January 2018

There are many physical and natural activities that the Bible instructs us to do, e.g. fasting, sharing the Lord’s Supper, anointing with oil, caring for the sick. They key is that when we do these things, we apply our faith and obedience to the Spirit of Christ. They become a means of grace; physical acts that carry real spiritual power and significance and set us apart as God’s people!

The story of the Israelites is the story of ‘our forefathers’ says the Apostle Paul (1 Co 10), laden with warnings and promise. From God’s first promise to Abraham, the Apostle traces the history of his own people, including the ups and the downs, to show us God’s intended fulfilment through Abraham’s Seed, Christ Jesus. It is the story of a loving and faithful God whose GRACE to Jew and Gentile alike is displayed, and of RESTORATION, as Paul shows us God’s great plan to bring a future remnant from Israel back to Him, through Jesus.

In these critical days God wants us to keep pace with what He is doing. Our job is to ensure that we practically facilitate everything the Holy Spirit wants to do. That the wineskin is suitable for the new wine!

We start this new year encouraged by the apostle Peter’s assurance that “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3) so that we now “share in the divine nature” (1:4) – these are incredible statements and in this message we explore how we can live in the good of these truths! We discover that what God did for us at our conversion – through our repentance, baptism, being filled with the Spirit and being added to His Church (Ac 2:38-41) – are the reasons we now lack nothing. Here and now, we already have all we need to succeed in our mission, as we cultivate all the fruit of the Spirit and activate all the gifts of the Spirit!…