RENEW

King Josiah had a humble and tender heart. He loved to listen to and obey the Lord. He served the Lord by listening to the Word of God and by celebrating the Passover, which pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you serving the Lord by trusting in and obeying the Lord Jesus Christ?

Christmas Eve 2024

If we think of salvation as a one-time deal, a transaction with God, the ways that the Bible speaks of salvation won’t make very much sense—like the story of Zacchaeus. He repented, in the true biblical sense of the Greek word  metanoia —a change of heart that is evidenced in a change in how a person  lives . Zacchaeus’s salvation is his committing to  a change in life —from greed and dishonesty t...

Sacred time is a way to honour God, to be more deeply discipled into the life of Christ, and to participate in the rich tradition of the Church.

The healing and forgiveness that appear together in Mark 2 remind us that God restores holistically. He’s restoring our whole person, not just our relationship with Him. Healing is restoration of the whole person, restoration of the whole community, the whole of Creation.

Mark's Gospel provides a unique portrait of Jesus, with a special insight into who Jesus was and what he came to accomplish. Mark writes to show that Jesus’ crucifixion does not negate his claim to be the Messiah but rather affirms it! His faithfulness to this mission becomes the model for all discipleship. Following Jesus means denying yourself, taking up your cross, and following him.

The Christian life is meant to be marked by simplicity. Grace is simple. Loving like Jesus is simple. All that is required is that we believe.

Talking to people is easy. Talking to people about Jesus—not so much. At least this is the experience many Christians have when it comes to sharing their faith with others. Yet, God has shown such love to us in Christ, it's incumbent upon us that we extend that love toward others.

"Taking the gospel to the nations" is a Christian mandate to spread the gospel to all people groups and ethnicities. It's also known as the Great Commission, which is a tenet of Christian theology that emphasises evangelism, missionary work, baptism, and ministry.

The church at Laodicea had become apathetic in their love for Christ. Jesus called them to repent and live zealously for Him. The Lord Jesus issues the same call to those who say they follow Him today.

Jesus’s letter to Philadelphia was written to a struggling church. They were struggling with the persecution they faced, yet they remained faithful. Jesus reassures them of their safety in him and that they will be saved in the judgment that is coming upon the world.

Sardis may have been the first church in history to be characterized as a place of “nominal Christianity.” Most of its members apparently belonged to Christ in name but not in heart. They had a reputation for being alive but in reality, they were dead. This letter reminds us to live as spiritually awake Christians ready for the return of Christ.

The church at Thyatira was not a perfect church by any means. No church is. However, Christians can learn many important lessons from the mistakes made and warnings given to the church at Thyatira. It takes courage to confront sin. False teaching cannot be allowed to infiltrate and infect the church.

In Pergamum, the false teaching was directly tied to idolatry and sexual immorality. The quickest way to bring spiritual shipwreck into the life of a believer is to dilute their love for God by tempting them to seek after the idols of this world and to defile people’s consciences and take them captive to the enormous, dark spiritual power of sexual sin. 

Jesus’s letter to Smyrna was to a suffering church. They were being persecuted for bearing witness to Jesus Christ and they are commended for their faithfulness in the face of suffering. They certainly weren’t perfect, yet suffering brings about a purity of faith in which Jesus delights.

John begins transcribing this first letter from Jesus to the Church of Ephesus, the Ephesians, his home congregation. In this letter, out of all seven letters, is contained the highest praise and the lightest rebuke. Theirs also is the most magnificent image of the promise as they continue in faith in the finished work of Christ: to be granted to eat from the lost Tree of Life itself.

Love your neighbour. That’s one of those phrases that is used so flippantly that when you hear it, it’s easy to tune out. It’s lost its meaning. And that’s a terrible shame because the suggestion to love your neighbour is a powerful one that Jesus was passionate about, and he wasn’t vague in the slightest about what it meant.

‘Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.’ Romans 12:1:2

The message of the psalm is quite clear. We bless the Lord, and the Lord blesses us in return. This is more than cause-and-effect. It is an ongoing cycle. It’s a circle of blessing that moves to God and then from God. He is worthy of our blessing; and we are in need of his blessing. 

Division has the unique ability to drain our energy, but unity actually increases our vitality! It reminds us of what it means to be human. It fills us up. Unity is God’s design for humanity. But it runs contrary to our sinful nature, which is why if you read any New Testament letter, you’ll find an impetus placed on unity within the church.  

On our discipleship journey of following Christ, we are asked to make some very challenging, difficult, even unconventional lifestyle choices. The question is: Will we obey what Jesus asks us to do?

We live this Christian life by saying no to pride and yes to humility. Saying no to demanding from God and yes to being with God in whatever it is we face. Saying no to me as king and yes to following the King. Saying no to thinking I can know everything and saying yes to trusting the One who does know everything.

God has reached out to humankind in the person of His Son Jesus to offer up His life and His blood, in our place, so that we might ascend from the depths of our sin, so that we might have forgiveness, so that God might give us, through Jesus, redemption.

No matter the opposition or affliction whether past, present or future, we can look to Jesus who is righteous. He will preserve us, be present with us, and lead us by His grace and strength to persevere and to prevail. 

Psalm 128 teaches us that there is a direct relationship between your attitudes and actions and God’s blessing in your life. That God’s blessing is available to everyone. But you can choose to either welcome God’s blessing into your life or you can chase it away.