with volunteers to go into these dangerous, life threatening areas because they are ready to count the cost. They are willing and ready to fight the real battle, even with their very lives.
It’s a confronting view of ministry isn’t it? Paul the Apostle has such a view of ministry as well. He puts no stumbling block in anyone’s path so that many will come to know Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour. he willingly endures hardship and trial for the sake of the gospel. Paul knows that ‘now is the day of salvation’. Tomorrow may well be too late.
Now in all honesty, I don’t expect you to sell up everything and head off to China to enrol in a ‘certain death’ ministry. But can’t we go without just that little bit for the sake of the gospel? Can’t we turn off the TV for the evening and spend it ringing around to encourage others? Can’t we forgo dessert every night this week and set up a soup kitchen for the hungry? Can’t we feel a bit of cold and give away every second blanket in our house to those in the streets with no place to lay their head? Can’t we halve our Christmas and birthday spending limits and give the difference to the poorer peoples or buy presents from 3rd World country catalogues?
There’s so much you and I can do for the gospel. There’s so much we can forgo to make someone else’s life a little more blessed. There are so many ways we can practically share the love of Christ with those around us. But before anything happens we need to change the way we think about ministry.
The Chinese Church had it right. We got it wrong! Brother Yun in his sequel to The Heavenly Man talks about a region in which many Christians were sent, only to be slaughtered for their faith. He made the passing comment that when times get tough and dangerous, we in the West often pull out our missionaries and workers. We refuse to send people in. The Chinese church is overwhelmed with volunteers to go into these dangerous, life threatening areas because they are ready to count the cost. They are willing and ready to fight the real battle, even with their very lives.
It’s a confronting view of ministry isn’t it? Paul the Apostle has such a view of ministry as well. He puts no stumbling block in anyone’s path so that many will come to know Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour. he willingly endures hardship and trial for the sake of the gospel. Paul knows that ‘now is the day of salvation’. Tomorrow may well be too late.
Now in all honesty, I don’t expect you to sell up everything and head off to China to enrol in a ‘certain death’ ministry. But can’t we go without just that little bit for the sake of the gospel? Can’t we turn off the TV for the evening and spend it ringing around to encourage others? Can’t we forgo dessert every night this week and set up a soup kitchen for the hungry? Can’t we feel a bit of cold and give away every second blanket in our house to those in the streets with no place to lay their head? Can’t we halve our Christmas and birthday spending limits and give the difference to the poorer peoples or buy presents from 3rd World country catalogues?
There’s so much you and I can do for the gospel. There’s so much we can forgo to make someone else’s life a little more blessed. There are so many ways we can practically share the love of Christ with those around us. But before anything happens we need to change the way we think about ministry.
Monday 10 October 2011
Monday October 10, 2011
Read: Genesis 40
Centuries ago a ship’s captain advertised for men to go on a dangerous mission that would be costly & perilous, life threatening and filled with impossibility. Returning alive was only a slight possibility. Thousands of men lined up for the adventure. More recently a pastor advertised a dangerous mission that would be costly and perilous. It could prove life threatening. It was a dangerous mission also filled with impossibility. No one lined up for the adventure.
When Joseph languished in Pharaoh’s prison, for a crime he never committed, he must have been wandering what he had signed up for. Years ago he dreamt that his brothers and even his own mother and father
would bow down before him. Yet here he was, dying and rotting away in a prison cell. At that point he had no idea what would transpire, but you and I know the ending of the story. We know the great things God brought about by Joseph’s suffering. It was no easy road. It was no tip toe through the tulips but God used him powerfully to bless His people and to bring salvation to many.
Joseph’s life serves as an example to us, reminding us that God’s sovereignty remains unabated and unchallenged by the situations we find ourselves in. He will use us to His own glory and to bring blessing and/or salvation to many. We may endure long, tough times. Young Abraham was promised a son but it took many years, until he was 99, that the child of the promise was given! We may wade through the mud. We may feel abandoned and alone, but God is sovereign and is working out all things according to His eternal plan. No plan of God’s can be thwarted. God will use you powerfully as you avail yourself to Him.
It breaks my heart to see very few believers lining up to sign up for God’s great adventures. Comfort and ease may have gotten the better of us. But you can change the tide. You can give yourself to God as a willing and ready volunteer. As you awaken each morning say to God in prayer, ‘Lord I am yours. I’ll go where ever you send me and do what ever you want me to do. Lead on master’. That, my friend, is a dangerous prayer. That my friend is not just a life changing prayer but a world changing prayer, because God will do great things through you as you give yourself to Him completely.
Read and remember Genesis 50:20 and think about how God might be able to use your suffering for the good of others.
Prayer Points:
> Pray for SL live and the Happy hours.
> Pray that more friends would be invited and that they would feel welcomed, loved and drawn more towards Jesus. This week Hannah Visser will be speaking from the book of Philippians, so please be praying for her as she prepares, and that God would use her to speak to us.
Centuries ago a ship’s captain advertised for men to go on a dangerous mission that would be costly & perilous, life threatening and filled with impossibility. Returning alive was only a slight possibility. Thousands of men lined up for the adventure. More recently a pastor advertised a dangerous mission that would be costly and perilous. It could prove life threatening. It was a dangerous mission also filled with impossibility. No one lined up for the adventure.
When Joseph languished in Pharaoh’s prison, for a crime he never committed, he must have been wandering what he had signed up for. Years ago he dreamt that his brothers and even his own mother and father
would bow down before him. Yet here he was, dying and rotting away in a prison cell. At that point he had no idea what would transpire, but you and I know the ending of the story. We know the great things God brought about by Joseph’s suffering. It was no easy road. It was no tip toe through the tulips but God used him powerfully to bless His people and to bring salvation to many.
Joseph’s life serves as an example to us, reminding us that God’s sovereignty remains unabated and unchallenged by the situations we find ourselves in. He will use us to His own glory and to bring blessing and/or salvation to many. We may endure long, tough times. Young Abraham was promised a son but it took many years, until he was 99, that the child of the promise was given! We may wade through the mud. We may feel abandoned and alone, but God is sovereign and is working out all things according to His eternal plan. No plan of God’s can be thwarted. God will use you powerfully as you avail yourself to Him.
It breaks my heart to see very few believers lining up to sign up for God’s great adventures. Comfort and ease may have gotten the better of us. But you can change the tide. You can give yourself to God as a willing and ready volunteer. As you awaken each morning say to God in prayer, ‘Lord I am yours. I’ll go where ever you send me and do what ever you want me to do. Lead on master’. That, my friend, is a dangerous prayer. That my friend is not just a life changing prayer but a world changing prayer, because God will do great things through you as you give yourself to Him completely.
Read and remember Genesis 50:20 and think about how God might be able to use your suffering for the good of others.
Prayer Points:
> Pray for SL live and the Happy hours.
> Pray that more friends would be invited and that they would feel welcomed, loved and drawn more towards Jesus. This week Hannah Visser will be speaking from the book of Philippians, so please be praying for her as she prepares, and that God would use her to speak to us.
Saturday 8 October 2011
Saturday October 8, 2011
Read: Ephesians 4:1-16
Picture if you will, a Ferrari. Not just any old Ferrari but a brilliant red Ferrari with a white leather interior, 22 inch mags, front and back spoilers and, best of all, the keys in the ignition ready for you to take it for a spin. But before you go off in fantasy land dreaming about cruising down the freeway in this superb beast of a car, think about that car and the way it works. Basically, every piece of that car has been finely honed to perfection and put where it is for a specific reason. All the parts of the car work together to enable it to perform at its peak. Every piece of that car has a purpose, a function and was specifically made by the manufacturer.
The church is very much like that Ferrari. Every person in the church has been (and is being) finely honed by the manufacturer and is put there for a specific reason. All the parts of the church (ie the people, not the building) work together to enable it to perform at its peak. Every person in the church has a purpose, a function and was specifically made by the manufacturer, by God.
God’s purpose for the church is that each person work in unity to build up the church for works of service (that is Good Works) so that the body of Christ might be built up in unity and knowledge and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. You have a role to play in that purpose. God has made you as you are and has put you where you are so that you can help the body of Christ mature, grow and be built up, expand and come to know Christ more fully.
Now here’s the million dollar question – Are you active in the church, doing that which God has made you and called you to be doing? More often than not I hear people say something like, ‘But I don’t know what God wants me to do’ or ‘I don’t know what my spiritual gifts are’. You can find your spiritual gifts and what God wants you to be doing in and through the church thus:-
Pray: Ask God to show you your gifts and to reveal to you what He wants you to be doing. Without prayer you will never know.
Passions: Where are your passions and desires. If you locate these you’ll probably locate your gift(s) and calling. Rarely does God give us a passion and then call us to work elsewhere. The two usually coincide.
Peer: Peer at the church, look at it and see where the needs are. Does your passion or could your passion fill a need in the church? Is there some gaping hole you could fill? Can you help in some area that is deficient or needy?
Persist: Keep filing the need or serving in the area you have identified for some time. Six months to a year is a good time frame.
Ponder: Take time with a mature Christian to ponder the outcome over the last 6 -12 months. Have you made a difference? Have you brought blessing to people’s lives? Have you had an impact? Have you helped others in some way, shape or form? If you have seen positive results from your involvement you can reasonably assume that this area is one of your gifting and you can continue serving and blessing the body. If the outcome is not as positive as hoped, you can go back to praying and try another area that you are passionate about.
Tomorrow the body of Christ will gather again. The Lord God Almighty has created you to be actively involved in that body. He has made you to be a vital part of that body. You will never ever find anything that satisfies you as deeply as doing that which you were created for. How will you be involved in tomorrow’s gathering of the body of Christ?
Prayer Points:
> Pray for the Student Life ministry team in PNG being lead by George and Eva. Please be praying for them as missionaries, that God would continue encouraging them.
> Pray as well as the student team for their growth in the faith.
> Praise God for His current provision for the team and for how He will continue to provide for them.
Picture if you will, a Ferrari. Not just any old Ferrari but a brilliant red Ferrari with a white leather interior, 22 inch mags, front and back spoilers and, best of all, the keys in the ignition ready for you to take it for a spin. But before you go off in fantasy land dreaming about cruising down the freeway in this superb beast of a car, think about that car and the way it works. Basically, every piece of that car has been finely honed to perfection and put where it is for a specific reason. All the parts of the car work together to enable it to perform at its peak. Every piece of that car has a purpose, a function and was specifically made by the manufacturer.
The church is very much like that Ferrari. Every person in the church has been (and is being) finely honed by the manufacturer and is put there for a specific reason. All the parts of the church (ie the people, not the building) work together to enable it to perform at its peak. Every person in the church has a purpose, a function and was specifically made by the manufacturer, by God.
God’s purpose for the church is that each person work in unity to build up the church for works of service (that is Good Works) so that the body of Christ might be built up in unity and knowledge and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. You have a role to play in that purpose. God has made you as you are and has put you where you are so that you can help the body of Christ mature, grow and be built up, expand and come to know Christ more fully.
Now here’s the million dollar question – Are you active in the church, doing that which God has made you and called you to be doing? More often than not I hear people say something like, ‘But I don’t know what God wants me to do’ or ‘I don’t know what my spiritual gifts are’. You can find your spiritual gifts and what God wants you to be doing in and through the church thus:-
Pray: Ask God to show you your gifts and to reveal to you what He wants you to be doing. Without prayer you will never know.
Passions: Where are your passions and desires. If you locate these you’ll probably locate your gift(s) and calling. Rarely does God give us a passion and then call us to work elsewhere. The two usually coincide.
Peer: Peer at the church, look at it and see where the needs are. Does your passion or could your passion fill a need in the church? Is there some gaping hole you could fill? Can you help in some area that is deficient or needy?
Persist: Keep filing the need or serving in the area you have identified for some time. Six months to a year is a good time frame.
Ponder: Take time with a mature Christian to ponder the outcome over the last 6 -12 months. Have you made a difference? Have you brought blessing to people’s lives? Have you had an impact? Have you helped others in some way, shape or form? If you have seen positive results from your involvement you can reasonably assume that this area is one of your gifting and you can continue serving and blessing the body. If the outcome is not as positive as hoped, you can go back to praying and try another area that you are passionate about.
Tomorrow the body of Christ will gather again. The Lord God Almighty has created you to be actively involved in that body. He has made you to be a vital part of that body. You will never ever find anything that satisfies you as deeply as doing that which you were created for. How will you be involved in tomorrow’s gathering of the body of Christ?
Prayer Points:
> Pray for the Student Life ministry team in PNG being lead by George and Eva. Please be praying for them as missionaries, that God would continue encouraging them.
> Pray as well as the student team for their growth in the faith.
> Praise God for His current provision for the team and for how He will continue to provide for them.
Friday 7 October 2011
Friday October 7, 2011
Read: Matthew 8:5-13
Being slapped in the cheek is never fun and I’ve got the scars to prove it! But it’s not the slap that hurts! It’s the embarrassment and the ding to our dignity that really smarts. Imagine the pain of the Pharisees and proud religious leaders when Jesus used the Roman centurion’s faith to teach about the Kingdom of God. These religious leaders assumed that both they and nation would automatically enter that kingdom of God paradise.
But listen to Jesus’ words and feel the sting on their cheeks. Jesus begins in vs 11 by hinting that those who come will be from outside the promised land. They would be non Israelites! Then He slaps home the truth – the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside! OUCH! Jesus is directly challenging the accepted culture of the day, the thinking of the day and even the prevailing wisdom of the day. Everything the religious gurus accepted as kosher has been turned upside down by the Saviour.
When it comes to our own day we would do well to imitate Jesus. Our world’s culture, our world’s thinking and our world’s wisdom needs to be directly challenged. Christian teenagers need to challenge the mentality that it’s ok to goof off and to waste the teenage years drinking, partying and being totally silly. Christian mothers need to challenge the wisdom of the super mum syndrome – mothers who think they can run a multi-million dollar business, have a busy social life and raise wonderful children that love their parents and walk in obedience. Christian men need to challenge the “me, me, me” syndrome that is prevalent among so many men and the wisdom that says ‘you can look but not touch’. Christian churches have so many areas of our modern day culture that they need to challenge.
There are three avenues through which you can change the world. Firstly, as an individual you can challenge the culture as you come across areas that contradict the Word, be it at work, in your family, among friends or whatever. A wise man once said that evil triumphs when good men do nothing. Will you face the world, challenge the world, when you have the opportunity to speak up or to stand up for what Christ has said is right and true? Secondly, your cell group can take a stand as a group. You can write to the various levels of parliament, support the needy, raise justice for those who are unfairly treated and so on. A small group can make large inroads in any community if they persist. Is your cell ready and equipped to take on the world? Thirdly, your church can be challenging society and its accepted norms and cultures in a host of ways. Is your church mobilised and ready to fight the good fight?
Our culture needs to be challenged. But how do I determine which bits to challenge and which bits to accept? How do I determine when to raise my voice and stand up and when to sit down and shut up? It really is simple! Anything that contradicts the Word of God needs to be challenged. Obviously, there’ll be different degrees of challenge needed but we should never accept as truth anything that contradicts the Word.
Think about what aspects of culture you can challenge:-
a/. Personally.
b/. Through your cell
c/. Through your church.
Prayer Points:
> Praise God for the team from Australia who went on a project to Papua New Guinea. Please continue praying for those who gave their lives to Christ while they were on the PNG university campus, that they would continue to grow in their faith in Christ.
Being slapped in the cheek is never fun and I’ve got the scars to prove it! But it’s not the slap that hurts! It’s the embarrassment and the ding to our dignity that really smarts. Imagine the pain of the Pharisees and proud religious leaders when Jesus used the Roman centurion’s faith to teach about the Kingdom of God. These religious leaders assumed that both they and nation would automatically enter that kingdom of God paradise.
But listen to Jesus’ words and feel the sting on their cheeks. Jesus begins in vs 11 by hinting that those who come will be from outside the promised land. They would be non Israelites! Then He slaps home the truth – the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside! OUCH! Jesus is directly challenging the accepted culture of the day, the thinking of the day and even the prevailing wisdom of the day. Everything the religious gurus accepted as kosher has been turned upside down by the Saviour.
When it comes to our own day we would do well to imitate Jesus. Our world’s culture, our world’s thinking and our world’s wisdom needs to be directly challenged. Christian teenagers need to challenge the mentality that it’s ok to goof off and to waste the teenage years drinking, partying and being totally silly. Christian mothers need to challenge the wisdom of the super mum syndrome – mothers who think they can run a multi-million dollar business, have a busy social life and raise wonderful children that love their parents and walk in obedience. Christian men need to challenge the “me, me, me” syndrome that is prevalent among so many men and the wisdom that says ‘you can look but not touch’. Christian churches have so many areas of our modern day culture that they need to challenge.
There are three avenues through which you can change the world. Firstly, as an individual you can challenge the culture as you come across areas that contradict the Word, be it at work, in your family, among friends or whatever. A wise man once said that evil triumphs when good men do nothing. Will you face the world, challenge the world, when you have the opportunity to speak up or to stand up for what Christ has said is right and true? Secondly, your cell group can take a stand as a group. You can write to the various levels of parliament, support the needy, raise justice for those who are unfairly treated and so on. A small group can make large inroads in any community if they persist. Is your cell ready and equipped to take on the world? Thirdly, your church can be challenging society and its accepted norms and cultures in a host of ways. Is your church mobilised and ready to fight the good fight?
Our culture needs to be challenged. But how do I determine which bits to challenge and which bits to accept? How do I determine when to raise my voice and stand up and when to sit down and shut up? It really is simple! Anything that contradicts the Word of God needs to be challenged. Obviously, there’ll be different degrees of challenge needed but we should never accept as truth anything that contradicts the Word.
Think about what aspects of culture you can challenge:-
a/. Personally.
b/. Through your cell
c/. Through your church.
Prayer Points:
> Praise God for the team from Australia who went on a project to Papua New Guinea. Please continue praying for those who gave their lives to Christ while they were on the PNG university campus, that they would continue to grow in their faith in Christ.
Thursday 6 October 2011
Thursday October 6, 2011
Read: Matthew 8:5-12, Matthew 1:1, Matthew 28:18-20
To understand why Jesus was willing to go with the Roman Centurion we have to understand the context of Matthew’s entire gospel. The gospel begins with a genealogy that, realistically speaking, bores most people. Just try to remember the last time you were excited about reading Matthew 1. But had I a spare 2,000 words I could excite you with the truths of genealogies and how much information they give us. Let me share just one titbit to tantalise your appetite. The genealogy of Jesus is summarised as a genealogy of Jesus as the Son of David and Abraham. Abraham was the one to whom God made a wonderful promise. Through Abraham all the nations (or families) of the earth would be blessed. Through David a ruler would come who would shepherd not only Israel but the entire world. This ruler would rule for all eternity in a perfect paradise that covered all the nations. Can you hear the enormity of what the writer is saying about Jesus in just 1 single verse?
At the other end of the gospel we see it closing with a command to take the message of salvation to every nation under the sun. The gospel starts with the blessing going to all nations and finishes with the command to take it out to all the nations. In between, we see many snippets where Jesus deliberately goes out of His way to allow the gospel, the good news, to penetrate the nations or at least a representative of the nations.
So why does Jesus go with the Gentile? Simply because God’s plan has always been to fill the world, the entire world, with people who love Him and serve Him with their heart and soul and mind and strength.
Matthew’s gospel is written to Jews (and to us) to show us that Jesus is the anticipated Messiah and that He wants us to extend His kingdom and His rule to each and every square inch of land under the sun. When you turned to Christ in faith and repentance you too became a part of that wonderful plan. Now it’s your turn to take that wonderful blessing to others. Hallelujah and Hallelujah!!!
Read John 3:16. Spend the day meditating on your role in God’s plan to save the world.
Prayer Points:
> For doors of opportunity to open to share the gospel with those visiting the bookstores in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
To understand why Jesus was willing to go with the Roman Centurion we have to understand the context of Matthew’s entire gospel. The gospel begins with a genealogy that, realistically speaking, bores most people. Just try to remember the last time you were excited about reading Matthew 1. But had I a spare 2,000 words I could excite you with the truths of genealogies and how much information they give us. Let me share just one titbit to tantalise your appetite. The genealogy of Jesus is summarised as a genealogy of Jesus as the Son of David and Abraham. Abraham was the one to whom God made a wonderful promise. Through Abraham all the nations (or families) of the earth would be blessed. Through David a ruler would come who would shepherd not only Israel but the entire world. This ruler would rule for all eternity in a perfect paradise that covered all the nations. Can you hear the enormity of what the writer is saying about Jesus in just 1 single verse?
At the other end of the gospel we see it closing with a command to take the message of salvation to every nation under the sun. The gospel starts with the blessing going to all nations and finishes with the command to take it out to all the nations. In between, we see many snippets where Jesus deliberately goes out of His way to allow the gospel, the good news, to penetrate the nations or at least a representative of the nations.
So why does Jesus go with the Gentile? Simply because God’s plan has always been to fill the world, the entire world, with people who love Him and serve Him with their heart and soul and mind and strength.
Matthew’s gospel is written to Jews (and to us) to show us that Jesus is the anticipated Messiah and that He wants us to extend His kingdom and His rule to each and every square inch of land under the sun. When you turned to Christ in faith and repentance you too became a part of that wonderful plan. Now it’s your turn to take that wonderful blessing to others. Hallelujah and Hallelujah!!!
Read John 3:16. Spend the day meditating on your role in God’s plan to save the world.
Prayer Points:
> For doors of opportunity to open to share the gospel with those visiting the bookstores in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Wednesday 5 October 2011
Wednesday October 5, 2011
Read: Matthew 8:5-10
I want you to think about the way you pray. Think of a time when you were in a desperate situation and prayed to the Lord. How did you pray? Did you seek to bargain with God? Did you offer to do something or to change something if only God would do something for you? Did you make great and grand promises? Did you petition God, praying over and over again? Did you cry in God’s presence and let the tears speak for themselves? Did you enlist others to pray for you and with you? How did you pray in that time of desperation?
The Roman centurion came to Jesus and effectively prayed. But look at how he prayed or spoke to Jesus. In vs 7 Jesus had already agreed to go with the Centurion to heal his servant. But the Centurion replies, ‘Lord I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word and my servant will be healed…’ The Centurion comes to Christ with two elements that are often lacking in our prayers – faith and humility.
In terms of humility we should never presume to think that God has to answer our prayers or give us what we demand of Him. The centurion knew that he didn’t even deserve to have Jesus step in his house, let alone bring any blessing of healing. I wonder how often we pray thinking that God is the steward on the plane and we are the customer, deserving of full attention and immediate action. As we know all too well, the Lord lifts up the humble but opposes the proud. Being humble does not mean hating ourselves or treating ourselves like dirt or putting ourselves down. Each of these is sinful. Being humble means recognising and accepting our place and position before God and acting accordingly.
In terms of faith, the centurion showed amazing faith. Jesus even commented that He has not found anyone in Israel (ie among God’s own people) with such great faith. The Centurion did not seek to give the Lord several reasons why he had to answer the prayer. He did not babble as the pagans do. He did not offer a bribe. He simply asked Jesus to say the word and trusted that healing would come. His faith was in Jesus’ authority and he trusted Jesus for the outcome.
I often wonder how many more of our prayers would be answered if we simply came to Jesus with humility and faith. I wonder how many more answered prayers we’d be blessed with if we stopped trying to bribe God or con Him with a dozen reasons or demanding things of Him as a master demands of a genie. Humility and faith are two hall marks of great prayers. Humility and faith are genuinely loved by the Lord and rewarded by Him.
Write out all your prayers this week. Study each one and see how you can change the ones that are not brought in humility and faith.
Prayer Points:
> For the outreach ministry to the large population of Sudanese refugees in Israel.
> That the Lord will provide the resources to produce more audio and video materials in Hebrew.
I want you to think about the way you pray. Think of a time when you were in a desperate situation and prayed to the Lord. How did you pray? Did you seek to bargain with God? Did you offer to do something or to change something if only God would do something for you? Did you make great and grand promises? Did you petition God, praying over and over again? Did you cry in God’s presence and let the tears speak for themselves? Did you enlist others to pray for you and with you? How did you pray in that time of desperation?
The Roman centurion came to Jesus and effectively prayed. But look at how he prayed or spoke to Jesus. In vs 7 Jesus had already agreed to go with the Centurion to heal his servant. But the Centurion replies, ‘Lord I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word and my servant will be healed…’ The Centurion comes to Christ with two elements that are often lacking in our prayers – faith and humility.
In terms of humility we should never presume to think that God has to answer our prayers or give us what we demand of Him. The centurion knew that he didn’t even deserve to have Jesus step in his house, let alone bring any blessing of healing. I wonder how often we pray thinking that God is the steward on the plane and we are the customer, deserving of full attention and immediate action. As we know all too well, the Lord lifts up the humble but opposes the proud. Being humble does not mean hating ourselves or treating ourselves like dirt or putting ourselves down. Each of these is sinful. Being humble means recognising and accepting our place and position before God and acting accordingly.
In terms of faith, the centurion showed amazing faith. Jesus even commented that He has not found anyone in Israel (ie among God’s own people) with such great faith. The Centurion did not seek to give the Lord several reasons why he had to answer the prayer. He did not babble as the pagans do. He did not offer a bribe. He simply asked Jesus to say the word and trusted that healing would come. His faith was in Jesus’ authority and he trusted Jesus for the outcome.
I often wonder how many more of our prayers would be answered if we simply came to Jesus with humility and faith. I wonder how many more answered prayers we’d be blessed with if we stopped trying to bribe God or con Him with a dozen reasons or demanding things of Him as a master demands of a genie. Humility and faith are two hall marks of great prayers. Humility and faith are genuinely loved by the Lord and rewarded by Him.
Write out all your prayers this week. Study each one and see how you can change the ones that are not brought in humility and faith.
Prayer Points:
> For the outreach ministry to the large population of Sudanese refugees in Israel.
> That the Lord will provide the resources to produce more audio and video materials in Hebrew.
Tuesday 4 October 2011
Tuesday October 4, 2011
Read: Matthew 8:5-7. Acts 11:1-3
As I sat in a church leadership meeting, I saw many concerned faces. This body had the power to allow or to veto the ministry decision that I had presented to them. The idea was simple. As a church we could cook a weekly bbq in the park where many homeless people hung out each and every night. By feeding them we would be meeting their most pressing need and we would open doors for gospel sharing. We had the volunteers lined up and ready. We had the finances and goods donated already. We needed nothing but the approval of this body. But the leadership looked concerned.
The first question was fired, more as a statement than a question. ‘What if they come to our church?’ Then came another, ‘What if they are antagonistic?’ After a dozen what if’s I began to sense that the leadership were decidedly antagonistic towards the idea. A taboo area had been touched and raised.
Yesterday, we talked about being unclean and how this largely influenced all of Jewish thinking. In this week’s passage we see Jesus willingly interact with a centurion. A centurion was a Roman, a non-Jew, a Gentile and it was forbidden for a Jew to associate with a Gentile. Not only was he willing to associate with this man, he was willing to go with him to his home to heal the sick servant. If Jesus were an ordinary man He would have been made unclean by the contact with the gentile. Even so, Jesus was willing. We saw last week that Jesus was willing to touch a leper, the epitome of uncleanness. He was willing to reach out in love and compassion for the sake of the other person.
Paul the Apostle understood Jesus’ approach. In writing to the Corinthians he said, ‘I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the Gospel…’ ( 1 Cor 9:22-23). To those under the law Paul would become like one under the law. To those who were not under law he became like one not under law. Paul would do anything to win people over to Christ.
I dream of churches overflowing with such Spirit filled men and women and children. I dream of churches overflowing with the love of the Lord, the love of one’s neighbour so much so that they are willing to look unclean in the eyes of tradition and unwritten law. I dream of the communities around churches finding the love of Christ, because someone from within the church reached out with the love and compassion of Christ in real, practical terms. I dream of churches willingly setting up projects and programs to help those in dire need and willingly taking on ministries that the world has by and large neglected or abandoned.
What about you? Are you willing to become all things to all men? Are you willing to go without so that someone might come to know the love of Christ? Are you willing to give up your time to serve the poor and needy, to help the homeless, to be a father to the fatherless and a friend to the friendless? Are you willing to give up your time, your comfort and your treasures to be like Christ to the people around you in your community?
Get your cell to start planning a way to reach out to the local community with the love of Christ.
Prayer Points:
> That many people will be drawn to Christian bookstores where they can find salvation through the truth found in the Words of God.
As I sat in a church leadership meeting, I saw many concerned faces. This body had the power to allow or to veto the ministry decision that I had presented to them. The idea was simple. As a church we could cook a weekly bbq in the park where many homeless people hung out each and every night. By feeding them we would be meeting their most pressing need and we would open doors for gospel sharing. We had the volunteers lined up and ready. We had the finances and goods donated already. We needed nothing but the approval of this body. But the leadership looked concerned.
The first question was fired, more as a statement than a question. ‘What if they come to our church?’ Then came another, ‘What if they are antagonistic?’ After a dozen what if’s I began to sense that the leadership were decidedly antagonistic towards the idea. A taboo area had been touched and raised.
Yesterday, we talked about being unclean and how this largely influenced all of Jewish thinking. In this week’s passage we see Jesus willingly interact with a centurion. A centurion was a Roman, a non-Jew, a Gentile and it was forbidden for a Jew to associate with a Gentile. Not only was he willing to associate with this man, he was willing to go with him to his home to heal the sick servant. If Jesus were an ordinary man He would have been made unclean by the contact with the gentile. Even so, Jesus was willing. We saw last week that Jesus was willing to touch a leper, the epitome of uncleanness. He was willing to reach out in love and compassion for the sake of the other person.
Paul the Apostle understood Jesus’ approach. In writing to the Corinthians he said, ‘I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the Gospel…’ ( 1 Cor 9:22-23). To those under the law Paul would become like one under the law. To those who were not under law he became like one not under law. Paul would do anything to win people over to Christ.
I dream of churches overflowing with such Spirit filled men and women and children. I dream of churches overflowing with the love of the Lord, the love of one’s neighbour so much so that they are willing to look unclean in the eyes of tradition and unwritten law. I dream of the communities around churches finding the love of Christ, because someone from within the church reached out with the love and compassion of Christ in real, practical terms. I dream of churches willingly setting up projects and programs to help those in dire need and willingly taking on ministries that the world has by and large neglected or abandoned.
What about you? Are you willing to become all things to all men? Are you willing to go without so that someone might come to know the love of Christ? Are you willing to give up your time to serve the poor and needy, to help the homeless, to be a father to the fatherless and a friend to the friendless? Are you willing to give up your time, your comfort and your treasures to be like Christ to the people around you in your community?
Get your cell to start planning a way to reach out to the local community with the love of Christ.
Prayer Points:
> That many people will be drawn to Christian bookstores where they can find salvation through the truth found in the Words of God.
Monday 3 October 2011
Monday October 3, 2011
Read: Luke 10:25-37; Acts 10
Being “unclean” for us means very little. We will often eat with unclean hands and sometimes even eat off unclean dishes. We cope (sometimes barely) with an unclean house and unclean yard. For a guy to not shower for a few days may seem a trifling affair, except for his wife!! But to a Jew “unclean” had a whole different world of connotations. Being unclean to a Jew was what spilling a beer is to many Aussies, and even worse! Unclean meant isolation from the temple, from worship of God and possibly from the entire nation of Israel!! Avoiding anything “unclean” became a source of identity and a past time for many in Israel, especially the religious hierarchy.
The Levite and the Priest in the Parable of the Good Samaritan would not help the injured man because it would have made them unclean and unfit for service in the temple. They willingly avoided touching anything or anyone unclean for the sake of ritual purity. Peter would not eat the meat in the vision of Acts 10 because the food was unclean and he had never eaten anything unclean.
Unfortunately, there are many taboos in our churches today that we avoid, thinking that they make us unclean. Such rules and regulations take on a greater significance than the Word of God and the greatest command to love the Lord wholeheartedly and to love our neighbours as we love ourselves. We entertain so many rules and regulations that are simply not from God, but are man-made inventions to help us feel religious and hence closer to God.
Let me encourage you to look around your church, even around your own personality and thinking, to make sure that there are no such taboos that are stopping you from reaching out in love and compassion to the needy. Let me encourage you to assess everything in the light of God’s Word and to be free to love, to serve and to give sacrificially.
Read and memorise Jeremiah 31:33. How does the writing of the law on our heart and mind correlate or fit with our freedom in Christ?
Prayer Points:
> For outreach ministry to the large population of foreign workers and refugees in Israel.
Being “unclean” for us means very little. We will often eat with unclean hands and sometimes even eat off unclean dishes. We cope (sometimes barely) with an unclean house and unclean yard. For a guy to not shower for a few days may seem a trifling affair, except for his wife!! But to a Jew “unclean” had a whole different world of connotations. Being unclean to a Jew was what spilling a beer is to many Aussies, and even worse! Unclean meant isolation from the temple, from worship of God and possibly from the entire nation of Israel!! Avoiding anything “unclean” became a source of identity and a past time for many in Israel, especially the religious hierarchy.
The Levite and the Priest in the Parable of the Good Samaritan would not help the injured man because it would have made them unclean and unfit for service in the temple. They willingly avoided touching anything or anyone unclean for the sake of ritual purity. Peter would not eat the meat in the vision of Acts 10 because the food was unclean and he had never eaten anything unclean.
Unfortunately, there are many taboos in our churches today that we avoid, thinking that they make us unclean. Such rules and regulations take on a greater significance than the Word of God and the greatest command to love the Lord wholeheartedly and to love our neighbours as we love ourselves. We entertain so many rules and regulations that are simply not from God, but are man-made inventions to help us feel religious and hence closer to God.
Let me encourage you to look around your church, even around your own personality and thinking, to make sure that there are no such taboos that are stopping you from reaching out in love and compassion to the needy. Let me encourage you to assess everything in the light of God’s Word and to be free to love, to serve and to give sacrificially.
Read and memorise Jeremiah 31:33. How does the writing of the law on our heart and mind correlate or fit with our freedom in Christ?
Prayer Points:
> For outreach ministry to the large population of foreign workers and refugees in Israel.
Saturday 1 October 2011
Saturday October 1, 2011
Read: 1 Corinthians 12
A car without a door. A motorbike without one wheel. A pair of sunglasses with one lens missing. An aeroplane with one tyre missing. These are all illustrations of the body of Christ when one member refuses to be involved or to do the job that God has assigned to them. God makes it exceedingly clear that in the church there are no side line sitters. There are no pew warmers or reserves. To each one a manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. That means that you and I have a spiritual gift, a God given endowment by which we can be serving others for their good. That means that we have a vital role to play in the church, be it a church meeting tomorrow morning or evening or during the week when the church is not gathered.
But think about tomorrow. How will you serve God tomorrow? How will you bring benefit and blessing to others in church tomorrow? What can you do to activate your spiritual gift and to put it into practice?
These kinds of questions are the questions that really move a church from being great to being awesomely fantastic! As each and every individual gets involved in the church and ministers and serves with God’s gifts an unstoppable dynamic is created. People in the church are encouraged and blessed (rather than drained). People start praising God rather than complaining to Him about the lack of involvement. People start telling their friends and family about the church and that internal blessing flows outwards into the community. Pretty soon the community will start rolling through the doors to check out what’s happening. The church grows and through that each member is encouraged and blessed even further. The cycle grows and continues. More and more people stand together to sing the praises of the Lord God Almighty who has blessed them and worked so powerfully in their life.
And just think, it all started because you and I made a firm decision to obey God and to get involved.
Prayerfully consider what your spiritual gifts are and how you might be using them, not just tomorrow but each and every Lord’s day. Make plans to get active tomorrow.
Prayer Points:
> For the protection of our Bible Society and staff from persecution and harm.
> For Open Doors and for greater interest in our Bible Exhibition and Media Centre, and for opportunities to share with students, classes, and schools the origins of the Bible.
A car without a door. A motorbike without one wheel. A pair of sunglasses with one lens missing. An aeroplane with one tyre missing. These are all illustrations of the body of Christ when one member refuses to be involved or to do the job that God has assigned to them. God makes it exceedingly clear that in the church there are no side line sitters. There are no pew warmers or reserves. To each one a manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. That means that you and I have a spiritual gift, a God given endowment by which we can be serving others for their good. That means that we have a vital role to play in the church, be it a church meeting tomorrow morning or evening or during the week when the church is not gathered.
But think about tomorrow. How will you serve God tomorrow? How will you bring benefit and blessing to others in church tomorrow? What can you do to activate your spiritual gift and to put it into practice?
These kinds of questions are the questions that really move a church from being great to being awesomely fantastic! As each and every individual gets involved in the church and ministers and serves with God’s gifts an unstoppable dynamic is created. People in the church are encouraged and blessed (rather than drained). People start praising God rather than complaining to Him about the lack of involvement. People start telling their friends and family about the church and that internal blessing flows outwards into the community. Pretty soon the community will start rolling through the doors to check out what’s happening. The church grows and through that each member is encouraged and blessed even further. The cycle grows and continues. More and more people stand together to sing the praises of the Lord God Almighty who has blessed them and worked so powerfully in their life.
And just think, it all started because you and I made a firm decision to obey God and to get involved.
Prayerfully consider what your spiritual gifts are and how you might be using them, not just tomorrow but each and every Lord’s day. Make plans to get active tomorrow.
Prayer Points:
> For the protection of our Bible Society and staff from persecution and harm.
> For Open Doors and for greater interest in our Bible Exhibition and Media Centre, and for opportunities to share with students, classes, and schools the origins of the Bible.
Friday September 30, 2011
Read: Matthew 8:1-4 Colossians 4:5-6. Matthew 28:16-20
The word evangelism evokes fear into the hearts of many believers. I’ve even been told off and have had people leave church for suggesting that we should be constantly watching out for opportunities to evangelise. Colossians 4:5-6 tells us as much. We are to make the most of every single opportunity as it arises. We are to willingly and joyously take every and any opportunity to share the love of Christ, the words of Christ and the salvation of Christ whenever we can.
There is an interesting dichotomy between the leper and us. Read Matthew 8:4 again and notice Jesus’ command to him. He was told not to speak to anyone about Jesus but went and spoke to everyone. We are told to speak to everyone and yet we speak to no one. Something’s gone wrong hasn’t it? Something’s all mixed up and hay wire, isn’t it?
Making the most of every opportunity really isn’t as hard as it sounds. All we need to do is plunge in when the opportunity arises. When someone asks you about the weekend, you can talk about church and invite them along next weekend. When someone’s in pain, you can offer to pray for them. When someone needs help, you can be there to help with the love of Christ. Helping practically almost invariably opens doors to speak about the love of Jesus. You can do good works (see Ephesians 2:8-10) which again open the door for sharing the good news.
There are several reasons why we are afraid to speak up about Jesus. Sometimes, we fear mankind and the reaction more than we fear God. Sometimes, we are afraid to lose our comforts and blessings by speaking up. Sometimes we are afraid to upset the balance of a harmonious relationship. Speaking up about Jesus may have caused relational angst in the past and we’re weary of treading there again. Maybe we’re afraid that we will mumble the words up and not make any sense.
No matter what the fear is, we need to leave it with Jesus and learn to think differently. We need to realise that God is sovereign and will use whatever we say to His appointed ends. God’s plan will not be thwarted and no reaction, no loss of comfort, no threat or broken relationship will remove God’s love from us. He will walk by us and protect us. He will uphold you and honour you as you step out in faith to serve Him and to do the good works that He created in advance for you to do.
Meditate upon Titus 2:14 throughout the day and the implications for your life.
Prayer Points:
> Prayer for the Bible Society in Israel.
> For the recordings of the Hebrew Old Testament, that they will get the funds needed to complete the project, and that everything will go well, and that the Lord may be glorified.
>
The word evangelism evokes fear into the hearts of many believers. I’ve even been told off and have had people leave church for suggesting that we should be constantly watching out for opportunities to evangelise. Colossians 4:5-6 tells us as much. We are to make the most of every single opportunity as it arises. We are to willingly and joyously take every and any opportunity to share the love of Christ, the words of Christ and the salvation of Christ whenever we can.
There is an interesting dichotomy between the leper and us. Read Matthew 8:4 again and notice Jesus’ command to him. He was told not to speak to anyone about Jesus but went and spoke to everyone. We are told to speak to everyone and yet we speak to no one. Something’s gone wrong hasn’t it? Something’s all mixed up and hay wire, isn’t it?
Making the most of every opportunity really isn’t as hard as it sounds. All we need to do is plunge in when the opportunity arises. When someone asks you about the weekend, you can talk about church and invite them along next weekend. When someone’s in pain, you can offer to pray for them. When someone needs help, you can be there to help with the love of Christ. Helping practically almost invariably opens doors to speak about the love of Jesus. You can do good works (see Ephesians 2:8-10) which again open the door for sharing the good news.
There are several reasons why we are afraid to speak up about Jesus. Sometimes, we fear mankind and the reaction more than we fear God. Sometimes, we are afraid to lose our comforts and blessings by speaking up. Sometimes we are afraid to upset the balance of a harmonious relationship. Speaking up about Jesus may have caused relational angst in the past and we’re weary of treading there again. Maybe we’re afraid that we will mumble the words up and not make any sense.
No matter what the fear is, we need to leave it with Jesus and learn to think differently. We need to realise that God is sovereign and will use whatever we say to His appointed ends. God’s plan will not be thwarted and no reaction, no loss of comfort, no threat or broken relationship will remove God’s love from us. He will walk by us and protect us. He will uphold you and honour you as you step out in faith to serve Him and to do the good works that He created in advance for you to do.
Meditate upon Titus 2:14 throughout the day and the implications for your life.
Prayer Points:
> Prayer for the Bible Society in Israel.
> For the recordings of the Hebrew Old Testament, that they will get the funds needed to complete the project, and that everything will go well, and that the Lord may be glorified.
>
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