Category: Bible

Do not miss Jesus

March 13, 2024

John 5:39-40 says, “These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”

Jesus said these words to the religious teachers of His day. They claimed to know all about faith and the Scriptures, but did not recognise Jesus as the Messiah that they were waiting for.

They had knowledge of the Scriptures, but missed the main person – Jesus. Over the years I have known some very religious people who have studied the Bible, but they missed Jesus too.

So what are some keys we have to understand about Jesus?

  1. He is eternal (John 1:1-3)
  2. He is the Son of God (Luke 1:35)
  3. He is the Messiah (John 4:25-26)
  4. He died on the cross to pay the price for our sin (Romans 3:23-24)
  5. He was raised back to life and is now seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven (Romans 8:34)
  6. He is coming back for those who trust in Him as their Lord and Saviour (Hebrews 9:28)
  7. He is the only way to salvation (John 14:6)

These are seven things that are key about Jesus. It is just so important to understand who Jesus is and what He has done.

Today I would encourage you to look up the verses in brackets above on BibleGateway.com and see for yourself.

Westminter Confession of Faith

March 6, 2024

A very useful document that you can use to understand the Christian faith is the Westminster Confession of Faith.

This document lists all key areas of faith including Creation, God, Man, the Bible, Sin, Saving Faith, the Church, the Sacraments, and Life After Death. In all it touches on 35 areas in 55 pages.

The thing I like about this document is the explanations and then it lists all the Bible verses as references. So you can look up the verses to see where the belief comes from. Unlike the Catholic Catechisms, the sole references are from the Bible.

If you are interested the EPC has one on their website here.

Where are you seated?

March 4, 2024

Where you are seated at a special ocassion often determines how important you are to the host of the function.

If you are the bridal table at a wedding reception it means you are very special to the bride and groom. If you are at the King’s or Prime Minister’s table at a special function you are held in very high regard.

The Bible tells us that when Jesus returned to heaven He was seated at the right hand of the Father (Ephesians 1:18-23). That is the highest place of honour in the whole universe. There is no greater place than being seated next to the Father.

But that is not where the great news stops. You are also seated with Christ! Let’s have a look at what the Bible says in the next chapter…

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4-7 NIV)

If you are in Christ Jesus (that means in relationship with Him, trusting Him for your salvation, and have received Him as your King) then you are spiritually seated with Christ in the heavenly realms! You are seated with Him in the highest place in the universe!

Because of this great news you no longer have to walk around with your face pointing to the ground or your shoulders hunched over. You no longer have to feel unworthy. You have high standing and high honour with the King and Creator of the universe!

I don’t know about you, but that is great news to me! It is something that has radically changed the way I see myself and as a result it has radically changed the way I live.

Human anger versus rigtheous anger

March 3, 2024

The Bible says, “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires” (James 1:19-20 NLT).

As I read this today the words “Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires” really jumped out at me.

Human anger happens when we don’t get our way or when we think people have not considered us or when we haven’t heard something correctly. We can become angry and act out as we did not get our way.

Compare this to righteous anger. Jesus was angry at the corrupt money changers in the Temple. He was not happy that God’s House was turned in to a marketplace, rather than a house of prayer and worship (John 2:13-16).

We then see that Jesus made He a whip. Bible scholars tell us this would have taken several hours, and then He went back and overturned the tables.

Human anger says I am not happy about this. I am going to get my way. I will get you back. You hurt me, I will hurt you.

Righteous anger says I am not happy about this situation and goes to God in prayer. It says, “What should I do God? How can I help this situation?” And then it acts slowly and deliberately at God’s leading.

Remember it is not wrong to get angry at human injustice or suffering. We just need to go to God first and ask how we can respond in accordance with His will and purposes. He may want us to act or He may want us just to pray.

Are our sermons too long?

February 29, 2024

Are our sermons too long? As a preacher this is something I have been thinking about for about five years. In the church traditions I have attended for most of the last 30 years, the sermon is placed towards the end of the service and it lasts from 20-30 minutes, sometimes more.

As time goes on I am starting to think that is too long for most people to listen to and take in, especially if there is no real structure to it. When I preach I always have an introduction with a title, a Bible reading, let the people know there is 3-4 points, then close with a summary and prayer.

I always use PowerPoint up on the screen with the main points and verses. Having the main points on the screen helps me to keep focussed when I am listening to others and people have said the same to me.

Something I have been doing lately is listening to a lot of shorter messages called sermonettes or Homilies. They are usually from 2-10 minutes in length and are very concise and to the point.

I am finding I am getting a lot out of these shorter messages. Mostly they share a Bible passage, or it is read by someone else before, and then one or two quick points and have a prayer that calls you to action or reflection.

I know from my website statistics that the sermons that most people download are the ones that are under 10 minutes long. People listen to the longer sermons, but the ones in the sermonettes section are downloaded five times more.

I am not really sure why this is? But I guess it is to do with people being busy and not having much time? It could also be people wanting quick encouragement? Whatever the reason it has got me thinking.

I think on my next sermon I will trim it down to be more like a sermonette or homily and see what feedback I get. I will still use my same format, but aim for ten minutes and see what feedback I get.

I will let you know how it goes.