TEXT: ‘He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near’ (Ephesians 2:17 NLT). Our text says Jesus came and preached peace to both Jews & Gentiles. The angels announcing Christ’s (who is the Prince of Peace) birth said, ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men’ (Luke 2:14). Not only do we have, ‘Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Romans 5:1) but we also have the peace of God for everyday living. ‘He Himself (Jesus) is our peace’ (Ephesians 2:14). He has broken down the barrier between us and God and helps us to break down barriers between us and other people, so that if it is possible on our side, we can live in peace with fellow man (See Romans 12:18). How conflicts around the world would quickly disappear if everyone was willing to do just that! It’s the same for the church. ‘Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification’ (Romans 14:19 NIV). If I am concentrating on how to build someone up, it’s unlikely I would want to act in a way that pulls them down!...
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TEXT: ‘Can a woman forget her own baby and not love the child she bore? Even if a mother should forget her child, I will never forget you’ (Isaiah 49:15 GNT). During Job’s great trial of affliction, he complained, ‘My family is gone, and my close friends have forgotten me’ (Job 19:14 NLT). Have you ever felt like that and said the same as Job? To make matters worse, Job thought God had forgotten him too, but he found out later that nothing was further from the truth. The end God planned was a restoration of health, finances, and family. In Part 1, we studied how God won’t forget the barren, those interceding for their family, and those who honour Him by doing His will. In Part 2, we consider another three examples of those God won’t forget! 4. God remembered His covenant and helped those suffering because of oppression The psalmist said, ‘Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?’ (Psalm 43:2). The Children of Israel were being badly mistreated in Egypt, ‘So God heard their groaning and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob’ (Exodus 2:24). God told Moses, ‘You can be sure that I have heard the groans...
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TEXT: ‘Can a woman forget her own baby and not love the child she bore? Even if a mother should forget her child, I will never forget you’ (Isaiah 49:15 GNT). The previous verse to our text says, ‘But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me”’ (Isaiah 49:14). How often do we feel like that and even say to others, “God has forgotten me”? You may be thinking the same thing right now. I want to encourage you, although it may appear God has forgotten you, He cannot and will not. Today’s Teaching focusses on six instances where scripture reminds us that God remembers. Let these examples turn you from despair to praise. If God remembered them, He will remember you too! Part 1 studies the first three. 1. God remembered the one who was barren – ‘Then God remembered Rachel; he answered her prayer and made it possible for her to have children’ (Genesis 30:22 GNT). For years Rachel had endured the stigma and shame of barrenness. She was, after all, the one Jacob really loved and had worked for all those years. Time flew so quickly; such was his love for her. Cheated by Laban, Jacob ended up with two wives....
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TEXT: ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God’ (Matthew 5:8). What’s God like? That’s a question people often ask whether they are a Christian or not. All we really have is how God is described in the bible. Pictures of Jesus usually portray a Western white skin colour when He was a Jew. Isaiah prophesied about the coming Messiah, ‘There is no beauty that we should desire Him’ (Isaiah 53:2), so it wasn’t good looks that made Jesus attractive while on earth, but what He said and did. Jesus told His disciples, ‘He that has seen Me has seen the Father also’ (John 14:9). So, by studying Jesus, we’ll have a good idea of the Father’s attributes, because God is a spirit. 1. The restriction on seeing God Sin robbed us of God’s presence. Adam and Eve walked and talked with God face to face in the Garden of Eden, but when they disobeyed His command, God had to withdraw. They never saw God’s face again and man has lived with that restriction ever since. Moses asked God, ‘Show me Your way …. Show me Your glory’ (Exodus 33:13, 18). Although he had seen the manifestation of God on Sinai and heard Him talking to him, he...
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TEXT: ‘Go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you’ (Mark 5:19). Psalm 40 has some key pointers that can help us to share our faith anywhere, anytime. When the demoniac wanted to stay with the Jesus who had delivered him, he was denied. Instead, Jesus told him to go home and tell them what great things God had done for him. Go to your home, could also read: go to your place of work; go to the golf course; go to your gym; go to your neighbour etc. Literally, wherever you go, take your story with you! Today’s Teaching highlights five things that remind us to do just that. 1. Don’t undervalue your testimony v1-3, 13-15 David said, ‘He also brought me up out of a horrible pit’. Many feel their conversion is not as dramatic as David’s and certainly not like the demoniac’s transformation, but it is still just as miraculous because it took a revelation from God for you to believe in Jesus and be saved. It can be just as powerful to share how God kept you from the horrible pit as for those He rescued out of it....
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