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Light

 Matthew 5:16 ESV In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Elsewhere, Jesus made the revolutionary comment that we his people are the light of the world. It almost sounds blasphemous! After all, he himself described himself as the Light of the world. While he was in the world, Jesus was the Light of the world. Now he has ascended to glory, we his people reflect his light to the world. We're not to be self congratulatory about our good works, but to glorify God for them. Some people have a form of godliness, but deny its power. In other words, they're moral people but they don't give God the glory for the fact they're relatively well behaved. Jesus wants us to glorify God for any goodness we may display. If people know us as Christians, hopefully they will glorify God for making us better people. We aren't perfect of course. But we seek to glorify God for any righteousnes...
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Unbelievable

 Genesis 15:5 ESV And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”     What God told Abraham was unbelievable humanly speaking. He was an old, childless man. God told him his descendants would be innumerable. No wonder Abraham and his wife Sarah tried to take matters into their own hands by him impregnating her servant Hagar, who bore Ishmael. Yet he wasn't the child of promise. Even Sarah's eventual son Isaac wasn't the ultimate fulfilment of this verse. Abraham believed God that his descendants would be innumerable, and God credited that belief to him as righteousness. God promised Abraham a Descendant through whom the world would be blessed. That Descendant is Jesus. Abraham's descendants aren't just Jews and Arabs/Ishmaelites. Anyone who has faith in Abraham's Descendant Jesus is a child of the 'father of faith'. Abraham's faith wasn...
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Possession

 Genesis 14:19 ESV  And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth;    Abram could have been arrogant. He was rich and militarily successful. Melchizedek grounded him though. Melchizedek reminded Abram that his success was because God Most High had blessed him. 'God Most High' suggests there are other gods. The other 'gods' though are demonic. Satan might be the god of this world. Yet God Most High possesses all things. Any power the devil has is only permitted him by God. Why does God allow the evil one so much licence in this world? May we remember that it's only temporary. Eternity is coming when the accuser of the brethren will burn forever with all who follow him. 'God Most High, we worship you and praise you for blessing us. Thank you for that amazing truth that the meek will inherit the earth. For the honour of your name we pray, amen'.  
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Temple

 1 Corinthians 3:16 ESV Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?  In this new covenant age we don't need specifically religious buildings like temples, churches and mosques. The Apostle Paul says that every believer is a temple of God. This doesn't mean to say we can just worship God in the garden though! We should still physically meet up with other believers to worship God. Yet that was also the function of a temple: to meet with God. So when people meet us we should introduce them to our Lord. No man is an island. Paul isn't saying we don't need each other. I haven't dug into the Greek but I suspect he's writing to the Corinthian church as a whole, not just an individual believer. This is an astounding verse when we think about it. The Corinthian church with their divisions and licentiousness etc. weren't just a bunch of sinners. Paul insisted they were the temple of God who hosted the Holy Spirit of God. 'God, as...
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Call

 Psalm 145:18 ESV The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. I think the caveat in the verse is important. Sometimes people call on the Lord out of desperation, despair, or as a last resort. God is gracious, but he knows if we treat him as a 'get out of hell free card' or as a lottery ticket. God doesn't want us to be disingenuous in how we call upon him. He doesn't want us to just call upon him because we got caught, or because we're suffering. He wants us to call upon him for his own sake. Pilate infamously asked Jesus what truth is, without stopping for the answer. He went on to condemn the Truth personified to death. God forbid that we would call upon the Lord without really being interested in how he may answer. If we call upon the Lord, we must be prepared for his answer. One of the main ways he speaks to us is in his word, the Bible. He promises salvation to the sincere. 'Dear God, please help us to sincerely call upon you. ...
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Salvation

 Acts 4:12 ESV And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” This verse is a reality check. Buddha, Mohammed and Joseph Smith for example can't save us. They're all dead, but Jesus is alive! The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Other religious leaders were charlatans and imposters. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can save us. The Bible's message is exclusive. We can't just believe whatever we like. If we want to be saved, Christ is the only way. God wants us to be saved. He insists that we must be saved. He doesn't shrug his shoulders if we reject him. 'Our Father in heaven, may we trust in your Son for our salvation, and so be saved. In his name we pray, amen'.
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Faith

 Romans 10:17 ESV  So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. The neighbour told my mum she knew she had faith. So she asked her to pray that her son would pass his accountancy exams. Sure enough, he did, but as far as I'm aware, that neighbour still doesn't have faith in God. God isn't a divine slot machine. He is gracious. Yet if he's to give us faith, it's through us hearing the word of Christ. The word of Christ is the Bible. Jesus said it all ultimately points to him. If we read a passage and don't find our Lord, we're not looking hard enough. People need to hear Gods word. If we know it, we need to speak it. Most people wouldn't choose to read the Bible; but if we tell them it, they could hear and receive it. 'Lord God, please give us the faith we need, through hearing and receiving your word. For your glory we ask, amen'.
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Life

 John 5:24 ESV Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. This is a bold claim from a carpenter turned itinerant teacher. It's not all positive either. He strongly suggests here, as backed up by other Scriptures, that we're naturally dead. We need God to make us alive in Christ. He's not just a carpenter turned rabbi. He's the everlasting Son, sent to die by the Father for our salvation. Jesus's words include the call to come to him for spiritual life. He promises that if we do so, we will assuredly have eternal life. Because he has defeated death, we can too. We don't have to be judged as we deserve. We can be justified by God through faith in Christ crucified on our behalf. He was judged in our place so we don't have to be. 'Father God, thank you for sending your Son for our salvation. May we ever live for you. In his name we ask, am...
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Risen

 Matthew 28:6 ESV He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.  It seems so simple, so understated. Yet 'he has risen' is one of the most profound statements ever. Jesus hadn't just risen from sleep, but from death itself. As the old hymn goes, 'because he lives, I can face tomorrow'. The implications of Christ's resurrection are profound. Because he beat death, there is hope for humanity. Christianity isn't just an idea or philosophy. It's based on history. Because Jesus rose again historically, we can too. The resurrection didn't happen out of the blue. Christ had promised that it would take place. Sure enough, it did. 'Heavenly Father, we praise you for raising your Son from the dead, by your Spirit. May we ever live to praise you, in your resurrection power. In Christ's name we ask this, amen'.
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Go!

 Matthew 28:19 ESV  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  A lot of evangelism is 'come and see': attend this event we've put on. Jesus emphasises that we are to 'go and tell' people who might never otherwise darken the door of a church building. Many refuse to come and see, but if we go and tell, people can't help but to hear the good news. We're to tell people the gospel whether they want it or not. It is objectively good news that everyone needs to hear whether they want to or not. Jesus told a parable about compelling people to come to the heavenly celebration. I wouldn't go as far as they did in Augustine's day: literally forcibly baptising people, as though they could force them to be saved. Dunking people in water against their will isn't going to save anyone! Yet we don't need permission to tell of Christs salvation. We're not just to call pe...
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