Attending church. [ Psalm 122v 1]

Peter Adams write of Jeremiah Burroughs one of the great preachers of the
seventeenth century.He wrote a book called Gospel Worship,a series of sermons on how to relate to God.He thought the most important thing we do each week is to go to church,to listen to the reading,and preaching of the
Bible.As you sit still to listen,he explains....you come to tender your homage to God, to sit at Gods feet and there to profess your submission to Him''. The fact is we need to meet with Gods people,to hear the ministry of Gods word,by the minister.As a minister I am continually studying Gods word,I pray for guidance,and Gods help,that the hungry sheep may be fed.That is my calling,I do it not for money,glory,but because I have been called by God to do it.When I go to preach I am not going to a debating
society,I am going to preach the word God has given me.Recently when I had finished preaching,a brother stood up,this brother is a difficult chap,he
wanted to say something,I asked him to sit down,he became angry and stomped out of the building.The point is ,it would have been better for him,and for those gathered, to just to take in the message that had been preached,in a submissive manner,as Jeremiah wrote.And for our own spiritual well being we really need to take seriously,the importance of attending church.
                                            A  prayer.
Dear God we thank you for being able to attend a church,where Gods word is preached,help us to not neglect this,help us to see its importance to our spiritual well being,in Jesus name Amen.

Are you afraid? [Isaiah 41 v10]

One of the characters in the peanut cartoon always carried a security blanket
,children often need reassurance,.I remember when I was very little,feeling scared ,so I ran to were my mother was. To some extent things don't change,even though we are now adults,there are still so many things can cause us to fear.I am sure every time I preach there will be someone who is feeling fear,I am certain that there is someone who is reading this ,is experiencing fear. If you are not experiencing fear ,because everything in the garden is rosy,I can assure you that life being what it is,you will in time come into something that will cause you to feel afraid. That is why continually God  seeks to reassure his children,to not be afraid.Here the word of Lord ,a word for us all,God  says to us all,/Fear not/,hear these words,/Fear not/,because he says,I am with you,whatever you may be facing you are not facing it alone,so be not dismayed.Next we are told ,I am your God,and I will strengthen you,we all need His strength,our strength will fail but his will not.Next He says, I will help you,though all human resources fail,though all human help fail us ,He will not fail us,he will help us.Next He says I will uphold you,you will not go under,the pressure, he will uphold you Isaiah41v10].This is the word of the Lord for you ,claim it ,believe it,and rest in it .
                                              A  prayer.
Dear God you know how prone we are to fear,you know,and so today,helps
by faith to trust your word, for us today ,in Jesus name Amen.

A sure and certain way. [John 14 v 6 ]

Philip Yancey wrote the following,/Towards the end of his life the artist,Paul Gauguin,painted a huge panelled triptych[a picture on three panels]he scrawled these words in French across a corner of the painting;
'Who are we?Why are we here?Where are we going.-questions he had learned in a Catholic catechism class for which he had still no answers./
When I was young I like many asked myself similar questions,that is ,until I came back to Christ,then things became clear.The question who we are is
absurdly answered by science we are ,just another animal,The Bible tells
us God made us,in His image,that is who we are.Why are we here?God put us here,but because of sin,we have lost sight of God ,and only until we trust Jesus,we will continue to wander lonely as cloud.Where are we going?,with Christ as my Saviour,I do know with absolutely certainty where I am going,heaven here I come.
                                             A  prayer.
Dear God we thank you that in Christ there is a way forward,out of the darkness and into the light,a sure and certain way. Amen.

An earthquake day[ Luke 24 v 13-

Yesterday was good Friday,tomorrow will be Easter Sunday,but what about today?,it has no special name that I know off. In the tale of two cities,we have these words,/ It was the best of times,it was the worst of times,it was the age of seismology,a study of earthquakes.Those followers  of Jesus had experienced,an earthquake,I have never been in an earthquake but I have witnessed them on the TV,and the utter devastation they bring.People who have lived through such events never forget such an experience,they stand among the rubble.That how the those followers of Jesus,they thought this
man was going to fix everything,after all they had witnessed His power.He actually stilled a storm ,which left them spellbound and asking,/What manner of man is this,that even the wind and the sea obey Him[Mark 4 v41]
With Jesus all things would be possible,the overthrow of their enemies,that long awaited day of the Lord had come,no one would be able to stop them,no one,He would rule,and they would rule with him,even arguing among themselves who would be greatest in His kingdom[Luke 22 v24.]Then on that faithful night they had watch Him being arrested,and meekly being led away,no demonstrations of power . Surely they must have thought,when is He going set things right,but no,the unthinkable happened ,they put Him to death,and even that most horrible of deaths,a Crucifixion,and that was that.One can only imagine what thoughts where going through their heads,and it seemed there was no answers,it truly was the worst of days.They had followed a failure,now they where paying the price ,on this earthquake day.But this, in between day as they will see, would soon pass,and very shortly all would be changed,and they would be changed.the world would be changed forever,and if you hold on,maybe tomorrow you may be changed.
                                             A  prayer
Dear God,when devastation comes into our lives,help us not to give up,
help us to wait,knowing that joy will come in the morning,in Jesus name Amen.  [

Good Friday.[ Isaiah 53 ]

Today is good Friday,I wonder how many think about this,how can we celebrate and call a day in which our Saviour was crucified?.As one reads the account of His arrest,His mock trial,for those at that time it was unbelievable,it was so unfair.A man hanging on a cross is not good,it is awful,it is cruel in the extreme,after all ,here is a man who did so much good,a wonderful teacher,yet there He was crucified,like a common criminal.It is D.A.Carson who wrote a book called scandalous,and I suppose
it was Scandalous,but is that all there is to it?.No of course not,it is only
understanding the reason as to why it happened,yes it was scandalous,it was awful,but it was necessary,it was Gods only answer,to great delema,caused by sin,when sin entered the world,everything in the natural universe was effected. From being innocent ,mankind became filled with a fallen nature
with the capacity to commit awful things,things so evil,unbelieveable evil,make no mistake there is a beast within all of us.The awful consequences of our sin is separation from a Holy God,and judgement,let
me be very clear Hell is not something ,anyone has made up,no more than
heaven is made up.We can refuse to accept,the Bibles teaching,on sin,and Hell,that is up to us,but if it is true,what then?. What makes good Friday
good,is the reason, which is summed up in the words of a hymn.
                              
                             He died that we might be forgiven,
                             He died to make us good .
                             That we might go at last to heaven,
                             Saved by His precious blood.

Open the eyes of our understanding. [ John 9 v25]

Iris Murdoch once commented;'We live a fantasy world, a world of illusion.
The great task in life is to find reality.'With so many people watching TV,or working on their computers,one has to ask why?.When I was young I loved to escape reality by going to the cinema,I remember as a child thinking how wonderful it would be to actually live in the cinema.And so it has come to pass as now I have a cinema in my home,in the presence of a large TV. But
now I do not live in a way to escape reality,I know that, is not the answer,
The apostle Paul wrote,that when he was a child,he spoke,and thought,and
reasoned as a child. But when he grew up,he put away childish things.[1 Corinthians 13 v11]My growing up came when I met the Saviour, I had to face the reality of sin,and the reality of what that meant.Real life involves
real problems,that we do well to face up to,and the greatest reality we all have to face is death. Philip Yancey wrote,'Our ancestors feared God;we
moderns fear death.'Do you ? well when I trusted Jesus,I could look at death differently,with Him in my life,I can say,' Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.[Psalm 23 v4 ]
                                           A  prayer.
Dear God open the eyes of our understanding,that we may see what is real and what is unreal,open the eyes of our understanding that we see our need of Christ,who can help us to face lifes realities,in His name we ask this Amen.

Age is no excuse. [ Galations 5 v 16- 25]

Peter Adam, writing about Thomas Brooks says,/ He was a generous preacher , because his nickname  was 'Babbling Brooks',He said.''Two things are very rare; to see a young man humble and watchful;and the other
is,to see an old man contented and cheerful''./ Humility,consider He who made all things,who sustains all things,humbled himself,he became obedient unto death,even the death of the cross[Philippians 2 v8].Watchful
I suppose the young are impetuous,not cautious,or careful,they rush in were angels fear to tread. Brooks points that the old are rarely contented, or cheerful,why is that?,is that  me, is that you?.Lacking humility,being prone to act without thinking,not contented,and not cheerful.Let consider
Christ, his humility,we are told ,that what he experienced was ,a incredibly
humbling process,we all want to rise higher,he did the opposite.Jesus never acted in an impetuous way,he walked in step with God His Fathers will.Jesus had little of this worlds goods,in fact he had nowhere to lay His head,yet he must have been the most contented person who ever lived.Was Jesus a cheerful person?,we know that he was a man of sorrows,what do you think?.The thought came to me,surley he would have manifested,love,
joy,and peace.
                                        A prayer.
Dear Saviour ,help us to reflect all that you are in our lives,and let us not make age an excuse for those failings in our lives, Amen.