Trinity Chippenham

We come to the 'end' of Ruth and Naomi's story. We again see that in the very real ups and downs of life God is with us and for us. We have the big picture - the Kinsman Redeemer is born, the Saviour is coming.

This part of the story addresses Naomi's 'long term' problem - family. But this chapter is not really about matchmaking and dating advice...

Is God good and does he care? Ruth and Naomi need a protector and provider, just to survive. One day Ruth goes to look for "grace" and she 'happens' upon Boaz...

Where is God in dark places? Does he disappear? The characters in Ruth are normal, like us, yet they show us that it is possible to live godly lives in a dark culture.

Doubt is a huge issue but it isn't talked about a lot in churches. Questions about God and for God are common and can sometimes lead to people walking away from God. Psalm 44 gives us a pathway to faith- but not in the way we might think.

We all compare ourselves to others - sometimes favourably, mostly negatively. The Comparison Game is poison to every relationship so let's together look to Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2)

Every moment of every day we can live by fear or by faith. Even Abraham, the great hero of faith, lived the battle of fear in his heart. But God loves us, is with us and is for us - He makes us all the difference. (Romans 5:1-5)

In our culture we tend to focus on guilt, justice, punishment, etc. Many of us still struggle with feeling "guilty" . . . maybe part of the reason for that is because we don't grasp the shame side of the story. (Romans 5)

Acts 8 God is at work in all of our lives. We can respond to him by meeting him in his Word *Poor Sound Quality*

In the little story of Zaccheus we meet a great seeker - someone prepared to go to extreme lengths to achieve his goal. The goal was fellowship at a table, and the cost was immense.

Christmas is full of contrasts, none greater than heavenly angels bringing a message to humble shepherds. The great news? The gap is gone . . . it is not up to us to climb to God, but He has come to us!

Mary's responsive faith when told of a very complex future is inspiring. But we don't get faith like Mary by looking at her. She would be shocked how much the church has looked to her. As we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Mary we can discover the truth that gripped her heart - the Mighty One is merciful, to me!

Jesus came to give us life, but the way he did it was a real shock. His self-giving motivates us to let go of all this world offers us to follow him.

Disciples have everything they need- a message of good news, an invitation to God's Kingdom, brought in by and centred on Jesus. That means Christians will look very different to the world we are part of but, when we are faithful, and out of our heart's overflow tell others about Jesus, the message will spread.

The 12 year-old daughter of the most important man in town and the woman with a shameful 12 year-old problem both desperately needed to experience the gracious power of Christ. Our faith may be very weak, but the invitation to all of us is to approach Jesus and bring our greatest burdens to him.

How do we face fear? The truth is that even in the face of death we can express thankfulness to God. Why? Because He is God and we are not.

We all have things in our lives that have not worked out as we expected or hoped, and at some point we will all go through valleys. Praise God that his heart grieves over the sadness, pain and death in his good world, and that he is with us in the valley and able to shepherd us through it.

Are you drawn to Jesus or will you keep him at arm's length? Like light, Jesus chases away the darkness in our hearts. Stop, take stock, look at Jesus and fall in love with him again.

Jesus didn't tell parables as simple little stories to please the crowd. He told them to divide. People were, and are, either responsive or resistant to Jesus and his teaching. In the parable of the soils there were four soils, not just two. What are we to make of the thorny and shallow soils?

Why is our love for Jesus often weaker than we think it should be? In today's passage we see the principle that greater awareness of forgiveness leads to greater love for the forgiver.

Too easily we miss how involved Christ is in our lives today. Our relationship with him is not dependent on our worthiness, how we work up bigger faith, or the wealth of our knowledge. What is really important is the responsiveness of our hearts to him.

We live in a culture that avoids almost all references to 'death.' But for most of the world death is a real and present reality. Jesus compassionately conquers death, for those who don't deserve it.

We are very grateful to God for our new leaders. The Apostle Paul was a Christian leader who served the church, with integrity, tears, courage, compassion, proclaiming and teaching the whole Gospel.

What is the most important thing parents can do for their kids? Our biggest need is an answer to the brokenness we see the world- it is only by meeting Jesus that we have an answer and hope.

A Disciple is a Follower of Christ, being transformed, in relationship with Christ and His people. With him we discover our part in his mission - an invitation to be a disciple-making disciple.