I have yet to come across a Christian who finds prayer and Bible reading easy. Regular, daily devotion is a difficult discipline to keep, and there are many who find praying together with others almost impossibly intimidating. Even those who could talk the hind legs off a donkey in ordinary conversation are suddenly as quiet as lambs if there is an opportunity to pray together! And yet prayer and Bible reading is part of the pathway of discipleship...
Here you will find biblical reflections that follow our sermon series each month. Feel free to use these as a way to prepare for coming to worship, to inspire further reflection upon a sermon throughout the week, or as a spark to your own reflections if you are unable to join us on a Sunday.
If you would like to take things further by getting involved with a small Bible study and prayer group, then please do get in touch with Monika, our minister.
Gordon
Steven - October 2009
What does it mean to love our neighbour as ourselves? The answer lies in recognising that God made man in His own image. To love God Himself implies that we will love everything which reflects Him in any way. It would be inconsistent to love God but not those who bear His image (see James 3:9-10). Christians have a special motive for caring for others, as members of the kingdom of God. We know something about people which they may not know about themselves: they were made to reflect God's image and glory. Even when that image has been distorted in their lives, we love them, because we see what they were meant to be, and are moved with compassion. On loving our neighbour D.L. Moody had this to say: " a man may be a good doctor without loving his patients; a good lawyer without loving his clients; a good geologist without loving science; but he cannot be a good Christian without love."
When British church leader David Watson was dying of cancer, he said one evening to his wife, 'I'm very tired; lets go home.' Later that night he died. John's message to struggling believers is: home is round the corner; keep going. Heaven is the presence of God, if you have followed Him in this life you belong there. That marvelous vision of the new 'Jerusalem', 1500 miles each way, with walls 200 feet thick, illustrates not only its perfection but also that it has room for all believers. Heaven will be a surprise, like a special present; trials will be forgotten, heartaches will disappear and weaknesses will be erased. At this time of National Remembrance, when, as a nation, we remember all who gave their lives for their country, such a hope may provide encouragement and solace. One day, 'there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.' Praise be to God!
Characterising a good deal of this psalm is the writer's trust and indeed his loyalty to God. Those opening verses declare to us his resolve in worship. Not for him the pagan Baal worship of the surrounding Canaanites. To the psalmist Yahweh is the Lord, a description distinct from other gods. This loyalty is further spelled out by a refusal to participate in pagan rituals. For the psalmist to get involved in ritual or worship other than the worship of the Lord, would be to deny the inheritance and provision of all that God has given to him. Whether material or spiritual, the promises of God for the life of the psalmist are sure and certain, even after death. In those days in which we live, increasingly there is the temptation to worship at the feet of another God and not the Lord God Himself. It was F.B. Meyer who said "learn to put your hand on all spiritual blessings in Christ and say, 'Mine'.
At this time of the year, when we are about to celebrate the first coming of Jesus into the world, this book of Revelation has many things to say about the second coming of our Lord.
Widely regarded as having been written by the apostle John on the island of Patmos, this amazing book, this detailed vision given by God about the return of His Son Jesus Christ, has spawned a whole raft of interpretation and comment. In these few verses of the opening chapter the credentials of Christ are laid out before us. Behind much of the language is that spirit of praise and worship, as John is caught up in the vision given to him.
As it was, and is, and ever shall be: The Lord reigns!
Those familiar words from the prophecy of Isaiah bring to a close the oracle of salvation beginning at chapter 8:1 and coming to a conclusion in this ninth chapter. For the people who have experienced darkness in various forms across their land and in their spirits, light is beginning to dawn, hope is giving way to despair, with the possible reunification of Israel and Judah under a single, ideal Davidic ruler for the future. However, the language of verse 6 'For unto us a child is born…" can apply only to one who is God incarnate. There can be little doubt, then, that this oracle points forward, directly to the coming of the Messiah, the great Son of David, and the true light. O Come! O Come! Emmanuel.
The ministry team offers you the opportunity to access an archive of past Bible Notes (in pdf format)...
Also available are notes from a series of five sermons on Church of Scotland membership vows:
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