Text: ‘So now he is here being comforted and you are in anguish’ – Luke 16:25 Living Bible Thought: Jesus used parables to illustrate and explain about the Kingdom of God, heaven, hell and life in general. Some are easier to understand than others but all are true and we ignore them at our peril. Such is the case with the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. 1 In life there will always be the have’s and the have not’s The latest survey reveals that the top 1% of the richest people in the world have more combined wealth than the other 99% put together. Jesus said, ‘For you have the poor with you always.’ 2 and ‘Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.’ 3 He also said, ‘How hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God.’ 4 Yet there are many rich people who are true Christians in spite of their wealth and there are countless poor people who do not give God or Jesus a moment’s thought. It is not what you have in life that really matters, but what has you! One can have everything yet be generous and others with nothing yet are...
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Text: ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body You have prepared for me. Then I said, Behold, I have come .. to do Your will, O God’ – Hebrews 10:5,7 Thought: Wherever I go I come across “unattached Christians”, those who are not regularly attending a local church. Usually there is a root cause for their non-attendance. In the parable of the Sower, Jesus gave several reasons as to why there was no commitment and therefore no fruit. Misunderstanding, offended, the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things. 1 All are perfectly plausible, but none are valid! The text reveals that God has prepared a “body” for every Christian. Individually they are a new creation and have a new purpose – to do the will of God. Collectively, Christians are to gather together into local churches. We become the body of Christ and each Christian is a member of that body. God’s intention is that every Christian is a functioning member of a church. Naturally, if a member of my body can’t function effectively due to weakness, disease or paralysis, it causes a great strain on the rest of my body. So the non-attendance or non-functioning of Christians within...
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Which fire will warm you? Text: ‘Peter stood with them and warmed himself’ – John 18:18 Thought: It is amazing how something can be both a blessing and a curse. Fire can heat our homes and keep us warm, yet out of control it can burn the place down. In this study we will look at how fire changed Peter’s life and ministry. The fire of denial – ‘They made a fire and stood there’ – John 18:18 The courtyard was filled with the mob who had arrested Jesus. John, because he was known to the High Priest, got Peter in through the gate. Yet the night’s events had shaken Peter to the core so that even a simple question, “You are not Jesus’ disciple also?” brought the first of three denials, just as Jesus had predicted. 1 In the cold night Peter edged closer to the fire, robe wrapped around his face, hoping no one else would recognise him. He wanted to see what would happen to Jesus which was commendable. He ended up denying three times that he even knew Jesus, which he thought would now be unforgivable. Do people know you are a Christian or is your faith hidden? Watch out! Sooner or later someone is...
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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...
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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?...
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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...
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