More than a promise
Reading today from Genesis 12:1-9
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. (Genesis 12:1-2)
God made a promise to Abram. God promised Abram to lead him to a place where he would become a great nation. Which he did. God gave him children. God made his family a great family. A family that would eventually give birth to the Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ.
And Jesus also made a promise of a great nation. Jesus promises those who follow him, they too will inherit a kingdom. A kingdom full of riches untold. A kingdom not of this earth. But a kingdom with our Father in heaven. A place for all to gather when our time here is finished. A kingdom for our eternal lives.
This, Jesus shares with us through a simple invitation because he lived, died, and rose again, living forever with God.
Walk and Please God
“Walk and Please God”
1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
Two weeks ago I went to a couple of educational events while I was on study leave. The first was an event in Glace Bay where a church planter from Europe was brought in to share with us his experiences of “being church”. The second event was a lecture series hosted by Acadia Divinity College, which had the theme of “Christian Witness in an Age of Change”. Both were very interesting and hit on things I have been thinking about the church for a number of years now.
Both are also appropriate for us to consider as part of the season of Lent. A time when we intentionally focus on Jesus, his life, his death, and also his resurrection. A time when we are invited to reflect on what we believe and how it affects our faith and our life.
And if these things have an affect on our faith and our life, then it must have an affect on our churches. For we are those who are the church as living, breathing family. read more…
The Righteous for the Unrighteous
Reading today from 1 Peter 3:12-22.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit… (1 Peter 3:18)
God knows the power of sin; Jesus Christ carried it all on the cross. Sin causes pain and suffering. But Jesus died for those sins. Jesus died for us so that we may know eternal life with our Father in Heaven.
Jesus, the perfect man, God Himself among us, died for us, the unworthy.
The cost to us? Faithfulness.
What we receive? Love and life.
What grace! What love! What a God!
Worship
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” (Matthew 4:8-10 ESV)
Lent is when we remember Jesus living in the wilderness, fasting for 40 days and nights. At the end of the 40 days, Jesus was approached by the devil and tempted with power and honour.
We see in the quote above that the devil offered Jesus great riches, all he wanted was to be worshipped. These are our temptations. We are willing to seek great riches by worshiping other things. And the results can often be scary.
But Jesus reminds us we are here to worship the Lord our God. The one who gave us life and offers us life eternal.
He Fed You
“And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Deuteronomy 8:3
This is written to the people of Israel as they walked across the desert. A hungry, tired people searching meaning as they march through the wilderness. They are suffering, even longing to return to being slaves in Egypt.
We too are wandering. A lost people; looking for love, looking for peace, looking for healing, looking for hope.
We can be found. We can find what we are looking for.
Our God is waiting. He’s not looking for us, he is waiting for us to find him. He came to earth to find us in Jesus Christ, and now he waits for us to see him.
Lent is a journey of discovery.
Discover the God of love, peace, healing and hope we are all looking for and let Him feed us life.