Because God loves us, He corrects us...

Here's the link to the Sermon: God loves us and corrects us

 Reading: Amos 3 

1. Who is God speaking to here?
2. Read through verses 3-6: what is the message in these 7 questions and answers?
3. Does God bring disasters? Discuss various the thoughts on this and draw a biblical conclusion.
4. Has God told us everything that will happen? (verse 7)
5. This passage is full of judgement, discuss
1. what had the people done?
2. was God's judgement fair, discuss why or why not?
6. How does this passage apply to our lives as a nation, a church and individuals today? or to put it another way - how ought this challenge us?  

An Active Faith

Here's the link to the Sermon: The Real Deal

 

Reading: James 1:22-25

 

1.    What is the difference between believing and doing?

2.    What is the consequence of professing faith but ignoring God’s word?

3.    The truth of the Bible is useless until it is obeyed (AW Tozer). Discuss this statement.

4.    What are the things our society believes are acceptable that God does not. How should we deal with these issues?

5.    Like many passages we discuss, this one is easy enough to talk about in general, however our verse for the year strikes at the very heart of our personal faith and our priorities – it challenges us with words like obedience, commitment and discipleship. In the sermon we mentioned a number of things, and there is an excerpt pasted below. Take a look at the excerpt, perhaps add other bullet points in, then discuss how important our individual attitude is when it comes to examining ourselves and why we should regularly examine our own lives:

So we need to be people who respond to God’s instructions. We need to examine our own lives. How? Well let’s be practical:

·        Is there a sin you need to confess? 

·        Do you need to stop ignoring a problem and admit it as such? God does not expect you to be perfect but He does want you to be honest.  We need to admit when we have fallen short of God’s standard. In what ways is God calling you to change your course? 

·        Is God pushing you to change a certain attitude or behaviour?

·        Does He want you to reach out to someone, to forgive something they’ve done wrong, or simply to give of yourself to show kindness?

·        Is God calling you to step out in faith?  Perhaps He is calling you to use your gifts more?

·        Maybe He wants you to mend a relationship?

·        Are you praying regularly with others in our church?

·        Perhaps He is calling you to make regular worship a priority…

The real test of a believer is how we respond to what God tells us to do.  The real test of faith is not what we say, but more what we do in response to what God says.

Happily ever after?

Here's the link to the Sermon: Happily ever after? 

 

Reading: Joel 3

1. As we come to the end of Joel, it's worth taking a recap of the whole message God has given through the book, and so before looking at this passage discuss what has happened up to this point.
2. Who will be judged and why?
3. Which other books in the bible, both OT and NT have similar messages or messages that fill in some of the gaps?
4. Application - What is the message of this passage to us today, as a nation, a church and individuals?

The truth about prayer

Wrong ideas about prayer...

...well they range from asking for what you want, to expecting God to change His mind to match your plans, to maybe assuming prayer doesn't matter because He knows it all already... and no doubt you could add many, many more?




So what's the truth about prayer?

"Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me—but it is not my will, but yours, that must be done.” Luke 22:42

Well the truth is not that prayer twists His arm or changes God's mind, but instead that our prayer, produced and nurtured as it is by God Himself, becomes the way by which we can enter into God's 'mind'. So we end up by asking God to do what He had always planned to do, once He had got us to the point of asking Him to do it, with a genuine belief that He would.
If we really want to see God's power at work in answering our prayers (and let's face it there would be something a bit awry if we don't), our job is not to convince ourselves of the certainty of what we've just decided to ask for will happen, just because we've decided it will... No our job in prayer is instead to ask God, to seek His will, His desires about all the needs and issues that surround us and threaten to overwhelm us; then we can allow Him to show us just how to pray within His will so that we're genuinely praying - Your will be done!

The 'equality and diversity' Agenda

Every now and then I find myself in a meeting or a conversation where a group of left wing academic types will be holding forth about the wonders of the present 'equality and diversity' framework in the UK; often the same people would be at the forefront of anti-Israeli sentiment, however that's an aligned but separate issue....

When I comment on the damage I feel this agenda is doing to the Western (particularly UK) society I'm generally rounded on by all present with something like, "Surely as a Christian you can't object to this, after all aren't you lot supposed to be caring and loving and accepting of all?" 
On the surface, this looks to be a fair point doesn't it? And yes I will, absolutely shout from the rooftops that Jesus' love is to be shown and shared to all. However the experience of the Christian church in the UK is that the very 'equality and diversity' framework which is held in such high esteem by the left wing elite and their media circus, is actually constructed and promoted by those with alternative agendas which sit in opposition to Biblical Christianity.


I think Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, summed this up well when commenting on a recent case of a Christian woman being disciplined for nothing other than being herself (inoffensively) in the work place. Andrea said "Victoria's case highlights the risks of the current 'equality and diversity' framework. Rather than bringing people together and creating more cohesive workplaces where people can be honest about who they are and build meaningful relationships, 'political correctness' means that many workplaces are becoming fragmented, superficial and suspicious. People are being forced to hide their identity and the things that matter most to them."