Posts from 2009 (Page 6)
Committed to My Family (Exodus 20:12)
Mother’s Day is a great day for many yet a difficult one for many others, as a result I don’t really want to talk about Motherhood or extol its virtues.
Instead I take this opportunity to speak about commitment – the commitment we should have to our family.
When was the first Mother’s Day? When did it begin?
The modern Mother’s Day holiday was created as a day for each family to honour its mother by Anna Jarvis who in 1912 trademarked the phrases “second Sunday in May” and “Mother’s Day”. She also lost a lawsuit aimed to stop its over-commercialisation. Anna had hoped for a day of reflection and quiet…
Cross Sayings (7) – The Last Word (Luke 23:46)
To stand at a grave side after a funeral, to walk around a cemetery reading the tombstones is one of the most sobering events of life. It is a very confronting scene. In many ways it is a lonely scene.
In this saying we come to the climatic moment of the crucifixion, for it is with this word…
Elijah (2) Post Tenebras Lux’! (1 Kings 17:1)
The times of Elijah were not just times of spiritual decline bordering on indifference; they were times of open, defiant and aggressive apostasy. We noted last time from the concluding verses of chapter 16 that this was a period where there was open contempt for the Word of God, corruption of the…
If Only I was …
“If only I was a bit more like brother `X’ then I could do great things like he does. But I am just me” – ie, so don’t expect great things from me. This is not only using comparison to camouflage a sinful heart full of fear, or indolence, etc. It is also illogical nonsense. I say illogical for it assumes firstly that they are different to you, and…
The Times of Elijah (1 Kings 16:31-34)
Who was Elijah? How was it that he was so honoured with Moses by God in bringing him to talk with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt 17:3)? That fact alone should be enough to say we ought to get to know this man and understand his ministry. But a further encouragement to us is a consideration of the times in which he lived. It is rightly said you cannot…
“It is Finished!” (John 19:30)
What will your thoughts and feeling be if when you are about to die you are given an opportunity to look back over your life; as well as to look onward to what might have been but now won’t be – the things left unsaid, undone?
It is reported that when Queen Elizabeth I of England was dying she said to her lady-in-waiting, ‘Oh my God! It is over. I have come to the end…
Ever Flowing (Psalm 128)
What do you know about the Yarra River, apart from that this church has it in its name and that Melbourne is situated at its mouth? One of its most interesting facts is that to the original inhabitants, the Wurundjeri people, the river was called ‘Birrarrung’ (ie, Place of Mists and Shadows). But because of language difficulties the white settlers called it “Yarra”, not…
Charles Spurgeon once said
“Every blessing that comes from God is sent with the same message, ‘And more to follow.’ ‘I forgive you your sins, but there’s more to follow.’ ‘I justify you in the righteousness of Christ, but there’s more to follow.’ ‘I adopt you into my family, but there’s more to follow.’ ‘I educated you for heaven, but there’s more to follow.’ ‘I give you grace upon grace, but…
“I thirst!” – the Final Request (John 19:28-29)
It’s a warm Saturday afternoon and you’ve been chasing a football around the field for what seems like weeks. You’re tired, thirsty, and sweaty. When the game ends you have just enough time to duck into the change room, change your clothes, and slather on a fresh layer of deodorant before heading…