The words in the title for this second reflection from the book of Job come from the book of Ecclesiastes many centuries later. These words are so easy to say and they contain a truth almost everyone would accept in principle. There is: A time to be silent and a time to speak (Ecclesiastes 3:7b). I know myself that I have made the wrong call on probably many occasions over the years, speaking too soon when I should have listened more, waiting to hear the other person say what was really on their heart rather than just the introductory words testing out whether I was really willing to listen to them.
By speaking too soon it took much longer to find out the real issue of concern. However, it can work the other way too. How many of us have stayed silent and not intervened when another party to a conversation uttered a completely inappropriate remark. In the last two weeks the silence of many to speak out on racial injustice has been highlighted. But we all know there are many social contexts private and public where Christian voices needed to be heard more clearly. No wonder the words of James 1:5 in the New Testament are so applicable.
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
Are any readers of this message struggling even today over whether to speak or keep silent in the midst of a difficult situation? We need to be honest with ourselves that sometimes there is no clear cut choice before us either way whether to speak or be silent. But it is likely in the majority of contexts that we have a fair idea of how we ought to respond.
Job has lost his children, his businesses and last of all his good health and is pictured sitting silently amongst the ashes (Job 2:8). Over the course of the next week he has company sitting with him; the vast majority of that time is one of complete silence. When life’s circumstances are so tough words can seem so inadequate to express the aches of our hearts to give a comfort that is beyond our ability to administer.
At such times it is absolutely okay to be silent sitting with someone or some people on a pastoral visit. Your presence can convey the fact that you cared enough to be there. However, there was one person who spoke to Job. Job 2:9 states: His wife said to him, ‘Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!’ Unless we have experienced a major tragedy in our personal lives, it is incredibly difficult to ‘stand in the shoes’ of another person who has. Job broke his silence to respond. Job 2:10-11: He replied, ‘You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?’ In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
Notice that he didn’t charge her with being a foolish woman, he knew her too well over many years to think that. On the contrary, she shared his pain in their losses and words came out from a heart full of anguish. Graciously and quietly he asked her to join him in trusting God for their future, in the midst of their confusion. They had no answers to the torrent of questions that flowed through their minds as they sat together in the silence. But it is okay in such settings to be silent, then and now, there will be a place for words in the future – sometimes people simply need to know we care enough to be there for them, sometimes physically, at other times on the end of a phone and regularly to be praying for them
Our song for reflection today is: ‘Through the love of God our Saviour’
The book of Job describes events that took place thousands of years ago in an age so different to our own. Yet the issues that the participants were considering and the struggles they endured are in essence no different to living in the present day. This book is full of many questions but fewer answers. It reflects the balance of life in each generation that although we do have some answers as to ‘why’ things happen when they do, we will never have satisfactory answers to all our questions about the meaning and purpose of life.
If fact what is more salutary is that it is more than likely that we don’t even know all the questions we might wish to propose as we explore the purpose or meaning of our lives today!
What do we see in this chapter?
1.The picture presented (Job 1:1-8)
(a)On earth (Job 1:1-5) The focus is on one man and his family. He is portrayed in glowing terms. In Job 1:1 the author says this of Job: This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. It speaks of the character of the man. This was the sort of person ‘everyone’ would like to have for a neighbour! He was undoubtedly a ‘good person’ by anyone’s definition of good. It also speaks of him as a family man who was so fortunate to have ten adult children. In the Patriarchal era wealth was measured in terms of the number of animals you possessed. The numbers given here are huge. This man was incredibly wealthy but with lawfully acquired wealth. There is no suggestion of any inappropriate behaviour contributing to his acquisition of this privileged position.
Job was also very committed in his faith and was constantly seeking God’s assistance to ensure that his children followed in his footsteps in the faith. It appears that all is going wonderfully well. There is absolutely no sign of anything going wrong. However, none of us can safely assume that nothing will change in our lives. We must never take the good times for granted. How many of us on 1 January 2020 were expecting a pandemic and lock down to be our experience this year? We never know in life what might happen next. Only God knows the answer.
(b)In heaven (Job 1:6-8) There is a momentary glimpse of heavenly beings conversing with God the Father in heaven. The details of what happened next need not concern us and appear to be a description of ordinary life for the heavenly beings. However, events take a new turn with God’s interjection concerning a man on earth that lived a God-honouring life. Then the Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.’ What a commendation from the highest authority in the universe! If it was you or me whose life was under discussion –what words would be appropriate to describe us in a sentence or two?
What could go wrong when God was happy with the way someone was living? A few months ago in 2020 before the Covid-19 virus pandemic spread across the globe, who could have predicted the changes necessary in order to fight this deadly invisible enemy in our midst.
2. The problem posed (Job 1:9)
Job 1:9-10 states: 9 ‘Does Job fear God for nothing?’ Satan replied. 10 ‘Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. In essence, the accuser is declaring that Job is incredibly fortunate to experience his comfortable life style. The vast majority of people in the world had far less wealth and property than he had. Therefore, it was claimed, that if Job lost his home comforts and his income streams and if family members were to contract a serious disease or even die then it would be another matter. It is a big issue of trust.
We believe in a good God and in a heavenly Father who cares for His children. The big question here, though, is how do we cope when our circumstances are less secure? For example, how do we handle the uncertainty in the labour market or the future prospects for our business? Or how do we come to terms with failing health or relationship breakdowns within our family circle? Do we trust God to work for our good when we cannot see any visible evidence of it? It is easy to have theoretical answers, but when we are going through extremely difficult times the questions are very real.
3. The challenge thrown down (Job 1:11-22)
But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.’ The question could easily be asked in our age in a materialistic culture where people are so often valued by the things they possess more than by the person they are. The challenge concerning Job was an attempt to strike at his integrity. In essence, it is being alleged that Job is only a ‘fair-weather believer in God’! If his life circumstances are difficult then he will surely turn his back on God. Without going any further into this story it is good to stop and reflect on our own lives and to ask the question to ourselves: How willing am I to trust God with my future, regardless of the blessings or challenges that come my way?
Our song for reflection today is: ‘Blessed be Your name’
Morning worship online has moved to start at 10am and JAM at 11:15am on the Zoom platform.
You may want to use some of the Engage Worship resources for daily worship during this week.
The Messy Church At Home information is now available.
We will be continuing the Prayer Livestream at 7.00pm on Sunday 7 June 2020. This will be another significant time of national prayer for us. Please join in and, if you don’t already do so, would you let your fellowship know about this and put it on your social media. Click here to access.
JAM Kids’ focus:
Here is the new video series from Out of the Box for JAM Kids age group.
JAM young adults Ignite Live have a separate programme at 11:15am on the Zoom platform –parents of teenagers can get a link code by contacting Gary Torbet on garytorbet@btinternet.com
Call to worship: Micah 6:6-8 & Galatians 3:28
With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:6-8)
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)
We are grateful to Gary Torbet for selecting the songs for worship for this service
Our opening song of praise and worship is: ‘Blessing and honour and glory and power’
We continue to worship the Lord in our second song of praise and worship: ‘O Lord the clouds are gathering
Opening prayer
Thank you Lord that once more we can enter Your holy presence in the wonderful and precious name of Your Son our Saviour Jesus Christ. We rejoice that You are the sovereign Lord over all Your creation and that one day the whole universe will be completely renewed and restored to be the world You intended humanity to experience alongside the rest of the creatures with which we share this amazing planet. Thank you Lord that ultimately Your will is going to be done on earth as it currently is in heaven.
We thank You for the glimpse in John’s vision of heaven in Revelation 7 that all Your people of every nation will be present to praise.
After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’
11 All the angels were standing round the throne and round the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, 12 saying: ‘Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honour and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!’
What an incredible day it will be we will all be together in Your eternal presence.
We are conscious, heavenly Father that each day of our lives we need to come before You to confess our sins and ask afresh for your forgiveness. Lord today as we are so conscious that we live in a world of racial injustice where discrimination and prejudice have been present far too often, we come to ask Your forgiveness not just for any attitudes, words or actions we may have had that have been prejudiced against people of a different racial background, but also for any times when we were silent and failed to speak up when we ought to have done.
Lord Jesus, by Your Holy Spirit give us wisdom and Your clear guidance so that we may consistently both individually and collectively make everyone welcome in our midst. Help us now in our praises and as we sit under Your Word to hear You speak to us today, for Jesus’ names sake, Amen.
Let us say together the words Jesus taught His disciples when He said:
‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'” For Yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory, for ever Amen.
Children’s Talk: “Love your neighbour as yourself” “You are the light of the world” – Gary Torbet
In the video I am about to show you, it is Leona Lewis, the X Factor winner from 2006 (can’t believe that!!). What had happened to her and her Dad when they visited a store in London, was she had been targeted by the store manager for picking things up. The store manager though had failed to say this to any other white customers, which enraged Leona.
This is how the incident make Leona feel;
Leona Lewis; “Speaking out” Using from 05;30 – 10;02
So it was not just the obvious racist behaviour of the store manager, this was bad enough! What also hurt Leona and her Dad as well was that there were other people there – who could have and should have intervened, spoken out and challenged the racist behaviour but instead turned aside, they ignored the injustice of the racist behaviour towards Leona and her Dad.
Jesus says in Mark 12; 31 “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
He also says in Matthew 5; 14 -16 “You are the light of the world – like a city on a hilltop cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead a lamp is placed on a stand where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way let your good deeds shine out for all to see so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”
How can we be a light to others – we can “Love our neighbours” – we can treat everyone whatever race, ethnicity with complete love, dignity and respect. When we have new people coming to church, to welcome them, make them feel special.
But also the lesson from Leona’s story also challenges us not just to welcome, embrace and love everyone, but to speak out when we see injustice. So boys & girls, young people at school, adults in your workplaces, all of us everywhere – Jesus calls us to be the “Light of the world”, and to be people as Natanya read earlier from Micah;
“To do what is right, to love mercy and justice, and to walk humbly before our God.”
Let us ask God to search us, for any hint of prejudice in our hearts, and how we might discriminate against others who are different from us. For us to be the light and the hope of the world by speaking out and stamping out injustice, wherever we see it.
Children’s Song – “You are the light of the world”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI302Av7vSI
Prayers for others
Thank you Lord once more for the privilege of praying for other people:
We come to You Lord to cry out about the repeated injustice of the constant killings of our African brothers and sisters by Islamist terrorists. We pray for the families of the 67 Christians murdered in the last few weeks in the North-East province of Ituri, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a region in which in excess of seven hundred have been killed in the last three years. We pray that our media in the BBC and other broadcasters will report more fairly and not ignore the increased killing particularly of Black African believers in recent years.
We give thanks that we are Jesus’s hands and feet on earth and can give a voice to the voiceless. We pray for issues of injustice, inequality and poverty whether locally, nationally or globally and ask that God would show each of us how we can partner with Him in bringing justice to these situations; we pray that if there are particular issues of injustice You wish us to address in our local communities that You would guide and direct us to see what needs to be done.
We continue to pray for wisdom for our Governments in Edinburgh and London as we slowly move in the direction of reopening shops and businesses as well as for those owners seeking to make their premises compliant with the new health and safety guidelines. We also remember those in our NHS and Social Care sectors as they seek to help prevent a second upsurge in cases of the Covid-19 virus in our land. We continue to remember those in our schools, colleges and universities trying to plan a programme to allow the maximum educational opportunities for our children and young people in the next school and university year.
In our Baptist Union of Scotland we remember to pray for:
Martin Hodson our General Director – he writes: ‘I give thanks to God for the privilege of serving our family of Baptist churches in Scotland. Please pray for me as I seek the Lord’s wisdom and revelation in order to lead well.’
We also pray for our sister churches in:
Erskine BC – With a number of people on the sheltering list it may take them a while to build up once they are allowed to meet up in church. We pray for guidance for them as they reshape church for the new normal. We pray for them as they look to see how they can continue having an online programme even after regular services start back again.
Falkirk BC – They continue to praise God for the ongoing growth they have been enjoying in the last 18 months, the new leadership structure in the church, and growth & development of our mission, ministries and staff team. Please pray that they won’t be too negatively affected by the coronavirus lockdown and will find creative ways to continue in reaching out during this time of restrictions.
Forres BC – They give thanks that in moving to ‘You Tube services’ because of the Coronavirus lock down, the gospel message is being heard by friends and family of our congregation that are not Christians. We pray that God would help them become a ‘people of prayer’ who rely wholly on His Spirit, that God’s power and might would be displayed in them, for the glory of His name.
Fort William BC – We pray for the elderly people in this congregation who have found the lockdown hard and not being able to meet others. We also pray for those going through cancer treatment at this time in this congregation.
Fraserburgh BC – We thank God for those in our fellowship who are gifted in the use of technology, which has enabled us to have fellowship online. We thank the Lord for the unity that this enforced lockdown has brought to the church. People are phoning each other and caring for one another in various ways. It has been clear to see God’s work during this period of pandemic in terms of bringing the fellowship closer together.
They thank God that, when they can return to face to face worship, they will almost be able to move straight into their newly refurbished sanctuary. They thank God for His presence and superintendent care for them, not only since lockdown but over the past year. We join them in their request to pray for non-members to join the church, for more baptisms and for new people, especially young families, to start coming to FBC.
We pray too for the ongoing work of the Christian Churches in our land that You will help us be the best witnesses we can be in our local communities at this time. We thank you for the other churches in our local community and ask Your blessing on their work as we pray similarly for our own activities this week. In particular we pray for other people with particular needs that are connected to our own congregation:
The Nyguist and Marshall families as they prepare for John’s funeral on Monday and Bill’s funeral on Tuesday of this week.We pray that You would comfort and uphold them and other families recently bereaved at this time.
We continue to remember those waiting for medical appointments and treatment or surgery that has been delayed by the pandemic preparations. We pray that the surgeries of doctors and dentists and hospitals may soon be fully open again to treat those in need. We pray too for wisdom as they see to restore services while complying with the new safety guidelines.
We are aware of other, particularly older members who have ongoing health difficulties and pray for God’s strength for them at this time. We pray for those exhausted with heavy work schedules that you would renew their health and strength, and for those struggling with the limitations of lock down that you would give them Your peace at this time. In particular, we remember … In addition, we bring our own needs to You at this time … in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, Amen.
Bible Reading
At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. 3 One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, ‘Cornelius!’
4 Cornelius stared at him in fear. ‘What is it, Lord?’ he asked.The angel answered, ‘Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5 Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6 He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.’
7 When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants. 8 He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.
9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’
14 ‘Surely not, Lord!’ Peter replied. ‘I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.’15 The voice spoke to him a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.
17 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. 18 They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.19 While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, ‘Simon, three men are looking for you. 20 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.’
21 Peter went down and said to the men, ‘I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?’22 The men replied, ‘We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to ask you to come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.’ 23 Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.
Acts 10:1-23
Before we come to listen to God’s Word let us sing: ‘Far and near hear the call’
The Message
Pre-recorded message
Acts 9:32 -10:16 The Church is for all people
Introduction
The new faith community that began on the Day of Pentecost was composed entirely of Jewish people. Now because people can convert to Judaism and Jewish people moved for a variety of reasons to live in other countries in the known world, it is only stating the obvious to acknowledge that not all Jews looked the same.
The majority lived in the Middle East, but an increasing minority were based in North Africa or Europe. They shared a common set of religious and cultural practices that were taken for granted. The church of Jesus Christ amongst these people was growing, but they had not grasped fully what Jesus had in mind when He spoke these words, before His ascension back to heaven, to His disciples in Acts 1:8: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’
They had simply blanked out people who were not Jewish.We might be surprised that they hadn’t grasped that, but there have been a number of times when this missionary call has been forgotten by the Christian Church. The Protestant Churches in Scotland in the eighteenth century did not hear such a call until Baptist minister Archibald McLean in his 27 December 1795 sermon reawakened the Scottish Churches to their responsibilities on this subject. What does this passage reveal about God’s vision for His Church?
1. Peter’s crucial first steps (Acts 9:32-43)
How easily we as Christians can forget how familiar we are with coming to church, yet for an unchurched person to come in for the first time is a major step. Those first impressions are vital. Although we must go out of our way to be friendly and welcoming when people come in –we have the responsibility of going out with the gospel to the places where other people may feel at home and which may be unfamiliar to us.
Peter had grown up living in communities that would have been almost exclusively Jewish. Here in Joppa and Lydda the vast majority of people would have been Gentiles. The names of people given in Luke’s brief account confirm this assessment of the situation. Aeneas is a name with Greek origins. Tabitha is a name with Syrian origins and is an Aramaic version of the Greek name Dorcas. There would undoubtedly have been at this stage only Jews in the congregations of the followers of Jesus.
What relevance then, Peter may have thought, has the gospel for the majority of the citizens of these communities? At that time he inevitably had no answers, but to ask the question is to open the window of opportunity to look for a possible solution. The Jews and the Samaritans had similar lifestyles albeit their rivalry tended to obscure that reality.
However, Gentiles with their many gods and different temples and a wide variety of varying cultures must have been a cause of bewilderment to Peter – at first. Acts 1:8, Jesus call to take the gospel to Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth, was being fulfilled step by step. Notice with whom Peter lodges in Joppa. Acts 9:43 records:43Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.
In Leviticus 11, amongst a whole series of guidelines regarding ritually pure and impure animals, Moses wrote: 24 “‘You will make yourselves unclean by these; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean till evening. 25 Whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean till evening. Simon was a Jew working in an occupation that rendered him permanently unclean. It was a smelly occupation skinning the carcases of dead animals and then treating them to produce leather for a variety of goods. Orthodox Jews would have avoided tanners like the plague to prevent ritual impurity.
Peter although still to grasp that the gospel is good news for people of all ethnic backgrounds has already seen that it is available for all Jews –even those that the religious authorities back in Jerusalem would have excluded for being unclean. The Church of Jesus in every generation has struggled to present the gospel equally to all sections of society and the challenge has always been to present an inclusive gospel to which all can be called and invited to embrace as followers of Jesus Christ.
The extraordinary fact of this last section of Acts 9 to Luke’s first readers was not the healing of the bedridden Aeneas or the resurrection from the dead of Tabitha –although both events were most extraordinary – rather it was Peter accepting hospitality from Simon the tanner. This man had offered a place in his home; an unexpected offer and an equally unexpected acceptance by the great apostle.
God was at work in a special way for this to have come about. All of us will have times when we are surprised by God’s actions in the world. Too often we focus on the unexpected sinful and hurtful choices people make rather than on the blessings of the unexpected good and creative and generous choices that people have made, and from which we have benefited. God was opening Peter’s mind to enable him to think ‘outside the box’ in evangelism, but also that Gentiles mattered too! God was directing Peter to widen the circle of people with whom he was associated in order that the good news could influence and transform the lives of people who might otherwise not hear it.
The challenge for us today is to ask ourselves if there are people with whom we might share the gospel, whom we had not previously prayed for or considered how we might show something of God’s live to them in a practical way.
2. Cornelius’ openness in Prayer (Acts 10:1-8)
To whom does God speak?
(a) A Person who desires to be holy (v2a) 2He and all his family were devout and God-fearing God took His rightful place in this man’s life despite his limited knowledge of God and an even more limited contact with God’s people, due to the location of his work in this Roman town of Caesarea. This town was like a major American army base abroad with its fast-food restaurants and cinemas –everything in fact that reminded the soldiers of home. In this case the architecture was Roman; the religious temples were like Rome and in fact it was simply Rome in replica –so different in every respect to a Jewish town or village, let alone Jerusalem. Yet Cornelius’ focus was not primarily on what the Roman Emperor wanted him to be like, although he was dedicated to his career and did an excellent job as a soldier.
His focus was on seeking to please God, even though he had little access to the Jewish Bible and would have had real problems getting the time off to attend services at a Jewish place of worship. This was a man who would not be put off seeking God and serving Him. He and his whole family led self-disciplined lives seeking to love God, including planned time for family prayers and personal time alone with God, together with a heart to assist other people around him in practical ways in accordance with their needs. Here was a small group of people waiting to commit their lives to Christ; the only obstacle in their pathway was someone to tell them about Jesus. Do we need God to open our minds to help us make friends or speak to someone from a different cultural or religious background about Jesus? Could we be missing an opportunity already available?
In every country and culture there are people like this- maybe in small numbers in some places, but larger in other countries. Will you pray for an opportunity to introduce someone to Jesus? In a world where secular pressures attempt to squeeze us into a godless mould may we like Cornelius have a passion for godliness; an earnest desire to be God-pleasers through the choices we make.
The apostle Paul put it this way in Romans12:2: 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Are you failing to hear God speaking to us because our life is too cluttered to hear Him speak above all the noise of everything else going on in our lives? God is looking for a people who will give Him their full attention to heed what He has been calling them to do.
(b) A Person who desires to serve (v2b) he gave generously to those in need generous giving is planned giving. As Christians we will not want to give God the loose change we find on the day. Those of us with regular incomes can set aside our tithes, even setting up standing orders and with the simple use of gift aid forms we can make our offerings go even further if we are tax-payers.
I want to express my most sincere thanks to those who have given so generously to help our church meet its financial commitments since lock down. However, the difference between the recommended giving of Jews in Bible times and the model recommended by Jesus and the Early Church leaders was this: Under Old Testament law you could tick the boxes and say I have given my dues. Even the issue of which neighbours could be helped if they needed assistance was addressed by the Pharisees, but Jesus challenged this mentality with the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37.
The person in need whom we can help is our neighbour. All that I own and possess I have in trust from God. I am willing to make myself and what I have available to God and allow Him to guide me in the use of those precious resources. This is not a form of communism where all the comrades are compulsorily ‘equal’, rather it is a determination to be in control over what I have rather than being controlled or motivated by them. Money and possessions are good and necessary, but never an end in themselves only the means to an appropriate end.
(c) A person who desires to pray (vs2c-8) and prayed to God regularly. 3One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, “Cornelius We could easily miss the significance of what is going on here. The time here is important. 3pm was the time of the evening service in the Jerusalem Temple. It was an hour of prayer set aside by devout Jews. For some Jews who were unable to attend the service in the Temple would set aside the time at home when that was possible.
What is remarkable here is that Cornelius was not a Jew. He was a Gentile and a Roman at that. He wanted to please God and was like many non-Jews of that day who had lost faith in the Roman gods, but knew that there was a God to whom they wished to give allegiance, but wanted to do so without joining the Jewish faith. They were known as ‘God-fearers’; people who attended services in local synagogues on a regular basis and lived honourable lives in a very corrupt and depraved society.
These were the most receptive people when the gospel was carried across the towns and cities of the Roman Empire. There is a spiritual health warning that must be given concerning prayer. Be careful what you ask for – God might grant your request! 4Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. 5Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea.” 7When the angel who spoke to him had gone, Cornelius called two of his servants and a devout soldier who was one of his attendants.8He told them everything that had happened and sent them to Joppa.
There are many good and commendable things we ask for that appear to be unanswered or simply don’t happen. There are other times when it takes weeks, months or years longer than we had envisaged. In other words God’s response to our prayers can be either ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘not yet’. Here this rather shocked man was informed that God had seen all that he had done and was about to bless him in ways he hadn’t imagined would be possible. God hasn’t changed. However, the blessings we may receive may not be the ones hoped for, but we must trust our heavenly father to know what is best for us.
3. Openness in Attitude (Acts 10:9-16) In another place, Joppa, Peter is praying in his regular daily prayer time. Do we take the big hint here from Luke that the people God is most likely to use in His service are those who spend some time with Him each day? It is not the length of time that is important, rather the setting aside of some time that fits appropriately within your daily schedule. This was a quiet time when most people were sleeping in that hot climate. Peter is using some of that time to spend it with God. What a shock he experienced when this extraordinary vision imprints itself on his mind.
The Jewish law called all these animals unclean and they were not to be eaten. This was a distinctive lifestyle choice that kept Jews and Gentiles separate. Peter is not a vegetarian or a vegan –it is ritual purity that is the issue here! God repeated the message several times to make sure Peter got it! Was it a message about Peter’s dietary choices? No! However, it was a problem for the apostle as he could not grasp what God wanted to say to him.
There was a clear message about food in Acts 10:15: Do not call anything impure that God has made clean, but had Peter not been radical enough by staying in a tanner’s house? The table fellowship issue was clear to all the apostles. Paul put it this way in Romans14:14: 14As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no foodis unclean in itself. Peter was left with the challenge from God. However, it was only a few minutes before all became clear. While he was still praying there was a knock at the door. Peter thought nothing of it as he was a guest in that home and was largely unknown in the area, so the visitors must have come to see his host.
How did Cornelius’s men know to go to that address? God told them. 5Now send men to Joppa to bring back a man named Simon who is called Peter. 6He is staying with Simon the tanner, whose house is by the sea. How did Peter know the visitors had come to see him? God told him. 19While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you. 20So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”21Peter went down and said to the men, “I’m the one you’re looking for. Why have you come?” 22The men replied, “We have come from Cornelius the centurion. He is a righteous and God-fearing man, who is respected by all the Jewish people. A holy angel told him to have you come to his house so that he could hear what you have to say.” 23Then Peter invited the men into the house to be his guests.
Why did God go to such extraordinary lengths to ensure this meeting took place and the follow up meetings in Cornelius’s home? Quite simply this was the biggest step forward since the Christian Church began on the Day of Pentecost. People of all races were equally welcomed to join the Christian Church was God’s message. The Church in Antioch (Acts 13:1) modelled that inclusivity in its leadership team too. It is no surprise that this is the local church that pioneers overseas mission. They had a world vision in their home context first. In order for the gospel to be given to people other than Jews God had to ensure that it took place in an appropriate way with the most prominent leader at that time setting the example.
There are times when God opens doors for Christian service that we had not sought nor prayed for or ever thought would be available to us. My we come openly before God for guidance for today, Amen.
Our song before we come to communion is: God of Justice
The Lord’s Supper
Jesus invites all Christian who have committed their lives to follow Him to participate in this act of worship. The apostle Paul wrote these words of Scripture in I Corinthians 11:23-26 to guide our observance of Communion.
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: the Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ 25 In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.
Prayer: Choose your own words of prayer to give thanks for the bread and wine that represent the costly gift of His body and blood for us.
Take the bread: Jesus said: ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.
Take the wine: Jesus said: This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’
Our closing song is: Let the flame burn brighter
Closing Prayer:
Thank you Lord that you are a God who so loved the world that You gave Your one and only Son to die in our place on the cross, whether we are Jews or one of the other ethnic communities collectively known in the Bible as Gentiles. Thank You for the privilege of the call to follow in Jesus footsteps to make the good news of the gospel known to everyone we can of whatever race in the coming days.
Help us as a church to welcome everyone to our congregation equally whatever their racial background. We pray that no-one may visit our church services and feel less than wholeheartedly welcomed among us. In this new week we pray for the strength we need to live for you in whatever circumstance we find ourselves, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.
Benediction: The Grace
May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with us all evermore, Amen
Names matter! If your name is Robert and I call you Michael repeatedly after several meetings, despite you graciously alerting me to my mistake on each occasion, then you could legitimately question how well I was listening to you in our conversations. Names Matter! Or if in conversations the other person never mentioned your name and simply called you ‘boy’ or ‘girl’, or ‘man’ or ‘woman’ – depending on your age or gender – you might view such a practice as being less than friendly. Or even a sign that they had forgotten your name.
It was no different in the ancient world whether in the time of Jesus or a thousand years earlier in the time of the famous King David. In Isaiah 49:13-16a there is remarkable passage in which the people of Israel exiled in Babylon (Iraq) feared that God had forgotten them. They were praying in their times of desperate need and nothing happened. Had they been abandoned?
Isaiah comes back to them with this message from the Lord: Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains! For the Lord comforts His people and will have compassion on His afflicted ones. 14 But Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.’ 15 ‘Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! 16 See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
In other words God knows His people and never forgets us, even if other people forget our names and anything else about us. You may think today that you are of no importance. As a child of God by faith in Jesus, your heavenly Father would take a different view. You matter to Him. He knows your name.
Here in Matthew 1:6 it states: David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife The sad story of David’s wicked plan to take the wife of one of his most loyal soldiers Uriah overshadowed the remaining years of his reign (see II Samuel 11-12).
When ordered by the king to sleep with him Bathsheba had no choice in the matter. She was a vulnerable woman, especially so after the murder of her husband. Did she have mixed feelings about the child she was carrying? We will never know, but undoubtedly the loss of the child, only a few weeks old, would have been painful. Her agony of heart at her losses was not just hers. As a direct result of his sin, David, years later, would lose his favourite son Absalom.
His lament recorded in II Samuel 18:33 conveys the agonies he experienced: The king was shaken. He went up to the room over the gateway and wept. As he went, he said: O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you— O Absalom, my son, my son!
Our focus here is on Bathsheba. What a strange way to refer to her: whose mother had been Uriah’s wife… She was the woman who in the eyes of some people was of no particular significance. What was her actual name? Bathsheba means literally: ‘daughter of Sheba’ or possibly ‘descendant of Sheba’, because Matthew is not including all the people who might be in this genealogy. It is a selective use of names for a particular purpose as Matthew builds up to the revelation of the angel in this same chapter who will privately reveal to Joseph the name of his son. Matthew 1:21 states: She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.’
God was saying here through the inclusion of this woman that she was of value and great worth to Him. Each person matters to God whether you are young or old, rich or poor, or of whatever racial heritage. Bathsheba in human terms was powerless to control so much of her life, but God knows her name, just as He knows yours and mine. You matter to Him. In whatever circumstance you find yourself in the coming week or weeks, remember alongside any petitions you may bring to Him, also to bring Him your praises and offerings of thankfulness, for Jesus’ names sake, Amen.
Our song for reflection is: ‘At the name of Jesus’
Our next Messy Church At Home session is now available on our website, just click on the link below. This time we’ll hear a story about a little man who climbed a tree! We’d love to see any photos of what you have made 🙂
If the inclusion of Tamar was a shock to some early hearers or readers of Matthew’s Gospel, then Matthew 1:5 takes this surprise to a whole new level. The grace of God in welcoming people into His family often can be more generous than we might naturally be comfortable with. We need to ask in our churches are we equally welcoming to people regardless of their age or social class or their race?
To make people genuinely welcome takes effort and is a more radical step to take than mere toleration. It goes much further than making a point of noting with whom we share a time of fellowship after the service. It speaks, for example, about diversity in the range of songs we will choose in worship services that will be accessible to all across the age spectrum; the topics we choose to mention in intercessory prayer are very revealing; do we pray for the wider world in its diverse needs? Do we remember the Christian Church across the globe which in so many places suffers serious persecution and even physical violence simply for owning the name of Jesus? Too many churches pray only for themselves and their needs not even referencing other churches in their own country in their petitions to our heavenly Father.
Here in this verse in this genealogy is a powerful statement of divine inclusion in the people of God as a result of His undeserved love towards us. It may for some readers even be a challenge as to how we view this subversive genealogy! To whom unexpectedly does God say ‘welcome into the people of God’ in Matthew 1:5? The first individual mentioned was a Canaanite woman named Rahab who most probably was the owner or manager of a brothel (Joshua 2:1).
The NIV marginal reading ‘innkeeper’, is a rendering that owes more to the embarrassment of the believing scholars who produced the translation than the Hebrew text. Yet this woman hid the spies sent by Joshua the Israelite leader in the only place in that city where none of the men present wanted to highlight their identity. It was the perfect hiding place for these wanted men. Yet through this unexpected encounter Rahab came to faith in their God and for the rest of her life honoured God and was listed in Hebrews 11:31 as one of the great people of faith. She heard the words of the messengers of the God of Israel, sent by Joshua, and trusted them implicitly; Her words were: Let it be as you say (Joshua 2:21). As a result her life and that of her family were spared when Jericho fell and the Israelites took the land.
If that was not enough controversy for one Bible verse! It goes on… Boaz the father Obed, whose mother was Ruth(Matthew 1:5); there were very real tensions between the Jews and the Moabite people for centuries because the Moabites and the Ammonites were extremely inhospitable to the Israelites in the time of Moses before they entered the Promised Land. The extent of this problem is revealed as late as the book of Nehemiah who was governor in Judah from around 445BC, hundreds of years later (Nehemiah 13:1-3).
Yet we serve a God who treats us not as we deserve, but in His amazing love and mercy He welcomes all who seek to trust and follow Him. All of us are sinners and undeserving of His embrace, but through His amazing grace even the worse of sinners are welcomed into His family when we put our faith in Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Ruth as an individual was an amazing woman in her character and conduct to break down all these barriers and to be not only tolerated but honoured in the Jewish community in Bethlehem. Unlike Rahab, Ruth had led a life of the highest integrity, consistently, and displayed immense courage to take the steps of faith she did as a woman of faith trusting in the God of Israel.
In this genealogy we catch a small glimpse of the future people of God from incredibly diverse backgrounds worshipping and working together as one people of God in the communities in which He has placed us. The challenge comes to us personally and collectively as Christian churches: How welcoming and inclusive are we to people of different ages or racial backgrounds or social class? We ought to be a small glimpse towards what heaven will be like one day. In the light of this challenge we are all naturally invited to pray and ask our heavenly Father what are our next steps to be more like the Church our Father desires to represent Him on earth in this our generation.
This is an extraordinary development from the God of surprises. Genealogies in the ancient world routinely contain long lists of men followed by their eldest son or sons and so on to the next generation. This is not the case here in the record provided by Matthew. In addition, there are four women included here as significant people in the redemptive history of the people of God, and in the direct line of the Messiah. Unlike Matthew’s first readers, we can so easily miss the significance of these names. Who is the first one of these women?
Tamar (Matthew 1:3) Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar Genesis 38 records the sad chapter in the life of Judah, who later would bring honour to his family and God in Egypt, but here went off the rails morally, in part due to his loss of self-esteem and apparently hopeless struggles as an apparently unsuccessful parent of his sons.
In the midst of that tragic situation we see Tamar, the widow of his first-born son Er; whom the second son Onan declined to marry upon his death, in line with the custom of the day, and then despite her loyalty to her late husband’s dysfunctional family, she is abandoned to fend for herself. In desperation to attract the attention of her backslidden father-in-law she poses as a prostitute, knowing Judah’s partiality to using prostitutes, and gets pregnant by him. After some appalling hypocrisy, this man eventually came to his senses and the realisation of the depths to which he had sunk.
It brought Judah to the place of repentance and eventual usefulness to God. The complex marital customs of that culture are so different to our modern Western world. But in that setting Tamar, instead of becoming (understandably) bitter and walking away completely, was determined to do the right thing. She took a risk getting pregnant outside of marriage, yet through that action fulfilled the purposes of God. She was an honourable young woman who would not let the appalling actions of men in her life turn her away from the ideals and principles with which she had been brought up. It is a story that warns us how far even believers can sink into sin (Judah); but gives an example of a courageous young woman who stuck to her principles and was eventually vindicated. Your situation may appear to have no way out. Your plight may feel hopeless. But God can find a way through and invites us to follow in His footsteps.
Our song for reflection today is: ‘He will hold me fast’
We are now in the middle of another week. Can I encourage you to put aside some time for prayer and reflection on our world today, and to remember each other in our prayers? We always have plenty to pray for.
Matthew 1:1: …the son of David, the Son of Abraham
Our race does matter. God created each of us to be who we are in Christ with our racial identity as part of that creation in the image of God. Genesis 1:31 states: God saw all that He had made and it was very good. The tragedy of racism is that those in power promoting it and those who feel powerless both have a distorted image of their identity as human beings. It is very hard in a society where racial stereotypes are sadly still in evidence to avoid being influenced by it. Having a balanced understanding of who we are is something we can achieve with the help of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew’s Gospel was written by a Jew almost certainly for Jewish followers of Jesus together with Jews interested in exploring Jesus’ identity. They would have loved the prospect of exploring a genealogy whereas for most of us it is not normally viewed as exciting reading! A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1).
The Jews were particularly careful to preserve details of their ancestral heritage. This was much more than a hobby; proof of their ancestry confirmed their link to the father of the nation, Abraham, and entitled them to claim the biblical promises for themselves. In this respect the uniqueness of the Jews as the chosen people of God stands out in the records of human history.
Matthew’s Gospel was written by a former tax collector and collaborator with the Romans called Levi. Mark (2:13-17) and Luke (5:27-32) record the story of his conversion.
Mark’s account stated that: Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. Follow me, Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. 15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’? 17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.
Levi was becoming a very wealthy man, but also increasingly lonely, like one of his fellow collaborators Zacchaeus in Jericho. He was stunned that the popular rabbi Jesus of Nazareth would defy the social conventions and speak to a collaborator, let alone invite him to become a disciple. Jesus almost certainly changed his name to Matthew, meaning ‘gift of God’. It was recognition that an aimless life, in spiritual terms, had now gained a sense of direction and purpose.
Matthew had become convinced that Jesus was not only significant for him, but also for the whole Jewish nation. This point is made crystal clear in Matthew 1:1: A record of the genealogy of Jesus Christ the son of David, the son of Abraham.
This verse and its carefully chosen words is a very clear pointer to the fact of what Matthew understands about the person of Jesus. First of all, he refers to Jesus Christ. The latter name is a title not a family name meaning ‘the Messiah’ or ‘the anointed one’, with reference to the person prophesied about in the Old Testament. This is the person our ancestors longed to see coming in their generation. This is the person about whom a whole list of revelations were given through the prophets concerning His birth, life, death and resurrection, from the place of His birth, for example, given by Micah (Micah 5:2), an eighth century BC prophet; to the nature of his birth (Isaiah 7:14 / Matthew 1:20-23) to the nature of His mission (Isaiah 61:1-3 / Luke 4:17-21); to the manner of His death (Psalm 22 / Isaiah 53); to the fact that His body would not decay in the tomb (Psalm 16:10 /Acts 2:25-28).
The basic biography of Jesus could have been written before He was born from these Old Testament prophecies. Is there any other human being over the centuries whose life story, in terms of its major events, that could have been written prior to their birth? I don’t think so. Time and again in this gospel quotations are prefaced from the Old Testament with words like: then what was said by the prophet…was fulfilled (for example Matthew 1:22; 2:15, 17 and 23).
Jesus is the Messiah, the Saviour, said Matthew. The question for each of us is this: what difference does it make to your life? He is the one whose birth led to the chronology of the world being divided up between events before it and those after it. Is He your Saviour and Messiah? As the angel would say later to Joseph: Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.21She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:20-21). Have you had your sins forgiven? They can be if you put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ?
Our song for reflection today is: ‘The Lord is my salvation’
Brian Talbot
Pointers for Prayer
We praise God for the reduction in numbers of people contracting the Covid-19 virus and a consequent decline in the numbers of deaths in our country. We are deeply grateful to the NHS and Social Care staff who continue to support those who have contracted this illness. However, we also pray for wisdom for the Governments in our country as health care services that have been put on hold are restarted enabling doctors’ surgeries and dental practices to reopen.
We remember other countries struggling with this crisis especially Brazil with its alarmingly high number of infections and deaths and the city of Beijing in China where there is a serious new outbreak of fresh infections.
We pray for wisdom for our Police Forces, together with local Government and legal authorities, when decisions are taken regarding matters of law and order at the present time including encouraging better practice from a minority who ignore the lock down guidance and in policing demonstrations and other responses following the killing of George Floyd on 25 May in Minneapolis. We pray for those teaching in our schools, colleges and universities, seeking to prepare for the next academic year at a time when the future is so unclear, together with young people and their families attempting to juggle work and family life alongside supporting their children in their school work.
We pray for our schools, colleges and universities as they endeavour to try and plan ahead for the return of children and students to continue their education in their premises as well as in ongoing online forms of learning.
We pray for employers and employees in so many workplaces with deep concerns how their work might take place safely in the coming months. We also remember those now out of work and young people seeking to gain their first jobs that each might find a place of work that fits their gifts and experience.
We continue to pray for the families that have been bereaved, in particular the Nyguist and Marshall families and ask for God’s strength and comfort in their time of sorrow, in particular as they prepare for John’s funeral on Monday 22 June and Bill’s on Tuesday 23 June.
We continue to remember those who are unwell and pray for God’s healing and restoration of health and strength, in particular for Ali Torbet’s mum.
We pray for those struggling with continuing isolation in their homes or residential homes and older members of the church in particular who are finding the strains of recent months particularly difficult.
We pray too for the missionary families we are associated with and in particular pray for Helen and Wit in Northern Thailand as they join us by zoom for morning worship on Sunday 28 June 2020
We pray for ourselves and our families and our own specific needs; also that we always make time each day to read His word and spend time in His presence in prayer.
We pray in advance for the online meetings and activities for all ages in our church family throughout this week and the service next Sunday
We want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who supported our care packages for local care home staff initiative recently.
We were overwhelmed by the amazing response. Kevin Clark one of our Deacons who came up with the idea explained that we wanted to thank care home staff for their work during this difficult time and we were able to put together 15 large “thank you” boxes to 12 care homes in Dundee!!
Special thank you to everyone in the community who donated, local shops who had donation boxes for us and who also donated items, staff from Ninewells ICU who donated goods and lots of local children who made cards and pictures to put in the boxes. 💖💙🌈
Our identity matters. Sadly, as we have seen so painfully in recent weeks, our racial background is more significant than we realised. A black British citizen may have a very different experience to report than their White British next door-neighbour, for example.
If I was to ask you to speak to the next person you meet and describe yourself in a sentence or two, it would be quite revealing what in that moment you chose to include and what inevitably was excluded from that choice of words.
For many of us, unless we are retired from paid employment, inevitably mention our career or job. For others, it may be as a parent or grandparent or some other form of words that highlighted that key aspect of our identity.
Historically in the United Kingdom, social class boundary markers were incredibly influential and no-one was in any doubt whether they were upper-class, middle-class or working class, now for most people these labels are less important.
But if one set of labels diminishes in importance others will arise to take their place. In Scotland, especially on the Western side of the country, asking someone: ‘which school did you go to?’ was not the innocent factual question it might appear on the surface. The answer you gave might mean you could bring that friend home to play after school or might get you a job in a particular place of work.
It was of course linked to the Irish troubles and whether you were of Protestant or Roman Catholic background. Thankfully, sectarianism is a thing of the past in most places; but polarisation can so easily occur due to a range of differences over, for example, racial or political issues. At its heart almost everyone wants to belong to someone or something, to a family, a group, a cause.
Very few people are content to lead an entirely solitary existence. For Jewish people, attachment to their genealogies and being able to prove their ancestral ties was central to their identity. Yet this innocuous-looking list of names is actually telling a story and making some clear points that would not have been missed by its first Jewish hearers or readers. At best it would have revealed some surprising names being included, but to others who particularly prized their ethnic purity these inclusions would have been shocking.
So what was Matthew saying as he paints the backdrop of the picture that prepares the way for the birth of Jesus? In essence, he was presenting a revelation of the purposes of God in salvation that would be fulfilled through the work of the One whose birth would shortly be announced. It also revealed an awareness of God’s planning well ahead of time for the birth of His Son on earth. Who would have predicted that God would have worked in this way?
Isaiah 55:8-9 reminds of an important message from God: For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord.9 ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.
And, for us at this present time in history, where racism needs to be rooted out in our country; is our vision of God at work in us and through us too small to consider how He might use you and me to speak out and to model a way of life that contributes in a positive way God’s equal treatment of people whatever their racial background? The God revealed in Matthew 1 is most definitely a God of surprises! Read Matthew 1:1-17 and finds out more today!
Our song for reflection today is: ‘Will you come and follow me’
