7th Dec

2 Chronicles 6     Habakkuk 2     2 John 1     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

Solomon starts by reminding the assembled people of how until now God had not wanted to have a temple built for Him until He had settled the children of Israel.  But God was now fulfilling His promise to David as God had chosen both a leader for Israel and a city for His temple.  And as we read in the previous chapter, because the temple had been built when and where God wanted it, God had filled the temple with glory.  There follows a long prayer which uses examples of security, drought, famine and captivity to express the basic heartfelt request that when God's people repent of their sin, God will hear them, forgive and restore them.  And when they pray He will uphold their cause.

This should be our prayer.  As individuals and as a Church there will be times when we depart from God's plan, and we too will need to turn back to God, repent and ask for his forgiveness and restoration.  Until we repent we find ourselves in the wrong place as described in this chapter.  But when we pray, then that opens channels for God's goodness and love to flow.  Then we return to the intimate relationship with Him that we see so graphically shown in this time of dedication.  The people all together, and God covering them all in his glory.  Perfection.

(member of Christ Church congregation)

6th Dec

2 Chronicles 5     Habakkuk 1     1 John 5     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

The temple building project comes to an end.  The contractors go, and the dedication starts.  It is hard to imagine just how excited people must have felt as the long awaited building of the temple reached its climax.  God's people had waited years for this, and now the ark of the Lord's covenant is brought in by the Levites to take its central place in the temple.  There follows an astonishing act of song, joy, and music as they praise and thank God.  And God confirms his delight by filling the temple with His presence, a presence so powerful and glorious that the priests could not perform their service.

This happy state was reached because God's will was being worked in God's way with God's timing.  What does this tell us as a church?  Can we envisage services of the type described here?  Can we experience in our personal lives a sense of purpose, joy and praise that we read of here?  It offers a foretaste of heaven, and yet there seems no reason why we too cannot experience something similar as a body and as individuals if we are on God's pathway, enjoying His company and following His will.

(member of Christ Church congregation)

5th Dec

2 Chronicles 4     Nahum 3     1 John 4     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

As part of God’s creation, we are all spiritual beings who, during the course of our lives, are naturally drawn to the fundamental questions of ‘why are we here’ and ‘is there a God?’ This ‘God shaped hole’ can be filled by many different things; all of which are ultimately falsehoods unless they recognise that Christ comes from God and that we have the ‘Spirit of truth’ in us.

John Wesley, the leader of the Methodist movement in the 18^th century, wrote that he once conversed with a man who said to him, "Sir, you wish to serve God and go to heaven? Remember you cannot serve him alone; you must therefore find companions or make them; the Bible knows nothing of solitary religion."

The passage tells us that ‘we love because He first loved us’ and, as Wesley understood, anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. He, therefore, created organisational structures for the movement which enabled people to be ‘united in order to pray together, to receive the word of exhortation, and to watch over one another in love, that they may help each other to work out their salvation.’

He wrote later that ‘many now happily experienced that Christian fellowship of which they had not so much as an idea before. They began to ‘bear one another’s burdens’ and ‘naturally to care for each other.’ The movement sought to be a practical outworking of the words, ‘Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.’

(member of Christ Church congregation)

4th Dec

2 Chronicles 3     Nahum 2     1 John 3     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

Today’s Old Testament passages confront us with

-      a God before whom Israel could only stand in awe  

-   a God at whose word the bloodthirsty all-conquering Assyrians would see their capital     Nineveh destroyed 

-    a God whose Temple demanded the very best the world had to offer.  But this magnificent building was to be used for the messiness of animal sacrifice - the endless shedding of blood so that Israel wouldn't face the same judgment as Nineveh

So what a contrast in 1 John! Now it is Jesus’ blood (v 16) and our status is not as fearful subjects but as dearly loved children.  We have the promise that when Christ returns we shall be like him.  And in place of the long rule book two simple commands “to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us”.  Yet of course there’s nothing simple about this radical calling.  As Christ lay down his life for us, nothing less than laying down our lives for each other is appropriate (v 16).  Our motivation for living according to God’s commands no longer comes from fear but from deep gratitude for the unwarranted love the Father has lavished on us. It’s not an expectation of perfection but to allow God’s Spirit in us to make us evermore like Jesus.

Take a few moments to thank the Father for his lavish love in Jesus, to reflect on what it cost and to ask him to show you today how you can love not just with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 

(member of Christ Church congregation)

3rd Dec

2 Chronicles 2     Nahum 1     1 John 2     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

Each of today’s passages can act as a challenge to us.

Solomon was given the job of building ‘a temple for the name of the Lord’.   In chapter 2 of the second book of Chronicles we read of his detailed and thorough preparations for the task.   Is my approach to service for God comparable?

Nahum was sent to proclaim an unpopular message, prophesying the downfall of Nineveh when that city was at the height of her powers.   Can we echo verse 7 of chapter 1? ‘the Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in Him…’ 

John, in his first letter, tells his readers that they [and we] must be obedient to Jesus; must walk as Jesus did; must love His/Our Heavenly Father and our Christian brothers and sisters.   The challenge to love one another has featured in recent readings and comes to us again today.   We are not to love the things of the world because they do not come from the Father and because they pass away.   We ARE to love Jesus Christ who died in our place, conquering sin and death to save us, and also our Christian brothers and sisters.   Refusing to love them is choosing darkness rather than light.   What, in practice, am I choosing?

John also points out some safeguards that help us continue in the faith:

-         we have received an anointing of the Holy One,

-         we already know the truth that should remain in us, and

-         we should remain in the Father, acknowledging Jesus as the Christ, His Son.

Father, please may my walk with you today be more like that of Jesus, by the help of your Holy Spirit. 

(member of Christ Church congregation)

2nd Dec

2 Chronicles 1     Micah 7     1 John 1     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

Micah's prophecy ends with a picture of moral and social decay, a world where integrity, truth, and honour seem but distant memories.  And yet all is not lost.  The writer does not despair, for he has hope in God, and a trust that God will hear him.  He foresees that Israel will be restored, that walls will be rebuilt, and that God's chosen people will again be just that.  People will see their shame and will turn to God who will pardon their sin.  And he ends by praising God for His compassion and mercy.

These prophecies span several decades but, for us, we can experience them on a daily basis.  We too offend God by our behaviour and attitudes, yet in turning to Him for forgiveness, we too will experience His compassion and mercy, and see our sins “sunk to the bottom of the sea” never to re-appear, and experience restoration.  God did not go back on his commitment to Jacob and Abraham, and he doesn't go back on it with us.  The nation of Israel sunk to a dreadful low, yet God restored it.  However low we may fall, God can and will restore us if we return to Him.

(member of Christ Church congregation)

1st Dec

1 Chronicles 29     Micah 6     2 Peter 3     (Click on the Reference to go to the passage)

What does God require of us?

Too often, we say what we want of God, how we want our church services to be, what we want to do with our money, and how we want to live our lives.

In 1 Chronicles 29 we read of David’s great prayer before the assembly. You may recognise it as the offertory prayer sometimes used today. Gifts are offered to God, starting with the king himself, v 3 a top down approach to giving. People gave willingly and freely, not under coercion.

Peter reminds us in 2 Pet 3:9 that God wishes everyone will come to seek repentance, he wants us all, v 11, to live holy and godly lives as we wait for the day of the Lord to come.  We are to grow in the grace and knowledge of God himself.

Finally Micah tells it straight in Micah 6:8.

And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

God does not require endless sacrifices of rams and oil, traditional rites which may have lost their meaning. No, God simply wants 3 things, firstly to act justly, God’s moral standards; do we have a Bible based integrity, in ethical issues?

Secondly, to love mercy, to show mercy, practical help and support to those in need, even the undeserving. The season of Christmas presents us with many opportunities to help in practical ways, see church notice sheet for ideas.

Finally, to walk humbly with our God, to walk, commune with the God of truth at all times, in constant fellowship with him.

If you want, look up the Micah network for ideas (www.micahnetwork.org )

Meditate on Micah 6:8, what does God require of you?

 (Member of Christ Church knitting group)