A man with leprosy touched by Jesus.

Jesus was upset by the need of a man suffering from the horrific illness of leprosy. He declares his willingness to help him and acts decisively in the man’s life by cleansing him and sending him to the temple to become officially part of the daily life and worship in Israel again.

Mark 1:40-45:   A man with leprosy came to Jesus and begged him on his knees,  “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”

Jesus was indignant.   He reached out his hand and touched the man.“I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!”  Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.

Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning:   “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”   Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places.  Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.

What is strange about this passage is that Jesus warned him not to speak about this miracle that happened in his life.  We are not given reasons for this instruction, but is it perhaps that Jesus is so aware of the urgency to proclaim the coming of his Kingdom and inviting people to enter into its saving grace and purification that he wants to tune down a mere miracle seeking crowd who do not first of all not seek the love and mercy of his Kingdom?

Or was it perhaps a test for this man who received such a great gift and supernatural intervention from the Lord?

But the most important and thrilling element of this story is that the former leper “instead went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news.”  

If Jesus reaches out to us, touches us, purifies us and restores our lives, we cannot remain silent.  Even when told to do so by the Highest Authority!

Our timid nature, our need for privacy and our shyness when it comes to our relationship with God and our experience of his love cannot remain unaffected after an encounter of this magnitude with the Lord and Redeemer of our lives.

When we share the touch of Jesus of our lives, it results in “people looking for him from everywhere”.  

How passionate are you about the saving grace of Christ in your life and how many people seek his Kingdom, simply because you cannot keep quiet about his divine mercy and interventions in your experience of his grace?

Rejoice - a new day has begun!

We do not have to wait till the day when Jesus returns, to become new, transformed people!

It all starts here and now.  It begins on the day God reconciles us with Godself. On the day we experience our redemption, we celebrate by singing and shouting:  a new day has begun!

As we read in 2 Corinthians 5:17ff:    “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:  The old has gone, the new is here!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:   that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ,

All this is from God.   The Holy Spirit recreates me into someone new.

This new person does not hide or run away from God anymore. This new person does not oppose the values of God’s Kingdom or the dream, the vision and prayer our Lord has for the Church and his people.

The new “me” thirsts for friendship with my God and longs to walk with God.  The new “me” wants to work for God.  I now celebrate that my sins do not count against me anymore.   I beg the Lord that I may become a change agent for his sake. The new “me” only seeks the glory and honour of my God in every aspect of life.

And we shout it out every day:  A new day has begun! 

Propel the Gospel to go everywhere

People become new creations, or transformed, when they imitate Christ.  They also see what imitators of our Lord means by looking at the lives of godly leaders, like Paul, who imitated the love, grace, mercy, goodness, kindness, truthfulness and other attributes Jesus is known for in the Gospels.

1 Thessalonians 1:4-10....you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere...

Imitators of Christ set an example to others and as such promote transformation where the Lord’s example becomes the standard of Christian living.

This sanctified life of the believers amplifies the Word of God to such an extent that it “goes forth everywhere”. It makes the Gospel credible, desirable and beautiful!

Transformed people transform churches by becoming imitators of our Lord.

Do you prayerfully desire to do what Jesus would have done?

Does your Christian example inspire others to receive the Word and be transformed?

Does your Christian life contribute to the transformation of your congregation?

Does your imitation of Christ propels the Gospel to “go forth everywhere”?

What are God’s plans for me?

The Bible’s suggests that we have to plan life’s journey with the questions:”How do I fit into God’s plans?” And “What are God’s plans for me?”

God is not standing idly by as the world plummets from one debacle, corruption and failure into another. God certainly has not deserted our world, leaving us to see whether we will be able to fix the problems we have created for our world and each other.

God has revealed his plan to bring an end to all evil. He made the preparations for a new world possible when Jesus once and for all died and rose to save sinners. He continues his preparation by using you and me, his children and his church, to invite the whole world to accept his invitation to join him in overcoming evil by following him as Lord of our lives.

God has set a day when he will bring an end to all wars, all sickness, and every natural disaster.

A  grand picture of this God-designed future is given to us in Revelation:

“Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Rev 21:3-4)

This is a world where those who share God’s peace will no longer be self-centred, greedy, and insecure. Instead God will be with his people and he will be their God. He will rule over them perfectly and lovingly through his Son Jesus.

This is what God is doing when the message of forgiveness and reconciliation is preached. It is all about a relationship that begins now and will last for eternity in God’s new heaven and earth. And it begins when we submit our lives to the perfect rule of King Jesus.

As Christians, our lives are living testimonies of God’s new world and Kingdom. We are called to “no longer live for ourselves but for Jesus who died for us” (2Cor 5:15). According to what Jesus taught, this practically means that serving God’s kingdom will be my highest priority (Matt 6:33).

The better questions to ask are: How will what I do fit into my Lord’s plans?

How can I best serve him with the means, gifts, opportunities and responsibilities he has given me today?

Nobody knows when Jesus is coming back.

The well known parable in Matthew 25: 1 – 13, about the ten maidens, five wise and five foolish, Jesus taught first of all, that he will return when least expected, for no one knows the day or the hour of his return.

Secondly, he teaches that we must be ready for his return at any time of our days and lives.

The bridegroom in this parable is Jesus Christ, the heavenly bridegroom. The ten maidens are the expectant and waiting Christian church looking for the return of Christ. The lateness of the bridegroom is the seeming delay of the second coming. The sudden appearance of the bridegroom is the coming of Christ at a time when least expected. And the stern rejection of the foolish maidens is the Final Judgment.

At the end of Matthew 24 and at the start of Matthew 25,  Jesus tells us the same thing five times: that he will return when least expected for no one knows when he returns:

(Mt 24:36) "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

It is God's intention to keep the time of the second coming the best kept secret in the universe.

Do not be concerned and do not speculate about the day or hour of my return, says Jesus. Rather, concentrate on doing your work, on spreading the Good News of the Gospel, on being my witnesses, across the world.

Scripture tells us that because the day and hour is unknown, it will be totally unexpected and will be a shocking experience to many members of the Church.

Nobody knows when Jesus will return!  God has not revealed to us the day or hour of his return. Instead, he reminds us again and again that the time of Christ's return will be unexpected. That's the first important lesson Jesus wants to teach us.

The reason for this cosmic secret is also revealed.

Because we do not know the day or hour, our Lord wants to teach us that we must always, in every circumstance,  be ready, yes, every day and every hour,  to meet him and come before him.

Christian living in the Kingdom of God is simply defined as being ready to meet the Saviour at any time.

In summing up the parable of the Ten Maidens, Christ Jesus says,

"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour."

Keep watch, all the time!

Behold the Lamb of God - the hymn

Behold the Lamb of God –

he takes away our sin!

He’s worthy honour, praise –

his Church prevails! We win!

Proclaim our God!

Bring honour only to “I AM”  –

behold the Lamb!

“I AM the Bread of Life,

I AM the world’s True Light!

I AM the Way, the Truth,

victorious in the fight!”

Our risen Lord!

We stand in awe before “I AM” –

behold the Lamb!

He did unseal the scroll –

God’s one salvation plan!

He gives true life to me  –

behold the Son of Man!

King Jesus Christ!

God’s Spirit does reveal “I AM” –

behold the Lamb!

Oh Christian praise the Lord –

who blessed us day by day.

For countless years of mercy:

sing, exult and pray!

Hail Christ the King!

Bring glory, bless and laud “I AM” –

behold the Lamb!

Behold the Lamb of God –

who purchased us with blood.

He pleads before the throne,

he is God’s saving Word!

Now honour Christ!

We worship you, the great “I AM” –

behold the Lamb!

Lyrics:  A.J. Combrink - 2009; Music:  John Darwall – 1770.

(The melody is in Songs of Fellowship 619)

Children of light!

We should be people living outside the darkness of sin. We simply cannot live the same lives as the children of darkness.

Eph 5: 8 -12: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.”

This means that we should live as children of light. Our lives should be full of the fruit of the light which are goodness, righteousness, and truth.  The light of Jesus should be evident in our lives. People should be able to look at us and see the light of Christ in us. This is how Isaiah puts it:  (Is 60:3) “Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”

For those who do not know Jesus Christ personally, our lives must show that we own something important that they do not have. They must see the glorious light of God’s presence in Christ in our lives, become curious and become willing “to find out what pleases the Lord (Eph 5)” while they “have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness.”  Integrity requires that we will stop living shameful lives – even in secret!

And so leaders, yes, people with influence and authority will come to the “brightness of our dawn (Is 60)”. Because we carry in us the light that Jesus brought into the world.

Reflect the light of Christ and show others the way to God, the way to truly good, righteous and truthful living, and the way to heaven, because we carry the Light of the world wherever you go!

God calls us to comfort everyone with his Word!

"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God" (Is 40:1). In Is 40: 9 we are told what the comfort is:  You who bring good news to Zion, say to the towns of Judah: “Here is your God!”

Those who come face-to-face with death, their own death and the death of a loved one need to hear: “Here is your God!”

"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God" (Is 40:1). Those who suffer as a result of life threatening decease have to hear these words:  Your God is here!

"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God and your God is here" (Is 40:1, 9).

These words must be heard today by those who suffer because of broken marriage and family relationships. Young men and women who get married with so many dreams and excitement and then have to leave the marriage with pain, anger and disappointment, need to hear. And it needs to be heard by the children from these broken marriages.

"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God" (Is 40:1). The victims of abuse need to hear these words. Women and children who suffer behind closed doors, because of physical, sexual and emotional abuse! Orphans and widows, and child headed families, aunts and grannies looking after orphaned children and are crying for help and support need to hear:  Your God is here!

"Comfort, comfort my people, says your God" (Is 40:1). It must be heard by those who live with unemployment and those who experience financial loss.   It needs to be heard by those who are robbed and financially abused. Your God is here!

Listen to the Word of God:

Your God is here!

God is coming to you

and his coming means that he will grant you comfort.

You are not alone, anymore....

Because your God is here.

God is your refuge.

His grace will comfort you through faith in Jesus Christ which is a gift of his Holy Spirit.

Depression

Psalm 73: 26: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

“My flesh and my heart may fail" defines depression, meaning unhappiness, sadness, hopelessness and misery. There are three parts to this little phrase.

"My flesh" – there is a physical component to despondency. The body weakens, there are aches, pains, fatigue and eventually the risk of serious illness as a result of constant misery – ulcers, strokes, heart decease – and there always is exhaustion.

Secondly, "and my heart" - there is an emotional-spiritual dimension to despondency. We feel discouraged, depressed, gloomy and burned out.

Thirdly, there is this word, "fail." It means to come to your wits end and be depleted of resources.

Is it a sin to experience despondency?

Under sad and hopeless circumstances it is no sin to feel despondent. Many of the exemplary believers in the Scriptures experienced deep and dark depression and even hopelessness. Jesus was overwhelmed with sorrow in Gethsemane.

What is wrong is to yield to despondency, to refuse to fight it and to think that God cannot reach you in that dark space – or to believe that God cannot change your broken heart into a source of gladness and joy!

The most important 2 words in this verse are: "But God...Psalm 73:26 contains this truth: "My flesh and my heart may fail": And then comes the counter attack: “but God.”

“But God”.  God is the strength of my life.

God is my portion forever!

Depression can be the result of many circumstances  - but faith comes from one place only. It comes from the willingness to say: “but God.” But God can fill me with gladness again.

Tithing: a burden or a blessing?

Have you ever thought of tithing as a burden forced on you by God? Let me correct you this morning.  Tithing is the result of a humble and grateful vow to God for anticipated, prayed for, blessings.

Tithing is a privilege, a way to give thanks which will always be insufficient considering all we receive from God. Tithing is a way of saying to God: “I trust you, my Lord, my only Hope and Provider.”

When tithes are used well, they sustain your minister and your congregation’s ministries and monthly expenses.  It provides for reaching out to those in both material and spiritual need. It helps to evangelize the world, and rescue the lost from eternal judgment.

Tithing is an ordinance of God that fills us with joy and makes us love God more, because it reminds us that before we give to Him, He has given us everything we have.

After all, the Bible says that God loves a cheerful giver.   2 Corinthians 9: 7.

Are you tithing?

Without God’s material blessings we will have nothing!  Should we not gratefully respond by saying to our Lord – “I put my trust in you and will therefore give first to you, my ever-loving Lord, from what you have given me, to gratefully glorify your Name for your provision and to maintain your work for the salvation of many!”

May the Lord change our hearts and minds; because only through our obedience in this will Biblical, God-fearing churches and ministries survive the financial challenges we all face during these daring times!

Prayer is a powerful means of grace

Prayer is God’s appointed way to receive from God what we need. The main reason why we lack God’s complete provision is the neglect of prayer.   The believers in the Bible regarded prayer as the most important activity of their lives. Give a prominent place to prayer during your Quiet Times.

Prayer occupied a very prominent place and played a very important role in the earthly life of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Follow his example. Praying is now the most important part of the ministry of our risen Lord in heaven. Ask Jesus to pray for you.

Prayer is the means that God has appointed for us to receive mercy, and obtaining grace to help us in time of need. Remember to ask for mercy – “In your mercy, Lord, hear my prayer.”

Prayer in the Name of Jesus Christ is the way he has appointed for his disciples to obtain fullness of joy.

Prayer is the means that God has appointed that we may receive freedom from anxiety and the peace of God, which passes all understanding.  Just tell him what scares you, makes you anxious and is the challenge you face. Prayer is the means that Christ has appointed whereby we will not be overcome by the cares of this life.  Tell God about your worries and concerns.

Prayer promotes our spiritual growth.  It is fellowship with God. Also share with God what makes you happy and excited – thanking him for it. Prayer brings power into our work for him.  Ask for the guidance and the power of the Holy Spirit. Prayer benefits the needs of others.   Name the needs of those whose troubles and challenges are on your heart.

Prayer brings blessings to the church.  Pray for the congregation, the current agenda points you are aware of, the minister, the elders, all the leaders, members who asked for prayer - by name, for the children and youth ministries and for the outreach where our church is involved.

Courage: a result of our relationship with Jesus.

We gain courage to serve the Lord and boldness to serve others in his Name when we are not manipulated or intimidated by an unbelieving society, but draw our power from King Jesus, our risen Lord.

Jesus is the source of power by which we become confident and bold. When the first church in Jerusalem needed boldness, they knew that they needed prayer. And so they prayed:

"Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus." (Acts 4:29-30)

They never thought that they should have to bear their challenge to live for Christ alone. They laid that problem at his feet. God would do something about it.  The mission of the early Church was to be able to confidently speak and live according to the Good News about Jesus Christ.

This is what we too should seek to do today.  

“Enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness”    They lived with boldness and had mercy on others, with courage. They prayed, and fear turned into power, in the Name of Jesus Christ.

You better be careful when you pray this kind of prayer. This is the kind of prayer that God answers. The Scripture says, after they prayed they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (Acts 4:31)

Courage is a consequence of our relationship with Jesus.

Life is short: Make every second count.

Is 60:1:  "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.”

This positive, exciting invitation to do meaningful things with our short time on this earth means at least three things.

Firstly, we should rise from sin’s darkness and arrive at a place where the glory of God gives light to our ways and plans. Those who arise and shine leave the space of the children of darkness in every aspect of their lives. Make every second count by living in the Light!

Eph 5: 8 -12: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.“

Secondly, it means that as children of light of the Lord, our lives should be full of the fruit of his holy light: goodness, righteousness and truth, faith, grace, compassion and faithfulness, and above all, Jesus-love.  Make every second count by living in the Light!

Thirdly, the light of Jesus will under all circumstances be visibly manifested in our lives. People should be able to look at us and see the light of Christ in us. This is how Isaiah puts it:

(Is 60:3) “Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.”  Make every second count by living in the Light!

For those who do not know Jesus Christ our lives must show that we own something really special that they do not have. They must see the glorious light of God’s presence in Christ in our lives, become curious and become willing “to arise, shine and come to our light”. Even kings, leaders, people with influence and authority will come to the “brightness of our dawn”. Because we carry in us the light that divine and godly Jesus brought into the world.

This is the thing:  reflect the light of Christ and show others the way to God and to heaven, because you carry the Light of the world wherever you go!  May we never hide it when we can help someone who lost their “map to return to God” and show them the way back.

Make every second count by living in the Light!   Arise and Shine!

Signs and wonders today?

There is no doubt that most people are greatly interested in and really curious about signs and wonders.  News about miracles always attracts our attention. Most of us have a desire that God will somehow confirm our calling through wonders and the supernatural.

When we read the Word in Acts 2: 43, especially as Christians with a ministry, we wish to have our own divine signs that we are part of God’s growth priority:

Acts 2: 43:  Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.

During the ministry of Jesus on earth, the religious leaders asked him to show them a sign! But Jesus refused to be manipulated by their misguided requests. He did not do his miracles as a performance or for their entertainment! 

His miracles had a purpose. They were the signs that the Kingdom of God, his dominion through the Messiah, had come into the world. This is still God’s purpose with signs and wonders he grants us through his grace!

Signs and wonders are not related to the power of our faith. It is related to the revelation of the might of the resurrected Jesus and therefore is intrinsically part of and related to the sovereignty of God’s grace and the mercy of his Son!

Paul taught that (2 Corinthians 12:12), "The things that mark an apostle — signs, wonders and miracles — were done among you with great perseverance."  God worked in a special and even unique way through these first apostles. They truly had and will always have a special place in the establishment of the Church of Christ and of his dominion amongst his people after the ascension of Jesus and after Pentecost. There was something unique and exceptional about the grandeur of the signs and wonders done through the first Church and the apostles.

The signs and wonders given by the Lord through the first Church served a most important purpose.  The purpose was to help those in need (a pastoral purpose), to grow the faith of the apostles and the first Church (a ministry purpose) and most of all to transform them into an awe-filled worshipping Church to exalt and glorify the ascended Jesus (a doxological purpose).

But we can miss what God is doing because of our limited understanding of God’s pastoral, ministry and doxological purpose amongst his people!  

As there is no doubt that God does not give signs and wonders to thrill and entertain us, God works and will always work his miracles to fulfil his purposes.

This is basically whom God is! And always was and will be.

God is not limited by our inadequate understanding or faith!

The signs and wonders of God remain part of his sovereign interventions to make his Church an agent of his purpose!

God’s purpose for an inspired church, filled with his Spirit and enabled by the resurrection power of his Son, remains to care for us pastorally, to minister to us efficiently and to glorify and exalt his most holy Majesty! Amongst other ways, also through signs and wonders.

Believe it, and pray for it!

A liturgical Creed for Trinity Sunday.

A liturgical Creed for Trinity Sunday.

I believe in the one and only almighty God:

the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The LORD our God, the LORD is one!

I believe in God the Father,

Creator and Sustainer of all things;

And in God the Son,

Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord,

who suffered and died for our sins,

rose from the dead,

and is exalted in heaven

for the sake of our eternal victory;

And in God, the Holy Spirit,

who assembles the Church,

makes us one body in Christ,

convicts us of both sin and forgiveness,

and works eternal life in us.    AMEN.

Pentecost Sunday – central to the work of God.

We must ask what difference it makes to us today that the first Christians were filled with the Holy Spirit 2000 years ago on the Jewish festival of Shavuot (Hebrew) or Pentecost (Greek).   The impact is that all who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour receive “the indwelling and power of the Spirit”.

Pentecost, celebrated on 15 May 2016, matters because it clearly shows that the Church plays a central role in God’s work in our world.

We know that the Holy Spirit was poured out on individual disciples of Jesus as they were patiently waiting upon the fulfilment of the promise Jesus made to them about the coming of the Spirit. They were praying for 10 days waiting upon the Lord to fill them and share the power of the resurrected Christ with them by baptizing them with the Spirit of God.

The Pentecost day turned followers of Christ into the first congregation of the Christian Church, as they all received the power of the Holy Spirit. Along with the first disciples, they also shared in becoming a Christian community or family.

They taught about the resurrected Lord, broke bread, prayed and enjoyed such a special fellowship that many more came to join in their faith and in celebrating the resurrected Jesus. They cheerfully gave of their belongings to feed the hungry and maintain the ministry of Word and Sacrament. And “the Lord daily added to their number those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). Pentecost matters, because it tells us about the birthday and role of the Church in the coming Kingdom of God.

It was no coincidence that the congregation was praying together when the Spirit was poured out. This first “grandmother church” would be the root from which the Church of our Lord would grow. Their experience on the first Pentecost teaches that the Church is central to God’s work and plan through the power of the Holy Spirit that dwells in the Church and all her members. Paul therefore calls the Church the Temple of God in which the Spirit dwells. (1 Cor 3.)    The truth found throughout Scriptures is that the Church in which the Spirit dwells is central to the Father’s work in the world and is central to our worship, growth and service.

Pentecost insists that we reflect on our own participation in the work, mission and life of the Church of God. We need to continuously renew our covenant with the God of grace, received at baptism and confirmed by our public confession of faith, to live as a contributing member of the body of Christ.

Pentecost calls us to build the Church of our Lord by preaching the Word, sharing in her holy sacraments and spreading the salvation, love, power and justice of Jesus Christ across the world.

Ascension Day proclaims the Lordship of Christ.

On Ascension Day, this year celebrated on Thursday 5 May, we proclaim that Jesus is our Lord. That he died for our sins and has been raised from the dead.

He is alive forever, and ascended into heaven, where he was enthroned at the right hand of God the Father and has all authority in heaven and on earth.

We have an advocate in heaven.

He listens to our prayers.

He will crush all his enemies.

He will come again.

Therefore, we must go and make disciples of all nations

and serve him with love, obedience, reverence and in worship till our life's end.

The Ascension of Christ proclaims his authority over all.  1 Peter 3:22 says that Christ “has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand – with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him”  And Jesus said: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you”. Matthew 28:18-20.

Ascension Day proclaims the Lordship of Christ in every area of life. Jesus has all authority. Jesus is Lord over the world of business, sports, entertainment and government. Jesus Christ is Lord over the Church, schools, shops, entertainment, manufacturing, public service, justice and parliament and law enforcement.

Every professional, worker, manager, teacher, policeman, politician, business person, mother, father, and every person in authority or under authority is individually accountable to God and will one day give account of their lives before the almighty Christ, Lord, King and Judge who reigns in heaven and has dominion over everything.

Ascension Day is a glorious celebration of and holy reminder and assurance that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Habakkuk 2:14

The Ascension of Jesus celebrates both the forgiveness through - and the victory of Christ.

Ps 110: 1 reads: “The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’”

The Ascension of the Lord Jesus proclaims the ultimate victory of Christ and proclaims that he is the King of kings, the Lord of lords and the Head of the Church.   Whoever refuses to bow before Christ as only Saviour today, while grace and forgiveness are still freely available, will one day have to bow before Christ as the eternal Judge, and without forgiveness will be lost forever!

The Ascension of Jesus Christ comforts all believers amidst their struggles and especially those who suffer persecution. But the Bible says, “Therefore, since we have a great High Priest who has gone through the Heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the Faith we profess.” Hebrews 4:14.

We have an Advocate in Heaven. He hears our prayers. He intercedes for us.

He will come again. He will defeat every authority that repudiates him and questions his pre-eminence.

“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the Name that is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow in Heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”   Philippians 2:9-11.

May the Lord bless, keep and sustain us and grant us a blessed Ascension Day and empowering Pentecost!

Resurrection life! We live in the Body of Christ.

Do you remember that before you belonged to Christ you were held in a prison called Spiritual Death?

The Bible comments clearly on this in Ephesians 2: 1 – 7:

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. We were by nature children of wrath.  But God, being rich in mercy, made us alive together with Christ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus.

It is this combination of despair and faith that Paul speaks about that reveals the refreshing realism of the Bible. For what Paul does in this passage is to paint a vivid contrast between what humankind is by nature and what we become by grace in and through Jesus Christ, the risen Lord.

This contrast between the spiritual death of humankind and the deliverance of God causes us to rejoice about the privilege to live the Body Life, in other words the true life found in the Church of Christ.

We once were sons and daughters of disobedience. Spiritual death and disobedience characterised our lives before we came to live in Christ. We walked according to the directions of ungodly society before we came nearer to Christ, to live in him.

Why reflect on this? That we may rejoice with enthusiasm about the Body Life we experience in the Church of Christ,  given to us in Jesus our Lord, that we may praise God with all our heart for the resurrection life, when we understand that it delivered us from our sins and from the wrath of God - and made us a people, a community of faith,  who are alive through the Spirit: sanctified, forgiven and saved.

Praise God for the grace of knowing that we now are part of Christ’s Body and a member of his chosen people, his Church. I rejoice because I am one of those who are alive in him.

Only Jesus has the key to unlock the prison of spiritual death.

And he gave me this life because he loves me.  Praise his glorious Name!

Lord, help me to pray!

We need the power of prayer. And we will only experience powerful prayer in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, if our prayers are guided by the Holy Spirit.

John 15:7: Jesus said -  “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given you”.

Praying boldly requires first of all that we in faith acknowledge our union with Christ. Those who live in the Body of Christ are able to pray while the Spirit unites us with Jesus Christ.

And yes, those who remain in Christ receive the guidance of the Spirit that helps them to pray.

Listen to what the Bible has to say about this:

Ephesians 6:18:”And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”

Jude 20: “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.”

When we remain in Christ and his words remain in us, his Holy Spirit inspires and leads us in prayer that God the Father answers.

1) True prayer is prayer that the Spirit inspires and directs. Acknowledging our inability to pray according to God’s will, we should look up to the Holy Spirit, depending on him to direct our prayers, to lead our desires, and to guide our words.

2) Christ, our Head, in who’s Name we pray, will teach us how to pray, as he taught the disciples. This happens through the work of the Spirit he will send to guide and inspire us.

3) When we feel least like praying, we should wait quietly before God and tell him how cold and without prayer our hearts are, trusting the Lord to send the Holy Spirit to warm our hearts, teaching and inspiring us to pray.

4) In Mark 11:24 Jesus said:  “Therefore I tell you whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it and it will be yours.” Prayer that believes that we received what we prayed, follows our consideration of the Scriptures. We believe that we received, because we ask what the Bible promises and proclaims.

The Lord helps us to pray under guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Our union with Christ, our living in his Body and our relationship with him, ensures that his Spirit that dwells in us, inspires and leads our understanding of his Word, and therefore teaches us to pray according to his will.

And every prayer that is in accordance with the will of God, is answered.

Holy Communion: To Supper with Jesus!

On Sunday we will be sitting in our quaint, beautiful chapel, sharing bread and wine. Yet this experience will call upon our senses and our memories and we will find ourselves being taken 2000 years and a continent away, to an upper room in Jerusalem where Jesus and his 12 disciples first shared this very Supper.

That night started as a Jewish Passover meal. They dined on lamb, bread, wine and gravy with the aromas of bitter herbs. They often shared this meal in the past. They shared it with family since their childhood. They remembered God’s strong hand that delivered them as a people from slavery. They remembered that they were a covenant people and that God solemnly promised to be their God, and the God of their children and grandchildren, forever!

But later on, after Jesus went to heaven and they received the daunting task to spread the Good News about him, and when they carried his cross to the ends of the world, what they would have remembered is that as the meal came to a close that night, Jesus blessed the bread, and breaking it came to each one personally saying:“Take and eat, this is my body, which will be broken for you.”

Jesus knew about the events that would follow that night:  his arrest, his unfair hearing and his cruel crucifixion. So as he passed the cup to them, he said:  “Drink of the blood of the new covenant.”  They would remember that at that moment they did not understand that he was telling them that soon their Redeemer would die for those who crucified him.

They would remember that the new covenant would replace the sacrament of the Passover with the sacrament of the Supper of Christ. They would not remember the deliverance from the slavery in Egypt anymore, but the delivery from the slavery of sin and evil. They would realise that Passover became a lot more than a Jewish feast, but a feast that included both Jews and Gentiles who were made God’s new people - of a new covenant.

Certainly the disciples would later clearly remember that Jesus said: “As often as you repeat this meal, do it in memory of me.”  As if they could ever forget!

Every time we celebrate the holy communion of Christ’s Supper, we will through the work of the Holy Spirit be with the living Lord, hearing his voice, believing his promise and experiencing his love with all our senses.

Our experience will disregard logic and reason.

It will be a mystery. And our experience will be spiritual, and by his grace, through faith, we will see that we are with him, hearing his voice, seeing his love and believing his promise: “This is the blood of the new covenant” and that it means, “I will be your God, and the God of all the many generations that will come after you, who will be my people and I will be their God.”

The mystery that we experience at the Lord’s Table is that it is Christ who breaks bread with us and shares his cup with us. And as we in faith feed on the living Christ, his sacrifice, his resurrection and his grace, we will know that this Meal will never end, until the glorious day when we gather for Christ’s eternal banquet in heaven.

For the disciples who carried the gospel of Jesus to the ends of the earth, the Holy Communion they shared with Jesus on the night he was betrayed, was given to them as comfort and source of strength and faith throughout their earthly lives.

And so it is with us. When we take the bread and the cup, Christ is in our midst, offering himself to us all over again and making covenant with us saying: “This is the blood of the new covenant.” I will be your God and the God of your children, forever!

I pray that you will taste and see the mystery of sharing in the Lord’s Supper on Sunday. And that this Holy Meal will change your life.