Experiencing joy and peace can easily be seen as the ‘norm’ for the Christian. Yet so often, we find that life hurts.
One of the hardest things about suffering is when we do not know why it has happened. Often God does not explain why. He wants us to trust him in our trouble.
Phil Crowter, author of several books in the Pray/Prepare/Preach series came face to face with the reality of terminal cancer. In his book Preaching Job, he points out that the Bible gives us many good reasons for the troubles we face in life. God uses trouble in our lives to produce good things. Here’s Phil’s list of useful points to consider when life is hurting:... continue reading
There are a thousand good and bad ways to use music in a church service. Here are just five hopefully good ideas which combine both Biblical truth with practical advice…
1. Use music to help the congregation engage both mind and heart with God
There is no stronger reason to sing in church than the Biblical command to ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16)
It is a profound truth that as saved people, Christ lives in us and we live in him. And God uses our singing to actually help that happen. So when you sing in church – or lead singing in church - remember the great responsibility you have. You are taking part in God’s ministry of teaching his word to his people – to both their hearts and minds, and are part of the means by which we honour, praise and serve him in response to his grace.... continue reading
The Parable of the Growing Seed
He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.”
With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything.
Mark 6 v 26-34
Your church or Christian group may seem fairly insignificant. Maybe it's large and flourishing. Or maybe you're one of only a few Christians your age in a cold, half-empty building every Sunday and the "kingdom of God" looks unimpressive to say the least. But Jesus says this is what we should expect — it looks small now (like the mustard seed) but its growth is supernatural — it's down to God, and one day it will be seen by everyone. So look around you for signs of the presence and growth of God's kingdom. It is happening.
The word "catechism" may conjure up for you images of a world gone by, with musty prayer books and children repeating answers to questions couched in ancient language.
Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City and The Gospel Coalition have just released a modern catechism on iPad that could change the way we think about this.
New City Catechism aims to help adults and children memorise a 52-point exposition of the Gospel. One for each week of the year. The app encourages adults to learn a full version of the answers, and there is a shorter question and answer that is suitable for children to learn, which uses a subset of the words in the adult version. This makes it easier for children to "upgrade" to the adult version at the appropriate moment.
The catechism was written by Tim Keller and Sam Shammas at Redeemer, but contains a wealth of supporting material to the basic question and answer, including: a Bible verse; a prayer; an extended quotation on the theme of the question from one of the great theologians of the past; and video comment from a contemporary pastor, including Don Carson, Mark Dever and John Piper. You can download a PDF of the full catechism here.
This is a superbly thought out app, with a wealth of riches to be enjoyed as an adult, and a very worthwhile exercise to build into family life. If you've got an iPad, download it for free at the Apple app store. If you haven't got an iPad - this may be a worthwhile reason for buying one!
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Two extracts from Scene Seven: Simeon—"A sword will pierce your own soul"
There’s only one old man who gets a mention at Christmas. He wears red… brings the presents… and, bizarrely, often pops up at random points in nativity plays. Santa Claus may not be real (sorry if that’s news to you) but he’s pretty popular. Of course, Santa was nowhere to be seen at the first Christmas. But there was an old man at the heart of the real events. Not Santa, but Simeon. And Simeon didn’t do presents.
But he did do predictions…... continue reading
An extract from Scene Two: the angel—"Christ the Lord"…
Christ: not just a surname
What job had this royal baby come to do?
“Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”
God had given his Son Jesus two jobs. He was (still is, in fact) Christ.
For years, I thought “Christ” was Jesus’ surname. I assumed that Joseph and Mary were Mr and Mrs Christ, and so Jesus’ full name was Jesus Christ.
But actually, “Christ” is a title, not a name.... continue reading
It may feel a bit early to start thinking about Christmas (though of course the decorations are starting to appear in the shops, and most children under the age of 10 are starting to compile their wish-lists…), but this week on the blog we've got some posts about TGBC's just-launched Christmas evangelistic title, Christmas Uncut. It's worth thinking about now, so that come December you know whether you're going to give it away, and who to.
Here's author Carl Laferton talking about why he wrote Christmas Uncut, what's in the book, and what he's hoping for this December…
All this week, you can buy Christmas Uncut for just $1.99. Simply enter the code "uncutdeal" as you check out. Why not read it in October, pray about giving it away during November and buy in some more copies, and then give it to non-Christian friends and family in December?
Tomorrow on the blog we'll feature an extract from the book.
It may feel a bit early to start thinking about Christmas (though of course the decorations are starting to appear in the shops, and most children under the age of 10 are starting to compile their wish-lists…), but this week on the blog we've got some posts about TGBC's just-launched Christmas evangelistic title, Christmas Uncut. It's worth thinking about now, so that come December you know whether you're going to give it away, and who to.
Here's author Carl Laferton talking about why he wrote Christmas Uncut, what's in the book, and what he's hoping for this December…
All this week, you can buy Christmas Uncut for just £1. Simply enter the code "uncutdeal" as you check out. Why not read it in October, pray about giving it away during November and buy in some more copies, and then give it to non-Christian friends and family in December?
Tomorrow on the blog we'll feature an extract from the book.
