TEXT: ‘Then the people of Judah began to complain, “The workers are getting tired, and there is so much rubble to be moved. We will never be able to build the wall by ourselves.”’ – Nehemiah 4:10 NLT THOUGHT: Jerusalem was in a mess; walls flattened, gates destroyed by fire; and its inhabitants living in fear and disarray. God sent Nehemiah to rebuild the city and make it secure. Although he had this God-given vision and the Persian king’s resources, he still needed the help of the people of Jerusalem. He could not do it without them. Sharing his vision about how God had intervened, rallied the people to make a start. Nehemiah got each one to rebuild the wall on the outside of their property. Others living outside of Jerusalem came to help too, but the message was clear. Failing to protect their own home meant the enemy would have an easier access into the city and their house would be the first to be attacked, endangering everyone else’s. What we do will either help or hinder God’s people and the work of the local church. Jesus taught that listening to and obeying His words would ensure a true foundation that could withstand any storm – Matthew 7:24-27....
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TEXT: ‘Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think’ – Ephesians 3:20 THOUGHT: The Book of James makes a startling statement, ‘You do not have because you do not ask’ – James 4:2. Why we are reluctant to ask can usually be boiled down to just two main reasons. We have the wrong opinion about God We think that He cannot or will not do it, even when there is a Biblical promise that He will! Or that He is really not interested with what is happening in our lives as individuals because He has far too much to do looking after the universe. Nothing could be further from the truth. Knowing the number of hairs on our head proves how intimately He knows us – Matthew 10:30. Jesus also said, ‘Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him’ – Matthew 6:8. We have the wrong opinion about ourselves Feelings of guilt and low self-esteem paralyse the desire to ask, for we feel we are not worthy. Why should God bother about me when there are much better people around? We forget that Christ came to save sinners and we all qualify in that respect!...
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TEXT: ‘Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all’ – 1 Timothy 4:15 THOUGHT: Whether a new Christian, an inexperienced church leader or someone who has known the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour a long time, all of us need to be reminded of what is expected of a true believer. I often get asked the question, “Why read the Bible?” or “What is the best way to read it?” Unfortunately many Christians do not understand what they are reading and end up not bothering to read it at all, leaving it to gather dust on the shelf! Paul reminded Timothy of “These Things” which are important for faithfulness and godliness. Fortunately they have been recorded for our benefit too, along with the rest of the Bible. It certainly helps to make the Christian life much more rewarding when we believe that the Bible is not a collection of religious writings but the Word of God to be of help to us today. In writing to Timothy, Paul referred to “These Things” four times and these form the basis for Today’s Teaching. Meditate on these things – Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your...
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TEXT: ‘For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God’ – 2 Corinthians 1:20 NIV THOUGHT: When I first became a Christian, a popular hymn we used to sings with gusto was “All to Jesus I surrender, I surrender all”. We will make it much easier to do just that if we continually remind ourselves that God has given His “all” to us in the first place. Reading 2 Corinthians recently I was struck by the number of times “All” appears, six times in the first two chapters. These will become the focus for Today’s Teaching. With All the Saints who are in All Achaia – 1:1 Under Roman rule, Greece was divided into two provinces, Macedonia and Achaia. Achaia had prominent cities such as Corinth, Athens and Olympia and was an area the Apostle Paul evangelised extensively. Christianity is inclusive, not exclusive or elitist. Whatever your age, background, colour or locality, a Christian is called a saint. Some denominations only use this term for a special few, but the Bible does not make that distinction. We are not trying to be a Christian, we are one if our...
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TEXT: ‘They couldn’t reach him because of the crowd. So they went up to the roof and took off some tiles. Then they lowered the sick man on his mat down into the crowd, right in front of Jesus. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.”’ – Luke 5:19-20 NLT THOUGHT: Luke chapter 5 is full of wonderful events. After using Peter’s boat to preach to the lakeside crowds, Jesus rewards him with a miraculous catch of fish. This touched Peter deeply, causing him to declare his sinfulness (v9-10). Jesus replied, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” What a catch of men started happening. First Peter, his brother Andrew, James and John (v11); then a leper miraculously healed (v12-16); next the paralytic (v17-26) and finally Levi the tax collector deserts his office desk to follow Jesus (v27-32). Truly Christianity is for the whole world and that includes anyone reading this. Today’s Teaching focuses on the healing of the paralytic and how this miracle can greatly stimulate our journey of faith. God is ready to heal whatever the congregation’s attitude – ‘the power of the Lord was present to heal’ v17 This congregation was largely made up of Pharisees and...
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