18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Showing posts with label Gospel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gospel. Show all posts
22/10/2022
30/05/2022
1 Thessalonians 1
1 Thessalonians 5:11
At the beginning of his letter to the Thessalonians, Paul thanks the Lord for them. What does he mention?
1- your work produced by faith
2- your labour prompted by love
3- your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus-Christ!
This epistle gives us lots of information about Paul's life and his 'mission' when he was with them.
29/08/2018
23/05/2014
11/03/2014
A huge welcome to our guest blogger, Nicola Baskerville.
 |
| Wash day at the Nile Source: https://theoutreachfoundationblog.wordpress.com |
We had a fantastic time of prayer and fellowship for the Women's World Day of Prayer last Friday. I am so pleased that Nicola Baskerville, who has joined the Mid-trent churches team recently accepted to share her talk on 'blog'.
Womens’
World Day of Prayer
·
Our experience of Egypt today
·
Contrast with the experience of women in
Egypt today
·
The orthodox Coptic church in Egypt
·
Theme of water in dry places
·
The gospel response
·
Our response to the gospel
Hello ladies. How many of us have travelled to Egypt?
Mostly, us British travellers hope to see the signs of ancient Egyptian
civilisation, or perhaps to indulge in sunny relaxation on the Red Sea coast,
diving and snorkelling. I have done it myself! And I loved the visit; and the mad
chaos in the streets of Cairo, the immense pyramids and what seems an exotic
culture.
But of course there is much more to modern Egypt than
this, although they rely greatly on tourism as their biggest industry. Egypt in
present times is still in a state of flux. There were, of course, high hopes
for the outcomes of the Arab Spring. But the situation changes all the time,
and I ask you all to pray for the future of this wonderful land.
I also ask you to continue to pray for the women here. Women’s
rights are nothing like they are in our society, with literacy levels and
education and employment opportunities still way behind those of men. Domestic
life has seen some backward moves too, and women do not have the say in their
lives that we enjoy. Let us, today, show some solidarity with these women -
rejoicing in the faith they have and working towards better standards for them
in the future. We can also learn a lot from them.
The Orthodox Coptic church is an interesting phenomenon.
It is certainly one of the most ancient manifestations of the Christian Church,
and continues many of its ancient traditions still. I have had more exposure to
the very similar Ethiopian Orthodox church, during my involvement in that
country, where I have had the privilege of taking part in worship a couple of
times. The church, however, is still firmly lead by Patriarchs and male
priests, and it’s structure is still heavily male dominated, despite the beauty
of the worship.
So today, picture ourselves with the women of Egypt, immersed in these traditions, the Coptic Church
being the largest worshipping body of Christians, making up nearly 12% of the
population, the rest being Muslim.
Now… I’d like us to imagine what it must be like for
those living in a climate which is hot and arid. And imaging how important
water would be to you. I was born and grew up in Zimbabwe. Droughts were common
– not our kind of drought that may only last a few weeks! The rains fell for
maybe 3 months of the year, on and off. When the rains arrived, I remember
running outside in the heat and stretching out my arms in welcome to the huge,
vertical drops of water falling from the sky. And perhaps an hour later, the
rain will have stopped and the sunshine would be out again, and you wouldn’t
know when the next rain would fall. We were very careful about our use of
water, and wouldn’t dream of wasting a drop indulgently!
Most of Egypt’s
water supply comes from just one river – the mighty Nile. I have been to the
very source of the Nile, where it flows into a small lake in the mountains of
Ethiopia. It is astonishing that it becomes the life-blood for a whole nation
of nearly 85 million people in an otherwise hot and arid land, where, for some,
there is no escape from the heat. It is the source for all food and
transportation too.
I hope that this helps you to appreciate how wonderful
our theme of Streams in the Desert is. No one can live without water, and Egypt
was dependent on what used to be an unreliable supply, with flooding and
droughts, until the Aswan dam was built.
So picture too, the hot and dry climate in our Gospel
story tonight. Samaritans were despised by the Jews. They were originally part
of the Israelites, until the Assyrian king captured Samaria back in 720 BC, and
they were deported to Assyria. They were seen as separate, although they wanted
to worship with the Jews when they returned. They worshipped separately on top
of Mount Gerizim, (the place it was believed that Abraham was prepared to
sacrifice Isaac) ,because they were forbidden from worshipping at the temple in
Jerusalem. (The Jews remained very stubborn!) There was continuing enmity
between the two regions for centuries.
So here we are, at the scene of Jacob’s ancient well –
yes, given to the people by Abraham’s grandson, still being used in Jesus’ day.
Now here was a Jewish man,
associating with a Samaritan! And a woman! Talking about sharing drinking
vessels! Oh no! This scenario would have been avoided in those days. But Jesus,
as we know, didn’t care much for prejudice.
This is one of my favourite passages in the entire Bible
– a long and intimate conversation between Jesus and this foreigner. And it
sums up so much of what Jesus was on earth to do: to meet people WHERE THEY
ARE; to reveal who he is; and to offer his love and life for us, bringing us
into the kingdom of God, not only to the Jews; and giving us eternal life.
This woman was at the well to draw water. We can make
assumptions about her background, but we are not told, so we, like Jesus,
should not hold prejudices. She is not ignorant of her history and boldly
challenges Jesus. He offers her the spiritual living water, which she mistakes
as physical water – but as he reveals to her his identity, which hitherto he’s not
revealed to anyone, she “gets it”, and goes to share the news with her
community. That means that she is the first non-Jew missionary! Remarkable! And
many came to believe in Jesus because of what she said to others.
She experienced what Jesus longs for us all to experience
– the flow of the loving, living spiritual waters, reaching all the parched and
empty spaces of our lives. It is free, to drink in as much as we wish. And this
water satisfies our spiritual thirst, like nothing else can do.
Now how can we internalise this in our lives? How can we
respond to the Gospel? Let’s put it this way – we can encounter Jesus, spend
time in his presence; believe in him and drink from the living, empowering,
refreshing waters he offers us. And very importantly, like the Samaritan woman
did - share these waters with others, that their thirst will be quenched too.
I was reminded of the words in one of the songs we sang
this evening:
In the questions without answers,
In the truth we seek to find,
God is calling us to journey,
Leaving certainty behind.
And I was reminded that when we serve God, we must trust
him for the path ahead, as is eloquently expressed in the traditional Sufi
story in the Womens’ World Day of Prayer accompanying booklet:
Tale of the Journeying Stream
A stream, from its course in far-off mountains, passing
through every kind and description of countryside, at last reached the sands of
the desert. Just as it had crossed every other barrier, the stream tried to
cross this one, but found that as fast as it ran into the sand, its waters disappeared.It
was convinced, however, that its destiny was to cross this desert, and yet
there was no way.
Now a hidden voice, coming from the desert itself,
whispered: "The wind crosses the desert, and so can the stream."
The stream objected that it was dashing itself against
the sand, and only getting absorbed: that the wind could fly, and this was why
it could cross a desert.
"By hurtling in your own accustomed way you cannot
get across. You will either disappear or become a marsh. You must allow the wind
to carry you over, to your destination.
But how could this happen? "By dying to yourself and
being absorbed in the wind."
This idea was not acceptable to the stream. After all, it
had never been absorbed before. It did not want to lose its individuality. And,
once having lost it, how was one to know that it could ever be regained?
"The wind," said the sand, "performs this
function. It takes up water, carries it over the desert, and then lets it fall
again. Falling as rain, the water again becomes a river."
"How can I know that this is true?"
"It is so, and if you do not believe it, you cannot
become more than a quagmire, and even that could take many, many years. And it
certainly is not the same as a stream."
"But can I not remain the same stream that I am
today?"
"You cannot in either case remain so," the
whisper said. "Your essential part is carried away and forms a stream
again. You are called what you are even today because you do not know which part
of you is the essential one."
When it heard this, certain echoes began to arise in the
thoughts of the stream. Dimly it remembered a state in which it -- or some part
of it? -- had been held in the arms of a wind. It also remembered -- or did it?
-- that this was the real thing, not necessarily the obvious thing to do.
And the stream raised its vapour into the welcoming arms
of the wind, which gently and easily bore it upwards and along, letting it fall
softly as soon as they reached the roof of a mountain, many, many miles away.
And because it had its doubts, the stream was able to remember and record more
strongly in its mind the details of the experience. It reflected, "Yes,
now I have learned my true identity."
--Sufi Parable
When we lose our lives, Jesus gives us new life – a more
purposeful life.
How can we put these words into action? We
can play a significant part in sharing the living waters, by little acts of
service to the Lord, in our own communities, and by supporting charities
worldwide, that will help women and their communities learn about the truth
that Jesus brought.
Some of you, will of course be called to specialist
projects too. Putting faith into action. I am in the process of setting up,
this very week, the Charity which will, God willing, open, in May a Christian
drop-in centre and coffee shop for those in need in Derby. We intend to work
with the homeless, prisoners and ex-offenders, prostitutes and those in trouble,
the lonely and lost and any that thirst for the love of God. We have handed
this entirely over to God, so that it’s success will be based on His will, and
not on any ambition I might have of being a local Mother Theresa! And the
moment We put our trust in Him, all things, as the scripture tells us, started
to work together for good for those that love God. We think we have found the
right premises, got trustees, have secured some funding, and are setting up the
bank account, and all that is necessary for it to start up. If any of you would like to become involved, in
any little way, please let me know, because the workers are few at the moment!
But I know that God will provide – He always does…
All I ask at the moment is for your prayer.
All I ask at the moment is for your prayer.
But before we do
anything for the Lord, let me remind you to drink in his living waters – come
close to him, so that he can make known his will for you and your involvement
in any service of love for Him. His supply is abundant, in fact never ending.
And he wants to share it with all.
Hallelujah!
10/04/2013
My song is love unknown.
I discovered this old hymn last month in church, made a note of its title on my phone and then forgot about it. Tonight to my surprise, I started to hum it and I had to google it to find the lyrics! It was written by Samuel Crossman in 1664. Usually I prefer modern songs, still I will make an exception for this one.. not just because the music is beautiful but also the lyrics are incomparable, more powerful than poetry, starting with the title, love unknown that almost summarises the verse John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
My Savior’s love to me;
Love to the loveless shown,
That they might lovely be.
O who am I,
That for my sake
My Lord should take
Frail flesh, and die?
Salvation to bestow;
But men made strange, and none
The longed-for Christ would know:
But oh, my Friend,
My Friend indeed,
Who at my need
His life did spend.
And His sweet praises sing;
Resounding all the day
Hosannas to their King:
Then “Crucify!“
Is all their breath,
And for His death
They thirst and cry.
My dear Lord made away;
A murderer they save,
The Prince of life they slay.
Yet cheerful He
To suffering goes,
That He His foes
From thence might free.
My Lord on earth might have;
In death, no friendly tomb,
But what a stranger gave.
What may I say?
Heav’n was His home;
But mine the tomb
Wherein He lay.
No story so divine;
Never was love, dear King,
Never was grief like Thine.
This is my Friend,
In whose sweet praise
I all my days
Could gladly spend.
So who was Samuel Crossman (1623 – 4 February 1683)? He was a minister of the Church of England and a hymnwriter. Born at Bradfield Monachorum in Suffolk, he earned a Bachelor of Divinity at Pembroke College, University of Cambridge, and was Prebendary of Bristol. After graduation, he ministered to both an Anglican congregation at All Saints, Sudbury, and to a Puritan congregation.. Crossman sympathized with the Puritan cause, and attended the 1661 Savoy Conference, which attempted to update the Book of Common Prayer so that both Puritans and Anglicans could use it.
The conference failed, and the 1662 Act of Uniformity expelled Crossman along with some 2,000 other Puritan-leaning ministers from the Church of England. He renounced his Puritan affiliations shortly afterward, and was ordained in 1665, becoming a royal chaplain. He received a post at Bristol in 1667, and became Dean of Bristol Cathedral in 1683. He died on 4 February 1683, at Bristol, and lies buried in the south aisle of the cathedral at Bristol. Several of Crossman's hymns are preserved in the Sacred Harp.
Blessings. N.
21/11/2012
The Gospel of Luke
Sources Luke May Have Used In The Course Of Writing His Gospel
Above all the ultimate, true source behind Luke's gospel was the Holy Spirit--the Spirit of truth who taught his inspired penmen all things and brought to remembrance all that Jesus had said (John 14:16,17,26). The Spirit's inspiration of his penman does not rule out the writer's use of material at his disposal to document under the Spirit's guidance what he was writing. In using those materials the Spirit's guidance would have led the writer to leave out any chaff of error and to preserve only the wheat of what was the truth.Paul was a source for Luke's gospel. As stated in the section about Luke the writer, Luke was a companion and assistant of the apostle Paul, who had seen Jesus and had been instructed by Jesus. Luke thus learned from Paul the gospel of Jesus Christ that Paul preached in his missionary endeavors.
Mark was another potential source of information for Luke. Luke associated with the gospel writer Mark. Luke first met Mark in the church of Antioch, where Luke was a member and where Barnabas and Paul had brought Mark in A.D. 44 to assist them (cf. Acts 12:25). Luke was also with Mark, as well as with Paul, in Rome during Paul's first imprisonment there and when Paul wrote his prison epistles, (cf. Colossians 4:10,14; Philemon 24). Luke and Mark were again together with Paul in Rome during Paul's second Roman imprisonment before his martyrdom (cf. 2 Timothy 4:10,11). Mark had heard and learned the gospel that Peter had preached (cf. An Overview Of The Gospel Of Mark). It is thought that since Luke was in Rome with Mark during both of Paul's Roman imprisonments, and since Mark wrote his gospel in Rome in the mid A.D. 60's, Luke is likely to have obtained a copy of Mark's gospel very soon after it was written and followed it in the course of writing his own gospel.
Peter himself, whose preaching was the basis of Mark's gospel, may have been a source of information for Luke in preparing his gospel. Luke's whereabouts between Paul's first and second Roman imprisonments in A.D. 61 to 62 and in A.D. 67 is unknown. If Luke remained in Rome for those five years or so, he is likely to have had contact with Peter. Peter was in Rome and there wrote his first letter around A.D. 62 to 64 and his second letter around A.D. 66 to 67. Assuming Luke remained in Rome during those years, he had the opportunity to hear from Peter the gospel of Jesus that Peter preached.
Luke traveled with Paul to carry the collection of the Gentile churches to the poor Christians in Jerusalem. While there Luke met James the brother of the Lord Jesus and the elders of the church, (cf. Acts 21:18). He would also have had the opportunity to interview the apostles who were in Jerusalem, plus the many other Christians who had witnessed Jesus' teachings, miracles, suffering, death, and resurrection. There were many such Christians, for Paul noted in 1 Corinthians 15:6 that Jesus had appeared after his resurrection to more than five hundred such disciples at one time, many of whom were still living. Luke also spent the two years of Paul's imprisonment in Caesarea near Galilee and Judea. It would have been a simple matter for him to travel those areas where Jesus had conducted his ministry and talk with the eyewitnesses.
I found those facts so interesting (If you click on Luke this will take you to the website) I have not got much more time tonight as I need to get on with some work. Have a blessed evening or day depending which side of the planet you live!
Picture: Luke, 1360–64 Attributed to Master Theodoric, Prague
15/07/2012
March for Jesus
01/06/2012
Serving the King
At the end of the Jubilee mission, on the Sunday 20/05, Rev Adrian Stone who is the vicar at St John's Littleworth in Stafford preached on 'Serving the King'.
Everybody who came this week enjoyed listening to those messages and many said how they were touched by them. If you are still searching for the meaning of your life and have questions, I hope that these messages will answer directly or indirectly some of your questions. As we are off to Norfolk for half-term, I hope you will have a blessed hols. If you are still working, have a blessed week. In the name of Jesus. N.
01/11/2011
Pastor Zhang Rongliang released after nearly 7 years behind bars
After nearly seven years behind bars Chinese house church leader Pastor Zhang Rongliang has been freed from jail early – after almost seven years' detention.
Release has learnt that he was released from prison in Kaifeng on August 31 – nine months before his seven-and-a-half-year sentence was officially due to end.
Release has learnt that he was released from prison in Kaifeng on August 31 – nine months before his seven-and-a-half-year sentence was officially due to end.
Pastor Zhang leads the Fangcheng Mother Church in central China's Henan province and also heads up one of China's largest church networks, the China for Christ Church.
He was detained in December 2004 and convicted of 'obtaining a passport through cheating' and 'illegal border crossing' in July 2006. He had frequently attended mission conferences abroad.
Concerns over his poor health had prompted repeated international calls for his release. Pastor Zhang is said to have suffered several chronic diseases during his imprisonment, including diabetes – and had a stroke in 2007.
A house church leader of some 30 years' standing, Pastor Zhang had already served a total of 12 years in prison during five previous periods of detention. He spent seven years in the Xi Hua labour camp for the crime of 'counter-revolution under the guise of religion'.
Speaking of his most recent detention, Pastor Zhang has said that he was able to share the Gospel with many of his fellow inmates – including former high-ranking officials. He has returned to his home near Zhengzhou, provincial capital of Henan.
Meanwhile, China Aid President Bob Fu is currently in the UK for Release International, to talk about the situation for Christians in China following the recent clampdown on human rights lawyers. Bob will be the speaker at a Release meeting on Saturday in Birmingham – and at a prayer breakfast next Tuesday during the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.
(For more details, visit www.releaseinternational.org (http://www.releaseinternational.org/) or ring 01689 823491.)
Bob is a leading advocate on behalf of the persecuted church in China. Once a house church pastor, he was driven out of China due to persecution.
22/03/2011
Bringing the gospel to others at work...
Is it feasible? risky? Would you lose your job? Some time ago, I heard a minister saying that it was like being undercover. However I reckon the more you practice, the better you become! Easy said than done, you could answer! Have you tried?
God has put each one of us where we are for a purpose. If you are in a particular job, it is because God has put you there to reach others who work there.
I am now in the middle of chapter 4 of Authentic Christianity by Richard Taylor, an amazing book that I recommend!
Maybe you hate your job...maybe you feel that the people you are working with would be totally unreceptive to the Gospel...
I must say that those thoughts have come across my mind and brought frustration. Perseverance is a must, prayers are essential. Help from the Holy Spirit is vital. Blessings
God has put each one of us where we are for a purpose. If you are in a particular job, it is because God has put you there to reach others who work there.
I am now in the middle of chapter 4 of Authentic Christianity by Richard Taylor, an amazing book that I recommend!
Maybe you hate your job...maybe you feel that the people you are working with would be totally unreceptive to the Gospel...
I must say that those thoughts have come across my mind and brought frustration. Perseverance is a must, prayers are essential. Help from the Holy Spirit is vital. Blessings
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