Avsnitt
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True understanding of our standing before God, reveals that we can gain favour and merit even in our failures, because of who God is. Even in our disobedience, a correct heart condition which is brought back to God through confession and repentance can still encounter blessing. If only we could completely submit to God and his commands, acknowledging His care and provision for our obedience without resorting to raising our Buts!
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God did not set every Israelite at Jericho his own individual challenge which was divorced from the group as a whole. They acted as one people, one united group to act in a particular way. Some within that group might have been deeply suspicious of whether it was going to work. Others might have been extremely confident. But, in the end, they acted together to exercise faith in God’s plans for them ALL.
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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The people of Israel got up in the morning and approached the Jordan River without any strategy for crossing, except to obey Joshua and remember what God had done for their parents at the Red Sea. For three days they camped with the sound of floodwaters in their ears, the sight of the opposite shore reminding them of the mission ahead.
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In the same way we also cannot be saved by simply knowing who God is, or even by knowing a lot about God, or even by doing stuff for God, or by thinking that just because God is merciful that He will save me anyway. No, we must display - for all to see, both our faith and our works, because on judgement day God is only looking for those people who are displaying the scarlet cord.
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As we start the book of Joshua, we encounter a baton change, a passing of Gods promise from one runner to another, in our case, from Moses to Joshua. The goal remains the same - finish what has been started.
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Have you ever put something off time and time again, knowing it is what you should do, but not wanting to for whatever reason - procrastinating is the posh term! What I find is that when I finally do put my mind to the task in hand, it is often far easier and demands less effort than I imagined, and the results are far greater than I hoped. When I read my bible, I do wonder how the Israelites who escaped slavery in Egypt managed to spend 40 years wandering around a desert land moaning and groaning, rather than pursuing Gods promises?
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So, in summary we must be the light of the world, we must demonstrate the light of the world, and we must remain in the light of the world.“You are the light of the World” We are not Jesus, but if Jesus lives in us, and if we remain in Him, we will be totally unable to hide that fact. Then we will shine like Jesus and we will be “The light of the world” that Jesus asked us to be.
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Gods first act to bring into existence ‘goodness’. Light is therefore Good, and it signifies where God is - His Glory. This is the overarching theme of scripture, that repeats - that the purity, the holiness, the unfailing, unchanging characteristics of God are represented by light so brilliant that no human eye can gaze upon it and live. I think to move towards this understanding helps us to picture the ‘awe’ of God.
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When we read ‘light’ in scripture what do we associate it with? It is an unusual question - ‘what is light?’ because however we choose to answer this question we will always seat it in what we perceive and call light today - whether that be daylight - the light of the sun - the light from a bulb that we switch on so we can see, a torch light to show the way across a dark field on a camp site on the way to the toilet!
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If we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we will be saved. The seven miracles in John give us all the evidence we need to be certain that Jesus is who He says He is. Make sure your story ends in life. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord WILL be saved”
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The blind man can see and receives the goodness and compassion of God (Jahweh is His name and this is half of what His name means) but remember last week as we looked at god’s name and the importance of Jesus stating that He is ‘I AM’, that the ability to act in true compassion and righteousness gives the authority to also judge…and the pharisees walk right into the trap!
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Same story, three different views. Matthew and Marks are very similar apart from the fact that Matthew has Peter walking on the water and having to get back into the boat with Jesus! The result is the same though - as soon as Jesus entered in - the winds stopped - the storm subsided. There was peace and purpose.
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The miracle of feeding the 5,000 should stir us… Stir us to be generous with what we have.. give it all to Him, to trust in him that in any situation He will provide the answers. Also that God wants us to participate in the story. He didn’t make us to be passive. He wants us to worship him with mind soul body…. He wants us to engage with the Holy Spirit…He wants us to be all in…
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This miracle demonstrates Jesus authority over time. Just because the man had been ill for 38 years did not mean that he was beyond saving, just because we have long standing problems we have in our lives does not mean that Jesus cannot deal with them.
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The miracle of the healing of the Officials son shows that Jesus has authority over distance. He is Lord over all of creation, He has no need to be present and healing can take place anywhere that God so chooses. By faith, when we pray, we should take time to listen to what God is saying, perhaps one day He will ask you to pray into a situation you know nothing about. When He does, and you see the results, you will be both amazed and encouraged.
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I might be wrong but I’m pretty sure everyone of us wants the miracle but not everyone wants to be in a position where they need a miracle, nobody wants to be in the need moment… Its great to have healing but nobody wants to be sick…..everybody wants to get to heaven but nobody wants to die to get there right?
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Today we are starting a new series, which will run for the next 8 or so weeks. Over this time we are going to be looking at the Gospel of John and in particular the seven miracles that John writes about. With our Pastor Andy away it is going to fall to myself and Jamie to cover most of these. This week I am going to do an introduction with a broad overall picture of the Gospel so that over the next 7 weeks we can place the miracles into a proper context.
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When the pastor asks you to preach on your aspirations for the coming year, its a bit strange what you actually come up with. You see, what my aspirations are for this year , might not be what your aspirations are for this year. You see we all sit in a different space, we live different lives but hopefully we are all striving towards the same goal.
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As we read Paul’s prayer of thanks to God for the grace He has poured out on the believers in Ephesus, the unity and faith of both Jew and Gentile - brought together in one entity - church - we can give thanks for the same grace and power at work here today
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As we look at the letter to the Ephesian church together, we will see the impact that living as ‘saved people’ must have on our families, our work situations and our communities that we engage with. Armed with this knowledge and empowered by the Holy Spirit, I want us set our focus and attention on our transformed nature and be intentional about making a difference this year. Let us be fully committed to letting Christs love work through us, changing us to the benefit of all around this year.
- Visa fler
