Pastoral Messages (Page 80)

By Not Known Domestic violence is a too-common problem behind the door of many homes. The violence may be verbal, psychological, sexual or physical. Spouses may abuse their spouses; parents may abuse their children; children may abuse vulnerable parents; or householders may abuse their helpers.…

By Not Known Jesus’ resurrection from the dead was the climax of his earthly life. As the preaching in Acts shows, the resurrection was the defining event that set Christianity apart. It was also the event that demonstrated beyond doubt that Jesus was God’s son (Rom 1:4) However, the…

By Not Known Our time of glory is generally some moment of triumph. We glory when finally marrying, becoming parents, gaining a higher degree, beating an illness, becoming a CEO, winning that gold medal, mastering a hobby or being wealthy enough to retire. It was different for Jesus. His death was his hour of glory. John’s Gospel has a great sense of timing. Several…

By Not Known A prayer for God’s kingdom, power and glory seems a worthy way to end the model prayer that Jesus taught his followers. Yet, these words were not part of Jesus’ original prayer (Mat 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4). The ‘extra’ words are found only in Matthew and only in…

By Not Known Why pray that the Lord will not lead us into temptation? God is neither tempted nor the source of temptation (Jas 1:13). Rather, we are responsible for our own temptation as we allow evil desires to take root, entice us and then lead us to sinful actions (Jas 1:13-15). In short,…

By Not Known Forgiveness of our sin-debt is the greatest need of humanity. It is no surprise that it is singled out for extended attention in the Lord’s Prayer. Matthew writes of our ‘debts’ being forgiven to us whereas Luke uses the words for both ‘debts’ and…

By Not Known Bread was like rice in the world of the Bible. It was the staple carbohydrate which could be accompanied by many other ingredients to make a fulsome meal. If you have baked bread the old-fashioned way you know the satisfaction that comes from hand-kneading the dough, adding your own…

By Not Known The prayer that God’s will be done on earth extends the previous petition: Your kingdom come. God’s kingdom comes as his rule is extended. The final form of that is linked to the return of Jesus and the banishment of all evil. In the meantime, God’s people desire to see God’s will done on earth as part of our prayer that God’s…

By Not Known The kingdom of God is a common phrase of Jesus and his teaching. What is this kingdom and what does it mean to pray for its coming? The kingdom of God has been defined as God’s rule over God’s people in God’s place. This theme can be traced from one end of the Bible to the other and used to ‘unpack’ the key movements in the…

By Not Known We talk about a person’s ‘name’ as something that matters. Our name is our reputation. A good name is highly treasured (Prv 22:1). In the ancient world names were seen as representing the person. Parents chose names with great care as to their meaning. In some circles, to know a person’s name was to gain some power over them. We see a…