Sermons – Rock Christian Centre: Recent Episodes
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Blessed are the mercifulMatthew 5:1-12What causes us to be people of mercy? What does it mean to show mercy to those around us (vs 7)?
The blessings Jesus are talking about are not a recipe book, they are more about using our intuition – we are blessed when we behave like this. Jesus spends our expectations. These blessing operate like a plough in a field, breaking up our hard soil to prepare a new seed within us.
Mercy is a step beyond doing what is merely right. Three counterclaims in the world to being merciful are:
- Blessed are those who are never hurt by others
- Blessed are those who never make mistakes
- Blessed are those who always end up on top, so others don’t take advantage
What causes us to be merciful?
- We trust the One who judges justly – We trust in the King of all to do right and treat us justly.
- We have encounter the mercy of God for ourselves – We have recieved mercy from Jesus. As we confess our brokenness we recieve God’s mercy.
As we receive the mercy of God it flows out of us to others. We are called to have our minds transformed and to not be conformed to the pattern of this world (Romans 12:1-2).
Testimony SundayVarious testimonies of what God is doing in the lives of members of Rock Christian Centre.
Ordinary people, extraordinary God – David: Recovery and restoration1 Samuel 30:1-19How did God enable David to recover all that was lost. What did David do after he’d encouraged himself in the Lord:
- He enquired of the Lord (vs 8) – David took time to seek God’s will. He did not react in anger or make his own plans. We csn learn so much from David here. Earlier David had not sought the Lord and fled to Ziklag (1 Samuel 27). How often do you ask the Lord before you make decisions in your life? It is important to know His plan, purpose and presence in all we do. Our steps are ordered by Him. We need to seek Him first in all things. We need to delight ourselves in Him first (Psalm 37:4). After David had sought the Lord he went out with confidence because he knew the Lord’s will and that the Lord was with him. God’s plans are far greater than ours.
- He pursued the promise (vs 9) – David’s men were ready to stone him, but after receiving God’s promises they were ready to follow Him and pursue God’s promises. David had confidence to lead and they were willing to follow him. One word from God changed everything. We need to pursue the promises of God in everything by obeying His commands and putting them into practice. David did not know where to go, but he obeyed God and pursued his enemies and God directed him as to where to go. We need to keep our eyes and ears open to how God is leading us. We need to look for open doors. We need to keep enquiring of the Lord and keep in step with the Spirit. Serve God in the small things and God will open up bigger things.
- Little people matter (vs 11-15) – If you are pursuing the promises of God it matters how you treat the people on the way. God can use anyone to guide us and speak right into our lives. Do not dispise the little people. God used the Egyptian to guide David. Be ready for God to guide you in the strangest of ways. Also,be ready to be used by God to guide others.
- Courageous confidence (vs 17) – David and his men were exhaused. They faced a vast army. They fought for 24 hours without a break, but their confidence was in God’s promise.
- Recovery and restoration (vs 18-19, 23) – Hod pays attention to everything. Nothing was missing. David brought back everything that was lost and more. God promises to restore everything we have lost (Joel 2:25). David knew it was God who had given the victory and restored everything (vs 23).
Call on me and I will answerJeremiah 33In Jeremiah 33: 3 God says to us, “call to me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things you do not know”. Salvation belongs to the Lord. God is still God and He is still building His church.
Jeremiah was in prison, but God cannot be shut up. Jeremiah brought a word, but no-one was listening. Judah was going to fall just has Israel had done, but God whispered Jeremiah to call to Him. God promised healing. No matter how bleak our circumstances are we have confidence that God can bring peace and joy to our lives. Whatever our need is we need to ask God for it. He can bring joy. He can heal. He can rebuild. We need to call Him. We need to have a clear perspective of God’s plans for our lives (Romans 8).
John, on Patmos, was called to, “come up here and I will show you things which must take place” and he saw these things take place (Revelation 4:1; 7:9-10; 21:1-4).
Genesis begins with brokenness, but our future is bright in Revelation 21. We are on the winning side. We know the end, God did not give up on us.
The voice of joy shall be heard even in desolation (Jeremiah 33:10-11).
God is a personal God and He is interested in us. He wants a relationship with us.
God’s promises in Jeremiah 33 are fulfilled in the New Covenant. Our hope is a living hope in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our final destination is assured.
The parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaidsMatthew 25:1-13Jesus return is certain. Here He emphasised the need for preparedness for His return. The question is not, “When will Jesus return?”, but, “Are you ready for His return?”
Ordinary people, extraordinary God – David: Facing a terrible disaster1 Samuel 27:1-7 ; 30:1-6Here we see David facing a real disaster in real time. We know the outcome, but David didn’t know how God would work in and through him in this situation. It was the same for many other biblical characters. The situation at Ziklag looked dark and hopeless to David. Many Christians are facing disasters and dark situations in the world today. Jesus says we will have trouble in this world (John 16:33). The question is what will we do when we face trouble, trial, illness, etc? Will we be able to encourage ourselves in the Lord as David did?
This story poses questions of:
- How to handle grief (1 Samuel 30:3-6) – Do not bury your grief. It comes back alive and eats away at us. Do not keep grief to yourself. You need the help and prayers of others to help you through your troubles. David and his warriors wept aloud until they had no strength left.
- How to handle blame (1 Samuel 30:6) – We love to blame others when disasters happen. Here we see the men blaming David. David had 600 warriors who wanted to kill him. David must have started to believe it was his fault. He had fled to the land of the Philistines in 1 Samuel 27 when he became full of fear of King Saul. Instead of seeking the Lord he had “thought to himself”. In 1 Samuel 30:6 David did not focus on himself and looked to God. He looked back at all God had done for him in the past. This time David “encouraged himself in the Lord”. He focused on God rather than the mess he was in and his faith in God was restored.
The church, her mission, her purpose and her messageEphesians 3:8-12Does the church still have a purpose in the world today?
The mission of any organisation is defined by it’s members. The church is the “called out ones” who belong to Jesus. The mission of the church is eternal. The church is the bride of Christ that comes out of Jesus Himself. Jesus prayed for us not to be taken out of the world because we have a mission here. The Christian’s job is to bring God to light. We are a part of the manifold wisdom of God and are sent into the world to display His wisdom.
The church does not exist ‘primarily’ to protest injustice in the world. When we see these things we are broken by them because we serve a holy God. When we preach the full gospel of God we address eliminate these things. We should not bury our head in the sand. The problem is sin itself. The Gospel is the solution to sin (Romans 1:16-17). The Christian’s mission is to declare the Gospel. We need to reconcile the world to God through declaring the Gospel.
The mission of the church is:
- To be members of the household of God – The only dwelling place of God on earth is the church. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit have made their home in us. The church is the dwelling place of God.
- To benefit it’s none members – There are many examples of this in the history of the world. Do not confuse what the Gospel is with what the Gospel does.
- To primarily benefit it’s members – We are called to grow into the fullness of Christ. We are called to feed ourself? Will Bassett posed the question, “Is there bread in house of bread?” Jesus told Peter to feed His sheep. Jesus did not want Peter to neglect the church in the preaching the Gospel to the world. Revival in the world begins in the house of God.
- To enlighten the world and heaven to the plan of God – We are called to be a prism through which the light of God comes through to be dispersed to the world in which we live. Even the angels look at us and praise God. The manifold wisdom of God is made known to the world and to the principalities and powers in heaven. There was a problem in heaven – how could a just and Holy God forgive sin? The cure for sin and plan of God was Jesus (John 3:16) and the church’s purpose is to reveal this cure for sin. There is no hope for the world outside of the plan of God in Jesus.
The extravagant love of God your FatherPsalm 139:1-6; 1John 4:16, 3:1-2; Matthew 7:9-11; Romans 8:31-32; Luke 15:7; John 1:12-13How many of us still write letters? Imagine you have received a letter that was written before you were born from someone who knows all about you and loves you. The Bible is this letter. It is a love letter from God to us.
- You are known – Completely and lovingly (Psalm 139:1-6) – God wants us to know that He knows us and He knows everything we are going through. God’s heart knows His children. He knows us better than we know ourselves. We are not an accident. God knows every hair on our heads. He knit us together in our mother’s womb.
- You Are Loved – Extravagantly and Eternally (1 John 4:16; 1 John 3:1-2) – God’s love for us is an intimate love. God loves us as His children. God lavishly His love upon us beyond what we expect. He rejoice over us with singing. He will never stop doing good to us.
- You Are Fathered – Perfectly and Completely (Matthew 7:9-11) – What does the word “father” means to you? God has only goodness for us. He is the Father that we can depend on. He carries us close to His heart. He is our greatest encouragement.
- You Are Reconciled – Through Jesus Christ (Romans 8:31-32) – Our relationship with God is broken by our sin, but God has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus. He no longer counts our sin against us. Jesus is the father heart of God in action. The cross is the ultimate expression of God’s love for us.
- You Are Invited – Come Home (Luke 15:7; John 1:12-13) – We are all invited by God to come home to Him. God runs to meet us to embrace us and to welcome us home. We cannot earn our salvation, but we can choose to receive it. Gid gave everything He had to bring us home to Him.
Click here to see the video of the Father’s love letter to us.
Partnership Sunday 2026Acts 2:37-47The foundation of Rock Christian Centre is based on God’s word. Partnership is for all Christians who would like to commit themselves to partner with Rock Christian Centre in the vision and growth of the church. Partnership is a biblical concept (Philippians 1:3). God calls us to partnership with Him and with one another in the work of the Gospel.
Jon preached on what it means to be a partner of Rock Christian Centre and went through the church’s Partnership Declaration. This declaration can be found here.
Ordinary people, extraordinary God – Samuel: Finishing well1 Samuel 12:1-25Will you finish well? Will you here God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant”? It is more important to finish well that to start well.
Samuel started well, kept faithful and finished well. Jesus started well, continued well, finished well and died well. We are called to follow Jesus.
At the end of Samuel’s ministry we see:
- Samuels conscience is clear (vs 3-5) – No-one could accuse him of abusing his position. Every Christian leader should have a clear conscience. All we need to do is confess our sin and ask for forgiveness (1 John 1:8-10). But we also need to recieve that forgiveness.
- God’s amazing mercy and faithfulness (vs 6-7) – Samuel testified to what Hod had done. We too can testify to God’s amazing mercy and faithfulness. We can trust God, He is not going to stop being faithful.
- Don’t be distracted: respect, serve, obey God (vs 12-14, 24-25) – By wanting a king the people were rejecting Samuel and rejecting God. Be determined to not be distracted by earthly desires. Never lose your respect, awe and wonder of God. The fear, awe respect of God is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 9:10).
- You can finish well (vs 20-24) – If you lose your respect, awe and wonder of God you will never finish well. You are God’s child and have been chosen by God. He will never leave you or forsake you. You can die well in confident assurance of your salvation.
The Kingdom culture.Culture is a way of life and reflects the beliefs and practices of a group of people at a given time. The Kingdom represents the role of Jesus and His rule over all the earth.
Kingdom culture is defined by:
- Domain – A domain is geographic in nature. In the Bible the Kingdom domain signifies God’s reign over the entire earth. Jesus is the one who overrides the authority of all others. His reign is final and eternal (Luke 17:20-21; Daniel 7:27; John 18:36).
- Kingship – Jesus is king forever (Isaiah 9:6-7; Matthew 28:18-20). We are part of Jesus’ Kingdom.
- Laws – The kingdom has laws that bind it’s people to it. We are bound by the law of God. The Bible is the book of our conduct and defines how we should behave. We need to hear Jesus’ voice and follow Him. Breaking the law defiles the king. If we keep the law of God we become prosperous and successful.
The Kingdom culture shows itself in how we live our daily lives and how we love others.
The extraordinary ordinary work of the Holy SpiritActs 2:1-47Pentecost means “50th”, it is the Festival of Weeks, 50 days after Passover. By this time Jesus had appeared to hundreds of people. Jesus had ascended and had promised His disciples that they would receive the Holy Spirit.
Eight extraordinary things that happened at Pentecost and can happen today:
- Extraordinary decent of the Holy Spirit (vs 2-3) – The sovereign Holy Spirit decended on the disciples. They were sitting in the early morning and it was just another day of waiting for what Jesus had promised. God has the power to transform our ordinary days. The wind came from above. Tongues of fire rested on everyone who was in the room. There can be an extraordinary decent of the Holy Spirit on us today. God’s power is the same today, it has not run down.
- Extraordinary empowering (vs 4-13) – There was a mighty release of the gifts of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples. This empowering continues today. We are called to eagerly desire the gifts of the Holy Spirit. There was opposition then and will be today. We are in a spiritual battle. The Holy Spirit gives us different gifts to empower us to do the work that He wants us to do. The gifts are from God and not something we can work up ourselves.
- Extraordinary boldness (vs 14-36) – Peter was empowered with boldness to preach the message of Jesus. He boldly proclaimed that the Jews had Jesus’ blood on their hands. God used Peter’s words to convict the crowd of their din. We need this boldness from God today. We cannot be filled with the Holy Spirit and remain as we are.
- Extraordinary conviction of sin and repentance (vs 37-40) – The crowd was convicted, repented and received forgiveness. 3,000 people received salvation and were baptised. We need to tell people the good news of Jesus in order for them to be convicted of their sin and for them to repent.
- Extraordinary devotion (vs 42) – This church was alive with the Holy Spirit and there was a hunger to know the truth. They devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching. They had a passion to remember Jesus through the breaking of bread. They had a deep sacrificial love for one another.
- Extraordinary miracles (vs 43) – Everyone was filled with awe and many miraculous signs were done amongst the people. God’s church is meant to be an awesome place to be; not because of the building, but because He is at work in it.
- Extraordinary community (vs 44-47) – These new believers shared everything. They met every day in the temple courts. They didn’t just pray and worship together, they shared their lives, homes, food and had fun together (their hearts were glad and sincere). They has a good reputation. God added to their numbers daily.
- Extraordinary numbers were saved (vs 41 & 47) – God did all this then and He can do this today.
Behold he is prayingActs 9:1-16 (NKJV)Jesus describes Saul as one who was praying. What is the nature of true prayer?
Pentecost: What does this mean?Acts 2:1-13What does this mean (vs 12)? Pentecost is a day we remember as the day that the Holy Spirit came down. There are key parts in the Gospel – Jesus birth, His death, resurrection and ascension. Pentecost is also a key part of the Gospel. The receiving of the Holy Spirit was a promise of Jesus and Pentecost was the day that that promise was fulfilled. It was the beginning of the church.
Why did they have to “wait here”? The disciples had to wait for the Holy Spirit to give them the words to speak to those in Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit is Christ in our lives and gives us unity as believers wherever we come from. The Holy Spirit empowers us to share our faith. We cannot do it without Him. Luke 24:29 – How many of us want to be clothed with power from on high?
What does this mean to us today? The Holy Spirit is with us and will always be with us. If God says He will do something He will do it. It took 830 years for Joel 2:28-32 to be fulfilled. God can use us in any situation we find ourselves in. The Holy Spirit can and does give us all we need.
Are you filled with the Holy Spirit? Scripture tells us to continue to be being filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18)? Do people hear you declaring the wonders of God?
2 Chronicles 14:2-7 – Asa did what is right in the eyes of God. There is emphasis on “they built and then prosper”. Don’t fall for a copy of God or second best. We are entering an age where what we see is potentially fake. Things made up are portrayed as real. Scripture needs to be our source of authority. We are called to seek His kingdom first.
What will you do (Act 2:37)? Are you seeking the Lord? Are you going to allow the Holy Spirit to empower you?
Ordinary people, extraordinary God – Eli & Sons Limited, God will not be mocked1 Samuel 2:12-17, 22-25, 26-36; 4:14-22The word of God has all the reality of life within it. God is holy and He hated sin and wickedness, especially in His family and the church.
- Eli was blind (1 Samuel 3:1-2; 4:14-15) – Eli was high priest and his sons were the religious leaders. There was no-one above them but God. The sons were abusing their power and exploiting their position. God will not be mocked. Eli was blind, both physically and spiritually. He thought Hannah was drunk and that Samuel was having a bad dream. He turned a blind eye to his sons wickedness and did nothing except give them a mild telling off. How blind are you? Being spiritually blind will not end well.
- Eli was very fat (1 Samuel 2:29; 4:18) – Eli’s fatness is emphasised because Eli and hus sons were feasting on meat that belonged to God and His people. What should happen to the offerings of meat was clearly defined in the law. Eli and sons were making themselves fat on the best parts of the offerings. God hates injustice and wickedness and will not be mocked. In 1 Samuel 12:1-4 Samuel shows what a true leader should be like. Eli and sons were feeding themselves and starving the people, both physically and spiritually. Denying ourselves is fundamental to the Christian life. How selfish are you? Do you rob Jesus of what belongs to Him?
- Eli was weak and complacent (1 Samuel 2:12,17; 3:18) – Eli and sons had no fear of the Lord. They had no reverence for the Lord. They treated the Lord with contempt. The sin of Eli’s sons was great in God’s eyes, but is wasn’t great in Eli’s eyes and he turned a blind eye to it. Eli put his family before God and did not deal with the sin within his family. Even when God warned him he did nothing about it. Are you weak and complacent about sin in your life or your family?
- Eli and sons were dead (1 Samuel 4:17-21) – Eli had every opportunity to repent and deal with the sin of his dons, but in one day Eli, his two sons and his daughter-in-law died. We need to fear God and follow Him before we end up dead under the judgement of God.
Ordinary people, extraordinary God – Barren, broken, breakthrough and blessed1 Samuel 1:1-2, 6-7, 9-28; 2:1-101. God works through barrenness (1 Samuel 1:6-7) – God works through the foolish and weak things of the world. Most of us are weak, but God can use ordinary people. God did amazing restorations of Israel through barren women. We may feel barren, broken, useless, rejected, mocked, etc, but God can take and use us powerfully in His kingdom. God specialises in things thought impossible. 2. God works through brokenness (1 Samuel 1:10-11) – Why does it seem that sometimes God doesn’t answer our prayers? We need to be asking what God how He wants to use the pain and grief in our lives. Barrenness drove Hannah to seeking God in fervent prayer and dedicating Samuel to God. We tend to seek God the most when we are going through tough times. God can work through our pain and brokenness when we are seeking Him in prayer. We are called to be living sacrifices to the Lord (Romans 12:1-2). Hannah needed her son to save her from her brokenness and God needed her son to restore Israel. 3. God brings breakthrough (1 Samuel 1:10-18) – Hannah’s breakthrough came lo g before Samuel was conceived (1 Samuel 1:10-18). Hannah believed God for the blessing Eli had spoken over her. God spoke to her in this blessing. Her outlook changed even though she was still barren. The blessing of Eli changed her mourning into rejoicing and sorrow into joy. She became confident that her prayers would be answered (1 Samuel 1:19). When she knew she was pregnant she was determined to fulfil her vow to dedicate Samuel to the Lord. 4. God brings blessings (1 Samuel 2:1-10) – Hannah’s prayer song is a celebration of God and His blessings. Her song was also prophetic and looked forward to the salvation of Israel through the coming of the Messiah (1 Samuel 2:10). Mary’s song (Luke 1:46-55) was modelled on Hannah’s song.
Ordinary people, extraordinary God – God uses an ordinary bloke1 Samuel 1:1-11, 19-28; 2:11, 19-21We are a church full of ordinary people who worship an extraordinary God. We worship a God who is mightily at work in our lives.
1 Samuel starts with Elkanah. God planned to use an ordinary person to accomplish His purposes.
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- Elkanah was an ordinary man – Elkanah was a relatively rich man. He had two wives. Hannah had not produced an heir and so he took another wife to secure his future.
- Elkanah was a worshipping man – Elkanah was a strong follower of the one true God. How strong a Christian are you?
- Elkanah was a loving man –
- Elkanah loved God.
- Elkanah loved his wives and family. He loved Hannah. Saying “I love you” means nothing unless it is backed up by loving actions. He cared when Hannah was distressed, but he didn’t get it right in verse 5-6.
- Elkanah was a generous man. Elkanah was the head of his family.
- Elkanah was generous to his wives and children.
- Elkanah was generous in his giving to God. Generous giving to God is a strong and vital principal throughout the Bible. We should delight in giving back to God.
- Elkanah invested in Samuel’s future. He dedicated Samuel to the Lord with a generous offering and continued to do so every year. He could have had no idea what a heritage Samuel would be to the nation of Israel and to the whole world.
Paying attention to ourselves1 Timothy 4:15-16There can be so much superficiality in our lives. God cares more about the state of our heart than the actions of our hands. Red lights go off all the time in our souls. Are we paying attention? It is important that we take a spiritual MOT and identify what makes us tick. We need to examine what is going on inside our hearts so that we bear fruit in all that we do. Don’t miss out on intimacy with God. God wants us to have a life full of authenticity.
The Gospel of Luke: Jesus is for everyone – Judgement is coming; be ready, watch and prayLuke 21:20-361. Judgement on Jerusalem (vs20-24) – When we reject Jesus judgement is guaranteed to follow. If we reject Jesus today God’s judgement is guaranteed. It is vitally important to get right with God. The good news is that Jesus came and died on the cross for our sins. If we have not repented of our sins then we should be afraid of Jesus’ return. Jesus core message was “repent for the kingdom of God is near”. Today is the day of salvation, not tomorrow; tomorrow may be too late. If we have repented of our sins we are Children of God and citizens of the Kingdom of God. 2. Jesus is coming in power and glory (vs25-28) – Jesus will return. Everything we know will be in turmoil, but we should not be afraid, our kingdom is not of this world. Jesus’ return is great for Christians (vs28). We should stand, watch and welcome our coming King. 3. Jesus’ coming is great news for Christians (vs28-36) – When Jesus returns our suffering is coming to an end, Jesus is coming to redeem us. When we see signs of Jesus’ return we should not have fear, we should rejoice because our redemption is near. 1. It matters how we live (vs34-35) – Do not be weighed down with worldly stresses. 2. Watch and pray (vs36) – Do not miss out on all that Jesus has achieved for you. The question is not ‘when will Jesus return?’, but ‘are you ready?’
The Father’s heartJohn 1:12; Romans 8:14-17We apologise for the missing sound at the beginning of the audio recording
What does it mean to be sons and daughters of God? As we get captured by God’s love we are propelled out into mission.
God as Father is throughout the Old Testament and was opened out in the coming of Jesus. We have a right to be called children of God (John 1:12). God could have stopped at just making us right with Him, but He chose to make us His children. Father is the Christian name (1st name) of God.
What does it mean to be children of God? Being a child of God is enough for us in all that we are going through in life. When we give our lives to the Lord we are made sons of God, we are adopted by Him and become hers of God. Romans 8:14-17 is a legal process. There was no facility for sons to be un-adopted.
Ten filters that distort our view of God and His Fatherhood of us:
- God is conditionally loving
- God is poor at communicating
- God is controlling
- God is manipulative
- God is unreliable
- God is distant or absent
- God is inaccessible
- God is critical and uninterested
- God is cold and aloof
- God is not stingy
None of these are true and we need to pull down all our wrong thinking of God. Four steps to doing this are:
- We need to acknowledge our need for fresh revelation of Go
- We need to forgive those who have hurt us
- We need to receive forgiveness from God
- We need to receive the Father’s love for us
Crippling fears require Christ based facts resulting in courageous faithJohn 20:19-291. Crippling fears – The disciples had not anticipated what had happened to Jesus. They were afraid. They were in hiding and in fear of the same death happening to them. Suddenly Jesus appeared amongst them in a locked room. Jesus offered two types of peace – subjective and objective peace. Easter Sunday brings good news. The resurrection proves that reconciliation with God for our sins has been achieved by Jesus’ death on the cross. God has given us life through His Son. We all face crippling fears, but God offers us peace when we get right with Him through faith in Jesus. Jesus gave His disciples three words: 1. Send (vs 21) – Jesus commanded the disciples to go and share His peace with the whole world. 2. Spirit (vs 22) – Jesus breathed on them and they recieved the Holy Spirit and were born again. 3. Sin (vs 23) – Jesus does not talk of absolving people’s sins. God has already forgiven people’s sins. We do not dispense forgiveness we are declaring it. 2. Christ based facts – People can be made right with Almighty God only through the death and resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection is the bedrock of our faith. Our faith is futile if there is no resurrection (1 Corinthians 12:15-34). There are many proofs of the resurrection. 3. Courageous faith – Thomas missed Jesus’ first appearance after the resurrection. We don’t know why. When he was told about what had happened he built a defensive wall around him. The disciples repeatedly told him about the change they had experienced. Jesus knew what Thomas had been saying, but He did not reject him. Jesus encouraged Thomas to have faith. We need to have faith to see rather than see to believe. Thomas clearly declared that Jesus was his God.
Your season of triumphMatthew 21:1-15Reflections on Palm Sunday and the significance of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem knowing what He was about to face.
God’s bigger pictureActs 1:4-8We think of today rather than tomorrow. God wants us to be part of His bigger picture. The words of Jesus should not have been a shock to the disciples. God had promised to Abraham that all people would be blessed through him. This passage speaks of:
- The command of the King – The disciples had been with Jesus for three years. They had witnessed His ministry. Jesus was now preparing them for the future. Jesus rules and reigns over all time and space. Jesus commands them to go and make disciples, but He also commanded them to wait for the Holy Spirit because without Him they could do nothing. Why do we not learn to wait and receive His Spirit?
- The Kingdom come – The disciples still wanted a physical kingdom rather than a spiritual kingdom. The kingdom comes through:
- Words – do we gossip the Gospel?
- Works – how do people see our body language? Actions matter. Are we different enough for our words to be heard?
- Wonders – do you have an expectation of the supernatural?
- The Kingdom coming – Where are you? Where do you call home? Where do you not want to go? Where can you not imagine going? Jesus said they would go beyond where they would be comfortable with.
The Gospel of Luke: Jesus is for everyone – God’s salvation plan will be fulfilled – do you see it?Luke 18:31-431. God’s salvation plan will be fulfilled – God had and continues to have a salvation plan. He has a plan to rescue us all from sin. God’s plan is guaranteed to be fulfilled, it cannot fail. The Jews knew the Messiah would come. They had been trying to work out what He would be like and what He would do. They all had ideas on what the Messiah would do, but no-one thought He would be handed over to be crucified. They thought, “How could this be God’s plan?” It was offensive to them, but God knew better. God knew what they did not know. He knew that the sinless Son of God had to die on the cross. Jesus knew this and He wouldn’t be deflected from going to Jerusalem and fulfilling His Father’s will. Jesus knew that God’s plan did not end with Him dying on the cross. He knew God’s plan would end in His resurrection victory over sin and death and would end in eternal life for all. 2. The disciples can’t see God’s plan – How could they not understand what Jesus was saying? They believed Jesus was the Messiah, but they could not understand what He was telling them. We see Jesus’ words with hindsight. Why did God hide it from them? Would they have tried to stop Jesus all the more? It should be encouraging that the disciples did not understand. Jesus did not condemn them for not understanding. He did not give up on them and He will not give up on us. God can restore us and revive us. He doesn’t treat us as our sins and stupidity deserve. He still wants to use us in our weakness and brokenness. Jesus was not discouraged, depressed or diverted by the disciples failure to understand what He was telling them. 3. The Kingdom advances – the blind man sees – This little story shows that Jesus was determined to continue with God’s plan. Bartimaeus (as the blind man is named in other Gospels) knew who Jesus was and he knew he was a sinner who needed mercy. He knew he needed to seize the opportunity to cry out to Jesus. He knew Jesus was not going to pass by again. He didn’t ask for money or food. He asked for healing because he knew he could ask big of Jesus. He knew Jesus had the power to heal him. Do you know who Jesus is and how big God is? Do you know who you are in the sight of God? Do you know you need to seize the opportunity Jesus gives you today to receive forgiveness and salvation? If you are a Christian, what do you need from Jesus today? Are you asking a big God for big things? Are you prepared to believe Him for what seems impossible?
The Gospel of Luke: Jesus is for everyone – Jesus’ church is not for the self-righteous religiousLuke 18:18-30The rich young ruler was respectable and religious. He thought he had everything right. The disciples were disappointed by Jesus’ response to him.
- Jesus came to seek and save the lost – The rich young ruler didn’t come to Jesus because he needed Jesus. He thought he was saved. All he wanted was a list of religious rituals he could add to his list in order to gain heaven. We cannot impress God with our religion. Repentance from sin is the only way to inherit eternal life. The rich young ruler was proud about how good he was and thought he was better than Jesus. He did not want to admit his need for Jesus to save him.
- Beware of judging Jesus – The rich young ruler thought Jesus was just a good teacher. He expected Jesus to be honoured by his recognition of Jesus as a good teacher. Jesus essentially asked the rich young ruler “Who do you say I am?” Who do you say Jesus is? The only response we can make to this is to bow before Jesus and recognise who He is and our need for Him.
- Beware of spiritual pride – The rich young ruler was full of spiritual pride. He had no relationship with Jesus. There was little fruit of the Spirit in his life.
- Beware of possessions and money – Jesus knew the rich young ruler’s weakness. Jesus knows our weaknesses. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He wants to put His finger on those things so that they can be dealt with. The rich young ruler chose his wealth over and above Jesus. He chose to store up treasure on earth rather than in heaven. We need to let go of the things that trap us and prevent us from entering the kingdom of God. Where your treasure is there your heart will be. We have an inheritance in heaven (1 Peter 1:3-5).
- Be aware of God’s possibilities – God can save anyone. God specialises in things though impossible. With God nothing is impossible.
- Be aware of God’s promises – If we make Jesus Lord of our lives Jesus promises we will receive blessings upon blessings in this life and in heaven. If we commit our life to God He has a far better future for us than we could ever plan for ourselves. God’s promises are guaranteed in Jesus blood.
Here and now2 Peter 1:3-11What about the here and now? We can talk about tomorrow, but tomorrow is not guaranteed. Zacchaeus recognised that he needed to act ‘here and now’ (Luke 19:8).
Pastor Paul emphasised four Ps from 2 Peter 1:3-11 :-
- Promise (vs 3-4) – God has given us everything we need to live in this life through our knowledge of Jesus. We see and hear of everything going on in the world, but this is a knowledge of worldly things, this is not a knowledge of God. There are so many evil desires in the world. We need to focus on the promises of God.
- Practice (vs 5-7) – We are called to add to our faith. It is not a one time thing. We need to work out our faith. If we have faith in God and we need to add to it – goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection and love. What do we taste like to the world? Is there something of God missing from us?
- Possess (vs 8-9) – We need to possess these qualities in increasing measure. We need to keep practicing these things. God helps us and teaches us how to increase in these things. We need to get to know more and more of Jesus in order to be productive in life.
- Position (vs 10-11) – Martin Luther nailed what he stood for to the door of the church. He stood on what he believed. What are the foundations of what you build your life upon? We have to stand up for the truth (2 Peter 1:9). Do not forget what Jesus has done for you. We need to be eager to stand in what God has called us to. The world has to move, not us!!
The Gospel of Luke: Jesus is for everyone – Jesus’ church is a messy churchLuke 4:14-19; 5:27-32; 19:1-10How should Jesus’ ministry affect the church today?
As human being we like order and for everything to be under control. We do not like mess, particularly in cemeteries! Churches can be like cemeteries, all neat, tidy, governed by rules and regulations. Nothing messes up cemeteries like resurrections and nothing messes up churches like revival.
Jesus mixed with sinners and upset the neatness of the lives of the people around Him.
The Gospels tell us that Jesus didn’t want the church to be like a well ordered cemetery. Jesus came to bring life where there was death, brokenness, illness, etc. (John 10:10). Wherever Jesus comes He brings life. He challenges our sin, prejudices, apathy, etc. When Jesus disrupts He brings life.
We should want Jesus to be at work in our church and through our outreach projects. We should expect people to bring their messy lives with them.
Jesus tells us His messy church should be:
- A church where Jesus is at work in Word and Power – the Bible must remain central to our church teaching. The power of the Holy Spirit needs to be at work in the church today.
- A church strong in Jesus’ radical mercy, love and forgiveness – Jesus reached out to the lost, sick, demon possessed and powerless. Jesus came to save sinners (Luke 4:16-19). Jesus commands us to not judge others or ignore their needs. He calls us to love others. We all fall short of God’s standards (Romans 3:23). It is easy to be like the crowd when Jesus met Zacchaeus – “He has gone to be a guest of sinners”.
- A church that is strong in practical repentance and evangelism – Jesus was compelled by love to urge people to repent. He warned them of God’s coming wrath. Repentance is practical and involves turning away from our sin. Jesus said “Go and sin no more” in John 8:11.
King Jesus is presentRomans 13:8-14; Colossians 2:13-14
Debt and justice are linked in Scripture. Debt is serious and affects every aspect of people’s lives.
There are three types of debt:
- The debt of finances – Many people live up to their financial limits until circumstances change.
- The debt to love each other – Love is the key to communities and fulfilling the law.
- The debt of sin – Sin is a transgression against God. Jesus is the only answer for this debt.
Sam Wells, vicar of St Martin’s in the Field, in his lecture “What is wrong with poverty” has argued that the addressing of poverty is not at best to be understood as being about overcoming someone else’s limitations but about overcoming isolation and about communion. He urges the church not to think of itself as being for the people, but about being with them, just as God is not only on our side but came to be with us, Immanuel, the incarnation of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
Namaan the Syrian2 Kings 5:1-17We learn from this story that there was:
- A man who was mighty – we are told that Namaan was a great man. He was commander of the King’s army. He was a great warrior. But Naaman’s miserable condition was that he was a leper. Leprosy was a fearful disease. It was incurable and was dreaded by all. He would become an outcast. Leprosy was fatal. Leprosy was also a figurative disease symbolising the state of our souls. Namaan had a skin disease, we have a sin disease. We are all spiritual lepers.
- A maid who was merciful –
a. She knew the sovereignty of God – She served God in the place she found herself in. We could be the catalyst for change in the situation we find ourselves in. This girl had a relationship with the living God and knew He could heal Namaan.
b. She had compassion – She had compassion on Namaan despite what he had done to her in taking her into slavery. She chose to represent God in Namaan’s household.
c. She was a courageous maid – She spoke up and did not remain silent. She took the opportunity to take a risk for God. - A miracle that was marvellous – Namaan expected personal service from Elisha, but Elisha sent a message via his servant. Namaan went off in a rage. He had come with the wrong attitude. He had come demanding. He had come with the wrong assumptions. He offered the wrong price and tried to buy his healing. He had the wrong perception and expect to be a passive observer of his healing. He did not expect to have to do anything and was offended when told that he had to do something. Namaan had to turn and trust in the word of the Lord. When he did he was healed and he became alive to God.
A certain manLuke 10:25-37The parable of the Good Samaritan is laden with many truths and keys to eternity. We will all be judged by how we have treated “a certain man” (Matthew 25:31-46).
The Gospel of Luke: Jesus is for everyone – Jesus changes Zacchaeus’s lifeLuke 19:1-10Zacchaeus was the epitome of a self-centre man. He was a little man who pretended to be big and liked to throw his weight around. He was the chief tax collector and was a rough, a thief and a crook. He was a traitor to his own people and a collaborator with the Romans. He was obsessed with money.
Jesus was the complete opposite of Zacchaeus. Jesus was not self-centred, He was God-centred. He was not selfish, He was selfless. Jesus came to serve others, not Himself. Jesus was not motivated by money or power, He came to give and not to take. Jesus had an authority and an integrity that Zacchaeus did not have.
No-one had told Jesus about Zacchaeus or that he would be up a tree waiting to see Him. Jesus called Zacchaeus by name. Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves and He still wants to come into our lives and transform them. Is Jesus calling your name? How are you going to respond? It is only Jesus who can truly transform our lives. Zacchaeus was changed by Jesus. If you have an encounter with Jesus your life will never be the same.
The Gospel of Luke: Jesus is for everyone – Children matterLuke 18:15-171. Babies are precious souls – Jesus teaching was radical. Babies and toddlers had no status. They were inconvenient until they were old enough to work and support the household. Infant mortality was high and babies were often neglected, rejected or even killed. This is why the disciples shooed the children away. They did not see babies and children as important. They were trying to protect Jesus and prevent Him from wasting His time on the children. Who do we shoo away from Jesus? Jesus welcomes everyone. No-one is excluded by Jesus. His love, attention and Gospel is for everyone. The Bible has many things to say about babies and children – Psalm 139:13-16; Jeremiah 1:5; Luke 1:41. Babies are important to God. The Bible teaches that babies in the womb are precious souls to God. Everyone of us have the ability to love, bless and encourage children. Who knows how God might use the way we might show love to children? God calls us to love and have an input into children’s lives. 2. Invest in children and families – Jesus taught His adult disciples that children are important. Do you love and care for children? Do you pray for them? Do you invest in them spiritually? 1. Christian parents need the help and support of their wider Christian family. How can you help in church with the children’s ministries? Have you ‘adopted’ a church family? 2. Are you praying with your children and reading the Bible with them? Are you showing your children how to live a Christian life? How and what are you teaching your children? Are you aware of what your children are being influenced by? 3. Be like babies – Are you hungry to be fed, eager to learn? How are you receiving the Kingdom of God. Are you humble before God (1 Peter 2:2-3). Are you always hungry for more of God?
Holding on to GodProverbs 3:1-7 (NKJV)As children of God we need to hold on to Him and not give up because of challenges or circumstances.
Susan Wesley was born into a Christian family. She had a complicated life, but she held on to God. Nine of her children died, she was imprisoned twice because of debt, but her not giving up on God and her prayers changed history! She did not let go of God and raised two giants – John and Charles Wesley.
There are things in our destiny that have not been revealed to us, challenges that we have to go through. God knows all that we will go through. Jesus said we will have trouble (John 16:33), but God will not give up on us. We need to look up to Jesus (Hebrews 12:2).
Trusting God is the faith to foolishly and faithfully follow God in the face of accusations, trails, debts and rebellious circumstances of life even when we do not understand what God is doing. That is holding on to God.
In Genesis 37:5-9 Joseph had a great future ahead of him, but his brothers hated him even more. God did not show Joseph he would go into the pit, be sold, end up in prison, etc. We need to hold on to God no matter what happens to us. Every step that Joseph took there was someone to intervene to see the will of God fulfilled (Romans 8:28).
The little foxes that destroy our vineyardsSong of Solomon 2:15What could get in the way of us being fruitful?
Foxes are characterised as very cunning and crafty. Three things (little foxes) that cause us to be unfruitful are:
- Offence (Luke 17:1-5) – Offence will come our way. How do we handle it?
- Anger (Ephesians 4:26-27) – It is not bad to be angry, but we need to handle it properly?
- Bitterness (Hebrews 12:14-15) – Bitterness causes defilement within us. Bitterness is like drinking poison ourselves and expecting it to harm our enemy. Bitterness attracts bitter people. Are you bitter because of what someone has done to you? Are you locked in a prison of bitterness? Why are you bitter about today? The story of Absalom, Amnon, Tamar and Ahithophel in 2 Samuel 13-17 is an example of how bitterness can destroy relationships. Joseph had every right to be bitter towards his brothers, but he chose to speak kindly to them (Genesis 50:19-21).
Unprofitable servantsMatthew 25:21; Luke 17:7-10Are you looking forward to hearing the words, “Well done good and faithful servant”?
it’s not about how much we do. We are unprofitable servants. Do we have a proud spirit in what we have done for God? We cannot make God our debtor! We cannot pay God what we owe Him by serving Him. We are indebted to Him for our very lives.
When we have done all we have been commanded to do we need to say we are “unprofitable servants”. We should not expect medals for doing as we are told (Ephesians 2:8-10). We can earn nothing by doing what God requires us to do. The only thing that can redeem us is what Jesus did for us on the cross. Our sin debt is paid in full. Jesus said “Tetelestai” – It is finished, meaning paid in full. Jesus and Jesus alone is a profitable servant. We serve not to earn salvation, but because Jesus has already paid our debt. Our delight should be to serve God, not out of an obligation or to gain something for ourselves, but because of what He has done for us.
Vision for RCC Youth Group 2024Chaila presents the vision for the future of Rock Christian Centre’s Youth Group.
Youth Service 2024Some of our young people’s reflections on what they have learnt at this year’s Dreaming The Impossible (DTI) youth camp.
Leon – Freedom in Christ.
Gift – The fear of God and holiness.
Ezinne – The armour of God.
Aaliyah – The armour of God
Ardiv – Strengths and weaknesses
Let God use you as He is changing youActs 16:16-31The key word is ‘let’. It is up to us to allow the Lord to take the lead in everything. God holds out His hand to us and He wants us to take hold of it. We need to let God be God and use us as He is changing us. We need to be a vessel of God at all times.
- Misconceptions and mindsets – Do not put God into a box. Do not have a logical ideology of God. Do not assume you know why something is happening without consulting God. Do not be outcome obsessed. We cannot limit God to human logic. We need to rely on God’s promises, 2 Cor 12:9-10; Deut 3:8; John 16:33; Psalms 32:8, 37:23-24. We need to hold dear God’s word rather than our logic or other people’s words. We need to know and understand that the Lord Himself is with us in everything. He never leaves us. God is always working, He is not subject to certain conditions.
- Is there trust? – “Let” God use us. We must fully surrender to the Lord and let Him use us even when we don’t see the results. We need to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7). Do not let disappointment limit God? We serve a God who knows everything we are going through. He sees the bigger picture. If God told us all that is going to happen would we believe Him. We need to not just know and say His words, we must trust it and believe it. Is the Lord opening our heart to respond to His plan (Acts 16:14b). Are we letting God soften other’s hearts to respond to what God has to say through us. We need to let God be God. God is still working in us even when we don’t see it. His grace is always sufficient and He can use us whilst He is changing us. In Acts 16:16-31 Paul and Silus didn’t know what would happen when they cast out the demon, but they were following the lead of the Holy Spirit. God does not say that we will not face trouble, but He promises to be with in in the trouble we will face (John 16:33). We need to let go and see what God will do. The battle is the Lord’s and NOT ours (Psalm 17:47). When David caught Goliath He used what God had equipped him with – a sling and a few stone.
- Just “let” God – We need to let God use us even when we don’t see the outcome.
Through it all I’ve learnt to trust JesusPastor Paul Hunt reflects on 10 years of his ministry at Rock Christian Centre.
Break up your unploughed groundHosea 10:121. Break up your unploughed ground – Unploughed ground is either fallow ground that has been left for a year to recover or wasteland that has not been cultivated. Our lives can be like wasteland. God calls us to the hard work of ploughing up our lives and to planting new crops of righteousness. There are wasteland areas of our lives that are unhelpful and unfruitful. God says plough it up, burn the rubbish and get rid of the weeds. We need to deal systemically with the sin in our lives. God is telling us to repent of the sinful areas in our lives. Is God highlighting an area of your life that needs ploughing up? God promises a great harvest if we plough up the wasteland in our lives. There is a danger in minimal cultivation, only breaking up the surface. A hard layer develops and roots cannot penetrative the soil. Do not only deal with things on the surface of your life and allow a hardness to developed. God wants to deal with the deep things in our lives. God calls us to go deep with Him. 2. It is time to seek the Lord – It is hard to turn away from sin unless we replace our focus. The only way to overcome powerful temptations is to focus on something positive. It is time to seek the Lord. Our focus needs to be on the cross and what Jesus has done for us. Now is the time to seek the Lord. Today is the day of salvation. The people Hosea was speaking to did not know how little time they had left to seek the Lord. Life is short and Jesus could return at any moment. It is time to seek the Lord now. 3. Until He comes and showers His righteousness on you – God calls us to keep on seeking Him. God promises if we seek Him He will come and shower His righteousness upon us. We can sow righteous seed, but we need the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to bring the seed to life. God promises His righteousness and not our own righteousness upon us. God’s righteousness leads to fullness of life.
The power of the CrossColossians 1:12-14What is the impact of the Cross on our lives? The cross is the demonstration of God’s love for all mankind (1 John 3:1).
There is darkness in this world. The heart of man is desperately wicked. Sin is destroying people and communities. We need an answer to the desperate need of men and women. Why did Jesus talk more about hell than He did about heaven? God’s divine judgement is no joke. There is a power of evil among mankind today. All our education and invention cannot solve the issue of sin. God had a plan from the very beginning to deal with the problem of sin. He planned to rid us of the curse of sin that we cannot resolve ourselves. Sin is in us and we cannot eradicate it. Only the plan of God can get us back on track and back into relationship with Him. God loves the whole world. His plan was to give His son in order to show His love for us (John 3:16). We need the pardon for our sin that only God can give through the death of Jesus on the cross. Jesus died on the cross for our sin and we can be born again. Are you born again? Jesus said we have to be born again (John 3:3). Without being born again we cannot get to heaven.
No plan is worth the paper it is written on unless it is implemented. God’s plan was implemented through the cross. Jesus implemented God’s plan. We can be born again. When Jesus comes into our lives the darkness has to flee.
Who do you say Jesus is? Is He just a good man or is He who He said He was – the Son of God?
It will take a miracle to get you into heaven. Being born again through the miracle of the Cross is the only way you can get into heaven. God’s plan has already been fulfilled, but it has to be implemented in our lives. How are you going to stand before God on the day of judgement?
The Cross is the only answer to the darkness in the world. Only Jesus can save, heal the broken heart and set the captive free. Do you have a passion to see the lost saved?
Sow for yourself righteousnessHosea 10:12Israel was divided into two kingdoms. Hosea is writing to the northern kingdom of Israel. Worship of God was still the official religion, but it was mixed with idolatry. This mirrors the UK today. Hosea 4:1-2 could be said about the UK today. God’s message was not one of condemnation and judgement. God did not reject His adulterous people. He longed for them to repent and turn to Him. The message of Hosea is that God was ready to forgive His people if they would only repent. God spoke to Israel through Hosea’s life. We let God down and rebel against Him. We are lukewarm towards Him at best, but God extends His love towards us again and again. God is willing to forgive us repeatedly if we will return to Him. God’s love never ends.
Will you return to God today?
- Sow righteousness for yourself – sowing seed is vital to the farming process. You have to sow if you want a harvest. The harvest is dependent on what type of seed you sow. What are you sowing into your life? It matters what we sow into our lives (Hosea 10:13; Hosea 8:7: Hosea 10:12). What effects of bad sowing are you living with? It matters what we think. How are you training your brain (Philippians 4:8)? How much good are you doing (Galatians 6:7-10)? Are you doing what pleases God or what please yourselves? Sowing righteousness means sowing things and doing things that are right (Psalm 15:1-5).
- Reap the fruit of unfailing love – if we sow righteousness we WILL reap unfailing love from God. God’s love never ever fails. God’s covenant of love towards us was sealed in Jesus’ death and it can never fail (Romans 8:35-39).
The pursuit of fruitfulness and growth (Part 2)Mark 4:1-8; 16For Christians, home is about intimacy with God, but there are things that get in the way and stop us bearing fruit.
The devil comes to steal the seed of God, to steal God’s word from us. See Part 1 of this sermon here.
Those with no roots last only a short time. The challenges of life take over. We will have trouble in life. We live in a broken world (Job 5:7). Trouble does not stop us growing, but our rocky, hardened hearts. Rocky hardened hearts are shallow and have no depth. Christians can have hardened hearts (Mark 8:17; Mark 6:51,52). Rocks and hardened soil are formed by allowing experiences to shape our responses to God. They are also formed by persistent sin in our lives. Sin hardens our hearts and shuts down our ability to engage with God. Hardened hearts can result from bitterness over unresolved conflict (Hebrews 12:15). We need to take care of our hearts. There is mercy and a new heart available (Ezekiel 26:36). We need to pray over our hardened hearts for God to soften our hearts and renew them. We may also need to share our struggles with others (James 5:16).
The worries of life, deceitfulness of wealth and desire for other things choke God’s word (Mark 4:18). David listed after Bathsheba and abused his power. He kept his sin inside him and said his bones where rotting away because of it (Psalm 32:3). He needed to connect back with God (2 Samuel 12:20; Psalm 51). When we allow thorns in our hearts we need to return to the Lord. He can pull out the thorns by the root (Matthew ?). We need to let the Lord cleanse us of the thorns and deal with the inner parts of our hearts. Then God can restore the joy of His salvation (Psalm 51:12).
Good ground takes hard work to produce and maintain. We need to take hold of our hearts and partner with God to produce fruit (Mark 4:20). Do not be limited to producing only thirty fold. “May the lamb that was slain receive the reward of his suffering!” Is thirty fold enough? How do we as a community become more fruitful? It begins with each of us. When we are all healthy the church will be helpful.
What are we being called to be involved with as a church? He wants us to be more fruitful as a church. Esther could not just settle to be queen.
Where do we start? We need to pursue God and wait upon Him (Isaiah 40:28-31).
The pursuit of fruitfulness and growthGrowth is not automatic.
What was the first thing God said to Adam? Be fruitful and increase in number (Genesis
1:28). God still wants to see us being blessed and being fruitful. Every day God is faithful and wants to bless us. God taught Moses to bless the people (Numbers 6:24-26) and He wanted to bless them.
God wants us to grow in intimacy with Him. He wants us to learn how He speaks to us individually. It is our portion to have an intermate relationship with Him. It is God’s will for our lives. It is what Jesus died for. God offered His best on the cross so that we could approach Him and have intimacy with Him.
We do not become perfect when we come to know God. It is a journey of sanctification. We need to be continually learning and growing, but God is always there for us, He never gives up on us. God wants to deal with the dysfunctional areas of our lives. We need to open ourselves up to God for healing of these areas. The Christian life is an ongoing process (Ephesians 4:17-32). Things can hinder us in our growth (Mark 4:3-9). Sometimes we need to examine what it is that is blocking or hindering our growth.
One reason we don’t grow is because the devil gets in and takes away the Word of God (Mark 4:14,15; John 10:10). We will face demons (Mark 16:17). We will have to wrestle with the enemy (Ephesians 6:12). In order to grow we need to recognise and put the devil in his place. He is already defeated. He lost any rights over us on the cross (Colossians 2:13-15). We are victorious, but we have to execute the victory that Jesus won for us. We need to remind ourselves of what God has done for us and submit to Him. We need to thank Him for the blood of Jesus and His name. We need to remember that the Holy Spirit now lives within us.
The sin of AchanJoshua 1:5-9 – Moses has died and Joshua is about to take over leadership of the Israelites. There are conditions with God. God tells Joshua to be strong and courage and to obey the law and promises that Joshua would prosperous and successful. Courageouss = brave, determined in the face of potential danger and pain. Three times God says be strong and courageous. Once we need to listen. Twice is a slap in the face. Three times moves it up another level.
Joshua 3:5 – The people had to get themselves right before God before crossing the Jordon.
Joshua 5:13-15 – Joshua was prepared to stand up to the man with the sword, but he fell face down and acknowledged that he was just a servant of God. Where God is it is holy. God was clear on what the Israelites had to do at Jericho. He gave clear instructions. They had to do as they were told and God would do the rest. Joshua had previously been told to obey all that God had told him to do (Joshua 1:7).
Joshua 6:17 – everything had to be sacrificed to God. It was a kind of first fruits offering. Only Rahab and her household was to be spared. Very clear instructions were given. Everything of value was to go into the Lord’s treasury. God is holy and He detests sin. After Jericho they moved on to Ai and they were routed by a smaller army. God is a holy God and there cannot be sin in His presence.
Joshua 7:6-12 – Joshua whinged to God as if it was God’s fault. Sometimes we need to look at what has gone wrong and sort it out. God told Joshua that Isral had sinned and told him to sort it out. Sin cannot be hidden from God. God threatens to leave Joshua if he does not sort out the sin in the camp. God is the same God today. Sin is still offensive to God. Sin needs to be dealt with and got rid of immediately. Sin crouches at our door, but we must master it our lives (Genesis 4:7).
The Gospel of Luke: Jesus is for everyone – Pride and prejudice! Be humbleLuke 18:9-141. Pride and prejudice (vs 9) – Pride makes everyone sick except the person who has it! Pride is a disease. It is one of the main things that stop people becoming Christians. Proud people struggle to admit they are wrong. They struggle to accept they are sinners and deny their need for Jesus. How much of your life is affected by Pride? Is Pride blocking you from a closer relationship with Jesus? Pride keeps us looking down on others and prevents us seeing things above us! In verse 9 these people were confident of their own righteousness. They were looking down on others and on Jesus teaching. 2. The Pharisee – spiritual pride (vs 11-12) – The Pharisees were good, respected people. They were devote and morally good people. The Pharisee Jesus was talking about was a good person, but he was still guilty of spiritual pride. Spiritual pride is still around today. Do you think you are better than other Christians? Spiritual pride damages others and hinders them in their relationship with God. We need to examine and rid our hearts from spiritual pride. We also need to examine whether we are victims of spiritual pride and seeing ourselves as below other Christians. We need to be the person God has called us to be and see us as God sees us. 3. The tax collector (vs 13-14) – The tax collector was not a respected Jew. This tax collector didn’t feel worthy to come near to God. He knew he was a sinner who deserved judgement and rejection. He was broken before God. He was totally dependent on the mercy of God. The tax collector was justified by his faith alone. Jesus never asked us to climb up to where He is. He reaches down to us and lifts us up to be with Him.
The Gospel of Luke: Jesus is for everyone – Don’t give up! Be proactive and persistent until Jesus returnsLuke 18:1-8Luke 18 is a continuation of Jesus speaking about His second coming. Jesus said we should always pray like the widow and not give up. He did not want us to be defeated in prayer. Jesus is looking for disciples who are ready for battle (Ephesians 6:10-20). He wants Christians who will stand strong in prayer whatever the opposition may be. He wants us to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might (Ephesians 6:10).
Jesus says:
- Be like this widow – A widow in Jesus’ day was totally vulnerable. They had no husband, no rights and probably no income. God made special rule in the Old Testament to care and provide for widows. This widow was struggling against a corrupt judge and system. She had an adversary who was trying to take advantage of her. She was fighting for what was rightfully hers. She was bold and courageous and persistent. Jesus is looking for people like this widow to make a difference for Him.
- Stand strong against injustice and corruption – In the law courts in Bible times the judge had sole power and authority. The judge would decide the outcome of a case between two adversaries. They were open to corruption. 2 Chronicles 19:7 gives clear instructions for judges, but Jesus tells us that this judge “neither feared God or cared what people thought”. This judge symbolises everything that is opposite to what God is like. We will all encounter people like this judge until Jesus returns. We need to be different and distinctive as Christians. We need to be equipped with the full armour of God.
- God is the God of justice and righteousness – God is the complete opposite of this unjust judge. He is in complete control and is the Soveriegn Lord God Almighty. He is the perfect judge. His judgements are guaranteed to be just, right, true, merciful and compassionate. God cannot deny Himself, He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love (Psalm 103:8). God can be totally trusted to always get His judgements right. Jesus promises that God will bring about justice for His chosen ones (vs 7). Be persistent in prayer, call out to the Lord in prayer day and night until we receive a breakthrough. We may not get an answer immediately, but we need to keep persisting. God will answer, but in His time and not our time. In the Greek, Luke 11:9 says “keep on” asking, seeking and knocking.
The Gospel of Luke: Jesus is for everyone – Be ready for Jesus’ returnLuke 17:20-37What does Jesus say here about His return?
- Don’t waste time on End Time theories – The Pharisees were so fixated about who the Messiah would be and when He would come that they missed Jesus. They completely missed God’s promised Messiah because Jesus did not fit their theories. They had no idea who they were asking in verse 20. Jesus said the coming of the Kingdom of God could be observed because it was already there. All we can know is that Jesus return is always getting nearer. Do our ideas and theories about what God will do and what He will say stop us from responding to God? Do they stop us communing with Him? Don’t lose your focus on Jesus.
- Jesus return will be like: (a) Lightning – It will be sudden and fast. (b) The days of Noah – It will come at any time. Normal life will be going on. (c) The days of Lot – Normal life will be going on. (d) This – We should not look back or go back for anything. We need to repent now before it is too late. It is vital that we are ready for Jesus’ return.
- Get your priorities right – Being right with God is far more important than what we consider valuable. Lot’s wife was on the brink of being saved, but her heart was still in the city of Sodom. She looked back and missed out on the salvation God had for her. Don’t miss out on the salvation God has for you. We have an inheritance that cannot fade or perish.
- Be Kingdom people – A literal translation of verse 21 is “The Kingdom is within your reach”. It doesn’t matter who we are or what we have done we can reach the Kingdom of God. We need to reach out in repentance and live a Kingdom life.
The Gospel of Luke: Jesus is for everyone – Be desperate for Jesus, Be thankful to JesusLuke 17:11-17How desperate are you for Jesus to help you? Are you open to Jesus and His power to change your life today? Being desperate is the best place to turn to Jesus. If you are feeling desperate then you need to call out to Jesus.
Be thankful to Jesus. Why did the 9 lepers not return to thank Jesus? Many people say that they would believe if they saw a miracle. Often God answers prayers, but we fail to respond. Being thankful involves change in our whole lives. How has your life been changed by what God has done in your life? Everyone can come to Jesus as they are and be healed, changed and saved.
How thankful are you for what Jesus has done in your life? Are you so thankful that you regularly talk to Jesus? Do you read His word?
What is worship?John 4:19-24 NLTSinging is only one component of worship. Worship is about more than a place. Jesus speaks of ‘true worshippers’ worshipping in Spirit and in truth. God longs for intimacy.
Revelation 1:4-6 NKJV – we are kings and priests unto God.
We do not worship a denomination. We don’t worship a human being, a sinner like us. We worship the Son of God. We are all qualified to worship God because of what Jesus has done.
Hebrews 10:19-22 – we can boldly enter the presence of God.
Worship is a lifestyle. How we handle the things in life reflects our relationship with God. Is my life transformed by my relationship with God? Are we kings unto our God? We have freedom in Christ. We are a new creation in Christ. We have everything we need to live a life of godliness (2 Peter 1:3).
Romans 5:17 – we reign in life and should influence the world around. God’s grace is sufficient for us to reign in life.
God is our hope in everything we are going through. God wants us to enjoy life to the full (John 10:10).
Eternal life is not inherited upon our death. We are living it now (Revelation 3:20). We need to let God into every room of our lives (Ephesians 3:17). Does God feel at home in our lives? Do we listen to Him, do we let Him walk into our thinking and our minds? Do we allow Him into all our decisions? Intimacy = Into me see. Have we position ourselves to live under the shadow of God?
Psalm 24:4-5 NLT – Do we have clean hands and pure hands? Anything that we are more passionate about than our relationship with God is an idol.
A clean heart must be:
- A changed heart (Ezekiel 36:5) – Has God changed our hearts? God desires that we have a changed heart and He performs the operation. We cannot do it ourselves.
- A clean heart (Psalm 51:10) – Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8). We need to be blameless, free from hypocrisy.
- A controlled heart (Romans 8:14-15; Ephesians 5:18)
Trust in GodPsalm 20-21; Jeremiah 17:5-8How is it possible to trust in God with all that is happening in the world?
Some trust in horses, some in chariots (Psalm 20:7). Many say that Psalm 20 is the prayer and Psalm 21 is the answer to the prayer.
It is OK to ask for prayer – we need to pray. We need to declare our trust in God.
Do you find it easy to trust people? Have you been let down by people you have trusted? Has this affected how you trust God? Do we equate our trust issues with people with how, we trust in God? Remember that God is not a man (Numbers 23:19).
Jeremiah 17:5-6 says we are cursed when we put our trust in men. But Jeremiah 17:7-8 says we are blessed when we trust in God.
In the USA “In God we trust” is printed on their banknotes. What is printed on your heart?
When we cry out “I don’t understand”, we are in the right place. Turn your lack of understanding into trust in God (Proverbs 3:5).
Death, resurrection and life eternalJohn 11:17-44Have you ever made a claim to be able to do something? What is your claim? We all make claims in our lives. No matter what we claim, we are not in control of anything. Only Jesus fulfilled 100% of His claims.
In John 11 Jesus claims to be the resurrection and the life. No-one else has ever made this claim about themselves. This sets Him up in the place of God. It was impossible for Jesus to claim this if He was not God.
- Death – Death is the ultimate destiny of everyone. We all know that life has an end and death follows life. We are all going to die. The question is, are we ready for it? Ecclesiastese 8:8; Job 18:14; Job 14:1-2; Psalm 90:10. Is life all there is? No, there is life after death. Life here is temporary, life after death is eternal. Death is a transition from the temporary to the eternal. By disobeying God Adam and Eve chose death. Death is not the cessation of life, in the Bible death is separation from God. When they sinned they came under the judgement of God.
- Resurrection – The ultimate destination of everyone is resurrection. To claim to be the resurrection is a wild claim. It is not the claim of a mere man. If Jesus lacked the authority He would not have been able to raise Lazarus. Jesus proved He was God Himself. He showed He had authority over death itself. The raising of Lazarus from the dead was Jesus last miracle on His way to Jerusalem to face His own death. It was a foretaste of His own death and resurrection. Many people would have been travelling to Jerusalem for the Passover and they would have seen or heard about this miracle. The authorities began to plot Jesus death because of this miracle.
- Life eternal – The ultimate destination of everyone with Jesus is eternal life with God. Daniel 12:2; John 5:26-29. There are only two alternatives after death, one is eternal life with God or the other is eternal separation from God. Jesus gives us eternal life with God. By His death Jesus has removed us from the judgement of God.
The pre-eminence of ChristColossians 1:15-22 (NLT)Paul was writing to correct a heresy in the Colossian Church. Gnosticism was creeping into the church (Colossians 2). Their understanding of who Jesus is was being diluted. The best approach against error is to preach the truth. Sometimes we need to take a fresh look at who Jesus really is. Jesus is not one among many, He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. He is the one and only.
- Jesus is pre-eminent in His person – Jesus is the image of the invisible God. When we see Jesus we see God. If we want to see what God is like we need to look at Jesus. Jesus reveals God and makes Him visible. Firstborn means superiority, the head over everything.
- Jesus is pre-eminent in His power – Jesus created all things. Evolution makes us unaccountable. Paul is clarifying that Jesus is equal to God the Father and uniquely God in His own right. Jesus created everything out of nothing. We are called to believe in creation as described in Genesis. Jesus spoke of Genesis as literal history. We are called to let the Bible shape our belief.
- Jesus is pre-eminent in His position – Jesus is the head of the church and the hope of the church. The church is ruled by Jesus, it is His church. There are no significant others alongside Jesus. Jesus gives the church direction and spiritual dynamic. We always need to give Jesus priority. We need to maintain our link with Jesus, the head, in prayer. Jesus is the hope of the church. The resurrection is the reason the church exists and is our hope in the future. Because He lives we can face tomorrow.
- Jesus is pre-eminent in His plan – Jesus is reconciling all things to Himself. Jesus is fully God, but He is fully human too. Jesus did not inherit Adam’s sin. He was fully human, but sinless. Jesus sinless death in our place reconciles us to God. There is no-one else good enough to bring reconciliation. 1 John 4:14. God had planned from the beginning for Jesus to die, it is a thread that runs throughout the Old Testament.
Why would you settle for anyone less than Jesus?
The Gospel of Luke: Jesus is for everyone – Be faithful servantsLuke 17:1-10How do we respond to all that God has done for us? How different should our lives be as Christians? Jesus says:
- Watch yourselves – Are we watching others behaviour or our own? Jesus instructs us to be self aware, to watch ourselves. If we are not self aware then we will become offensive to others and will put them off following Jesus. We are called to carry the fragrance of Jesus wherever we go.
- Cause no offence – Jesus knows we are not perfect, but He says it is a grievous sin to cause others to sin. We should always point to Jesus in everything we do.
- Take no offence – How easily do you take offense? We should “Forgive, forgive, forgive”. Jesus commands us to forgive others.
- Be full of faith in God’s power – Jesus recognises it takes great faith and trust in God to not react when others hurt us. The world says “I will never forgive them”. Jesus challenges us to be radically different and to forgive. When we offer forgiveness we win over sin, it is a victory of faith.
- Be a servant for Jesus – We are never to take the glory for ourselves for the things we have achieved. We are nothing more than servants of God. We are nothing more than a sinner saved.
- The Gospel of Luke: Jesus is for everyone – Be faithful in everything
Luke 16:10-31 NLTGod is faithful is a statement of truth. Jesus asks will we be faithful to God.
- Be faithful in little things – It is the little things that set thecourse of our lives. Little things determine our morals. As Christians we should be different. We should stand out as trustworthy, honest and reliable. Being a disciple should transform our relationship with the little things.
- Be faithful with money – The parables in Luke 16 are focused on money and possessions and their influence on our lives. Money and wealth have an addictive power over our lives. Jesus knew money has power which is why He said we cannot serve two masters. He knew that the power of money is deadly. How much do you love money? When we give generously it crucifies the love of money. Does your love of money stop you giving to the needy?
- Be faithful to God in everything – Everything we have is a gift to us from God. God entrusted us with everything we have. Why do we trust possessions above God? God expects us to use everything we have for His glory and to further His kingdom.
The Gospel of Luke: Jesus is for everyone – Jesus is aliveLuke 24:36-49There is nothing normal about this story. We would not do what Jesus did after His resurrection. We would probably take revenge on those who had persecuted us and put us to death. We would expect Him to be power exploding everywhere. Jesus didn’t do this. Jesus acted in forgiveness and love. He was mistaken for a gardener speaking gently to Mary. He gently strolled down the road with two of his disciples who had given up. He ate fish with His disciples. He cooked breakfast by the lake and recommissioned Peter. What Jesus did after the resurrection is all about power expressed in love and gentleness.
When we mess up and are full of fear and doubts Jesus does not treat us with vengeance and wrath. He chooses to love us. He restores us gently. This Easter Jesus invites us to come to Him and experience His amazing grace and mercy.
The disciples were hidden away in fear of their lives. They had given up everything to follow Jesus. It wasn’t supposed to end like this. They knew they had let Jesus down, but Jesus Himself came and appeared amongst them. He came to them where they were and showed them they could come to you in all there trauma, doubts and dispares. He came and offered them peace. Jesus does not condemn our sin, He offers us a peace treaty with God. God has declared peace between us and Himself.
“Touch me and see” – The disciples thought Jesus was a ghost. They still needed to know and understand that Jesus had really risen. Jesus says hear that it is OK to have doubts. They needed to reach out and touch Him. As they did this they were transformed and full of faith. Jesus invites us to Touch Him and experience the risen Lord in our lives. He wants to transform us as He transformed the disciples.
Do what is goodEphesians 2:8-10; Titus 3We are not saved by good works, but good works are important.
We forget things and often need to be reminded of them. If Scripture tells us to “Remind the people” then what we are to be reminded of is important. Titus us being reminded that the people used to be foolish when they did not do good things. There is a contrast here between being a blessing to others and being disobedient and enslaved to our own passions. Paul is not saying here that good works save us, but good works should follow from our salvation. If we are saved then we should be devote ourselves to doing good (vs 8). We need to work out our salvation not work for it (Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 2:12-13).
We need to be a blessing to others. We need to be set apart from the ways of the world. We need to avoid squabbling and infighting (vs 9-11). Titus 1:16 says by our actions we show whether we know God or not.
Salvation is so much more than asking Jesus into our hearts. It is about repentance and faith in what Jesus has done for us on the cross.
Doing good is not a condition of salvation, but an outpouring of what God has done in our lives. A list of good deeds is in 1 Timothy 5:9-10. We must learn to do what is good (Titus 3:14). We need to learn to do good not for what we can get back, but in order to bless others.
Whatever good things we do for others we do for Jesus (Matthew 25:31-46).
God’s desire is that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9). We need to be doing good for others and bringing them with us. Salvation is not just for us, it needs to change us and bring others along with us. Christianity is not just about our relationship with God, it’s about benefitting others.
Fearless disciplesMatthew 10:26-33Are you captive to fear or captivated by Jesus? Jesus tells us not to be afraid of our faith and how people will react to it.
Jesus speaks of three types of fear:
- Fearing injustice or no justice coming – What happens if people don’t believe me. What if I am persecuted? Jesus says the wrongs will be righted. God’s justice is better than ours. When God’s light touches injustice it illuminates it, it looks different and we can see it differently. We need courage to face the persecution. We can turn persecution into blessing others.
- Fearing the cost – What can man do to us? Jesus says whatever happens to us in life is just a footnote compared to our eternal life. Our faith cannot be conditional on our physical safety. God will walk with His people through their trials. You realise Jesus is all you need when He is all you have. A fear of God should drive us to Him.
- Fearing that we’ve been forgotten – Jesus says God has not forgotten us. We are valuable to God. Sparrows are almost worthless. They are insignificant. But not one of them is forgotten by God. Jesus reminds us, “If God shows that much interest in a sparrow, then what about you?” God knows how many hairs we have on our heads!
Jesus says God will take care of us as we go out to share the good news of the Gospel. Are you willing to get in trouble for Jesus?
1 in 7 Christians worldwide face persecution for their faith. Open Doors exists to strengthen believers faith (Revelation 3:2). For more information about Open Doors click here.
Burning hearts for JesusLuke 24:13-35Every second, every moment, we are hurtling towards the end point of history. The end point is the day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Jesus as Lord. Will you be able to echo the call around you of “I know Him”? There is a difference between knowing about Him and believing the right things and actually knowing Him. How are you walking through life? Are you walking with Jesus?
Are you in danger of being mislead? The walk is not about getting to the destination, it’s about a journey of wonder and discovery. Don’t miss the opportunity of connection with God as you travel towards the end point.
Jesus wants our devotion more than our duty. As the two men walked on the road to Emmaus they were broken and dismayed. Jesus drew alongside them and listened to them. Something happened inside them that they could not explain until He broke bread with them. Is your heart burning within you on your walk with Jesus? Are you excited about walking with Jesus? No human being can make your heart burn within you. Only Jesus can do that. Don’t miss the walk as you head towards the end point. Jesus is not a bridge to get somewhere; to get to heaven. He is the way. Don’t miss the open arms of Jesus.
It is so much easier for God to use us when we are already moving. Be ready to be directed by God as you step out and pray for the streets you are walking and praying for.
We can say, “I like to pray, is there something I can pray about for you?” Our role is not to answer the prayers of others; our role is to pray, it’s God’s role to answer.
For more information about Arise Sheffield click here.
The midnight cryMatthew 25:1-13 (NKJV)We do not know when Jesus will return, but He will return and we need to be ready for it.
The context of Scripture is vitally important. Matthew 25 is a continuation of chapter 24. In this parable Jesus is answering the question in Matthew 24:3. Parables give both sight and insight to the hearer. Parables are windows through which we see God, but they are also a mirror that shows us ourselves in relation to what God is saying to us.
There are several elements in this parable:
- The kingdom of heaven – In this parable this refers to the church. The church on earth is the kingdom of heaven. We belong to the kingdom of heaven. This kingdom of heaven is awaiting the coming of the kingdom of God.
- The 10 virgins – They were all virgins and not harlots, but Jesus describes 5 of them as fools. The custom was that the bridal party had a group of virgins. There were similarities between the 5 wise and 5 foolish. They were all serving and in the kingdom. They were all doing the sane things. You couldn’t tell the difference between the two groups. They were both waiting for the bridegroom. Both groups slept. Both groups trimmed their lamps. But when the midnight cry came but the foolish virgins had no oil.
- The oil – What is the oil signified here? It is not good works. The oil is Jesus’ Spirit, the Holy Spirit. He is the seal of our inheritance. The difference between the virgins is the absence or the presence of the Holy Spirit. The oil was made at Gethsemony. The oil cannot be brought with rich. It is brought with a repentant heart.
- The bridegroom is delayed – God does not want any to perish. Scripture repeatedly tells us to watch for the return of Jesus. His delay is to serve a purpose. His delay is to give us a chance to repent.
- The midnight cry – Midnight here refers to the bridegroom meeting the virgin who professes they are a Christian. Have you been awoken by the midnight cry? When you hear it you will not have time to build your store if oil.
- The door is shut – This is the door of mercy. It was shut so that the celebrations in the presence if God in heaven could begin. There is no second chance after the door is shut. There will be a time when Jesus will say “I did not know you”.
This parable speaks to 3 groups of people:
- The sinners – We were created to have a relationship with God, but as sinners we have prostituted ourselves to sin. If we persist in our rebellion then God is against us and hell awaits us. There is hope if we repent and have faith in Jesus. He lives to make intercession for us.
- The foolish virgins – Be reconciled unto God. Do not be whitewashed tombs. Do not sin against the Holy Spirit by denying and rejecting God’s salvation.
- The wise virgins – God has made us alive in Christ. Are you prepared for the midnight cry? Are you adding to your faith in and love for God (2 Peter 1:5-8)?
The Gospel of Luke: Jesus is for everyone – God is a God of judgment and mercyLuke 16:1-8What does this parable mean? Jesus appears to commend dishonesty and fraud. How do we explain Jesus’ teaching? We have to remember that all Scripture is from God (2 Timothy 3:16). We cannot skip past difficult passages. We need to read this parable through the eyes of those listening and not through today’s understanding.
The parable of the prodigal son immediately precedes this parable. God is a forgiving father. The powerful master is God and a God of judgment and mercy. The manager represents us. God has entrusted everything to us and we have wasted everything God has given us. A judgment day is coming. We are facing losing everything under the judgment of God. Our only hope is to put our trust in God’s mercy. The manager puts His trust in the mercy of God.
From this parable we learn that:
- God is a God of judgement – God calls His manager to give an account. God does not turn a blind eye to our sin. Our only hope is in what Jesus did on the cross. God has invested so much in us and He will call us to account for everything we have done with it. How are you using what God has given you? None of us will escape the judgement of God.
- God is a God who is rich in mercy – God has given us time to repent, time to trust Him, time to serve Him. The manager in this parable was a very important man. He was the rich mans personal representative. Many people depended on him. The crowd would have been angry that the manager had wasted the rich man’s possessions. They would have expected the manager to be executed or at least put in prison. The rich man gives the manager a warning and time to sort things out. God is incredibly rich in mercy to each one of us. God doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve (Psalm 103:10). God does warn us that judgement is coming, but He allows us time to tell others of His mercy.
- How should we respond to God? – We are like the manager. God has given us everything. Sin has spoiled everything. God will call us to give an account for what He has given us. If we put our trust in what Jesus has done, we will be forgiven and be saved. We have a responsibility to tell others of God’s grace and mercy. We should be introducing people to our master, Jesus, who has paid for our sins on the cross.
The Gospel of Luke: Jesus is for everyone – who are you afraid of?Luke 12:1-12Who are you afraid of? Who has power over you? Whoever or whatever you fear will control your life. Who controls your life? Is it God or it someone else?
- Fear of Pharisees & hypocrisy – the Pharisees were the religious police of their day. Everyone had to follow their rules in order to be acceptable to God. Sinners were despised and not good enough. This is not the Gospel of Jesus, this is religion. The Pharisees had the power to stop you worshipping at the temple. The Pharisees are still present in some churches today. Jesus warned if the yeast of the Pharisees and their hypocrisy. They put up barriers to finding God. Hypocrites hide their sins, but Jesus said all would be made known and brought into the light. God knows everything about us, but He still wants us to come to Him and confess our sins so that we can move on in cleanness.
- God is not the enemy of be feared but trusted – when we confess our sins we become friends of God; He forgives us and our lives no longer need to be full of fear and dread. If you are a child of God:
- You are precious to God – your eternal future is secure. God will not forget you.
- Your name will be honoured in heaven – when we proclaim the name of Jesus we will be honoured in heaven. Why do we let fear of man stop us from telling others about Jesus?
- The Holy Spirit will teach you what to say – we fear that we won’t know what to say so we say nothing. Jesus says the Holy Spirit will teach us what to say. We need the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to make a stand for Jesus.
Free to use the name of JesusMatthew 4:18-22; Acts 1:6-8, 4:14-22How do you respond when you hear people say the name of Jesus? Are you witnesses to what you have seen and heard? Is the name of Jesus an open door for you to tell people about Him?
Can you say "It's alright" like the Shunammite women or "It is well" like Horatio Spafford?
Are you conforming to the pattern of this world or being transformed by God as you follow Him?
God’s love never quitsPsalm 136: 1-4, 23-26 (The Message)God’s love never quits. God has done it all at Calvary for us. Nothing is to hard for God. All things are possible for God. We have a miracle working God. We need to unblock our ears to hear what God is still doing today. God has not finished with us. He still has a plan and a purpose for our lives. God can and does take care of the smallest details.
Welcome Holy SpiritActs 2:1-4; 1:4-8God’s priority is for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Are you happy to receive Him?
The Gospel of Luke: Jesus is for everyone – What does loving God look like?Luke 10:25-37The good Samaritan story is not just a nice moral story. Jesus was teaching that we can have a relationship with God and how we should live in that relationship. In reality the parable is about what loving God should be like.
God is with us, God is for usRomans 8:28-39If God is for us, then who can be against us?
Draw near to GodJames 4:8; Hebrews 10:19-23God invites us into a relationship with Him.
The Gospel of Luke: Jesus is for everyone – Being a Christian is not about status, titles or powerLuke 9:46-62Mountain top experiences don’t last forever. We have to come down to earth. After the Transfiguration Jesus had to deal with arguments amongst His disciples. Fresh from the failure of not being able to drive out the demon from a young boy they began to argue about their status.
- Being a Christian not about status, titles or power – It’s not about how important we are, it’s all about Jesus. How sad that Jesus had been speaking about His forthcoming death on the cross and all His disciples could do was argue about who was best amongst them.
Being a Christian is about welcoming those without status – without titles or without power. Jesus used a child to illustrate this. He turned the social pyramid upside-down. When we welcome those without status, titles or power, we welcome Jesus and therefore we welcome God Himself (vs 48). - Being a Christian is not about judging, excluding or vengeance – The person casting out demons was not a disciple. He had succeeded in casting out demons where they had failed. How do you react to hurt and rejection? Do you look for vengeance or look for ways to move on?
Being a Christian is about blessing and encouraging others. - Being a Christian is not about making empty promises – How often do we make promises to Jesus that we do not fulfil?
Being a Christian is about living a life of sacrifice -There is a big difference in saying we will do something and what we actually do. The proof of our promise to follow Jesus is how we live.
The Gospel of Luke: Jesus is for everyone – but don’t forget who He isLuke 9:28-45Important stories like the Transfiguration can easily be missed and forgotten. The Transfiguration is incredibly important. It affirms who Jesus really is.
Jesus is our friend. He loves us. We can be intimate with Him. But He is not our “mate”. He cannot be manipulated by our attempts to peer pressure Him into doing what we want. He does not condone our sinful behaviour. We should never be casual about Jesus. We need more and more revelation of who Jesus is. Luke 9 speaks of:
- Who is Jesus?
- Jesus revealed – the significance of the Transfiguration.
- Jesus power displayed – in the story of the boy delivered and healed.
Testimony Sunday1 Corinthians 14:26; Revelation 12:11: Mark 5:18Members of RCC share recent testimonies.
The Gospel of Luke: Jesus is for everyone – The thief on the crossLuke 23:33-43No-one is too bad to be forgiven and to share eternity with Jesus in heaven.
The thief was a hardened criminal, a doer of evil. He deserved to be punished. He didn’t claim to be innocent. He acknowledged his guilt and that he was being justly punished. He definitely believed in God. Believing in God does not make us a good person. It doesn’t make us a Christian. The thief feared God because he knew he was a guilty sinner and he knew he deserved the wrath of God. He believed that Jesus had done nothing wrong and didn’t deserve to be on the cross. He believed Jesus was the Messiah and acknowledged who Jesus was. He asked for Jesus to remember him and give him a share in His kingdom. Jesus knew all about the thief and what he was like. Jesus came for people like this. Jesus forgave him and saved him from his sins. Jesus offered him an eternal life guarantee – no ‘ifs’, no ‘buts’. If Jesus could save this man He can save anyone. Jesus offers us eternal life today. All we have to do is confess Jesus as Lord and ask Him to remember us. Jesus invites us all to come and share eternal life with Him.
The Gospel of Luke: Jesus is for everyone – Palm SundayLuke 19:28-40, 45-48; Luke 9:18-26Two questions arise from these passages:
- Who do you say Jesus is?
- Will you follow Jesus?
Our responses to these questions are vital. We cannot sit on the fence. To make no decision is to reject Jesus as Lord.
Will you accept Jesus and follow Him?
What’s love got to do with it? – Everything for authentic followers of ChristJohn 21:9-17Being an authentic Christian means being the same character wherever we are and whatever we’re doing.
When gold jewelry is in a jewellery box it does not stop being gold. It’s not only shiny when on display.
What is an authentic follower of Christ? We will be held to account by God’s definition of authenticity. Duet 10:12-13; John 14:23-24; 1 John 5:3.
Obeying God is not about salvation, it’s about loving God. When you’re in a right relationship with God you should want to please Him all the time. We should know what He will and will not like.
There has always been a tension been our sinful nature and obedience to God (Romans 7:21-24). God knows we are flesh, but He has put His law within us. He will cause us to keep His commandments through placing His Spirit within us. It is no longer just our efforts. We need to learn to follow the Spirit. He is the Spirit of truth and He will lead us into all truth. We need think, talk and act in the Spirit at all times (1 Peter 1:14-16).
The widow, the boy and the crowdLuke 7:11-17How many times have we tried to perform transformations for ourselves in our lives? God wants to bring about a life transformation in our lives.
Three people in this story experienced transformation:
- The widow had lost everything. In losing her son she had lost her income. She was fearful for her future. Jesus saw her and His heart went out to her. The heart in Hebrew is the core of who you are. He felt her pain, grief and sorrow. Do you feel like the widow today? We all carry with us the pain of the past and uncertainty of the future. Maybe your saying, “God, where are you?” Jesus endured our pain and He feels our anxiety about the future. He shoulders these things with us. We are never alone. Jesus sees us and His heart goes out to us.
- The boy was raised from the dead. This story is a trailer for the story of what would happen to Jesus. Death and resurrection to new life is at the heart of being a Christian. It’s not about more will power over sin or doing a little more, it is about dying completely to sin (Romans 6). We need to die to the scars of things that have been done to us. We are never too far gone from the resurrection power of Jesus. Jesus can bring new shoots out of what seems impossible to us. Do you know the resurrection power of Jesus in your life today?
- The crowd were all filled with awe as they witnessed what Jesus had done. Resurrection is not normal. The people were shocked, fearful of who Kesus was. They knew only God amongst them could do what Jesus had done.
- Are you sceptical of the resurrection power of Jesus? We need to ask God to show us His resurrection power today.
- Have you forgotten what the awe of God feels like? God wants to bring new shoots and remind you of His power.
- We need to be filled with awe and praise. We need to share the resurrection power of Jesus with others.
Behold the manJohn 19:5What we believe about Jesus and who He was is vitally important. Who do you behold when you look at Jesus?
Give us the lostLuke 15:1-32The 1% are very important. They are the one’s who feel they are no good, not worthy. These are the very people Jesus came for.
How do you count 100 sheep? How do you know one is missing? God knows each and every one of His sheep. He knows all of us. He knows the saved and He knows the lost. There is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents. We can increase the rejoicing in heaven by telling people the Gospel. One person repenting over their sins is so important. Scripture repeatedly tell us that the place of the unrepentant is hell!
We need to seek God for the lost. Everything God has is ours as Christians. How are the lost going to know about Jesus? We need to go out and find the lost and tell them what Jesus has done for them. Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). How many people out there are looking to eat what the pigs are eating? They need Jesus. It is God’s will that none should perish.
What is sin? Sin is breaking the law and lawlessness (1 John 3:4). The world does not know what sin is. The lost of the world do not know what sin is. They do not know what God’s law is or that they are breaking it. Judgement has to come (Romans 6:23). All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). But we have Jesus. He has paid the penalty for our sin (John 3:16). It is vitally important that we preach the Gospel (Romans 1:16-17).
Being marked by God1 Kings 8:22-43The people were looking to the temple in Jerusalem, but today we are the temple. We have God living in us.
A ring has a hallmark. We can know the quality of the gold by it’s hallmark. Gold has impurities in it. It has to be heated and the dross has to be removed. Once the dross has been removed it has to be tested for purity and a hallmark is issued. The dross in our lives has been removed and we have been made righteous.
There was a time when God banished mankind from His presence. God is holy and could have nothing to do with sinful mankind. We can now come into the covenant promises of God because He has cleansed us from all our sin.
The flaming sword was placed at the entrance to Eden to prevent anyone trying to get back into the presence of God. God told Moses how to build the tabancle so that He could dwell amongst His people as they travelled through the wilderness. God told David and Solomon how to build the temple as a permanent dwelling amongst His people. God now promises to dwell within us. God wants to put the mark of His presence upon us.
The world is burning and needs us to take the presence of God out into the world. People are dying without God. We are commanded to preach the good news and bring people to God.
God needs to mark our lives and we need to respond to the mark of God on our lives.
- Have you got the mark of God that only the presence of God can give? – An encounter with God will change everything we do (Exodus 33:15-16). Is God’s presence your priority? The early Church was marked by the fire of God (Acts 2:1-4).
- The ground upon which we stand is holy ground – The presence of God gets deep inside our spirit. Exodus 3:5 – Moses entered the presence of God. God told him to take his shoes off and stop running away from Him. Have you had an encounter with God that you can never forget, an encounter that has changed your life forever? Moses carried the dust on his shoes of the failure of his past. God told him to take of his shoes and He set Moses free from his past failures. It’s time for us to stand on holy ground before the presence of God and allow Him to bring us out from the place where the Devil has any hold on our lives. God wants to shift the ground under our feet and place our feet on holy ground. God wants to deal with the fears and failures of our past.
The Gospel of Luke: Jesus is for everyone – Growing out in evangelism and missionLuke 9:1-6The disciples had witnessed Jesus in action. Now Jesus was saying to them, ” Now it’s your turn”. They must have been scared and thinking, “we didn’t sign up for this; we can’t do this”. Jesus calls all of us to put our faith into action. When we put our faith into action the fruit will come.
- We are chosen, called, equipped and sent by Jesus – He chose the disciples by name. God has chosen you. He knows all about you and still chooses you (1 Peter 2:9). He chose you for a purpose. We are called to declare the praises of God. The truth that we are chosen should change our lives. Jesus calls ALL Christians to go out and make disciples of ALL people. Jesus gave the disciples and then the 72 His power and authority to go out and do His work. Jesus will equip us to do His work.
- We are given a message to proclaim – we are not just called to heal the sick or cast out demons; we are called to proclaim a message, the good news of Jesus. Signs and wonders should accompany the preaching of the Gospel. We are commissioned to preach the Kingdom of God; a kingdom where God reigns supreme; a kingdom where Jesus is king. What stops us from preaching the Gospel? It doesn’t matter if we don’t know very much. We need to just share Jesus. We all have an experience of Jesus we can share. There is power in testimony.
- We are called to depend on God – Jesus calls us to trust God to meet our need.
No matter what happens our safety is in the Lord2 Timothy 3:1-5; Proverbs 18:10We live in difficult times, but the Name of the Lord is a strong tower. Names are very important. The Name of the Lord is about who He is – His character and His attributes.
What is behind the Name of God?
- He is omniscient (Psalm 147:5) – His knowledge is unlimited. He knows everything – past, present and future.
- He is omnipotent (Matthew 19:26; Romans 1:20) – His power and authority are unlimited.
- He is omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-10) – He is always present everywhere and yet He is accessible.
- He is immutable (Malachi 3:6; Numbers 23:19) – He cannot and does not change.
- He is always truthful (Titus 1:2: 2 Timothy 2:13) – He cannot lie and is always faithful to what He has said He will do or be like.
There are many names for God. They all describe aspects of God’s character. Have you looked into the names of God? Which names are important to you? God wants to speak to you through His names.
A strong tower is an elevated central place of safety. It is high and inaccessible. It is a fortress containing a large supply of provisions. It gives us the advantage of being able to see our surroundings from a good perspective.
We need to take action and run in the right direction in order to take advantage of the strong tower the Lord offers us in His name. Running is an urgent action that targets a place of safety.
We have access to the strong tower if we are righteous, if we are born again. We are saved by grace, in God is forgiveness and we can run to Him. We are the righteousness of God in Christ. The gift of righteousness reigns in our lives in Christ.
Whatever your problem God is the ‘I am who I am’. We can come against any giant in our lives in the name of the Lord (1 Samuel 17:45).
We run into the strong tower of the Lord by praying, by reading His word, by spending time with Him.
Jesus bears the name of God, the name that is above all other names. Jesus is the very embodiment of the name of God (Philippians 2:9).
Vision Relaunch 2023 (Part 3) – Growing Larger in NumbersActs 2:41-47
Pastor Jon launches Rock Christian Centre’s vision for 2023. This week Pastor Jon explained the 4 Fold Vision of the church and unpacked the church’s aims and commitments for Growing Larger in Numbers.
Partnership of Rock Christian CentrePhilippians 1:1-11Partnership is a Biblical principle. God calls us to partner with Him and one another in the Gospel. We are called to be partners and not members of the church. Members do not have to contribute to the organisation they are part of and have no responsibility to run the place they attend. Church is not meant to be a club. Partners are called to have a collective responsibility for the running and operation of the church.
Press onPhilippians 3:12-14, 1 Peter 3:10God says our past holds us back and tells us to press on. Often we remind ourselves of our past. We feel that we are not good enough because of what we have done in the past. This is not from God.
To “Press on” means to pursue constantly.
God is attentive to our prayers. We need to forget what is behind and strain to press on to what is ahead.
The God who we serve does not remind us of our past. He focuses on the now and the future. Because of what God has done in our lives we have to press on into what He has for us. We cannot allow the past to stop us going forward.
Ephesians 3:7-13 – are you a servant of the gospel or are you held back by the person you were before or the things you have done wrong in the past.
God has removed our transgressions as far as the east is from from the west. We need to take hold of what God has in store for us. He has dealt with our past. Whatever we have done in the past, God still loves us. Jesus died once for all.
Vision Relaunch 2023 (Part 2) – Growing Out in Evangelism and MissionActs 2:41-47; Proverbs 29:18Pastor Jon launches Rock Christian Centre’s vision for 2023. This week Pastor Jon explained the 4 Fold Vision of the church and unpacked the church’s aims and commitments for Growing Out in Evangelism and Mission.
Vision Relaunch 2023 – Part 1Acts 2:41-47; Proverbs 29:18Pastor Jon launches Rock Christian Centre’s vision for 2023.
The work of The Pocket Testament LeagueDo you have water in your paint in how you serve the Lord? Do you read, carry and share the Word of God every day? Do you hide the Word of God in your heart? No-one makes God’s offer of reconciliation better than God Himself. If you’re not carrying the word of God, then it’s hard to share it. Wherever you go, people are hurting, and people need God’s word. The Word of God is alive, and it can speak to people.
What does it mean for God to live with us? What does it mean that "all the fulness of God" dwelt in Jesus? How can we live in the fulness of God?
There is no-one who's live cannot be transformed be Jesus. Jesus can transform all of us.
We really need to respect fire for what it is and what it is capable of and the same applies to our relationship with God.
Fear dominates and paralyses our lives. Jesus calls us to have faith and not stress. We can know and experience Jesus with us in the storms of life.
We are called to be the people of the cross. We need to share Jesus no matter the cost.
CAP is about getting people who are in poverty onto a journey to become debt free. Finding hope brings change to people's lives. God can restore faith and rebuild lives.
Jesus is not interested in being popular. He is not looking for people who only follow Him when He is popular.
Having the Holy Spirit living in us, being led by Him and living by the power of the Spirit.
The death of Jesus was no accident. Jesus knew your weaknesses and He had to die for you.
Jesus says, "With your relationship with me you are blessed by God even though you may be going through tough times".
Have you discovered Jesus' plan and purpose for your life? How do you respond to Jesus the King today? Is your name written on God's peace treaty? Will you welcome Jesus into your life this Easter and receive free and full forgiveness and full and free new life in Jesus?
Do you love the Lord your God? Are you committed to Him? Can you say boldly 'Maranatha'?
No plan B Luke 19:10 Are you a planner? Do you make lists? Sometimes world events or natural disasters can change our plans, but Jesus says, “Do not be alarmed” (Mark 13:7). God’s Plan A is sufficient – Jesus is God’s Plan A. Jesus came and died on the cross. God’s Plan A will work. Jesus’ plan was, “to seek and save the lost”. We have a lost world that needs Jesus. Through repentance and faith Jesus saves us.
Returning to the Lord Hosea 14:1-9 Does the grace of God surprise you? If so, why?
The book of Hosea tells us that God was going to do something to save and redeem His people (ch 3). God is depicted as a loving father and Israel is depicted as a wayward son (ch 11), but God says of Israel, “How can I give you up?” (Hosea 11:8). In chapter 14 God calls Israel to turn back to Him and He promises to heal their waywardness.
Returning to the Lord involves:
- Confession and repentance (vs 1-3) – Our sins bring us down (vs 1). We need to confess our sins by ‘bringing our words’ to Him in confession (vs 2). We need to speak to God and express our repentance.
- Healing (vs 4-7) – God promises to heal our waywardness. Healing is part of God’s unconditional love for us. God says He will heal us, not that He could or He will try, but that He will heal our waywardness.
- Growth (vs 8-9) – Growth starts and stems from God (vs 4-5). It is God who initiates the process of growth.
Whatever the If! Mark 9:17-27 We serve a miracle working God. Jesus Christ still performs miracles today. The greatest miracle of all is when someone gives their lives to Jesus Christ. Signs always point to something or someone. Miracles point to Jesus.
What is your level of “If…..”?
The Gospel of Luke – Jesus is for everyone:Jesus loves the outcasts, sinners and despised people Luke 5:12-32 1. 1. Jesus loves outcasts (vs 12-16) – Leprosy made people total outcasts. This man was not just ill and disfigured, he had lost everything. He was rejected by society. The Jewish religion did not allow people to mix with lepers. Lepers were not allowed in or near the temple and people were made unclean by just being near them. Jesus did the unimaginable and reached out and touched the leper. That touch changed everything. It brought not just healing, but hope, restoration and reunion. * Do you feel rejected and outcast? You are not an outcast to Jesus. He will reach out and touch you if you cry out to Him. Just one touch from Jesus can change everything. * What is your attitude to outcasts? We are called to be like Jesus. Jesus challenges us to reach out to the outcasts. 2. Jesus loves sinners (vs 17-26) – Jesus did the unexpected again here. He did not touch the paralyzed man and heal him, instead he forgave him. The biggest issue in the mans life was his sin and not his paralysis. Jesus knew that the man needed more than just healing. We think we know what we need, but God looks at the heart. * Are you paralyzed by sin in your life? Repent and turn to Jesus. He can and will forgive you. 3. Jesus loves despised people (vs 27-32) – Tax collectors were despised as collaborators with the enemy. They cheated and took advantage of their own people and made themselves rich. They were hated by everyone. People would have been shocked that Jesus even spoke to Levi. Calling Levi to follow Him was unthinkable, but Jesus came to save unsavoury people like Levi. * Rather than despising people we should be praying for their salvation.
Fight the good fight 1 Timothy 6:11-12 When we baptise people we use the line, “On your confession of faith we now baptise you in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”, but is confession of faith enough? What happens next? Is that it or are we expected to do something?
What is the Apostle Paul telling us we need to flee from? We are to flee from false doctrines, controversies, quarrels, envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction. We are to flee from the pursuit of and love of money and be content with godliness as great gain. We have to keep on fleeing from these things. We need to fight the good fight of faith and make sure we are ready for living a life of faith. We need to pursue eternal life. Paul tells us to flee from these negative things and pursue righteousness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. We are to be changed to become more like Jesus.
Fighting the good fight involves training ourselves in righteousness. God has given us His word to train us in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). He wants us to train and move forward in Him. Scripture tells us to:
- Work out our salvation – Philippians 2:12
- Strive/make every effort – Luke 13:24
- Watch our life and doctrine closely – 1 Timothy 4:16
- Train ourselves – 1 Timothy 4:7
- Add to our faith – 2 Peter 1:5-6
- Make our calling sure – 2 Peter 1:10
- Be on the meat of Scripture and not milk – Hebrews 5:13
We need to fight on our knees in prayer.
Scripture also tells us to not run and fight aimlessly, but to train ourselves and pursue the person that God wants us to be. We are to ‘take hold’ of eternal life and be trained so that we are ready for the enemy.
What value we put on something will determine how valuable it is to us. What value do we put on Jesus?
The Gospel of Luke – Jesus is for everyone: Will you follow Jesus? Luke 5:1-10 Will you follow Jesus?
Jesus showed that He was no ordinary man. Simon became aware that He was in the presence of God himself. Simon recognised who Jesus was. Jesus did not reject Simon and told him not to be afraid. Jesus called Simon to follow him. Simon left everything to follow Jesus. Simon became the founder of the church. Jesus accepted dirty human beings and has the power to transform our lives. Jesus is the only one who can save us and forgive us our sins.
Have you stopped following Jesus?
Following Jesus is not an easy ride. It is hard. Are you still following Him? Are you still praying, still reading His word, still having fellowship with other believers? Jesus invites us to come back to Him.
Nurse your dream Genesis 17:1-10;15-19 Time can erode that which God has deposited in your heart and we cannot bring things about by ourselves. When God speaks He speaks on a grand scale and not just to us, but also to those after us. Satan brings doubts, but God wants us to believe in His promises. Will god’s promises burn within your heart until it is fulfilled. Abraham had to wait 25 years for Isaac! God does not forget His promises. God wants to complete His word for you in your lives. When God gives us a promise we want it immediately, but God has to take us through the process to get us to a place where we are ready to receive the promise. Time has got nothing to do with God blessing you and fulfilling His promises.
- Time to step into the promise – When God starts to lead you then let Him lead you. We do not need to know where we are going, we simply need to follow.
- Enquire of me– We need to wait upon God and listen to Him. We needto be brought into alignment with His purpose.
- Impossibilities – What seems impossible to us is not impossible with God. When God says something it happens. Hold onto the promise and do not let the dream die. With God nothing is impossible.
The Gospel of Luke – Jesus is for everyone: Jesus astonishes people Luke 4:31 – 5:11 Jesus had travelled from Nazareth to Capernaum (about 24 miles) and He began to teach and perform miracles. In each of these stories from Capernaum people reacted in astonishment to Jesus and what He says and does.
- Astonishing teaching (Luke 4:31-32) – Teaching was at the heart of Jesus’ ministry. He spoke with authority. He spoke the very words of God. The religious leaders of the day did not have authority, they could only teach and explain the Law and the Prophets. Their authority was the Old Testament. They did not have any authority in and of themselves. Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:14) and His words were inspired and applied by the Holy Spirit. His words were living and active and sharper than the two edged sword and they cut people to the heart. Jesus’ words are still astonishing today. Will you allow the astonishing words of God to speak into your life today?
- Astonishing deliverance (Luke 4:33-37) – Jesus’ astonishing teaching provoked an astonishing response. As Jesus was teaching a demon began to react and could not keep quiet about who Jesus was. The people were all amazed (vs 36) that Jesus commanded unclean spirits to come out of people. Jesus showed He had a power and authority beyond anything they had experienced before. When God is at work astonishing things happen. Being a Christian should never be boring. We should never doubt the power of Jesus and His blood to deal with demons.
- Astonishing healing (Luke 4:38-44) – The people were astonished at the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law and all night Jesus was healing people and delivering them from demons. When he tried to leave in the morning they tried to prevent Him from doing so, but Jesus said He had to go and preach the good news of the kingdom in other places as well. Jesus said it was not all about the healing of the sick. His main purpose was to share the good news. The miracles came as a result of Jesus preaching the good news of God. When Jesus is at work the power of God is released and people are healed and delivered.
- Astonishing catch of fish (Luke 5:1-11) – The people were desperate to hear the word of God. How hungry are we to hear God speaking to us today? This time Jesus’ preaching results in a demonstration of His power. The catch of fish was not a coincidence. It showed Jesus’ command over the natural world. Jesus still has power over the natural world today. He is still a miracle working God today.
- How will you respond to the astonishing Jesus? – Jesus is still teaching, delivering and healing today. He is still performing miracles today. How will you respond today? Will you receive Him into your lives?
What clothes will you wear in 2022? Colossians 3:1-17 The Bible tells us it is important what clothes we wear in 2022. God’s designer clothes will transform our lives in 2022. The Lord wants to encourage us to love one another; be kind , compassionate and forgiving; to be more of a loving , supportive community of God’s people as we face all the uncertainties of 2022. Colossians 3:1-17 tells us to strip off our old clothes and to put on God’s designer clothes. God has designed these clothes for us. They are the clothes that Jesus wore. We are called to put on the same attitudes as Christ.
Verses 12-14 says:
- Clothe yourselves with compassion in 2022 – Compassion is a deep sensitivity to the needs of others. It is the opposite . of anger, rage, malice and slander. We are called to be moved with compassion and to identify with the needs and sorrows of others.
- Clothe yourselves with kindness in 2022 – Kindness is the outworking of compassion. People around us need our kindness. Kindness is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit.
- Clothe yourselves with humility in 2022 – Humility means putting other first; foregoing our own rights and being those living sacrifices we are called to be. Humility is the opposite of selfishness, pride and arrogance.
- Clothe yourselves with gentleness in 2022 – Gentleness is controlled strength.
- Clothe yourselves with patience in 2022 – Patience is being prepared to wait graciously. Patience is the opposite of being pushy and demanding; the opposite of attention seeking and the opposite of resentment and anger.
- Clothe yourselves with forgiveness in 2022 – Let forgiveness flow from you.
- Clothe yourselves with love in 2022 – Love binds all these things together. Put on love over all these things.
Verses 15-17 says:
- Let peace rule in 2022 – The word ‘rule’ means to be an umpire, arbiter, judge in all matters. Let the peace of Christ settle your disputes and disagreements.
- Be thankful in 2022 – Go into 2022 positively. We are called to have an attitude of gratitude. Jesus calls us to be thankful people.
- Let God’s word dwell in you in 2022 – Let the Word of God soak into all of your life. Let it be absorbed into your life.
- Be 100% for Jesus in 2022 – Whatever you do in 2022, in word or deed, do it all in the name of Jesus. Do not compartmentalise your life into the spiritual or the secular. Do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Hope in the New Year 1 Kings 18; Romans 13:11-14 1. How long will you go on limping in your response to God? – Elijah was speaking to people who had been going through a difficult time, but he did not show sympathy for their troubles, he challenged their faith and relationship with God and who He is. The issue was who did they think God was. There was no justification for their wobbling faith. He told them that a faltering response to God was not acceptable. Elijah called the people to wake up and take hold of who God is. When we allow our faith to falter we rob God, quench the Holy Spirit and miss out on the expansive blessings of Christ. We need to have a consistent and wholehearted relationship with God. 2. Elijah repaired the alter – We need to repair the alter of God in our lives. God’s nature and purpose in placing a spark of grace within us is for us to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 2:6-7; Romans 12:1-2; Colossians 3:1). We need to examine our lives. What are we allowing into our lives that hinders our growth in Christ (Romans 13:14)? Do not be content with just a spark of God, seek a blaze!
Nativity Service 2021 1. Jesus the news to the world 2. Jesus light to the world 3. Jesus Lord and Saviour to the world
The Gospel of Luke – Jesus is for everyone: This is Christmas – Who is Jesus? Luke 2:8-14; 4:14-30 Believers will say, “Christmas is all about Jesus”. Non-believers will say, “Christmas is all about parties, feasting, presents, etc”. Christmas to them is more about Disney than Jesus. Some know the story, but they do not see it as relevant to them.
In Luke we see the following:
In Chapter 1 the birth of Jesus is foretold and He is proclaimed as the Son of God, no ordinary baby.
In Chapter 2 we have the miracle of the virgin birth. Jesus is again proclaimed the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus amazes the religious leaders.
In Chapter 3 John the Baptist points to Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God and we hear God declaring Jesus His Son at Jesus’s baptism.
In Chapter 4 the devil himself declares Jesus the Son of God and when Jesus begins His ministry He proclaimed Himself the Messiah, the Son of God.
Who is Jesus to you this Christmas? Do you believe that He is the Messiah, the Son of God? Will you believe it?