As we establish a weekly church prayer meeting, this song reminds us of the privilege and importance of prayer.
Monday, 11 January 2016
Friday, 8 January 2016
Friday to the Father - 8/1/16
Jesus said: "This then is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven...' "
Matthew 6v9
Matthew 6v9
Praise God for an encouraging couple of weeks. The Christmas day service and meal went well, with visitors both familiar and unfamiliar, expected and unexpected! Thank God for the volunteers who helped on the day, and pray that we're able to maintain connections with all those who came.
Young and old being served at the Christmas day meal
Praise God for the encouraging commitment of a family that have recently moved to the area. Ruth has been coming to our Sunday meetings with her teenaged kids, Callum and Sian.
Pray for the coming year, as we start to raise the profile of the church within Welshpool. There are lots of possible ways to do this, but most of these ways require time and energy, which we often don't have a lot of! Pray that we'll be wise in how we reach out as a church to the community.
Pray also that we'll have church prayer meetings established by the end of the month. Only the Lord can build the church, and we express our faith in him through our commitment as a church to prayer.
God has provided a job for me (at least for the next few months!) so please pray that I'll be able to do good work. I now work Tuesdays for the church plant. Please pray that I'll be able to use my time wisely on that day so that there's less pressure on other days.
Finally, pray for us as families. That includes:
Brandon and Charlotte, with Naomi, Malachi, Blake and Elizabeth
Tom and Ruth, with Luke, Ethan, Jadon and Mae
Ruth and Richard, with Callum and Sian
Lai and Stuart, with Kai, Isla and Aaron
Thank you for your continued prayers. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Wednesday, 6 January 2016
Some Words for Wednesday - Covered by the sinless life of Christ
(Some notes from the message shared when we gathered as a church last Sunday.)
"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5v21
Through January, we'll be thinking about the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. One aim is to see more of his glory and greatness, as that is one of the ways we are changed as individuals and as a church community (2 Cor. 3v18).
Paul tells the believers in Corinth that he has a "message of reconciliation" (5v18), and that this reconciling takes place "in Christ" (5v19).
Reconciliation takes place when a broken friendship is mended. Our friendship with God has been broken by sin. When we put our trust in Christ - when we trust our whole lives to him - he is able to mend our friendship with God, so we can know Him and come near to Him. Jesus is able to do this for "the world" (5v19), for all kinds of people.
How does he do this? Jesus lived a sinless life, so that he could die carrying the sins of other people, and cover those people with his sinless life.
1. Jesus lived a sinless life - "he knew no sin"
If you travel on a train, you'll have other people around you. Sometimes, you'll have lots of people around you, crammed into a carriage! And yet you might not know any of them. You'll have people all around you; see and hear them; yet none of them will be known to you. They'll be strangers to you.
That's how Jesus was with sin. It happened around him. He witnessed it taking place - for example, he heard people lying about him at his trial. But he never made friends with sin. Sin was a stranger to him.
Jesus was "one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4v15) How did he manage that? Was he like a stone, unfeeling and detached?
No! When asked what were the most important laws, Jesus' answer was that you must love God with everything you are, and love people with everything you do. He was sinless here, too! He wasn't unfeeling or detached - he was always loving, and demonstrating the fruits of love in his behaviour towards people.
So in his humanity, Jesus was just like us, and tempted just like us! But where we failed, he succeeded. Where we gave up, he kept going. Where our love grew cold, his kept burning. Where we sinned, he remained sinless.
But why is this important?
2. Jesus lived a sinless life, so he could die carrying the sins of other people - "For our sake, (God) made him to be sin"
When Jesus Christ died, he did so on behalf of all those who trust in him. "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness." (1 Peter 2v24) On the cross, Jesus was being punished, but not for his own sins, for he had none. Instead, he took the place of all those who trust him with their lives, and he died for their sins.
Jesus lived a sinless life so that he could die for the sins of others - so that our sins could be put to death without us being put to death.
We'll consider this more next week. But there was another reason Jesus lived a sinless life.
3. Jesus lived a sinless life so that he could die carrying the sins of other people, and cover those people with his own sinless life - "so that we might become the righteousness of God in him"
What is "righteousness"? In a nutshell, it is doing and being what God says is right. As our creator, God has written our instruction manual. He made us, and so He is the only one with the authority and insight to define the right and best way for us to live.
By rejecting His way, and following our own way, we have all sinned, lost our righteousness, and lost our friendship with God. In order to regain that friendship, we must regain that righteousness. But where can we find a perfect righteousness that pleases God?
God Himself tells us at the baptism of Jesus. When Jesus is baptised, God speaks from heaven: "You are my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased." (Luke 3v22) Jesus is the perfectly pleasing Son of God. He is the one with the righteousness we need.
When Jesus dies, a big swap takes place. He carries our sins, and we receive his righteousness. We are covered by his sinless life.
As an illustration, I recently bought some very soft, warm dressing gowns for a couple of my sons. When one of the boys was wearing it the next day, he said "I feel like a rich man when I wear this!" You might relate to this - sometimes, at a hotel or a health spa, you'll find a dressing gown put out for you, which is really thick and soft, and makes you feel important!
Jesus provides us with a luxurious robe of righteousness! We are covered by his sinless life! This means that when God looks at you, he sees the righteousness of Christ. In a sense, He says "you are my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased."
God doesn't take this view because you've done better today than yesterday (but perhaps tomorrow His view will change!) He doesn't take this view because you've finally reached His standard of perfect righteousness in the way you live, nor because He's lowered that standard since you became a Christian.
He takes this view because of what Jesus has done - because Jesus not only died in your place, but also lived in your place. In a sense, Jesus died carrying your sins, but he lived carrying you. You are covered by the sinless life of Christ.
How do you receive this covering? By faith. Paul writes of "the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe" (Rom 3v22) and the righteousness "that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith" (Philp 3v9).
So, Jesus lived a sinless life so that he could die carrying the sins of other people, and cover those people with his sinless life. So how should this affect our everyday lives?
Firstly, it encourages us to be bold for Jesus - God will never lead you along a path and then leave you stranded! You are safe in the sinless life of Jesus. We can be courageous in our praying, our sharing, our living, knowing that God will never brush us aside because we didn't quite get it right. God is with us - who can be against us?
Don't be crushed by your sins. When you fail, don't waste time deliberately detaching yourself from God and His people until you think you're good enough to return. Instead, repent and believe that God accepts you as His child because of Christ's sinless life, not your's, and get straight back on with following Jesus as an individual and as part of a church community.
Be obedient for his glory, not your own. Paul removes the option of being selfishly selfless - of doing things for God's glory so that we can hold on to our salvation. Instead, Paul writes that we are to be controlled by the love of Christ (5v14) and living for his sake, not ourselves (5v15). We follow him not to receive glory from him but to give glory to him.
We cannot supplement the already-perfectly-obedient life of Christ that covers us, but we can magnify it through our reliance upon it, and in doing so give Jesus glory.
"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5v21
Through January, we'll be thinking about the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. One aim is to see more of his glory and greatness, as that is one of the ways we are changed as individuals and as a church community (2 Cor. 3v18).
Paul tells the believers in Corinth that he has a "message of reconciliation" (5v18), and that this reconciling takes place "in Christ" (5v19).
Reconciliation takes place when a broken friendship is mended. Our friendship with God has been broken by sin. When we put our trust in Christ - when we trust our whole lives to him - he is able to mend our friendship with God, so we can know Him and come near to Him. Jesus is able to do this for "the world" (5v19), for all kinds of people.
How does he do this? Jesus lived a sinless life, so that he could die carrying the sins of other people, and cover those people with his sinless life.
1. Jesus lived a sinless life - "he knew no sin"
If you travel on a train, you'll have other people around you. Sometimes, you'll have lots of people around you, crammed into a carriage! And yet you might not know any of them. You'll have people all around you; see and hear them; yet none of them will be known to you. They'll be strangers to you.
That's how Jesus was with sin. It happened around him. He witnessed it taking place - for example, he heard people lying about him at his trial. But he never made friends with sin. Sin was a stranger to him.
Jesus was "one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." (Hebrews 4v15) How did he manage that? Was he like a stone, unfeeling and detached?
No! When asked what were the most important laws, Jesus' answer was that you must love God with everything you are, and love people with everything you do. He was sinless here, too! He wasn't unfeeling or detached - he was always loving, and demonstrating the fruits of love in his behaviour towards people.
So in his humanity, Jesus was just like us, and tempted just like us! But where we failed, he succeeded. Where we gave up, he kept going. Where our love grew cold, his kept burning. Where we sinned, he remained sinless.
But why is this important?
2. Jesus lived a sinless life, so he could die carrying the sins of other people - "For our sake, (God) made him to be sin"
When Jesus Christ died, he did so on behalf of all those who trust in him. "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness." (1 Peter 2v24) On the cross, Jesus was being punished, but not for his own sins, for he had none. Instead, he took the place of all those who trust him with their lives, and he died for their sins.
Jesus lived a sinless life so that he could die for the sins of others - so that our sins could be put to death without us being put to death.
We'll consider this more next week. But there was another reason Jesus lived a sinless life.
3. Jesus lived a sinless life so that he could die carrying the sins of other people, and cover those people with his own sinless life - "so that we might become the righteousness of God in him"
What is "righteousness"? In a nutshell, it is doing and being what God says is right. As our creator, God has written our instruction manual. He made us, and so He is the only one with the authority and insight to define the right and best way for us to live.
By rejecting His way, and following our own way, we have all sinned, lost our righteousness, and lost our friendship with God. In order to regain that friendship, we must regain that righteousness. But where can we find a perfect righteousness that pleases God?
God Himself tells us at the baptism of Jesus. When Jesus is baptised, God speaks from heaven: "You are my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased." (Luke 3v22) Jesus is the perfectly pleasing Son of God. He is the one with the righteousness we need.
When Jesus dies, a big swap takes place. He carries our sins, and we receive his righteousness. We are covered by his sinless life.
As an illustration, I recently bought some very soft, warm dressing gowns for a couple of my sons. When one of the boys was wearing it the next day, he said "I feel like a rich man when I wear this!" You might relate to this - sometimes, at a hotel or a health spa, you'll find a dressing gown put out for you, which is really thick and soft, and makes you feel important!
Jesus provides us with a luxurious robe of righteousness! We are covered by his sinless life! This means that when God looks at you, he sees the righteousness of Christ. In a sense, He says "you are my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased."
God doesn't take this view because you've done better today than yesterday (but perhaps tomorrow His view will change!) He doesn't take this view because you've finally reached His standard of perfect righteousness in the way you live, nor because He's lowered that standard since you became a Christian.
He takes this view because of what Jesus has done - because Jesus not only died in your place, but also lived in your place. In a sense, Jesus died carrying your sins, but he lived carrying you. You are covered by the sinless life of Christ.
How do you receive this covering? By faith. Paul writes of "the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe" (Rom 3v22) and the righteousness "that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith" (Philp 3v9).
So, Jesus lived a sinless life so that he could die carrying the sins of other people, and cover those people with his sinless life. So how should this affect our everyday lives?
Firstly, it encourages us to be bold for Jesus - God will never lead you along a path and then leave you stranded! You are safe in the sinless life of Jesus. We can be courageous in our praying, our sharing, our living, knowing that God will never brush us aside because we didn't quite get it right. God is with us - who can be against us?
Don't be crushed by your sins. When you fail, don't waste time deliberately detaching yourself from God and His people until you think you're good enough to return. Instead, repent and believe that God accepts you as His child because of Christ's sinless life, not your's, and get straight back on with following Jesus as an individual and as part of a church community.
Be obedient for his glory, not your own. Paul removes the option of being selfishly selfless - of doing things for God's glory so that we can hold on to our salvation. Instead, Paul writes that we are to be controlled by the love of Christ (5v14) and living for his sake, not ourselves (5v15). We follow him not to receive glory from him but to give glory to him.
We cannot supplement the already-perfectly-obedient life of Christ that covers us, but we can magnify it through our reliance upon it, and in doing so give Jesus glory.
Tuesday, 5 January 2016
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! I've been away from the blog for a couple of weeks, but I'm back for a new year and a new work pattern!
Praise God for the provision of work! Having worked as a labourer for the last 4 months, I've now been taken on by the same company to do work in the office, developing the business and sourcing new work opportunities. There's a lot to learn, so please pray that God will provide all I need to do a good job.
My boss is Brandon, who is also part of the church planting team in Welshpool! I remember the afternoon several months ago when we began praying as a church family for God to provide work for myself and Brandon - now I marvel at God's providence!
One outcome of this is that my working week is now more predictable. I will be working for Brandon on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I'll be doing work for Welshpool Community Church on Tuesdays. There is probably some flexibility to this, but it's actually helpful for me and Ruth to have a set pattern for my working week.
I'm planning to spend Tuesday morning scheduling blog posts and updating the Facebook page, and Tuesday afternoon getting started on Sunday's message. I'm hoping the blog won't take up a whole morning, but the aim is to schedule the following each week:
Monday - Just Another Melodic Monday - a song that's related to the message I'll be sharing on Sunday
Wednesday - Some Words for Wednesday - a briefer version of the message I preached on Sunday
Friday - Friday to the Father - Thanksgiving and requests for prayer
We've had an encouraging couple of weeks, and I'll be sharing more about that on Friday. Thank you for your continued prayers for us. God is good!
Praise God for the provision of work! Having worked as a labourer for the last 4 months, I've now been taken on by the same company to do work in the office, developing the business and sourcing new work opportunities. There's a lot to learn, so please pray that God will provide all I need to do a good job.
A picture from my time as a labourer. Just as I was finishing work on the racking
one day, I noticed the cross and the rainbow, both reminders of God's promises
My boss is Brandon, who is also part of the church planting team in Welshpool! I remember the afternoon several months ago when we began praying as a church family for God to provide work for myself and Brandon - now I marvel at God's providence!
One outcome of this is that my working week is now more predictable. I will be working for Brandon on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I'll be doing work for Welshpool Community Church on Tuesdays. There is probably some flexibility to this, but it's actually helpful for me and Ruth to have a set pattern for my working week.
I'm planning to spend Tuesday morning scheduling blog posts and updating the Facebook page, and Tuesday afternoon getting started on Sunday's message. I'm hoping the blog won't take up a whole morning, but the aim is to schedule the following each week:
Monday - Just Another Melodic Monday - a song that's related to the message I'll be sharing on Sunday
Wednesday - Some Words for Wednesday - a briefer version of the message I preached on Sunday
Friday - Friday to the Father - Thanksgiving and requests for prayer
A picture taken at the Christmas day morning service.
We've had an encouraging couple of weeks, and I'll be sharing more about that on Friday. Thank you for your continued prayers for us. God is good!
Monday, 21 December 2015
Just another Melodic Monday - Who would have dreamed?
From the Christmas-themed album "Prepare Him Room" by Sovereign Grace Music, this is "Who would have dreamed". I love the thought that we could have held God in our hands - it reminds us of the human reality of the birth of God's son.
There hasn't been an opportunity for us to learn the song as a church this Christmas, so hopefully next year!
There hasn't been an opportunity for us to learn the song as a church this Christmas, so hopefully next year!
Monday, 14 December 2015
Just another Melodic Monday - O Love that will not let me go
You should have seen the smile on my face when I discovered this wonderful hymn being sung to a tune that will suit our acoustic set up perfectly! The traditional tune I know is fine, but more suited (in my opinion) to a keyboard rather than a guitar.
The recording below is produced by Indelible Grace Music (another discovery for me!), and is taken from the album "The Hymn Sing: Live in Nashville".
The recording below is produced by Indelible Grace Music (another discovery for me!), and is taken from the album "The Hymn Sing: Live in Nashville".
Friday, 11 December 2015
Friday to the Father - 11/12/15
Jesus said: "This then is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven...' "
Matthew 6v9
Thank God for an encouraging first public service last Sunday! I'm beginning to discern a core group of believers that will initially make up the church, and it was great to also see several friends who had come to encourage us. In total, there were 12 adults and 13 young people (from age 0 to 16).
Please pray for the service next Sunday. On Sunday evening, I was struck by the reality of holding a weekly meeting! Pray that we'll be able to recognise gifts within the church, so that responsibilities can be shared out appropriately.
Please also pray for wisdom as we consider other opportunities to meet together. It's important for us now to establish a regular time for corporate prayer during the week. I suspect (due to family commitments all round) that this will entail separate men's and women's weekly meetings. Pray that we'll be able to organise these within the next couple of weeks.
But most of all, praise God for his faithfulness!
Matthew 6v9
Thank God for an encouraging first public service last Sunday! I'm beginning to discern a core group of believers that will initially make up the church, and it was great to also see several friends who had come to encourage us. In total, there were 12 adults and 13 young people (from age 0 to 16).
Please pray for the service next Sunday. On Sunday evening, I was struck by the reality of holding a weekly meeting! Pray that we'll be able to recognise gifts within the church, so that responsibilities can be shared out appropriately.
Please also pray for wisdom as we consider other opportunities to meet together. It's important for us now to establish a regular time for corporate prayer during the week. I suspect (due to family commitments all round) that this will entail separate men's and women's weekly meetings. Pray that we'll be able to organise these within the next couple of weeks.
But most of all, praise God for his faithfulness!
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