‘May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth.’ – Psalm 67:3-4
Sermon ‘May All The Peoples Praise You’ (Psalm 67) by Chris Jolliffe is now available in audio and video: http://bit.ly/2khXUgX
Read the whole chapter: http://bit.ly/2iYBJga
The beginning of the year is a helpful time to do a personal stocktake!
Let me try and explain. I suspect, that most of us would find that there is some kind of ‘pattern’ to our week – get up, breakfast, personal devotion, school/uni/work/home duties/appointments…, lunch, afternoon activities, dinner, and then whatever evening things we commit too, before falling into bed – ready to do it all over again!
Of course, this ‘routine’ will vary from person to person and from day to day. The point: we often construct our days and weeks according to ‘patterns’ which, frankly, help us stay sane.
‘Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!’ – Psalm 32:11
Sermon ‘Rejoice In The Lord And Be Glad’ (Psalm 32) by Ken Noakes is available in audio and video: http://bit.ly/2gQJCy7
Full Text and Workings for this Talk – Psalm 32
Read the Bible text: http://bit.ly/2hHaSnL
English Support Document PDF: http://bit.ly/2hLLnl7
Sermon ‘House Rules’ (Psalm 27) by Ken Noakes is now available to stream or download: http://bit.ly/1t45gVU
Sermon ‘From Prison To The Ends Of The Earth’ (Acts 12:1-24) by Ken Noakes is now available to stream or download: http://bit.ly/1Xva5TD
The beginning of the year is often the time when people check out church (‘It is a new year, thought I would give it a go’), join church (‘I have moved and want to make this my church’) or leave church (‘I am making a life change’).
As such, it is reasonable that one consider ‘What should I expect of ‘Church’?’.
In the last update 
we considered ‘What is Church?’ and suggested that church was a place for believers (whilst still open to not-yet believers) and a place where God’s people gathered as a family in Christ. Expectations of church then are important because they help a person decide whether this church is doing what it should be or not.
There are a couple of ways to arrive at an answer.
I had become a Christian around the age of twenty, it was six months on. One of my new friends, a Christian guy whom I had met at church asked me: ‘How are you enjoying the Christian Life’!
How would you answer that?
I had no idea what to say. ‘Um…it’s good I guess!…I am enjoying finding out more about Jesus…Um…is that what you were asking?’
Seeing my discomfort, he asked ‘Are you enjoying your Personal Devotions?’
Well now I was totally lost! What on earth did he mean by ‘personal devotions’ – is he asking if I have stuffed up like I used too? (the answer was yes, but I didn’t really want to tell him that). Was there something that I was supposed to be doing that I had not read in the manual of How to be a good Christian?!
‘Um, I’m not sure what you mean’ I ventured. ‘Your Quiet Times?’ he said. Nope, still no help. Maybe being a Christian meant that sometime in the day I was supposed to be silent and quiet, and although I didn’t think I was particularly loud, I know that I had not given any thought to the idea of being quiet! Oh help.
Another horror week.
Suicide bombings in Beirut have killed 43 people and left 238 wounded. A suicide bombing at a funeral in Baghdad killed 19 people and left 31 wounded. And coordinated attacks in Paris have killed 129 people and left 352 wounded.
We are appalled, grieved and saddened.
Believers have something that the unbeliever wants (although they might not know it!).
God’s ear!
As the book of Job comes to a close there is an intriguing twist. God rebukes Job’s three unhelpful friends and sends them back to Job with their tails between their legs.
I struggle to pray. Prayer for me is not natural, it feels labored, it gets in the way of the ‘flow’ of my day. But I should pray.
Now I feel guilty.
I know that Christians should pray. Jesus taught me to pray (Matt 6:5-15) and his apostles called me to pray (Col 4:2) and to pray continually (1 Thess 5:17). Oh help.
J.C. Ryle (1816-1900) who was a prolific preacher and writer and also the Bishop of Liverpool suggested that private prayer is the most neglected of all Christian duties and asked the question ‘Do you Pray?’
churchcentralonline.com 