Today’s Teaching

  Text:   Then an opportune day came – Mark 6:21   Thought:   “Hell has no fury like a woman scorned”, so wrote William Congreve, the English Playwright, in ‘The Mourning Bride’.   Herodias, wife of King Herod, seethed with anger over the way John the Baptist had denounced their marriage as unlawful in God’s eyes, because she had been previously married to Herod’s brother. Herod, fearing a populous revolt if he executed John, kept him imprisoned. But Herodias wanted much more than that, she wanted his blood! Every time John’s name came up in conversation served only to fan the flames of anger and revenge.   Then one day, unexpectedly, Herodias’ chance came. Her daughter Salome danced during a banquet. Herod was thrilled and wanting to show his pleasure, invited her to ask for whatever she wanted. After consulting with her mother, Salome marched back in and asked for the head of John the Baptist. Herod’s heart  sank, but rather than refuse the request and lose face amongst his high-ranking guests, he commanded it to be done.   The Bible called it, ‘an opportune day’, but it became an occasion to do wrong. How much better it would have been for Herodias spiritually if she had told...

Text: ‘For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, loses his own soul, and is himself destroyed or lost? Or what will a man give in exchange for his own soul?’ – Matthew 16:26, Mark 8:36, Luke 9:25 (Combined) Thought: Early in 1976 I felt the Lord calling me into fulltime ministry within the church. I had had experience of all aspects of service in the small church I attended, but I wanted to do more. “Have you thought about Bible College?” my minister asked. But what about my career in retailing? I had just received a 25% increase in salary, with the area manager promising to back whatever promotion I applied for. God challenged me with the words, “How much of WHSmith will be in heaven?” The more I prayed about it, the more convinced I became that Bible College was the right thing to do. In fear and trembling I completed the application form, knowing it meant the end of my secular career and a giant step into the unknown as I obeyed the will of God. What’s been the driving force in your life? How much of God features in it? What did you gain? What did it cost you?...

  Text: ‘Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him’ – 1 John 5:14-15 Thought: ‘Now this is the confidence that we have in Him’. Is that our experience? Praying with the confidence that it will be heard and answered? Jesus said, ‘If you ask anything in My name, I will do it’ – John 14:14.’Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full’ – John 16:24. What more encouragement do we need? So why is prayer all too often last on a Christian’s list of priorities? 1. The Need to Pray A ministers’ conference was discussing how much time should be spent in prayer each day. A famous evangelist astounded everyone by stating that he rarely spent thirty minutes in prayer. Then he added, “I rarely let thirty minutes go by without praying. That was the secret of his success, bringing God into every aspect of his life. The Bible instructs Christians to pray regularly; for Kings and ruling...