REFLECTIONS
Insights from God’s Word into Today’s World
We know the Great Commission mandates us to take the good news to the nations, but we can forget that means our neighbours also. This article from The Gospel Coalition is a good reminder that it all starts by giving ourselves to what is in front of us as well as the bigger picture. It is reminiscent of the man asking Jesus, “Who is my neighbour?”
As we continue to journey as an online community, we want to make a space for people from all walks of life to connect and explore the Christian faith together. That’s why we have decided to run an online Alpha course starting from the 3rd of September. Some of you may be familiar with Alpha and some of you may be wondering: “what on earth is Alpha? What’s the big deal”?
When you have ‘more than enough,’ it is a privilege and joy to be able to share with those who are struggling. But don’t you also love those stories of people giving out of their ‘lack’ and seeing God respond in ways that are deeply satisfying? Like the widow who has truly little but responds to God’s word to feed the prophet called Elijah (1 Kings 17:8-16) …Here’s one told by author Ann Voskamp
“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God”
Isaiah 40:1
I tuned in on a webinar last night where a pastor, Matt Woodley, hosted John Ortberg on the subject of ‘Preaching through Disruption.’ John made the point that sometimes prophets speak to God’s people but sometimes they speak for people, that they not only challenge but also identify with God’s people (e.g. Isaiah 6:5). Jonah is the only prophet who doesn’t lament with his audience. Stories are a huge part of how we lament together, so that we can know we are not alone on this journey and that life doesn’t present us with all the answers at times. I had just spoken to Rigby Wallace earlier in the day and he told me about his preach from Sunday- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h-nIItDGEc
It tied in with what Ortberg was saying and I want to point you to a powerful section that gives voice to fellow Capetonians struggling with this time in our lives. Rigby’s message was called ‘Singing the Lord’s Song in a Strange Land,’ based on Psalm 137. The whole YouTube video is 1hr13 minutes, including worship and an introduction, so I’m taking you to a number of points, with the “Scroll of Laments,” just under 5 minutes, being what I’m referring to above (place on the video is 42:35-47:12, which is under Point 3, How does this Psalm/s help us express our own lament?, starting at the 39 minute mark). I would also recommend you watch from 54:15-57:30 on Where do we take our lament and what do we do with it? (2 great quotes) & 59:30-1:02,35 under How does God respond to our Laments?
Then these 2 resources that Common Ground put after the message are also very helpful, the latter giving you some guidelines on how to write your own lament:
-Lament 6 Reasons We Need The Psalms: https://bit.ly/3ayJzmF
-The Biblical Art Of Lament: How an ancient practice helps us give voice to our emotions https://bit.ly/35069Do
The phrase “cleanliness is next to godliness” is often mistakenly assumed to originate from the Bible. While it does not emanate from the Bible, there is some truth to it. During the threat of the coronavirus, good hygiene has been vehemently and correctly advocated as the best means of preventative care against infection. The CDC recommends that one wash their hands for a minimum of 20 seconds. In a little experiment, we saw this correlates roughly to the same time it takes to recite the Lord’s Prayer. It would be remiss of us to not take this opportunity to invest in both our physical and our spiritual hygiene. As we explore what it means to be spiritually healthy, we turn our focus to Jesus as he teaches His disciples to pray.
Traditionally, the eve of Easter is referred to as ‘Holy Saturday’, or the ‘Great Sabbath’. On this day, Christians of various denominations hold to a time of silent, contemplative rest. It is both a time of reflection on Jesus’ sacrifice and a time of eager anticipation for the impending celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. To consider this tension in light of this season, we turn to one of Jesus’ final interactions before he breathed his last.
