The Hardest Mission Field
By Not Known What is the hardest mission field? A missionary in tropical Vanuatu reports having electricity for only a few hours a day, water running low and there being no money for the basic supplies. A missionary in China tells of Christian workers been arrested and disappearing, without information or judicial review. Missionaries in other countries speak of how…
How Shall We Serve?
By Not Known There are people who perform lowly deeds around our hawker centres. They remove and wash dishes, disposed of garbage and wipe tables. They are rarely noticed or thanked and are almost never in the limelight. In New Testament times, these people would be called ‘deacons‘ or ‘servants‘. What is a servant? A servant is someone who is at…
Created to be God’s Person
By Not Known Today we continue our ‘Created for God’s Purposes’ series of sermons and studies with a practical focus on being God’s person. To be God’s person is to bear God’s likeness or image and so to fulfil our identity at Creation (Gen 1:26-27). To be God’s person is what we were made for. Our problem is that sin stops us…
Virtual Church?
By Not Known A recent article declared that the virtual church is the way of the future. This ‘church‘ has no building and does not meet together. Instead, it is a cyber- community where members log on from home to download a service of their choice and then make their offering by electronic fund transfer. Does this sound bizarre? Virtual churches do have some…
Winning the Worship Wars
By Not Known Recent years have seen what many call the ‘Worship Wars‘. Churches have been divided over issues related to worship styles, especially with regard to music (lyrics and instrumentation), prayer styles, degrees of informality and such like. New churches have been formed in which the defining feature, power of attraction, is just in worship style.…
When ‘WHO’ Defines ‘WHY’
By Not Known Life without purpose Around us we see people who live life without purpose. They have no centre to give inner and outer poise and are easily unbalanced. Many of these live for the experience of the moment – with no sense of past or future. It is not surprising that many of these…
Easter Communion
By Not Known Today we have a happy link between Easter Sunday and our Communion service. First, we look backwards: Like the Jewish Passover from which it is derived, the Christian Communion looks backwards (1 Cor 11:24-26). We look back to the saving deeds of Jesus on the Cross. As we look back to the Cross, we are moved to thanksgiving and we are encouraged as we see how…
The Death of Jesus Christ
By Not Known At the start of Easter week we are conscious of Jesus’ death. The Cross that hung over him since birth is now a looming shadow that will soon blot out all light in the darkness of that Friday afternoon. A classic interpretation of Jesus’ death is found in Rom. 3:21-26. It can be summarised in terms of our problem, God’s solution and our…
THE PASSION OF JESUS CHRIST
By Not Known Easter is soon here and it is timely to think about the Passion of Jesus. The Passion has central place in each of the four Gospels. This is so much so that someone describes them as ‘Passion stories with introductions’. For example, nine of the 21 chapters in John are concerned with the last few days of Jesus’ life that lasted for about 33…
True Wealth
By Not Known In today’s world, a wealthy person is someone who can choose what to eat, what to wear, where to live, and who has savings. That makes just about all of us wealthy. We live in a wealthy country and the Christian population tends to come from the better-educated and better-paid section of society. Our wealth is both a trap and opportunity. Material…