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A PRAYER BASED ON LUKE 15

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A prayer based on Luke 15.

Our God,
We praise and thank you that You so loved the world that You sent Your Son to earth to seek and to save the lost.
To seek and save people like us.
People who by nature are dead in their transgressions and sins.
People who are unable to help themselves.
People who are without hope and without God.
Who were far from You; living immoral lives with no consideration of You.
Or people who have been living moral lives.
Who think that they don’t need You because they can make themselves right with You by their own efforts.

We thank you Lord Jesus, that You search out for those who know they are sinners.
For lost sheep and prodigal sons and daughters.
We thank you that You look for religious people, who are trusting in their own righteousness.
For lost coins and elder brothers.
And that Your desire is to save them.
That out of love You came down from heaven to earth.
That out of love You lived a perfect life of obedience, never ever putting one step out of place, keeping every single command.
That out of love You chose to walk the hardest, loneliest path to the cross where You carried for us all our sin and guilt and shame.
That out of love You hung there until the punishment we deserve was paid.
And Satan’s head was crushed.
Your Father’s wrath was satisfied.
And justification and redemption and reconciliation was achieved for all who trust in You.

How grateful we are that we can know for certain that all this is ours by faith because on the third day Lord Jesus, You rose again and have ascended to the presence of your Father.

Gracious Father, please forgive us for not appreciating as we should what Your Son has done for us by coming to seek and save us when we were lost in our sins.
And how costly it was for Him to make His very own, our sins and sorrow and shame and bear the penalty we deserve for us to bring about this wonderful rescue.
Forgive us for all the times we behave not as those who have been made alive, but as those still dead in our sins.
For acting as those who are still lost, not as those who have been found.
For when we lack joy
When we lack contentment.
When we grumble that others seemingly are blessed more than we are.

So, help us now, by Your Spirit, we pray, to rejoice like the angels that we and others have been rescued from sin and death and hell.
And to appreciate how incredible this salvation is.
That now You don’t treat us as servants but as sons.
That we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing, so that it is like the best robe, the ring, the sandals have been put on us and the fattened calf has been killed and we are enjoying the feast, knowing that one day this will be a reality.
It is truly remarkable what you have done for us.
We give to You now our praise and our thanks.
Through the precious Name of Jesus.
Amen.

(Photo: Freely)

DAILY READ – LUKE 22-23

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Luke 22-23

Luke 22

v1-6: Why did Christ choose someone who He knew was going to betray Him to be part of His group?  How could one, who knew Christ as those in his band of disciples did, be so evil to betray Him?  The answer to the first question is that “Christ had wise and holy purposes in taking Judas a disciple,” and as for the second, “it was the work of the Devil, who thought he would ruin Christ’s undertaking, that he would crush his head, but it proved only to be the bruising of his heel.”  If someone betrays Christ, or His truth or ways, “it is Satan who puts them up to it.”

v7-20: The bread we eat is given to us by Christ as food for our souls, “because nothing can be more nourishing and satisfying to our souls than the message of Christ’s atonement for sin and the assurance of our share in that atonement.” The blood shed, by which atonement was made, is represented by the cup and symbolises the new covenant made with us.  When we take the bread and the cup, we do so as those who needed Christ’s body to be broken and blood to be shed for us, and we trust that it has – that the Son of God love us and gave Himself for us.

v21-38: “Although there may be many weaknesses in the faith of true believers, their faith will not fail totally and finally” when drawn into sin.  This is because of the mediation and intercession of Jesus Christ.  “If they were left to themselves, they would fail, but they are kept by the power of God and the prayer of Christ.” Jesus’ prayers for both the individual believer and all who believe, shows that we should also pray for both ourselves and for others too.

v39-46: “When we find ourselves—either by our outward circumstances or by our inward inclinations—entering temptation, we should rise and pray , “Lord, help me in this time of need.”

v47-53: The hour had come.  This was the hour that “Satan, the ruler of the darkness of this world, is allowed to do his worst, to bruise the heel of the seed of the woman.” It was only an hour.  A short time.  A limited time which had been appointed for them.  It was an hour that Jesus accepted would happen to Him.

v54-62: The look that Christ gave Peter was “a convicting look… a rebuking look… a pleading look… a compassionate look… a significant look.”  The look of Christ, accompanied by the grace of God, brought about a godly sorrow for sin in Peter’s heart which led to repentance.  This convicting, rebuking, pleading, compassionate and significant look is how Christ looks on us when we have sinned.

v63-71: For those who are determined not to believe, it does not matter how many convincing proofs they are given.  The Jewish leaders were expecting the Messiah, and though Jesus gave many amazing proofs that He was He, they still would not believe in Him.

Luke 23

v1-12: Jesus was accused of disloyalty to the Roman government and stirring up this disloyalty in his followers.  Yet the truth is that those who are Christ’s faithful followers will be good subjects of the civil government.

v13-25: Pilate knew that Christ was innocent and had done nothing to deserve either chains or death.  But fear stopped him from releasing Him and doing the right thing.

v26-31: We should weep for everyone who do not believe in Jesus, for they are facing ruin and destruction.  We do not need to weep for those in Christ for they are safe, and in death will enter perfect rest and joy.

v32-43: In Christ’s prayer for His enemies, we see the reason for His death.  He was suffering and dying so that sinners could be forgiven and pardoned.  Christ is now interceding for all who repent and believe in Him, “Father, forgive… all who will repent and believe the gospel.”  Forgiveness of sins for ourselves and others is “the great thing we must beg from God,” and wonderfully, “the greatest sinners may, through Christ, upon their repentance, hope to find mercy.”

v44-49: By committing Himself into His Father’s hand, Christ was doing two things. First, He was offering Himself up as the sacrifice for sinners, to be accepted instead of them.  Second, He was showing “his dependence on his Father for raising him from the dead by reuniting his soul and body. He commended his spirit into his Father’s hand to be received into Paradise and returned the third day.”

v50-56: “There are many who are sincere in their support of Christ’s interests who, though they do not make a show of their outward profession of faith, will be more ready to do him an act of real service when need be than others who appear more significant and make a louder noise.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

19 TAKEAWAYS FROM LEADING THE CHURCH WITHOUT BECOMING AN ARMCHAIR EPIDEMIOLOGIST

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Notes from FIEC Leadership in Lockdown webinar on Leading the church without becoming an Armchair Epidemiologist with Dr Peter Saunders, Greg Strain, and John Stevens.

1. Evangelical Christians as a small minority in exile in this world can find hope and encouragement from Psalm 138.  In this psalm we see the King’s commitment when facing trouble and surrounded by foes to praise God’s Name because of God’s covenant; the King’s concern for God’s glory and that the nations would come to know and worship God; and the King’s confidence in God’s salvation and vindication.  Here are truths to sustain and help us in our situation.  We must remain committed to praising God’ s Name, committed to mission , and confident that God will save and vindicate us because He has raised Jesus from the dead.

2. Update on Coronavirus Law and Guidance in England:
– Places of worship will open on 2 December.
– Lockdown will end to be replaced by Tier system – Tier 1 – Rule of 6 will apply indoors and outdoors / Tier 2 – Household group inside church – Rule of 6 outdoors / Tier 3 – Household group inside and outside (except public parks etc where can meet as a group of 6).
– A unique ‘Christmas bubble’ of up to 3 households can meeting indoors between 23-27 December.  Only form Christmas bubble with 3 households and once formed, that bubble is fixed.
– Weddings with 15 attendees (Reception for 15 allowed in Tiers 1 & 2).
– Funeral with 30 attendees.
– Children’s activities/Sunday School can take place as long as it is COVID-secure.
– Face covering still mandatory.
– Likely to last to end April.

3. Two areas of uncertainty are to do with rules for outdoor gatherings (which will have implications for outdoor carol services) and congregational singing (there are some indications that guidance will be revised and possible it may be allowed).

4. Implications for churches:
– We are back to the system in place before national lockdown.
– Small groups and prayer meeting can take place, depending on which Tier you are in, either in church, at home, or outside.
– Delivery of leaflets, cards, advent bags can take place.
– In-person carol services take place in church.  Outdoor carol services likely to be possible.

5. Key questions for churches to ask with regards to Christmas:
– Will unbelievers come to church?  Restrictions such as wearing face coverings make it a more unpleasant experience, and family gatherings will be their priority.  Important that we have high quality and accessible online/hybrid events and services.
– How do care for the lonely/single in church at Christmas? (e.g. no family, international students).

6. Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a worldwide pandemic with every country affected.  Worldwide daily cases and daily deaths continue to rise.  Different countries have handled it differently with some doing well and others not so well.  The worst hit areas are the Americas and Europe (Western).  The majority of infections are mild with those most are risk being aged 60+, men (who are twice at risk), Black or from Indian-subcontinent.  More are dying from COVID than any other disease now.  There are treatments that are effective causing fatality rate to drop 30% since April, and vaccines 90% effective have been developed.

7. How serious is COVID?  We have been very effective in slowing spread but…
– There have already been over 1,417,000 deaths worldwide in 9 months.
– At current rate (>11,000 per day) there will be 2 million deaths by February 2021.
– National seroprevalence in heavily infected countries is still <15%.
– Infection Fatality Proportion (IFP) probably 0.5-1.5%.
– Potential worldwide death toil 7.8b x 0.01 x 80% = 31m-62m.
– Four vaccines now at Phase III and treatments giving 30% fall in mortality.
– Collateral economic and health damage overwhelming.

8. COVID is heading towards 8th place in the worst plagues in world history.

9. COVID is causing collateral damage on health.
– Lockdown leading to hunger and famine.
– 71 million being pushed into extreme poverty.  265 million people likely to face starvation by the end of this year as a result of COVID.
– Worsening mental health including psychosis.
– Family breakdown, domestic abuse and stigma.
– Crucial medicine inaccessible e.g. for HIV, TB, hypertension, diabetes, cancer, mental health.
– The number of children dying from missed vaccinations is likely to far outpace the numbers of people dying from COVID-19.  It is threatening to unwind decades of progress against vaccine-preventable diseases like measles, polio, typhoid, yellow fever, cholera, rotavirus, HPV, meningitis A and rubella.
– Some regions may see deaths related to HIV, TB and malaria increase by up to 10, 20, 36% respectively over five years.

10. The situation is like Odysseus navigating his boat between Scylla and Charybdis.  On one side we have the serious disease of COVID-19 and the other the collateral effects of it.

11. COVID controversies.
– Protecting the vulnerable vs protecting the economy (majority of countries are on the brink of recession; global debt is soaring).
– Do you lockdown or do you release?  Or take a nuanced approach?
– Elimination vs Moderate Control.
– What is the IFP? (Infection Fatality Proportion).  Estimates of the proportion of people who die from COVID-19 have been controversial.
– ‘Focussed protection’ and ‘herd immunity’ vs controlling community spread.
– The real level of immunity.
– Vaccines – effectiveness, equity and ethics.

12. Within the church we are hearing Christian memes:
– The Great Barrington Declaration – ‘focussed protection’.
– Sweden didn’t lockdown and has ‘herd immunity’ with minimal death/economic damage. [DPS: Sweden is not a wonderful success story when you dig deeper into the data available]
– COVID mortality is no worse than the flu.
– People would have died within months anyway if COVID hadn’t killed them.
– Many counted as COVID deaths really died from other causes.
– The pandemic is already over.
– Vaccines are untested, dangerous and unethical.
– IFP overestimated and level of immunity underestimated.
DPS has serious misgivings about all of them.

13. Some tentative conclusions from Dr Peter Saunders:
– An incredibly complex multifactorial problem.  It needs experts from every discipline working well together.
– An abundance of exponential curses (including armchair epidemiologists).
– Social distancing, hand hygiene and mask are very effective.
– Test, trace and isolate is incredibly successful in best countries (which doesn’t include Western Europe and USA).
– Lockdown has a role in emergencies to flatten the curve.
– Going for ‘herd immunity’ is an unproven strategy and risks huge mortality.
– Treatments have reduced mortality by 30% and are improving.
– Three vaccines are now available but let’s still be very cautious about stopping prevention.
– I would personally get vaccinated both to protect myself and others.

14. The big ethical concern about the vaccine we should have is to do with equity and availability throughout the world and Western countries buying up all the vaccines to use for their people.  It is important that it is widely available.

15. The other concern is the abortion link with 5 vaccines linked to the cell lines developed from two aborted babies in 1960-70s.  Christians will disagree on this matter.  On one hand abortion is wrong and complicity, collaboration, means to end to create cell lines is wrong.  On the other, if effective vaccine is produced and nothing else available, is this a Genesis 50:20 situation where man intended it for evil but God used it for good and the saving of many lives?  This blog post looks at this further.

16. It is reasonable for pastors to take this pandemic seriously.  This is not the bubonic plague but neither is it seasonal flu.  We are in the midst of a serious pandemic but praise God it is not as bad as it could have been.

17. It is reasonable for pastors to be concerned for the physical welfare of others, especially the vulnerable.  Church events  have the ability of being super-spreaders.

18. It is reasonable for pastors to take Romans 13 seriously.  It is easy to be sceptical about government, but we are called to respect and obey and pray for our government.  They are placed their for our good, and in common grace they often act for our good and for good of society.  We need to have a bit of mercy on our government – caught between rock and hard place – economic damage and mental health – as they have a difficult task.  We want too much from the government, expecting them to be Christian and give us special place when aren’t and don’t, whereas non-Christian often expect to solve all their problems.  This is not to say that down the line we might have to consider civil disobedience.

19. It is reasonable for pastors to prayerfully do our best before the Lord.  All we can do is weigh up the arguments and make the best decision before the Lord and for our churches with our elders.

KIDS TALK: AND CAN IT BE

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Hymn of the Month – And can it be

Powerpoint Pictures: Pictures/Video of famous rescues (e.g. Chilean Miners; Jessica McClure; Miracle on the Hudson

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History is full of some incredible rescues.

You may have heard about some of them.

Do you remember those Chilean miners who were trapped underground for 68 days before they were rescued?

May you know the story of an 18-month-old girl called Jessica McClure who fell into an abandoned well and spent 58 hours at the bottom before she was rescued?

Or the time when an aeroplane after taking off in New York hit a flock of Canadian geese damaging the plane and forcing the pilot to crash land into the Hudson River where the passengers were rescued?

How do you think the miners and their families, the little girl and her parents, the passengers and their relatives felt after they were rescued?

It may be hard for them to put it into words.

Now each of us who trust in Jesus have been rescued. We have been saved from sin and death and hell because Christ died for us. And it can be hard to put it to words how it feels that “The Son of God, loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20).

Which is why it is great that there are some hymns and songs they give us words we can use to express this, and our hymn of the month for this month is one that does this.

The hymn is And can it be? which was written by Charles Wesley most likely a couple of days after his conversion and expresses the amazement that he had been saved by Jesus.

Here’s how the hymn begins. 

And can it be that I should gain
An int’rest in the Saviour’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? 

When we sing these words, we are expressing how amazed we are that God would love us so much that His Son would die for us – because it our sin that caused Him to die.

The next verse describes how incredible what God has done is.  How the One who is God’s Son, who is immortal, dies.  There’s so much we can’t understand, but that doesn’t stop us from adoring God for His mercy. 

’Tis mystery all! The Immortal dies!
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love Divine!
’Tis mercy all! let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.

In verse 3 we get an explanation of how God has rescued us. First, the Son of God left heaven, humbling Himself by taking on flesh, and becoming a man, so He could die for us, and God’s mercy could find us.

He left His Father’s throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace;
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me.

Then in verse 4 we now get words to express what it feels like when God’s mercy finds us.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee. 

We were dead in our transgressions and sins.  We were slaves to sin and Satan.  But God has made us alive, freeing us from Satan’s grip and sins power so we are able to believe in Jesus and follow Him.

We now no longer need to fear the future.  One day we will be with God forever. 

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness Divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

So, And can it be? is our hymn of the month.  Here are words we can use to express how it feels to be saved by God.  Let’s do that now.

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More talks from The Hymn of the Month series can be found HERE.

(Photo: Aaron Burden)

DAILY READ – LUKE 21

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Luke 21

Luke 21

v1-4: Jesus Christ sees what we give to the work of the gospel and the relief of the poor.  “He notices whether we give much and generously, in proportion to what we have, or whether we are mean and give as little as possible. In fact, he looks even further: he watches to see whether we give charitably and with a willing mind, or grudgingly and with reluctance.”

v5-19: The disciples ask, ‘When?’ and Christ’s response is, ‘Watch out that you are not deceived.’  This reminds us that “those who are most inquisitive about the things of God—though it is very good to be so—are in most danger of being deceived and need most to stand on their guard.”  When we are convinced that Jesus is the Christ and that the gospel saves, “we must be deaf to all suggestions of another Christ and another gospel.”

v20-28: The destruction of Jerusalem was a kind of appearing of Christ and an act of His judgment.  It previews the terror and destruction that is coming to all unbelievers when Jesus returns.  On that day, those who refused in this life to see that He came first to save them, will be made to see Him coming to destroy them, as the unfaithful Jews did.

v29-38: We must watch and pray always.  Both to keep guard on ourselves and to maintain fellowship with God.  Knowing that the Lord is coming again, we need to “watch against sin, and watch [ourselves] to make sure you do every duty and make the most of every opportunity to do good” so that we will be counted worthy “to lead a life of praise in the next world.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

KIDS TALK: LUKE

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The Big Read – Luke

Powerpoint Pictures: Homeless person; Sick person; Prisoner; Group of Women; Group of Children; Jewish man; Sikh woman

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How would you describe the following people? [Poor/Homeless; Sick; Prisoner; Women; Children; Jews; Sikhs]

In Luke’s Gospel people play a big part in the story.

In fact, Luke is interested in all sorts of people.

The reason Luke is interested in all sorts of people is because he has good news for them.

This good news is announced right at the start of his book as he records a message an angel spoke to a group of shepherds the night of Jesus’ birth.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you, he is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11)

That’s the big message the whole of Luke’s gospel is about – that Jesus is the Saviour of the World.

Jesus has come to rescue people of all ages, of all backgrounds, of all nationalities who are lost because of their sins and He does this by dying in the place of sinners.

Luke sums all this up later in his book when he records some words that Jesus said: “For the Son of Man came to seek and save what was lost.”

Jesus came to rescue lost people and He will rescue you if you ask Him to.

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More talks from The Big Read for Kids can be found HERE.

(Photo: Freely)

DAILY READ – LUKE 20

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Luke 20

Luke 20

v1-8: Christ “not only purchased salvation for us but also proclaimed it to us.”  But often when He was preaching the gospel to people, he was interrupted.  “This shows us that Satan and his agents do all they can to hinder the preaching of the gospel to the people, because nothing weakens the influence of Satan’s kingdom more.”  We should not be surprised when this happen as we try to speak the good news to others.

v9-19: When people are called to do their duty to God, those who have decided not to “cannot bear to be called on to do it.”  Even when recognise that the punishment for such a sin is “just, fair, and predictable,” they “proceed and persevere in their sinful ways even though at the same time they have a foresight and a dread of the destruction that those ways are leading to.”

v20-26: In civil matters we should submit to civil powers, but in spiritual or sacred things, only God is our King.  “We must worship and adore God in such ways as he appointed, and not according to Caesar’s inventions.”

v27-38: In the world to come, saints cannot die any more, and this is given as a reason why they do not marry.  In the present world where there is death, “there must be marriage in order to fill up the empty spaces left by death, but where there are no burials there is no need for weddings…[as death] is forever excluded from heaven.”

v39-47: We can know why the Christ can be both David’s Son and David’s Lord.  “Christ, as God, was David’s Lord, but Christ, as man, was David’s Son… By his human nature he was the offspring of David, a branch of his family; by his divine nature he was the root of David, from whom David had his being and life and all the supplies of grace.”

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

17 TAKEAWAYS FROM HOW TO PRAY FOR YOUR PASTOR

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Notes and quotes from How to pray for your Pastor by Derek Brown.

1. “Our view of the pastoral ministry will directly affect how we pray for our pastors.”

2. Pastors are to pray for their people. But God’s people are also to pray for their leaders, which is why the apostle Paul often asked people to pray for him and his ministry.

3. We should pray for our pastors in light of their qualifications, their specific roles and responsibilities, and their unique pressures and temptations.

4. Luther: “For more than a week I have been thrown back and forth in death and hell; my whole body feels beaten, my limbs are still trembling. I almost lost Christ completely, driven about one the ways and storms of despair and blasphemy against God. But because of the intercession of the faithful, God began to take mercy on me and tore my soul from the depths of hell.”

5. Praying for your pastor benefits the whole congregation, it benefits you, and anyone else who benefits from your pastor’s ministry.

6. “Could it be that some pastors are failing because their people are not praying for them according to God’s Word?”

7. It is God’s grace that a pastor remains qualified for pastoral ministry throughout his pastoral career.

8. Pray that your pastor would maintain his passion for ministry, would take care to watch over their personal lives, would not be worried about not having enough money or distracted by thoughts of acquiring more, would grow in their ability to understand and preach God’s Word, would have time they need to read, study and prepare, would sustain and bless their teaching ministry, would have courage to lead in church discipline, would trust wholly in the Holy Spirit for the spiritual growth of the congregation and for the salvation of once-professing Christians who have defected, and would endure.

9. “Satan has a special interest in attacking and undoing [pastors].” He will target the pastor’s weakness and sinful inclinations.

10. Producing spiritual fruit and repentance in the hearts of people is not a burden that pastors are to bear.

11. Pray for your pastor’s wife and children. There are unique burdens that come from being a pastor’s wife, one of which “will be for her husband when he is maligned and attacked by other members or regular attenders of the church.” For the pastor’s children, “there can be an unspoken expectation from the church that [they] will behave and act in an unusually mature, way, even as young kids.”

12. If a church is regularly, intentionally, praying biblically informed prayer for their pastors they might expect these seven areas of blessing:
– A competent pastoral ministry.
– A spiritually healthy church.
– The salvation of sinners and the perseverance of the saints.
– Personal encouragement to grow.
– Love for your pastor.
– A happy shepherd.
– Emerging future pastors.

13. “When we pray for our pastors according to biblical categories, we will be far less likely to judge their ministry efforts unfairly or in an overly critical manner.”

14. “Pastors experience much grief from the hands of prayerless church members whose raw words of suggestion, correction, or rebuke have yet to be refined by genuine supplication to Jesus on their behalf.”

15. If we want our prayers for our pastors to be effective, we need to pray according to God’s will, which is why around what God’s Word says about the pastor’s qualifications, roles, and specific pressures and temptations is a good thing to do.

16. If you are praying for your pastor, let him know. It will be a great encouragement to him, to know that he can “rely upon your prayers to keep him qualified, to empower his ministry, and to aid him in fending off the devil and his many schemes.”

17. Your pastor needs your prayers. “He needs grace to remain qualified; he needs wisdom and perseverance to carry out his responsibilities; he needs power in his preaching; he needs patience in his counselling; he needs holiness in his personal life; and he needs authenticity in his walk with Jesus.” Pray for your pastor.

DAILY READ – LUKE 19

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The Big Read – Daily Read

Read Luke 19

Luke 19

v1-10: Christ came from heaven to earth to seek what was lost. He came into this lost world to seek and save it. “He seeks those who were not worth seeking; he seeks those who did not seek him, or ask for him.” Even though it is hard for rich people to enter the kingdom of God, if Christ is seeking after one who is rich, they will be found and saved, like Zacchaeus was.

v11-27: All Christians have been given a great work to do now. They have been given the power and the abilities to make disciples – to catch fish in the gospel net or persuade guests to come to the wedding feast – and Christ expects those he gives power to, to serve Him in this way. We must continue to do this work till our Master comes, “whatever difficulties or oppositions we may face in it.”

v28-40: When we are tempted to draw back from serving Christ in anyway, consider how eager and willing Jesus Christ was to suffer and die for us. “He went forward, bound in the spirit, to Jerusalem; he knew very well the things that would happen to him there, and yet he went before, ascending up to Jerusalem. He led the way, as if he longed to be on the spot, longed to engage, to take to the field, and to see action.”

v41-48: Our Lord Jesus looks on the “sin and foolishness of those who persist in showing contempt for [the gospel]” with great grief. His eyes weep over lost souls heading for destruction and so should ours. Our desire, like His, should be that they turn and live, because we don’t want anyone to perish.

Quotes from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

(Photo: Brad Neathery)

MATTHEW HENRY FOR MINISTERS

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Matthew Henry on Matthew 4:1-11:

“High places in the church are especially dangerous.  Those who excel in gifts, who are in eminent positions and have gained a great reputation, need to remain humble, for Satan will be sure to aim at them, to puff them up with pride, so that they may fall into the condemnation of the Devil.  Those who stand high should be concerned to stand fast. ”

27 TAKEAWAYS FROM NORMAL PASTOR CONFERENCE

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Notes from the Normal Pastor Conference, a conversation between Zack Eswine, Rechab Gray, Ronnie Martin, John Onwuchekwa, Nathan Rose, and Jared Wilson.

1. Such a helpful conversation between 6 brothers about the in’s and out’s of ministry in this weird situation we are in.  A joy to be able to watch it on a Friday afternoon with no sermon to prepare for Sunday.

2. God has seemed willing to exchange our creature comforts for the comfort of our Creator.  When the good things become God things, God will remind us who is good over what is good.

3. Though Scripture tells us that we will go through fiery trials, we thought we were immune to God’s testing and discipline.  We had shut our minds off to the possibility that God would do what Scripture says He will do.

4. We are surprised and caught off guard by the COVID crisis.  We talk about it being unprecedented, but it was not for God.  It is clear that nothing catches God off guard.  The best thing we can do is turn to the person who saw it already; to the Lord who sees the beginning to the end; to the One it is not uncertain for.

5. The Bible doesn’t give us, a here’s what to do in a pandemic in 2020, but it is clear that God’s character is enough.  Things change throughout history, but our God is immutable.  We can expect His character to come through.  We know who He is and what He is like.  He is a good God and a faithful God.

6. This time has exposed for pastors what their devotion was to.

7. There is a decentralisation of authority.  Our members are saturated 24/7 with voices.  It used to be that you had to have some credibility to speak,  now anybody can speak.  This is freeing and empowering but it means that anybody can speak.  How do we know who is speaking the truth?

8. There is no real substitute for physical presence.  Meeting with brothers and sisters is a gift (Lord willing we won’t take for granted) but it is also a necessity.

9. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “Let him who until now has had the privilege of living a common Christian life with other Christians praise God’s grace from the bottom of his heart.  Let him thank God on his knees and declare: It is grace, nothing but grace, that we are allowed to live in community with Christian brethren.”

10. We have underestimated how much physical presence is needed to shepherd your members through tough situations.  Body language and warmth doesn’t come across when you have to make a tough call on ZOOM.

11. Not all division is bad division.

12. Success isn’t me getting everyone to buy in, it is making sure that everyone who comes along with us is bought in.

13. Listening should always be our introduction into conflict.  There is so much about people we don’t know.  Conflict gives us an opportunity to listen and learn.

14. At the moment people are making decision to exercise control over something.  Reasonableness is often going out the door.

15. Walk this out and talk this out.  Movement often helps the conversation.

16. Disagreement minus discussion will lead to demonisation.

17. Pastors have not trained their people to have difficult conversations by not preaching difficult sermons from the pulpit.

18. When things are going well – rejoice.  When things are going badly – reflect.

19. We felt the pressure to increase the amount of content we were producing.  Why did we think the best response to not being able to meet was more content?  Why did we think they needed more screen time?  Because it became unsustainable when this crisis turned out not to be a sprint but a marathon.

20. Our present circumstances require shepherds who return to the the same sheep in the same field every day.

21. Deciding what to do with something before you know what that something is, is a recipe for disaster.

22. The online world is a real world and it is discipling our people.

23. The mute button on social media is your friend.

24. We don’t have to be perfect, but we do need to be quick to repent.

25. Pastors should spend a lot of time in 1 Peter right now.

26. See pain and suffering as a grace to grow you.  The hope is that because of what we’ve gone through, we will be stronger, more godly, devoted pastors who love Jesus more.

27. Fearlessness is not avoiding scary situations, it is going into them reminding myself that Jesus is with me and embracing Him and clinging to His promises.

HYMN OF THE MONTH – AND CAN IT BE

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“Pastors, parents, worship leaders: Are you teaching any songs that can be sung acapella around a hospital bed in 50 years?” (Kevin DeYoung)

Taking inspiration from Getty Kids Hymn of the Month, we’re doing our own version at Banstead Community Church.

Each month I’ll choose a hymn and do a kids talk based on it and encourage all the church to learn it.  The hymns old and new will be those that can be sung acapella around a hospital bed!

This month – And can it be – below are some great versions of the hymn.

Together for the Gospel

Reawaken Hymns

PHATFISH and Lou Fellingham

EMW Aber Conference

(Photo: Aaron Burden)