Articles (Page 96)

By Not Known It is a joy to have the youth lead the services today. We thank God for the way in which he has revitalised our ministry to youth in recent years. He has provided us with a good cohort of committed youth leaders as well as a pastoral staff to support this ministry. Most of our youth come from Christian homes. That is a wonderful start to their life with the…

By Not Known Perhaps you know this experience. You start doing an act of kindness for some people. At first they thank you. But after a time it all becomes routine and they cease to say ‘thanks’. You feel taken for granted and maybe even resentful. Do we take God’s grace for granted? God has done us a huge favour through Jesus. He has sought us out with…

By Not Known How many emails do you get? Many email in-boxes are packed night and day. (You may be surprised at how much church business is done by email in the ‘wee hours’!) Many check work email from holiday destinations because otherwise it’s an electronic tsunami when they…

By Not Known The opening words of the Lord’s Prayer have been on our minds this month as we considered the Biblical base behind the new Ministry Plan for our congregation After the very important title of address, Our Father who is in heaven, the prayer starts with a focus on God. (That is an important lesson for the order and emphasis of our won prayers.) The focus…

By Not Known ‘Kingdom’ Is a big Bible theme from Genesis to Revelation. Put simply, God’s kingdom is God’s rule over God’s people in God’s place. The kingdom pattern was established in Eden. Adam and Eve lived as God directed in the place that God provided. However, this did not last, for they sinfully tried to live in God’s place…

By Not Known The Lord’s Prayer includes the puzzling line: hallowed be your name. What does this mean? Perhaps it means that God’s name should not be said aloud at all, or, always pronounced in pious tones. On this basis, the Jewish community developed ingenious way of talking about God without using his name, lest they be accidentally disrespectful. We should…

By Not Known It’s easy to talk about God. His name slips off our lips as we casually chat about him in Bible study or invoke his help in our prayers. But God is not as familiar to us as the location of our favourite restaurant. As Isaiah reminds us, he is beyond our understanding and counsel (Is 40:13-14). Or as Job points out, none of us has a claim on him that he…

By Not Known Some time ago, a church gave this name to its Youth Ministy, the Joshua Generation. Joshua represents the second generation and encourages every second-generation leader. He was not the one who gathered the nation of Israel. Moses did. Joshua only succeeded Moses upon his death. Joshua finished the work that Moses started. Joshua was left with the challenge…