How many conditions do you place on your calling? Are you prepared to just say ‘yes’ without exception, or are you playing God by sharing the best news people will ever hear, with just a select few?
I went to ask Jim if he had stolen, but he talked over me. I let him talk. Sometimes the best way to put people at ease is to let them talk about their favourite subject: themselves. I didn’t mind – I enjoy listening to the old-timers talk about the old days anyway.
oh, i’m not made for wellington, and the wind straight off the sea. no, i’m not made for wellington, it’s just not meant to be.
This means that I need to get rid of those things in my life that hold me back from enjoying the abundant life God has given me, right?Or I have to bind and rebuke the devil for trying to rob me of my abundant life, right?Wrong.
It is natural when we are fearful, to want to rely on our inner strength to get us through. Adrenaline can be our best friend, but if it goes against our conscience, it can also be our worst enemy.
God is Holy, and therefore will not tolerate any form of unholiness. And one little lie is more than enough to make you unholy. Therefore one little lie is enough for God to pour out His wrath on you, and banish you from His presence – forever.
But I got an emptiness deep inside And I've tried, but it won't let me go And I'm not a man who likes to swear But I never cared for the sound of being alone
Hi Everyone Last Sunday I had the privilege of teaching the flock in our Romans series: Seeing Faith: Apart from the Law (Romans 4:13-25). Audio is here, sermon notes below. Enjoy! Well, we’ve been trudging hard through this heavy book the past couple of months. But this is what we need to do, because the book of Romans is a foundational document of our faith. The Apostle Paul went to great lengths to ensure that there were no grey areas with respect to how the judgement, the mercy, and also the grace of God are all meted out. Therefore, it deserves the respect of being examined properly. So, we zoom into each nook and cranny. We dissect its’ form and function. We x-ray and scan the parts we can’t see. And we do all this so that we can be sure we get it right – because, if we get Romans wrong, we may get our salvation wrong. And if we get our salvation wrong, well, we get our eternity wrong, don’t we? So, what have we learnt so far in this sermon series? Well, that everyone knows who God is (God doesn’t believe in atheists) The immoral person is rejected by God, and given over to his pleasures The moral person is rejected by God, because he is a hypocrite and can’t keep the law himself The religious person is rejected by God, as God cares more for the heart than outward appearances We all fall into one of those categories, so everyone has sinned and fallen short of His standards Reconciling with God involves believing through faith that Christ paid the penalty for us And last week we read that the Apostle Paul uses the example of Abraham – who was considered the founding father of the Jewish faith -…
You don’t need a crucified and risen Saviour, if you can achieve perfection all by yourself. Take God out of the equation, and bingo, look how much you can do! Look how good you can be! You’re not that bad after all! Look how much guilt of the past you can cancel out!
The Christian is a strange fish indeed. As the Psalmist says, God gave Christians a law to follow, just like everyone else. But when we fail to keep it 100%, God still loves, forgives, and calls us blessed. How does that work? Aren’t statutes there to keep us in line, and punish us?