Sep 21st

2 Samuel 17     Ezekiel 24     2 Corinthians 10     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

During my summer holiday, a slight disaster happened.  I was in the middle of no-where and needed to fill up with diesel.  Thankfully we stumbled upon a rather random garage in the middle of no-where, with just one pump.  I needed diesel, and on the pump it said diesel.  I rang the service bell and a man appeared and filled up my vehicle.  Later on that day I broke down and called the RAC.  After a bit of investigation, in turned out that the wrong fuel (petrol) had been put in my vehicle.  The petrol was now inside the workings of my entire engine.  It was the wrong fuel, and it was achieving nothing, in fact it was causing chaos and harm!  The wrong fuel had to be removed, different parts of the engine had to be repaired, and then the right fuel had to be put into the vehicle for it to go again!

We have all been called by God to partner in his work here on earth, of spreading the gospel and bringing in His Kingdom.  We all have a part to play in this work.  So, how do we do this work? We need the right type of fuel to help us, strengthen us, and empower us!  The wrong type of fuel will achieve nothing and cause chaos and harm.  When we start to think we can do this gospel and kingdom work in our own strength, and with our own logic and wisdom, nothing of eternal value will be achieved.  Verses 3-5 tell us that we need a different kind of fuel.  We need the divine power that comes from operating under the power of the Spirit of God!  It is this kind of fuel that will enable us to spread the gospel and bring in His Kingdom.  So let’s go to the Father daily, and say “Fill us anew with your spirit, that we might live for you and serve you in this world.”  And let’s trust that by the power of His Spirit, God will do incredible things through us to bring in His Kingdom here and now!  Amen!

(lay member of staff)

Sep 20th

2 Samuel 16     Ezekiel 23     2 Corinthians 9     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

When I was growing up I did a local paper round with my brother.  We delivered papers to quite a range of houses.  Some of the houses were in the poorer part of the suburb, and some of the houses were in the richer part of the suburb.  Every year, when Christmas came round, different characters would give us gifts or tips.  My brother and I were intrigued by the pattern that emerged over the 9 years that we did the paper round.  The characters who gave us the most were often those who had the least, and they were the most joyful givers.  It was these generous givers who had big smiles on their faces when we came to the door.  They seemed to have been waiting for us, they had often planned it, with a gift that was wrapped up, or the money was in an envelope!  Those people taught us both something about giving!  And some of those lessons we learnt are echoed in the passage today.  Verse 5 talks about gifts being generous and out of choice, not because you have to.   And verse 7 talks about cheerfully planning your giving in your heart in a response to God and all that he has done!  When we have a mindset that is reluctant to give, we often think that all that we have is ours, and if I share it, that’s it, it’s gone.  This chapter encourages us to think that God is the source of all that we have and that when we are generous with what we have, he will replenish.  God is a God who gives, and we should be people who give, and then we will also receive.  V.6 whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

If we really grasped all that God has done for us, the gifts he has given us, we would be so much more generous and cheerful in our giving, and we would see giving as another form of worship!  All that we have is his anyway!

(lay member of staff)

Sep 19th

2 Samuel 15     Ezekiel 22     2 Corinthians 8     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

I can remember being in a history lesson as a young teenager and being taught about Communism.  I can remember thinking that there were some incredibly good ideas behind it.  I loved the idea of equality, no class, no hierarchy, and a greater sense of community in society.  I then remember realising the sad fact that it was Sin that had messed up communism throughout history, and not allowed good to prevail.  I sat there as a young person, thinking there must be some way that we could make the good ideas of communism a reality?  Maybe I was being naive, but I think chapter 8 shows us that a community where no one goes without can be a reality.

The Christians described in this passage were being encouraged to v.7 “excel in this grace of giving” and they were already doing pretty well!  They were starting to see glimpses of a community which doesn’t go without.  V.14, “At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need.  Then there will be equality.”  But why should they or we be generous givers?  Some answers are found in this passage.  God has been a generous giver to us and we should then in turn imitate God out of love and thanks for what he has done for us.  Verse 9 really highlights how generous God has been to us.  “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”  God wants us to be willing, generous givers in a loving, worshipful response to him, and because we want to partner with him in showing his love to others.

What do our bank statements show about our love and worship of God?

(lay member of staff)

Sep 18th

2 Samuel 14     Ezekiel 21     2 Corinthians 7     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

A long time ago, I remember hearing a sermon where the preacher was talking about how in his family it was an absolute NO NO to put the knife that was being used for the marmite into the butter dish.  Why?  Because a knife that is being used for the marmite, will wreck the butter in the butter dish.  And wrecking the butter with marmite is not a good plan.  What if you then go to put marmalade on your toast and the butter is contaminated with marmite!  Or you use a knife that you’ve been chopping garlic with to get some butter?  Remnants of the garlic could be left in the butter, which could then be put onto a scone!  The list of problems could go on!  I did think he was a slightly bonkers telling us this story, but after a bit more pondering, I think I agree with him about doing  whatever you can to keep the butter in the butter dish unspoilt.  Then the butter remains as just good old butter, not butter plus something else, and the butter is then ready to do the multitude of things that butter does best.

How does this story link with chapter 7 of Corinthians?  I think sometimes we’ve lost the sense of the importance of purity in our lives.  The end of chapter 6 tells us that we have become sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty, and therefore we need to be people who are just that!  Not something else mixed in which compromises who we are.  We have his spirit in us, and we should be true worshippers of our incredible God and Father, not people who worship other things/people etc.  But so often we willingly mess up and contaminate what God has made us to be, we become worshippers of other things.  Chapter 7 verse 1 “Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”

Why should we bother living pure lives?  Because it flows from our identity in Christ, and because we love God and revere him – he is totally pure, and Let’s thank God for his grace and his mercy, which is always there for us when we turn back to him.  Let’s ask God for his help to be pure.  Let’s ask God to help us be the people he has called us to be.

(lay member of staff)

Sep 17th

2 Samuel 13     Ezekiel 20     2 Corinthians 6     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGI3z9YXW9A

If you’ve not already seen the WHAT IS LIFE ALL ABOUT?  ALPHA video.  Click on the link above, before reading on.  So, WHAT IS LIFE ALL ABOUT?  Chapters 5 and 6 have definitely got two major answers!

ANSWER ONE – Life is about knowing and experiencing our God and all the incredible plans that he has for our lives!  True life involves being saved from our old life, where we don’t know God and we are without hope for eternity, and finding a new life in Him!  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” And then life becomes a journey of experiencing more and more the depths of who he is, what he has done for us, and what he is and will do for us and with us!  It’s a life changing journey of freedom to be who we are meant to be!

ANSWER TWO – Life is about sharing this offer of new life with others!  God has called us to be his ambassadors, his ministers of reconciliation, his fellow workers, because NOW is the day of salvation.    Jesus has set us an amazing example of how to do this work, and he calls us to follow him.  Let’s not receive God’s grace in vain v.1, but let us be people who are like Jesus in this world, where our lives shine out his message of grace in abundance.  And let’s have faith that we will see many others experience this new life in Christ too.

Take a moment to think.  What is your life about?  Are you up for this journey of life that God invites you on?

(lay member of staff)

Sep 16th

2 Samuel 12     Ezekiel 19     2 Corinthians 5     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

I’m not that old, and yet I read the beginning of chapter 5 and I can echo a big understanding “Yes, I know what you mean!”   As life goes on, no-one on earth is exempt from the feelings described here.    This life is full of struggles, sadness and pain, and the older we get, the more our earthly decaying bodies seem to groan.  We can’t seem to stop the aging process, and we can’t seem to stop death.  And if we just left these thoughts and feelings here, it would be a very miserable passage.  And yet weaved into this first section of chapter 5 – there is HOPE!  Incredible hope that this is not what God has intended for eternity.  What God has planned for those who follow him, is LIFE!  This passage should excite us about what is to come!  We have a certain hope that he has given us eternal life, and that one day when God fully brings in his Kingdom, we will have a new heaven and a new earth, and we will have new heavenly bodies.  We will have a life of no pain, no sadness, no aging, no death, full security and full freedom!  I can’t wait!  And just in case you’re thinking “Hmmmmm, is this really going to happen?  Can we be sure?”  This passage reminds us that God has given us his Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come!  His Spirit lives in us, and does the opposite to death, decay, destruction.  His Spirit changes us, makes us new, transforms us, empowers us, strengthens us, envisions us, and makes us more and more like Jesus!   Jesus also taught us to pray “your kingdom come” NOW, so we can pray that life’s struggles will end now, and that healings will happen now, and that heaven will break through on earth NOW!   So let us be people who (verse 7) “Live by faith, not by sight,”  and people who speak with excitement about the eternal hope that we have!  Your Kingdom come Lord.

(lay member of staff)

Sep 15th

2 Samuel 11     Ezekiel 18     2 Corinthians 4     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

“If you were stuck in a lift with one bible character, who would you choose?”  The question was thrown to the floor, all the standard answers came out — Moses, Jesus, Paul, etc. Then someone heckled from the back, “Bathsheba!”  Everyone laughed, we all knew what he meant, but isn’t it a little unfair that Bathsheba has that sort of a reputation?

Look at 2 Sam 11, maybe the king thing was getting too stressful, maybe the routine was boring, whatever it was that opened David up to temptation, when temptations came along, he gave in.  What follows is a classic cycle of sin, we’ve all done it, do one thing wrong, then do a second thing wrong in an attempt to cover up the first.  It’s a real low point in the usually inspiringly godly life of David.

Spare a thought for Bathsheba though, she is coerced into adultery by the King (generally one doesn’t say no to the King), then later David has her husband murdered, and to top it off the baby she has by David is struck down by God as punishment.  Not a great few months.

Can we learn from David’s mistakes?  Well, it’s relatively easy to avoid rooftop strolls in Bristol, but the real thing I would take away is how long it takes David to admit wrongdoing.  All the way to ch12v13, and only then because he’s confronted by Nathan.  Not one person questioned the action of the king, all the way through the process.  Surround yourself with people you have authorised to question you when they need to, especially if you’re in a position of authority!  David wasn’t accountable to anyone, it took God through Nathan to sort him out.  Do you have someone you are fully accountable to, not just God?

(lay member of staff)