Worshipping the Lord

Inspiration, authority, infallibility and inerrancy are the necessary prerequisites for preaching and teaching. If a true ministry is to be exercised, these theological foundations are indispensable. This is implied by Paul’s employment of the word ‘ambassador’ to describe the work of the ministry. The word ‘ambassador’ is used twice in the New Testament by Paul. In 2 Corinthians 5:19, he says, ‘Now, then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God”. His second comment is found in Ephesians 6:20 - ‘That I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak..” The Greek word for ‘ambassador’ is presbutes.   This word is derived from the verb presbeuo.   The literal meaning of this verb is ‘to be older or oldest’, ‘to take precedence by right of seniority’. This idea of seniority; which include...

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James Philip  

Teaching Evangelism In the preface to his book, The Evangelism of the Early Church , Michael Green states a personal reason for writing the book: “Most evangelists are not very interested in theology: most theologians are not very interested in evangelism. I am deeply committed to both. So the study of this subject was particularly congenial to me” (p.7). Green’s book contains a brief but helpful section on “Teaching Evangelism” (pp.204-206). Green’s emphasis on the unbreakable connection between theology and evangelism encourages us to develop an evangelistic theology. A theology which does not lead to evangelism remains remote from both the Gospel of God and the need of human beings. An evangelism which shows little interest in theological reflection tends to become rather superficial, lacking the depth and range of “teaching evangelism”. Looking up to God and looking out to our community Here are some more thoughts from Local Church Evangelism, edited by David Wrig...

We have often heard these words spoken. Here, we are reading them in the Word of God. How often do we think about these words? What do they mean? These are life-changing words. Through ‘the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ’, we become ‘rich’ - ‘blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing’ (2 Corinthians 8:9, Ephesians 1:3). ‘In love God has destined us to be His sons through Jesus Christ’ (Ephesians 1:5). How do these blessings become ours? How do we become God’s children? We hear the Word of truth, the Gospel of our salvation. We believe in Christ. We are sealed with the promised Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13). Such great blessing - ‘the Spirit is poured upon us from on high (Isaiah 32:15)!

The sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper - What place do they have within the total context of the Christian life? What part do they play within the total purpose of God for our lives? The sacraments are signposts. They point us to the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour. When you see a signpost marked, "Edinburgh", you are pointed in the direction of Edinburgh. The sign says, "This is the way to Edinburgh." When you see a sign that says, "Come alive with Pepsi", your attention is directed to Pepsi-Cola. The sacraments point us to Jesus. The sacraments direct our attention to Jesus. The signpost says, "This is the way to Edinburgh." The sacraments point to Jesus. They say, "He is the Way to heaven." The Pepsi-Cola advert says, "Come alive with Pepsi." The sacraments invite us to "Come alive with Jesus." When you see the sign for Edinburgh, you are not already in Edinburgh. It is possible to see t...

 * Saved by grace - "He saved us, but not because of anything we had done to gain His approval. Instead, because of his mercy He saved us" (Titus 3:5).   * Saved for good works - "God’s saving kindness ... trains us to avoid ungodly lives filled with worldly desires so that we can live self-controlled, moral, and godly lives in this present world" (Titus 2:11-12).  *  Saved to be a witness - We are to "show the beauty of the teachings about God our Savior in everything we do" (Titus 2:10). Witness is more than what we say. It's what we do. Our whole life - words as well as actions - is to point people away from ourselves to our Saviour.

Titus 1:1-2:10   How are we to live? We are not to be ‘empty talkers’, people who ‘profess to know God’ and ‘deny Him by their deeds’(1:10,16). We must give no one the opportunity to ‘speak evil of God’s Word’. We must be ‘a model of good deeds’, showing ‘the beauty of the teachings about God our Saviour in everything we do’(2:5,7,10). When we live in a Christlike way, ‘those who oppose’ Christ and His Gospel will be ‘put to shame, having nothing evil to say of us’(2:8). This is how we are to live. How do we live? This is a question for all of us. It is a question which will make us feel uncomfortable. We don’t find it easy to look closely at the way we live our lives. We won’t get away with glossing over things. God calls us to pray, ‘Search me, O God... Cleanse me from every sin...’(Psalm 139:23-24; Mission Praise, 587).  Titus 2:11-3:15   We read in 2:11,13 of Christ’s coming in grace- ‘the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all peop...

Ruth 1:1-22 Following the triple tragedy of the deaths of Elimelech, Mahlon and Chilion (Ruth 1:3-5) and the departure of Orpah (Ruth 1:14), there was a new beginning for Naomi and Ruth. This new beginning came to them when "they came to Bethlehem" (Ruth 1:19). The town of Bethlehem marked a new beginning for them. It marks a new beginning for us. This was the place where our Saviour was born. "They happened to to enter Bethlehem just when the barley harvest began." The timing of their arrival turns our thoughts towards fruitfulness. We come to our Saviour - born at Bethlehem, and He makes us fruitful in His service. Without His help, we cannot even begin to see a harvest gathered in for Him. If we are to see the Lord's blessing on the work we do for Him, we must look to Him, putting our trust in Him. Ruth 2:1-4:22 This is the story of Ruth and Boaz. It is a story which leads on to David (Ruth 4:22) - and, beyond him, to Christ. In this story of love, w...

In Ruth 2 , there’s a beautiful picture of harvest . Look back to Ruth 1:1 – “There was a famine in the land.” The Christian life’s like that. It’s not always harvest. Sometimes, it’s famine. Sometimes, we feel like we’re on the mountain-top. At other times, we’re in the wilderness. Whatever your circumstances, remember this – God knows what’s best for you. In the happy times and the testing times, be sure of this – God is not far from you, He’s with you, He loves you and He wants to bless you. When it seems like nothing’s going right for you, take time to think about what the Lord has done for you and give thanks to Him. When things are going well, don’t take God’s blessing for granted. He can withdraw His blessing from us if we don’t give thanks to Him – that’s the warning Jesus gives us in the parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:13-21). When things are going badly, don’t let your head go down. Don’t start thinking that God’s blessing will never return to you again. Th...

Ruth 4:18-22 “A genealogy is a striking way of bringing before us the continuity of God’s purpose through the ages. The process of history is not haphazard. There is a purpose in it all. And the purpose is the purpose of God.” ( Leon Morris , Ruth ).

Ruth 3:1-4:22 Thank You, Lord, that Jesus has become one of us. He's come down to this earth for us - and He's gone to the Cross for us. He came from heaven - and He's taking us to heaven. He has taken our sin - and He's given us His forgiveness. When we think of Jesus - all that He has done for us, all that He is doing for us, all that He will do for us, may our hearts be filled with praise to You, the God of our salvation.

Ruth 1:1-2:23 Sometimes, Lord, it seems to us that some things just happen by chance. You’re saying to us, “No. It’s more than that.” You are working in us. You are showing us Your love. Day-by-day, You are showing us that You are the faithful God. You are the God of “amazing grace.” Help us to say more than “These things just happened.” Help us to say, “God has blessed us. Thank You, Lord.” Ruth 3:1-4:22 Thank You, Lord, that Jesus has become one of us. He’s come down to this earth for us – and He’s gone to the Cross for us. He came from heaven – and He’s taking us to heaven. He has taken our sin – and He’s given us His forgiveness. When we think of Jesus – all that He has done for us, all that He is doing for us, all that He will do for us, may our hearts be filled with praise to You, the God of our salvation.

Ruth 1:1-2:23 Sometimes, Lord, it seems to us that some things just happen by chance. You're saying to us, "No. It's more than that." You are working in us. You are showing us Your love. Day-by-day, You are showing us that You are the faithful God. You are the God of "amazing grace." Help us to say more than "These things just happened." Help us to say, "God has blessed us. Thank You, Lord."

“… watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned … By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people” (Romans 16:17-18). These are very strong words. They are words which have a great deal to say to the Church at a time when it seems that the voice of permissive society is threatening to drown out completely the voice of Holy Scripture. When Paul addresses the problem of divisions among God’s people, He calls us to be faithful “to the teaching you have learned.” Behind Paul’s words concerning “the teaching you have learned”, there is something else: “according to the Scriptures.” We see this in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. Paul begins by speaking about “the gospel which I preached to you” (1 Corinthians 15:1). As we look on to 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, it becomes clear that he is not concerned with drawing attention to himself. What he is concerned about is this: “according to the Scr...

"Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9  You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you" (Romans 8:8-9). The flesh and the Spirit are very different. This is what Paul says here. It's what Jesus said in John 3:6. In John 3:7, Jesus was saying, "You must be born again." Here, Paul is saying, "You have been born again."   

“While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Is this no longer true just because a lot of people have lost interest in singing the song of salvation? No! This was Good News in Paul’s day. It’s still Good News for today. It will always be the Good News of God’s love. It will always be the great reminder of God’s “for ever” love (Psalm 136).

" I’m not ashamed of the Good News. It is God’s power to save everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16). Jesus wasn't ashamed of us. He went to the Cross for us. This is the Good News. Jesus is our Saviour. May we be unashamed of Jesus. May we be glad to speak of Him who died for us. May our lives speak for Him - as well as our words. May we not bring shame on His great Name. May we bring glory to His Name - the Name of our salvation. I was reading Romans 1:1-7 . I was asking the question, "What's this about?" There's one simple answer to this question: "This is all about Jesus!"

Romans 1:1-32 “I am not ashamed of the Gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith” (Romans 1:16). Lord, we thank You for Your Gospel. It is Good News. It comes to us with power. It brings to us salvation. Help us to believe Your Gospel, to release its power and to receive Your salvation. Romans 2:1-29 Help us, Lord, not to come to You with the Pharisee’s pride: “God, I thank You that I am not like other men.” Help us to come with the sinner’s prayer: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18: 11-13). Help us, Lord, to confess our sin and rejoice in Your salvation: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). Romans 3:1-31 “All have sinned” (Romans 3:23). Lord, this is more than the Bible’s teaching about sin. It’s our own personal story. It’s the story of our life. Sin – This is not the only story. There’s another story, a better story – the Story of Your salvation. You have sent Jesus to our world. He is our S...

" When people work, their pay is not regarded as a gift but something they have earned" (Romans 4:4). When God is at work in us, bringing us to faith in His Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ, everything is very different. His salvation is His gift to us. It's not our reward from Him.   Grace gives to us. We receive from grace. Grace brings us to faith. By faith, we look away from ourselves to the God of grace. We say, " Praise Him, praise Him, alleluia! Praise with us the God of grace." "Jesus, our Lord, was handed over to death because of our failures and was brought back to life so that we could receive God’s approval" (Romans 4:25). Think often of what Jesus had done for you. He died for you. He rose again for you. Thank him for dying for you. Thank Him for rising again for you.

"Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  they are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:23-24). Here, we read about our sin and God's salvation. Once we have received God's salvation, we must not forget about our sin. We have been saved by God's grace - but we are always sinners. Our sin has been forgiven - but our sin is still there, trying to get the upper hand, trying to keep us from "growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18). How are we to grow in Christ? We rejoice in His gift of the forgiveness of our sins - but will we grow in Christ by forgetting that we are sinners? When we come to the Cross of Christ, two things are revealed to us - our sin and God's salvation. The revelation of our sin does not end when we receive God's gift of forgiveness. In love, the Lord keeps on showing us how far we have fallen s...

YEAR B First Sunday of Advent: Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37 Jesus Christ is God’s Answer to our prayer. We confess our sins to God - ‘We sinned... All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags’. We look to God for forgiveness - ‘Do not remember our sins for ever’ (Isaiah 64:5-6, 9). We know that God hears and answers our prayer. Jesus Christ is God’s Answer to our prayer. He has ‘come down’ from heaven to earth. ‘The Son of the Most High’ has been ‘born’ into our world. Jesus Christ is God’s way of saying ‘Here am I! Here am I!’ He is ‘God with us’ (Isaiah 64:1; 65:1; Luke 1:32, 35; Matthew 1:23). ‘The blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin’. Let us ‘confess our sins’. ‘The blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin’- Let us come to God with faith, believing that He ‘will forgive our sins’. (1 John 1:7, 9). Let us rejoice in Jesus, our Saviour! We pray fo...