Text: ‘I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith [as this man’s]’ – Luke 7:9 Amplified Bible Thought: The well-known Bible text often quoted at weddings says, ‘Now abides faith, hope, love, but the greatest of these is love.’ 1 I want to reverse the order as we study the miraculous healing of the Centurion’s servant. We will see how love searched out hope and from that sprung faith. Love – ‘who was dear to him’ This is a love story that is quite amazing. Roman centurions are not normally noted for love. The dream of Nebuchadnezzar which Daniel interpreted revealed the next 4 world empires – Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian and Roman. 2 In the dream, the metal used to describe the Roman Empire was iron and that is how they really were – cold, hard, ruthless and unbending. So for a centurion to care so much about a servant was an anomaly. One could hire and replace servants anytime, anywhere. Slaves were two a penny, often the spoils of war. Yet this servant was dear to the commander in charge of Capernaum. Not only that, he cared about the Jewish nation too and had built a synagogue for them. It is amazing...
Learn More
Text: ‘These are the proverbs of Solomon. He was the son of David and the king of Israel’ – Proverbs 1:1 New International Reader’s Version Thought: Found in the middle of the Bible, immediately after the Book of Psalms, is the Book of Proverbs. Just as many of the psalms were written by King David, so the majority of these proverbs were written by King Solomon, David’s son. They came from the gift of wisdom God gave him. 1 Unfortunately, although Solomon knew the Word of God, he didn’t maintain a close relationship with Him and departed from the faith later on in his life. The idolatrous influences of his many wives and concubines were the cause of his spiritual downfall. 2 The main difference between Solomon and David was that David stayed loyal to God throughout his life. Even when he sinned, God was the first one he turned to when he repented. 3 So the challenge to us all for 2016 is this. It’s not enough to know the word of God. We need to know personally the God of the word. The goal is to be like David, a worshipper, a man after God’s own heart. 4 So how can Proverbs help us to do this?...
Learn More
Text: ‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse’ – Malachi 3:10 Thought: Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament dates from around 450 BC and is the final prophetic word to the Children of Israel before the coming of the Messiah – Jesus Christ. Significant subjects are tackled in its four short chapters – Love, Honour, Divorce, Healing and Money! Our text reveals seven words that can radically change every church and Christian, if they only had enough faith to preach and practise it. Most ministers do not like preaching about money. Most congregations do not like the minister preaching about money either! Yet obedience to these seven words could enable every church to be self-sufficient for its present spending needs and future expansion. So let’s unpack what the text really means. Bring Who is responsible for churches in Britain closing week after week, year after year – nobody? Or No Bodies! It’s so interesting during our door to door evangelism to hear the many lame excuses people give for not attending church – too busy with work, children, sports, elderly parents and so on. Yet these same people give time to shopping, recreation, appointments, leisure, holidays and doing what they want! Most churches have a weekday programme...
Learn More
Text: ‘Everyone must die once, and after that be judged by God’ – Hebrews 9:27 Good News Bible Thought: Recent atrocities in France evoke many emotions, especially as trouble has come much closer to home. Of all the people completing the survey form we use when making house calls, the majority have indicated that the one question they would like to ask God is, “Why is there so much suffering in the world?” It does concern people when they witness suffering caused by evil perpetrators, especially the older generation who grew up in a relatively crime-free society, able to leave windows open and doors unlocked. Many are often confused as they try to marry the notion of an all-powerful God of love who appears to do nothing to intervene when there’s famine, floods, persecution and suffering. How people responded to suffering and adversity, as recorded in the Bible, varies greatly too. Abraham said, ‘Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?’ 1 when learning that judgment was imminent on Sodom and Gomorrah. 1 We can be assured that God will only do what’s right and there will be no miscarriages of justice at His judgment throne. Job cried out, ‘Though He slay me, yet will I trust...
Learn More
Text: ‘And his mother called his name Jabez’ – 1 Chronicles 4:9 Thought: Do you like your name? You didn’t choose it. Many don’t like theirs and even change it by deed poll. Others prefer to be called by a nick-name. I was the only one of my brothers to be given my father’s name – Wilfred! Today’s Teaching is about a man called Jabez. He certainly didn’t like being called that or the implications of his name. This unusual story is tucked away in the genealogies of Chronicles. There is no mention of the names of his father, mother or brothers. Jabez is a wonderful example of how to react correctly to what you don’t like. His birth was supposed to be a blessing but his mother turned it into a curse She called him Jabez, ‘Because I bore him in pain.’ Was it due to a difficult pregnancy or birth, or unwanted as there is now an extra mouth to feed? We don’t know. Jesus taught that although birthing a child is painful, it’s quickly forgotten for the joy of a child being added to the family. 1 But she named him Jabez – meaning “he will cause pain.” Not past tense but future. Every time his...
Learn More
Recent Comments