Take a few minutes ….

How about you take a few minutes to read these words from the Bible – you may be familiar with them or perhaps not – but read them on the basis that this is God’s encouragement for You PERSONALLY today?

‘O Lord you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely, O Lord.

You hem me in – behind and before; You have laid your hand on me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I go from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If I make my bed in the depths you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast’

If your life is too busy, if you are uncertain about the future, unsure about how you can keep going, feeling lonely or rejected, lacking peace, overcome with worry – these words are for you. Can I suggest you read them over a few times and put your life in God’s hands yet again – and expect to receive new confidence that you do not face life alone and through trusting in Him, you never will!!! tony@fcc

These words are taken from Psalm 139. The NIV Study Bible from Zondervan

Anyone can!!

Over the years I have had the privilege of meeting many people who thought that they were far beyond any chance of living a life that had some meaning, significance and purpose. They thought they had …

* slipped too far

* been too bad

* left it too late

* hurt too much

* and a hundred other reasons!

But when it comes to having a fresh start, the truth is that ANYONE CAN! The whole purpose of God sending Jesus to live, die and live again was to provide us with the opportunity to put the past behind once and for all, receive forgiveness, find a new purpose for living and the means to live it.

This could be your new start day. If so click on the contact page of this Church website, send a message to me telling me that you are wanting a new start through faith in Jesus Christ and I will respond to you with encouragement and point you in the right direction. God bless tony@fcc

Facing difficulties …

One thing is for sure – we all face difficulties and challenges in life and they are often totally unexpected!

The Bible offers us help to deal with these times and situations eg ‘I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.. I can do everything through him who gives me strength.’ (Philippians 4 verses 12-13).  This was the experience of a man named Paul who says that his trust in God had made a massive difference when times had been tough.

For me it makes a huge difference that Paul himself had experienced some really tough times – if you want to read about them look up 2 Corinthians 11 vereses 16 -29 – so this man knew what he was talking about! When he tells us that we can trust in God in hard situations then we can know without doubt that God has indeed helped him and will help us. What a great encouragement for when life catches us off guard!  Like Paul through faith in Christ Jesus we can give God our lives and pray trusting in his strengthening which will surely help us. Be encouraged; tony@fcc

Recently in Sri Lanka

Three of us from church have recently spent 13 days in Sri Lanka. We were visiting the country as two of us hadn’t been before, and we were also working with a church supporting extremely poor people, some of whom work as pickers on the many tea plantations.

We found the country to be a mixture of great beauty and considerable poverty; very often we were deeply moved in meeting poor families many of whom who live in appalling conditions. Raising families in almost derelict ‘homes’ with very little furniture and in many cases with hardly any income.

What a privilege then to be working alongside a church that was working hard to make a positive difference in the lives of these people, both through practical help and support as well as prayer and friendship.

It reminds us that our Christian faith should move us to help and serve those less well off than us! Jesus himself had a heart for the poor and needy. We have returned home with a firm commitment to continue to help this church in their work in Sri Lanka and also to be more alert to helping those in need who are nearer to us. What do you think? tony@fcc

Life

Looking around in bookshops recently I was struck by how many books there are in the section on self development/life coaching etc. It’s a good thing that people are getting more intentional about their lives I believe. I note however that Jesus had something to say on this as well because he said he had come so that people could have ‘life to the full’. I suppose in general terms we can either develop our potential with God in our picture or without God involved. This is a choice we all make for ourselves.

Personally I think it’s a good deal to have him involved – he has our best interests at heart, he can be trusted to guide us correctly, there are no limits with him, he knows us inside out yet is still for us, he is not put off by our failures/mistakes, he will never leave us and many of our dreams have their origin in him anyway.

Sounds a good deal to me – how about you?

tony@fcc

In an uncertain world

All around us are signs of change, uncertainty and unrest! Just listen to the news any day! Some examples –  countries in financial turmoil, social unrest in the UK and elsewhere, growing unemployment, phone bugging investigations spreading wider, countries in political turmoil etc etc. It raises the question regarding who or what we can trust in.

I have personally lived long enough to have discovered that God is absolutely trustworthy and can always be relied on. He is never in financial turmoil, never has a problem with phone bugging, never unemployed, never experiences social or political unrest in his neighbourhood and is never ever in a bad mood.

He says of himself ‘ I never change’

He says of us ‘I will never leave you or forsake you’

He says of the kingdom of God that we enter through faith – it will ‘never be shaken ‘

How about this for our confidence – ‘So we know and rely on the love God has for us’!

Great promises from the Bible for uncertain days!

God bless today you from tony@fcc

Changing attitudes

The first 12 disciples had an interesting time learning from Jesus in those 3 years prior to the Cross and Resurrection!

Many of their attitudes needed to change, many of their cultural norms were challenged and they found that bringing the kingdom of God into peoples’ situations involved far more than just words.

They were surprised that Jesus had such a good positive attitude to children. They weren’t a nuisance to him or an intrusion into his busyness but he genuinely had a healthy appreciation for them, praying for the very best in their lives.

Culturally, women didn’t count for too much either but again the disciples discovered that Jesus had as much time for women as for men. Often it was the women that responded in faith quicker than men!

Attitudes to sick people, to religiously different people and to those on the edge of society, all caused the new followers to reassess their views. What does it say to us today? Well it tells us that there are no outsiders as far as God is concerned because he loves us all – no matter our background, religion, temperament, social grouping, education or skills – we all count in his perspective. That is why on a number of occasions, speaking about the cross on which Jesus died, the Bible says ‘one died for all’ – and ‘all’ means ‘all’.

We are all valued , loved and appreciated and can receive his very best salvation. We can appreciate this for ourselves and demonstrate it to others. God bless you tony@fcc