The 12 days of Christmas

Between now and Christmas Day I am going to give you a little gift everyday. They will be Christmas related stuff that you can get for free on the Internet.

Day 1:  A great song by the Sovereign Grace guys.

Glory be to God on high
Let peace on earth descend
God comes down before our eyes
To Bethlehem
God invisible appears
Endless ages wrapped in years
He has come who cannot change
And Jesus is His name

Emptied of His majesty
He comes in human form
Being’s source begins to be
And God is born
All our griefs He’ll gladly share
All our sins He’ll fully bear
He will cover our disgrace
And suffer in our place

Let the joyful news ring out
The Prince of Peace proclaim
Lift your heart and voice to shout
Immanuel’s name
God has kept His promises
What a work of grace this is
Son of Mary, chosen One
The Lamb of God has come

Hosanna, hosanna
The Lamb of God has come
Hosanna, hosanna
He is the promised One

Glory be to God on high
Let peace on earth descend
God comes down before our eyes
To Bethlehem

© 2006 Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI).

You can click here to get the track.

Enjoy!

See you tomorrow.

Which Way Now?

On Sunday we finished off Colossians by looking at the way Paul encouraged other Christians. We saw 5 things:

-He encouraged with news

-He encouraged with others

-He encouraged with prayer

-He encouraged with challenge

-He encouraged with reality

The Bible is clear…. we must encourage one another (Hebrews 3:13), and the Bible is full of examples of how to do that.

So, who are you going to encourage and how? Is there someone who needs to know that you care, that you are praying for them? Or does someone need you to spur them on in their faith? Go on, be a Barnabas.

Here are a few things you could do right now:

• Facebook a friend and ask how they are doing
• Text someone you’ve been praying for and tell them
• Phone someone who helped you come to faith and thank them
• Buy a book for someone you led to Christ and put a message in it
• Sit a backsliding Christian down for coffee and urge then to come back to the cross
• ???????

What is it that God is leading you to do?

Do you today.

Be an encouragement.

Cross Explored: Reconciliation

Last night we unpacked what Stott calls ‘the most popular…most personal‘ NT word for the Cross… Reconciliation. Listen to John Piper unpack the importance of our reconciled relationshiup with God:

But what is the ultimate good in the good news? It all ends in one thing: God himself. All the words of the gospel lead to him, or they are not gospel. For example, salvation is not good news if it only saves from hell and not for God. Forgiveness is not good news if it only gives relief from guilt and doesn’t open the way to God. Justification is not good news if it only makes us legally acceptable to God but doesn’t bring fellowship with God. Redemption is not good news if it only liberates us from bondage but doesn’t bring us to God. Adoption is not good news if it only puts us in the Father’s family but not in his arms.

This is crucial. Many people seem to embrace the good news without embracing God.

Indeed, God is the gospel.

It’s coming!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news.. but Christmas is coming…fast!

To be honest, we’ve nearly finished our present buying and planning the church program, so I’m pretty chilled. But, so often, as I’m buying gifts, running church events, eating mince pies and thinking about new books, I forget to see Christmas for the opportunity it is.

A new course: Cross Explored

As a student worker I remember the joy of reading John Stott’s ‘the Cross of Christ’ for the first time. I remember grappling with issuess surounding justice, God, wrath, forgiveness and assurance. I am so thankful especially for his chapter on ‘self-substitution‘. Having been brought up on a diet of unhelpful sermon illustrations like the unjust prison guard who kills an innocent victem, etc, I was completely confused about the cross:

-Did Jesus twist the Fathers arm?

-Did the Father force Jesus to die?