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Posts tagged jesus christ
Faith
Mar 8th
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” Heb 11:1-3
In Hebrews 11 we read of ordinary people who did extraordinary things – all out of proportion to their powers. I’m sure that, at times, this must have been a surprise to themselves as well as to others, yet it is because of the Holy Spirit within them that they were able to do these things in obedience to God.
Blessing
Feb 19th
As a young seven-year-old African-American girl Ruby was taken to a mixed school, the first of its kind in the USA. Mobs lined the pathway to the school, and were held back by police as they hurled insults at parents and children. Inside the school, child-psychologists waited to talk to any child that might be frightened or traumatised. Think of how the children must have felt.
One day Ruby was seen to stop briefly and say something under her breath. The counsellors asked her the matter was, and what she had been saying. Ruby replied that she asked God to forgive them because they didn’t know what they were doing. Ruby had her heavenly Father looking after her, and the Great Shepherd walking with her by His Spirit.
Worship
Feb 19th
- What is worship?
- When we stop worshipping God, what happens?
- What is the difference (if any) between worshipping and worshipping in spirit and in truth?
- How important is worship?
In worship we focus on all that God has already done, and recognise that we are blessed because of His hand of grace and not our own achievements.
“…Israel’s worship shows the same dynamic as Israel’s ethics; namely, that it is based on God’s prior action. God had already acted in blessing; therefore Israel was to celebrate that in worship and praise.”
The Caring Church
Feb 18th
Churches are not buildings but people from all different walks of life who have accepted the gift of salvation and know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Yet this is not the end of the story. Each one of us is a work in progress; therefore we are all constantly shifting and changing as we learn to embrace all that is ours in Christ. This is not always easy since there can be deep-rooted issues in our lives that we may not even be aware of at times. Whilst there are going to be many good things in our lives, each of us may also have a whole library of life experiences and attitudes, some of which have developed as a means of coping with the troubles and traumas we have had to face. Because we often spend years seeking to protect self, it can be very difficult to let the barriers down and learn to deal with issues by seeking the grace that is already ours through Christ.
The Lord’s Prayer
Feb 17th
Jesus had been speaking of the true nature and character of the believer and pointing out that life is lived in the heart and mind before all else. Actions that are merely external in order to look good are of no value whatsoever to God.
Jesus then began to talk about praying.
Praying was not to be done in a hypocritical fashion like those who stood in the synagogues or on the street corners to be heard and seen by men. These people were hypocrites. The Greek word for hypocrite is where our word actor comes from. A hypocrite is one who acted a part, who presented to others, and the communities in which he or she lived, an image of self that was false.
