As we approach a new year and a new decade, it may be with excitement or trepidation. What will happen in 2020? Will things get better or worse? What is in store for my future?
Through Jesus, God has promised all those who trust in Him that they will ultimately experience the greatest future. We will explore "3 don'ts" and "3 dos" for a prosperous future.
God is our Way Maker, Promise Keeper and Light in the midst of darkness.
Have you ever made a promise only to break it? Were you ever promised anything by a loved one only to be disappointed? Our society functions on the basis of promises exchanged between people and institutions.
The Christmas story is actually part of God’s greatest promise that He has made towards humanity. It is important to connect the dots to understand how the birth of Jesus is the fulfillment of a promise God made to deal with humanity’s greatest threat. Join us as we explore God’s Word and find comfort and confidence in God’s promises to deal with the challenges we face.
We often think that worship is essentially singing or playing music to glorify God. This is just one aspect of worship. There are two sides to worship, first, the inner essence, and second, the external expression. Jesus rebuked the people who only worship God with their lips and not with their hearts (Matthew 15:8-9). Performing many external expressions of worship or doing many good works without movement in our hearts toward God is not worship.
Worship begins with the right mental understanding of his nature. This understanding moves our heart to value God supremely. Worship is designed to put the supreme worth of God on display. Once we grasp the true nature of God and value his worth, this becomes visible in the world through the acts of our mouth through praise and acts of love with the body.
Read MorePalm Sunday is a day we traditionally mark the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem. It was an event of great insight, great misunderstanding and great hope. He rode in as a king, but not the king the people expected. Rejection, suffering, isolation and death were in Jesus’ horizon. There was a call of surrender on His life to give Himself for the salvation of humanity. So how would He fulfill this call?
Jesus had to surrender to the call of surrender. It was not easy for Him. His life teaches us that as we prepare for crisis events in our lives, surrender is the pathway to victory.
Jesus invites us to a call to deny ourselves and take up our crosses and to follow Him (Mark 8:34). Jesus surrendered to save and we are to surrender to serve. In what areas are we struggling to surrender? Why is it so hard to surrender?
When someone says, I have some good news and bad news to share with you, which do you prefer to hear first? Studies have shown that most people prefer to hear the bad news first, then the good news because it will leave them with a positive attitude. The young church in Colossae became the target of heretical attacks. Epaphras (a leader of the church) traveled to Rome to update Paul, who was in prison, about the condition of the church. In response, Paul wrote a letter of encouragement providing them with an understanding of the gospel.
So what is the gospel? How is the gospel to impact our lives, churches, communities and the world? Very often we view the gospel as a set of imperatives when it is really a narrative of God’s story of good news for humanity found in the person of Jesus. Humanity has experienced the bad news of fear, isolation and hopelessness. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has announced the good news of His provision of forgiveness—a family and a future.
Isaiah 7 details the story of King Ahaz facing an impending invasion by neighbouring enemies. He feels frightened, overwhelmed and hopeless. Through Isaiah the prophet, God asks him to request a sign as a proof that he will support and protect Ahaz from defeat. Instead of replying with a sign, Ahaz seeks protection by creating unhealthy and unapproved alliances with other nations. Yet God gives an unusual sign, “The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.” How does this sign impact Ahaz?
This unusual sign spoken hundreds of years earlier points to the birth of Jesus. We celebrate this Christmas season because of Immanuel, God with us. Through this important sign we will learn two vital truths that will help us understand how hope restores God’s presence, provision, promises and purpose for our lives. When life seems broken and hopeless, we must hold to the belief and hope thatGod is with us and restores us.
The Bible is a collection of the most fascinating books ever put together. It is filled with drama, action, adventure, romance, mystery, horror, history, poetry, comedy and more. There are many riveting stories to read. We will explore the life of an obscure character named Ahithophel, who was a close friend of King David. Ahithophel had something lurking in the deep recesses of his heart that hindered him from living a fulfilled and successful life.
Ahithophel’s life will teach us the danger of harboring the pain of our past and the importance of experiencing release and freedom. Bitterness begins with a trespass committed to us or because of unfulfilled expectations we have placed on others. Hurts can gradually grow into anger, then into resentment, then to unforgiveness, then into bitterness, then into hatred, which can cause retaliation and finally result in violence.
Read MoreDuring an average person’s lifetime, a significant portion of their life will be spent single. Typically, the first 25 years of life and perhaps the last 10-15 years will be spent as a single person. At some point in our lives we are all single. So, how we live as a single will determine how fulfilled we will be even if we get married. Singleness can either be a stage of life or a desired state of life.
At times the grass may seem greener on the other side. Singles may long for a marriage partner to bring happiness, while marrieds may secretly long to be single again to escape any dissatisfaction with their partner. So, what does God say about living single? Is it God’s intention that everyone should pursue marriage? Is it possible that marriages struggle because we have not learned to live our single lives as God intended it to be?
Most of us spend our lives wondering or questioning if God is trustworthy. Can I depend on Him during difficult moments? Can I trust Him with my life and family? We ultimately realize through Scripture and life experiences that God’s gifts are generous, and His care is constant. However, what if I were to ask you, “Can God trust you?” The answer becomes more difficult. Have we ever thought that God may be looking for people He can trust?
Trust is dependability—a deep confidence in someone. There are three questions we must ask ourselves. First, can God trust me through pain? Second, can God trust me with His provision? Third, can God trustme through prosperity? Genuine discipleship and servanthood is having the strength of character to be entrusted with treasure and still maintain our desire for God through pain or prosperity.
Have you ever felt that God has failed you? Have you experienced adversity that overwhelmed you and did not end as you expected?
Adversity visits all of us from time to time. Adversity is universal, impartial, painful, appears suddenly at times, and is often beyond our control. Unfortunately, followers of Jesus often think they are immune toadversity because they come to church, pray, or read the Bible. In order to stay afloat in the oceans of adversity, we must have resolute faith (trust) in God. When facing adversity, faith allows us to see who God is, see our identity as God’s children, and see our present adversity in the light of eternity. Trusting God does not mean that everything will work out to our desired outcome and it may seem that God has failed us; however, our hope that one day God will put everything right through resurrection in the new creation, gives us hope.
The identity that you embrace determines your freedom position. Stop believing the negative labels and start living as God’s beloved. Who are you? It is an important question to ask ourselves and how we answer that question determines whether we are living a free life or not.
Many people have their identity defined by a negative label. We see ourselves as failures and mistakes. We let a bad decision, a negative circumstance or someone else define who we are. Others let work titles or accomplishments define their identity. We package up all of our successes and never show any weakness. We become what the world wants us to be. Some wear religious labels and proclaim their great holiness only to follow in the footsteps of the Pharisees.
The identity that you embrace determines your freedom position. Stop believing the negative labels and start living as God’s beloved. Who are you? It is an important question to ask ourselves and how we answer that question determines whether we are living a free life or not.
Read MoreIn order to be free, we must face the fear, lies and unresolved pain by trusting that God is with us and that we are more than conquerors. Jesus invites us to go looking in our story for the broken and busted up things. He wants to take us on a journey where we finally face the things we’ve been scared to deal with. He wants to bring light into our darkness. But the enemy of our freedom uses fear to keep us held captive. He lies to us and uses scare tactics to prevent us from experiencing God’s great plan for our lives. He wants to kill, steal and destroy…everything.
Freedom requires fearlessness; it means we stop believing the lies and trust that God has our best interest in mind. He tells us not to fear, for He is with us. He comforts us and will walk through the valley with us. In order for us to be free, we must have the courage to explore what holds us captive. We have to stop believing the lies and accept God’s truth that we are more than conquerors.
We live in a pluralistic culture of people from various backgrounds, ethnicities and religions. We desire and make every attempt to live in peace and harmony with our co-workers, neighbours and friends. Within this diversity comes the idea of religious pluralism—the belief that all religions lead to the same God. It is an assumption that all religions are fundamentally similar and only superficially different.
There are many different worldviews, including Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, New Age spirituality, etc. How do I know which one is true? How do I determine the correct path to God? Christianity teaches the exclusivity and supremacy of Jesus Christ. So, how is Jesus different from other religious leaders?
Read MoreWith the recent events of Charlottesville, the removal of Confederate statues, NFL players kneeling during the American National Anthem, immigration policies, police shootings, Canada's relationship to its native indigenous people, etc., the topic of racism has taken centre stage in our society. So how should we respond to racism? Are we being influenced by racism in our social interactions within our communities or are we influencing our culture towards unity, inclusion and love? Have our prejudices or stereotypes influenced our mindset about certain people groups?
We will delve into the topic of race and racism and learn what God’s desire is for humanity as we co-exist on earth. We will learn four key steps to deal with racism and how we can promote inclusion, transform institutions and advocate for justice and equality.
There are many miracles of Jesus recorded in the gospels but ONLY the miracle of Jesus feeding the 5000 is mentioned across ALL four. There seems to be something significant that the writers were trying to convey. The story focuses on a hungry crowd miraculously provided for through the gift of a young boy. Jesus multiplied five loaves and two fish to feed a massive crowd. Sometimes it’s the small things that make the biggest difference. God is not impressed by how much we have to offer and He is not intimidated or limited by how little we have to offer. All He cares about is that we are offering what we have. We cannot do everything, but we can do something. So, what’s in your basket? In what way can you serve?
Read MoreMaterialism is the tendency to value material possessions, wealth and physical comforts over God, spiritual values, and kingdom priorities. Jesus exhorted the people to be careful not to put their hope in the world’s wealth. The cultural thought of Jesus’ time equated wealth with spiritual blessing and God’s favour. As a result, people would be caught thinking that material gain was a sign of godliness. [1 Tim. 6:5]
“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God.” Do you know who said this statement? Yes, it was Jesus. Have you ever wondered what this phrase really means?
Jesus came and radically dispelled the thought process of the people of His day by saying the rich would have a hard time entering God’s kingdom. The people were shocked and the disciples were dumbfounded. How could Jesus say that? He encouraged the people not to store their treasure on earth, but to use it for eternal purposes. Did you know that what we do with our treasure(possessions) demonstrates what we love the most and trust the most?
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