How. ( Romans 10 v 13 - 15 )

At our service the Pastor asked ,what was the one thing we  remembered during the summer?, of course the children give their answers, some adults also responded. Well I chirped in, and I spoke of two holidays I had,one in Northern Cyprus, and one in Malta. The thing that really blessed me was the opportunities to tell people about Jesus,the last person I witnessed to ,was the taxi man who collected us when we returned ,he was a Muslim. For me one of the most important things in my life is telling people about Jesus,for I know that is my responsibility as a Christian.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Romans 10 v 14                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 How shall they call on Him in whom                                                                                                         they have not believed?, and how shall                                                                                                     they believe on Him of whom they have                                                                                                   not heard.

Praying Hands. ( Romans 5 v 6 - 8 )

In the 15th century in Nuremberg  a family with 18 children, there were two brothers in the family,called Albrecht  and Albert .These two brothers were very gifted and both wanted to pursue their dream,in the world of art.But of course there was no money,so they agreed that one would go to art school and study art,and the other would support him by working in a local mine,and after four years the other one go ,supported by the other.So they tossed a coin and Albrecht won. So off he went ,he was very gifted and became a famous artist,in 4 yrs he returned,no longer poor,the family and the village celebrated his return by throwing a party.During the celebrations  ,Albrecht stood up and said to his brother ,now its your turn, but Albert told told him it was to late,his hands were ruined from working in the mine.To honour his sacrifice Albrecht  sketched his brothers hands,he painted the hand,and they became known as the praying hands. I have a little carving of the praying hands,reminding me of that dear brothers sacrifice.This is a true story,a story of sacrifice, we admire people who  sacrifice  for others,and we honour such. I am a Christian I wear a little cross around my neck,it reminds me of the greatest sacrifice ever made,the person I speak of is Jesus who died on a cross ,for sinners such as you and me. On that cruel cross He did not just die, He died bearing Gods punishment for sin,and when we trust Him as our Saviour,we can rest assured that we wont suffer in Hell for all eternity, our eternity will be spent in heaven.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               The wondrous Cross                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Love so amazing ,so divine,                                                                                                                      Demands my soul, my life,                                                                                                                                       my all.                                                                                                                                                  ( Isaac  Watts )

Sin blows quite away. ( 2 Samuel 11 )

 George Herbert was a minister, but he was no different than any other  Christian, as one writer puts it, he was not immune from the average struggles of a Christian,and so he wrote the following poem.                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Lord, with what care hast thou begirt  us around                                                                                      Parents first season us; then schoolmasters,                                                                                              Deliver us to laws; they send us bound                                                                                                      To rules of reason, holy messengers,                                                                                                        Pulpits and Sundays,sorrow dogging sin,                                                                                                  Afflictions sorted,anguish of all sizes,                                                                                                      Fine nets and stratagems  to catch us in,                                                                                                    Bibles laid open, millions of surprises,                                                                                                      Blessings beforehand ,ties of gratefulness,                                                                                                The sound of glory ringing in our ears;                                                                                                      With out, our shame, within, our consciences;                                                                                          Angels and grace, eternal hopes  and fears.                                                                                              Yet all these fences and their whole array                                                                                                   One  cunning bosom - sin blows quite away.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Stay close to God or else.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Philip Larkin ( Isaiah 53 )

Philip Larkin was well known and respected poet ,he refused the honour of Poet Laureate, I have not read  many of  his poems. A poem on parenthood has corse language in it, and appears very cynical of parenthood, the last verse verse reads                                                                                                                                                  Man hands on misery  to men,                                                                                                                  It deepens like a coastal shelf                                                                                                                    Get out as early as you can,                                                                                                                        And don't have any kids yourself.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      He had a terrible fear of  death, for him it was a close and a continual presence, horrific, a continual  naked dread.So wrote his friend in a book on his life. Dylan Thomas a Welsh poet wrote a poem which reads,                              Do not go gentle into that good night                                                                                                        Rage,rage against the dying of the night                                                     I knew a dear friend who raged against dying , and yes he was a Christian,but he did not want to die.Although death is inevitable, most people never mention it,I suppose there are many reasons why people rage against death .    But whatever the reason the most important thing is to be ready,yes to be ready ,for death is not the end of our existence, the bible speaks of after death the judgement ( Heb 9 v 27) Many people do not know why Christ died on the cross,He bore the judgement for our sins ,read Isaiah 53.Without that we would experience the wrath of God,we escape the wrath of God,the moment we trust Jesus to be our Saviour.               

Familiarity breeds ( Psalm 94 )

 C.H.Spurgeon wrote,''By degrees we get familiar with sin'', when I was younger swear words were considered wrong,sex before marriage was seen as wrong,gay was a word for being happy ,marriage was for a man and a woman . In some places, prostitution  is seen as just another job , drunkenness,    gambling, was considered sinful practises.Yes things have changed God is forgotten, by the vast majority of people,as a nation we  have become by degrees familiar with sin.Gradually we have become more secular,we think at one level  , cars ,clothes,holidays,homes,forgetting what Jesus said that we need more than bread alone,sex alone .food alone,cars alone,money alone.WE have been fooled by the world of education, the proud scientist to accept that it all just happened,and they mock the person of faith,ignoring the God who lives and reigns .                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Luke 15 v 11 - 20                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               ( I will return in a weeks time)                                 

Don't worry ( John 14 v 27 )

Well, out of the mouths babes and sucklings ,we know the phrase ,and I was reminded of this recently,when my youngest grandson was helping me,he is nearly 3, well what did he say?. '' don't worry''. Of course worry is something ,  most of us are good at, if that is the right way to describe it. We all worry, I suppose that is why Jesus taught us those wonderful words in the sermon on the mount in  Matthew 6 v 25 - 34.There we are reminded of Gods care for creation,  Jesus stress'es our relationship to God, He is our Father,who cares for us, more than all creation, as our Father He cares for us,because He loves us. Worry He says is pointless, it accomplishes nothing,only causes us to deprive ourselves of sleep,and give us grey hairs,and makes our lives a misery.He wants us to replace worry with trust,to put God first ,and all will be well. Alas that is to simple for most of us, but not for my little grandson.                                                                                                                                                                                 Fear Him, ye saints,and you will then                                                                                                        Have nothing else to fear;                                                                                                                          Make but His service your delight;                                                                                                            Your want shall be His care.                                                                                                                          (Nahum Tate and Nicolas Brady's                                                                                                                paraphrase of Psalm 34 v 9  )                                                                                                                                                                 

Context not pretext. ( Hosea 14 v 4 )

John W. Olley writes ,''The mere quoting of scripture does not guarantee correct application''.It has been said you can use scripture to mean anything.The cults would do this, and the  so called prosperity gospel preachers. The cults do not want to accept truths such as the Trinity,or salvation as a gift,the Mormons must do certain things ,and be clean,that means fulfilling certain things, and then grace will be given.The so called prosperity gospel preachers, say that healing is in the atonement,taken from Isaiah 53 v 5 'by His wounds we are healed'',Most Pentecostals  would believe this,though   they are not  prosperity gospel preachers. What Isaiah is dealing with is sin ,not physical sickness.Sin in the scripture can be seen as a sickness,  compare Jeremiah 8 v 22 ,there the prophet cries out for a cure for a sinful nation.In Isaiah 1 v 4 ,he speaks of the sinful nation Israel,and then goes on to describe the awfulness of their condition  in v 5 a- 6,in graphic physical terms.It is in 1 v 18 he declares the cure for such sinfulness,''Come now let us reason together,'' says the Lord.' Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are  red like crimson, they shall be as wool''. I am not dealing with  physical healing,which can happen,  only if it is in keeping with Gods will. ( 1 John 5 v 14 - 15),every request we make to God has at its core the words  our Saviour prayed,''not my will, but yours be done''.