TEXT: ‘For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God’ – 2 Corinthians 1:20 NIV THOUGHT: When I first became a Christian, a popular hymn we used to sings with gusto was “All to Jesus I surrender, I surrender all”. We will make it much easier to do just that if we continually remind ourselves that God has given His “all” to us in the first place. Reading 2 Corinthians recently I was struck by the number of times “All” appears, six times in the first two chapters. These will become the focus for Today’s Teaching. With All the Saints who are in All Achaia – 1:1 Under Roman rule, Greece was divided into two provinces, Macedonia and Achaia. Achaia had prominent cities such as Corinth, Athens and Olympia and was an area the Apostle Paul evangelised extensively. Christianity is inclusive, not exclusive or elitist. Whatever your age, background, colour or locality, a Christian is called a saint. Some denominations only use this term for a special few, but the Bible does not make that distinction. We are not trying to be a Christian, we are one if our...
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TEXT: ‘They couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.”’ – Luke 5:19-20 NLT THOUGHT: Luke chapter 5 is full of wonderful events. After using Peter’s boat to preach to the lakeside crowds, Jesus rewards him with a miraculous catch of fish. This touched Peter deeply, causing him to declare his sinfulness (v9-10). Jesus replied, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” What a catch of men started happening. First Peter, his brother Andrew, James and John (v11); then a leper miraculously healed (v12-16); next the paralytic (v17-26) and finally Levi the tax collector deserts his office desk to follow Jesus (v27-32). Truly Christianity is for the whole world and that includes anyone reading this. Today’s Teaching focuses on the healing of the paralytic and how this miracle can greatly stimulate our journey of faith. God is ready to heal whatever the congregation’s attitude – ‘the power of the Lord was present to heal’ v17 This congregation was largely made up of Pharisees and...
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TEXT: ‘Three things will last forever – faith, hope, and love – and the greatest of these is love’ – 1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT THOUGHT: Soon it will be Easter, when the following Bible texts are so poignant: ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son’ – John 3:16, and ‘Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends’ – John15:13. In this teaching I want to take the word Love and use each letter as an acronym. L – Listen We are living in a world where everyone wants to be heard but few want to listen. The Epistle of James powerfully puts it like this, ‘You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry’ – 1:19 NLT. It’s hard not to be formulating a response before we have even heard, understood and digested what the other person is saying. The fact that we have two ears and one mouth reinforces the need to listen more! An over-fussy City Building Planner once said to me, “I hear what you are saying”, yet nothing was further from the truth. He was making sure I heard him. My concerns about his proposals...
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TEXT: ‘You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come and follow Me’– Luke 18:22 THOUGHT: The challenge of Today’s Teaching asks, “Where is your treasure?” Does being poor make us more spiritual and godly? Is God against us having riches? No, not at all, but God does not want riches to have us! Three of the Gospels record the account of The Rich Young Ruler. Reading Luke’s account recently – 18:18-23, I saw Jesus challenged him about having treasure in heaven. He had everything he could possibly want on earth and more besides, but what had he stored up for the other side of the grave? The very fact that Jesus challenged him to sell everything and distribute it to the poor in order to store up treasure in heaven, meant that for all his riches on earth, he had nothing as far as heavenly treasure was concerned. There are two main ways to deposit treasure in heaven Firstly, the treasure we produce through blessing others. The Rich Young Ruler was encouraged to give to the poor rather than accumulate more wealth. Jesus taught that even a simple act of giving someone a...
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TEXT: ‘And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over” – Mark 5:34 NLT THOUGHT: When facing a crisis, especially to do with health, it’s comforting and encouraging to have the support of family and friends to help get through it. How do you cope however when you are on your own? Today’s Teaching is about just such a person. Her story as recorded in Mark 5:25-34 is an inspiration for anyone facing similar circumstances whether surrounded with love or isolated on their own. This miracle has been recorded in the Bible to create hope that the same life-changing power through the name of Jesus can change your situation too. We will consider the following key points. Her Fear She didn’t want to die and could think of a thousand reasons why she shouldn’t. Perhaps those around her spoke similar things to what Job’s wife said, “Curse God and die!” Yet to die without first finding peace with God through Jesus Christ is not relief or release at all. Her Fight Doctors know that when a patient decides to fight the illness, it greatly increases their chances of recovery and this woman did just that. She tried everything she could...
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TEXT: ‘Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they sprouted, grew, and produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted!’ – Mark 4:8 NLT THOUGHT: Jesus told His disciples that understanding the parable of The Sower was the key to understanding all the other parables – Mark 4:13. Reading this passage again I was stirred by it to send out this Today’s Teaching. When Jesus explained this parable to His disciples, He made clear that the seed was God’s Word. The question is simply this, “What effect is God’s Word having in your life?” Where’s the fruit? The parable of The Sower reveals four types of ground that corresponds to the spiritual state of a person’s heart. No Understanding – ‘The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts’ – Matthew 13:19 We can talk for hours to people about Christianity but if there is no understanding it cannot do them any real good. Every gospel seed you are trying to plant the devil is able to snatch away if it...
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