1 John 3:11 – “This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another”
In the letters of John we find the exhortation to love one another repeated again and again. John commands, encourages and pleads with his ‘Dear Friends’ to love one another. So why does John focus so heavily on this aspect of our Christian lives? We consider WHY loving one another is so important and HOW can we love one another.
The Apostle John was the ultimate witness for Jesus. At the outset of a new teaching series, based in his affectionate and timely letters to the church, we start with the historical and cultural backdrop in which he wrote them. Writing toward the end of the first century AD, John was most likely the last of Jesus’ original Apostolic company. After a life witnessing events of eternal significance, Jesus’ closest friend opens his heart to us, with a simple and profound message about three fundamental aspects of who Jesus is … LIFE, LIGHT and LOVE!
As we start a new series – “Why do we do that?” – Stephen shares with us about why we fast. Fasting is something practical that we do but with enormous spiritual benefits. As we fast (and accompany it with prayer) we seek God for more of His power in our lives, to see miracles, salvation, a change in attitude and to grow closer to Him. Fasting allows us to rely less on ourselves and what our natural bodies want, and more on the Holy Spirit and what our new spiritual nature needs.
The rapid growth of the early church was the result of not just the well-known ministries of Peter, Paul, Barnabas, Apollos and others, but also the faithful witness of multitudes who played their part in small, anonymous but vitality significant ways. As Acts 8:4 puts it: “the followers of Jesus all became missionaries. Wherever they were scattered, they preached the Message about Jesus.” (Msg). Much as we value our great community, we must never lose sight of our Great Commission. It hasn’t changed, and neither has the way we will fulfil it: these are days for a multitude of ‘ordinary heroes’ to arise and shine – carrying good news wherever we go! We will never reach the lost from our church buildings or gatherings; we’re to GO into all our worlds. It’s urgent, it’s simple and it’s do-able!…
How can the church act as a bridge between God and the world? How can we connect with people who don’t know Him? How do we live free from any guilt about our effectiveness? In this honest and down-to-earth message John McGinley explores these issues, shares everyday stories and offers some simple and powerful approaches to making disciples in the 21st century.
The heart of God is to love the poor, to love the nations and to love the lost, and these three great loves were expressed perfectly in the life and ministry of Jesus. Fulfilling His Great Commission requires us to express the same love and concern, and in this message David Hind tells the story of empowering a city-centre church to do just that. Expressing the love of God will cost us and stretch us, but the Lord is urging us to live a life we can be proud of.
God is a great promise keeper. There are many times in scripture when God promises that if we do certain things then He will respond! In the final few verses of Acts 2 we see that if we will be devoted to Christ by giving ourselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to breaking bread and to prayer then God will respond by bringing us into a life full of many great and miraculous things as His kingdom comes here on earth. What a promise!
God has a plan for every family, He has a plan for your family. When we put God first, our households will be whole and blessed. We look at Joshua’s example in how we can ensure that ‘as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord’.
At the start of this new season together we take a look at the account in John 13 of Jesus washing his disciples feet and consider what it means to serve one another, following the example of Jesus.
In Joshua 24 and Exodus 23 we read that God goes ahead of His people. We need to remember that He has a plan for our lives, which means He has a plan for us each and every day. As we follow Him we can be totally confident of victory not matter what challenge or situation we might face.
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