Leviticus - not everyone's favourite part of the Bible

If you're following the Read Scripture plan, then today we're entering one of the more challenging sections of the Old Testament. Leviticus contains the detail of many of Israel's laws which will often seem alien and irrelevant to us. I would encourage you to watch the Bible Project's book video (which I've included below) and just to keep on reading. The video starts with the line - 'the book of Leviticus - we know you've been avoiding it because it's ... weird - so let's fix that'.

Those of you who are a part of CBC will remember that last term our teaching series was 'From Sinai to the Promised Land' looking at the story of Israel from Exodus 24 to the end of Deuteronomy. And along the way there were various resources. The home group notes for that series are still available in the archive section of our website.

But just to help you get your head round the offerings that are mentioned in today's reading, and again in a few chapters' time, here's a table that outlines the what, the how and the why of Israel's offerings.

1. All offerings were to be ‘without defect’ in the case of animals, and the ‘finest’ in terms of flour etc. Only the best is acceptable.
2. The person bringing the sacrifice was to slaughter it just outside the entrance to the Tent of Meeting - that is, in the Courtyard of the Tabernacle.
3. The altar was the Altar of Burnt Offerings mentioned in Exodus 27. Mention of the Alter above always refers to the Altar of Burnt Offerings. When the Altar of Incense is intended this is mentioned in full. There was a horn on each corner of the altar. This altar was in the courtyard of the Tabernacle. (Not to be confused with the Altar of Incense which was inside the Holy Place (not to be confused with the Holy of Holies.)) 
4. Slaughtering, skinning, cutting up were usually roles for the individual bringing the sacrifice.
5. Arranging meat on the altar, handling the blood and burning was the role of the priest.
6. This was the curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies.
7. Regulations about the who, where, what and when of the Fellowship Meal are given in Leviticus 7

Offering	Read	Sacrifice	Ritual	Elements	Instructions	Purpose/additional notes
Burnt Offering	Lev. 1:1-17; 6:8-13; 8:18-21; 16:24	Bull or ram (a)	Present at entrance to Tent of Meeting (b)  Lay hands on head and slaughter (d) Ram - slaughtered at N side of altar. Skin & cut into pieces. Wash internal organs and legs	Blood	Priest: Splash against sides of altar (c)	Voluntary offering; atonement for sin.
				Skin	Kept by priest
				Head, fat, meat	Burn on the altar (e)
				Washed organs, legs	Burn on the altar
		Dove, pigeon (for the poor)	P: Bring to altar and wring off the head	Blood	Drain on side of altar
			Remove crop and feathers	Crop and feathers	Throw with the ashes, E of altar
			Tear open		Burn on the altar
Grain Offering	Lev. 2:1-16; 6:14-23	Finest flour, olive oil, incense. Without yeast or honey. Always add salt.	P: Take handful of flour, oil and all incense		Burn on the altar	Voluntary offering
				Rest	Belongs to the priests. Eat without yeast in the sanctuary area
Fellowship Offering	Lev. 3:1-17; 7:11-36	Male or female cow, sheep, goat	Lay hands on head and slaughter at entrance to Tent of Meeting.	Blood	P: Splash against sides of altar	Voluntary offering; thanksgiving; communal meal
				Internal organs with fat, kidneys, liver. (Lamb’s tail)	Burn on the altar
				Breast, right thigh	Priest’s share
				Rest of the meat	Eaten by the people (ceremonially clean) as fellowship meal (g)
Sin Offering Lev. 4:1-5:13; 6:24-30; 8:14-17; 16:3-22	Priest	Young bull	Lay hands on head and slaughter at entrance to Tent of Meeting.	Blood	Dip finger and sprinkle seven times in front of curtain of sanctuary (f)	Mandatory atonement for unintentional sin
					Put some on horns of Altar of Incense
					Pour rest at base of Altar of Burnt Offering
				Fat, kidney, liver	Burn on the altar
				Skin, flesh, head, legs, organs, intestines	Burn outside camp in ceremonially clean place
	Whole Community	Young bull	Elders lay hands on head and slaughter	Priest performs as above
	Leader	Male goat	Lay hands on head and slaughter	Blood	Priest - put on horns of altar, rest poured out as above
				Fat	Burn on altar
				Meat	Eaten by priests, in sanctuary area
	Individual	Female goat/lamb	Lay hands on head and slaughter	Priest performs as for leader
		2 doves/pigeons (for the poor)	First bird (sin offering): P: Wring its neck	Blood	Splash on side of altar
					Drained at base of altar
			Second bird: burnt offering
		Finest flour, no oil or incense (for the very poor)	As grain offering
Guilt Offering	Lev. 5:14-6:7; 7:1-10	Ram		Blood	Splashed against sid of altar	Mandatory atonement for unintentional sin requiring restitution. Make restitution + 1/5 and give to priest. Make atonement.
				Fat, kidney, liver	Burn on altar
				Meat	Eaten by priests, in sanctuary area

If you've not already watched the Leviticus video - here it is - (see below first)

Updated on 30 January: the following video is slightly longer and updated for the Read Scripture series.

Becoming more like Jesus

Seeking to be an authentic community of disciples, becoming more like Jesus - walking in step with God, alongside each other and seeing lives transformed

This week as we continue our series of Friday posts looking in more detail at our Vision we're going to think about what it means to be seeking to be more like Jesus. If you've missed the previous posts simply click on the relevant word above - or use the labels at the bottom of the page.

There was a time, I think it was the 90s, when WWJD wrist bands were all the rage - although I must admit I've seen a lot more of the plastic band type rather than this slightly more sophisticated bracelet. In case the whole phenomenon passed you by WWJD stands for 'What Would Jesus Do?' The thought being that in any situation you ask yourself the question, 'what would Jesus do?' and allow the answer to that question to guide your actions.

Of course this is a fairly easy question to answer if the situation you're faced with is that you're at a wedding and the wine runs out - but it can be more challenging when faced with the multitude of situations that we find ourselves in, and decisions that we have to make, that were totally unknown in first century Judea. What A Levels should I take? Which university should I go to? Should I marry X? Should I take this job? Where should I move?

The first step in knowing WWJD is answering the question WDJD - What Did Jesus Do? If we can't answer that question then we won't be able to answer our first question. And to find out what Jesus did we need to read, and re-read and re-read again the gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I know that all Scripture is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16) but if any part of the Bible is more important than the rest then surely it is the gospels - the story of Jesus' birth, life, death and resurrection. This is one reason why our preaching pattern at CBC is to spend one term every year in the gospels.

As we read the gospels we discover what Jesus did. We discover that he spent time alone in prayer, he mixed with the wrong kind of people, he served others, he obeyed God regardless of the personal cost, he provided for people's physical needs, and he called people to repentance and announced the arrival of the Kingdom.

In a few weeks' time we will start to reflect on our seven Core Values and we'll see how these values are shaped by what we know of Jesus. How that seeking to be more like Jesus means being loving, welcoming, missional, servant-hearted, biblical, Spirit-led and prayerful.

Do Lent Generously

You may still be struggling to get back into your normal routine after the Christmas break, and Easter seems a long way off, but in two weeks' time it will be Ash Wednesday (10 February) and the first day of Lent.

Depending on your church background you may have little experience of Lent. If you go to an Anglican church, for example, it may surprise you to know that in some other denominations no reference will be made to Lent at all. I grew up going to church twice on a Sunday, and although I remember Pancake Day, I doubt there was ever any reference to Lent.

So just in case you need some background here is a quick summary.

Lent is the time in the church calendar that runs from Ash Wednesday through to Easter. Traditionally Lent is the period of preparation in the run up to the events of Easter - the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. A time of reflection and repentance - which in certain church traditions is often accompanied by fasting.

Lent lasts for 40 days but if you've looked at a calendar you will have noticed that there are actually 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. That's because the six Sundays during this time do not count as days of fasting - Sundays are always a day of celebration as we remember the resurrection.

Many people, even those with little or no church contact, will give something up for Lent - often this will be chocolate, although in recent years we have been encouraged to be a little bit more imaginative, giving up things like Facebook or television. Within some cultures it is common to go without fish for Lent. Other cultures with have different traditions. This 'doing without' builds on the fasting element that is traditionally a part of Lent.


Another trend over recent years has been to see Lent as a time to do something positive instead of/as well as giving something up. As we look ahead to God's love and generosity displayed in the Easter story it motivates us to be loving and generous.




The 40Acts campaign has been running for a number of years now and encourages those who sign up to complete 40 acts of generosity over the 40 days of Lent. To make a difference in our communities by performing little acts of kindness that can make a real difference in people's lives. 

If you want to know more or you want to sign up click here to visit the 40Acts website.

The Real Easter Egg

I know you're just recovering from Christmas and for weeks you've been bemoaning the fact that the shops are already full of Easter eggs but...

...Easter will be here sooner than you expect. Tomorrow I will be writing about Lent - Pancake Day is only two weeks away today.

I know that Easter has nothing to do with eggs - particularly eggs of the chocolate variety - and I know that so many of our annual festivals are driven by big retailers wanting to make money (think Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Halloween as well as Easter and Christmas) but...

...if you're the sort of person who buys chocolate Easter eggs then have you considered The Real Easter Egg?

The Real Easter Egg is a FairTrade chocolate egg, which actually tells the Easter story through the printing on the box and the booklet enclosed. These eggs can be bought in certain supermarkets and independent shops, or online, or if you're quick you can place an order at CBC on Sunday.

To see their full range, get more information, read about their charity work, or place an online order visit their website.

Climbing Mountains

If you're following the Read Scripture plan, we're leaving the action of the story for a while and entering into details of the law that God was giving to the people.

But we're still reading a Psalm a day and occasionally these two readings will through up an interesting commentary on each other.

In Exodus 24 God instructs Moses to come up onto the mountain - but the people must keep their distance. Moses and the elders of Israel went onto the mountain and saw God and lived to tell the tale (24:9-11). Then Moses went further, alone, and spent 40 days within the cloud, which looked to those on the outside like a 'consuming fire'.

Moses entered into the presence of God and spoke with him. The elders saw God at a distance. The people were kept much further away.

Today's Psalm asks the question,

Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? Those who have clean hands and a pure heart, who do not put their trust in an idol or swear by what is false. (Psalm 24:3-4).

In this verse, David is referring to the temple and the Holy Place, the place where God chose to make his presence known and meet with his people. As we will discover as we continue to read through Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers there were very strict instructions on who could come into the presence of God and how they were to come - if they wanted to live to tell the tale.

Last Sunday at CBC we looked at the Beatitudes and in Matthew 5:8 we read that it is the pure in heart who will see God.

But do any of us have a pure heart and clean hands? 

The good news is that through Jesus' sacrifice God gives us a pure heart and clean hands and therefore we are able to come into God's presence. And in Hebrews 10:19-22 we are encouraged to take advantage of this incredible truth and draw near to God - not to keep at a distance at the bottom of the mountain as others go into the presence of God, but to actually meet with God ourselves.

Being Disciples

Seeking to be an authentic community of disciples, becoming more like Jesus - walking in step with God, alongside each other and seeing lives transformed

This week we're going to look at what it means to be a disciple as we continue our weekly series of Friday posts exploring and unpacking our Vision here at CBC. If you miss any of these Friday posts you can easily access individual posts by clicking on relevant word above - or you can use the 'Vision' label at the bottom of this page to view the whole series.

Jesus' final words to his disciples in Matthew's gospel were,

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:18-20).

There is an expectation here that part of what it means to be a disciple is that you go and make new disciples.

Bands of disciples in the first century would not have been an uncommon sight. Certainly Jesus was not alone in having disciples - we read that John the Baptist had his disciples and the Pharisees had theirs.

A disciple was a pupil, a learner and a follower. Within a first century context a disciple would have followed their teacher - listening to them teach, listening to the way they answer questions, watching them in action, with the intention of becoming like their teacher. A disciple would learn how to imitate their teacher. 

As we read the gospels we see that being a disciple of Jesus involved personal and exclusive allegiance to Jesus. It meant putting the claims of Jesus first - whatever the cost.

So what do we mean in our vision statement by the term 'disciple'? We mean that we have committed to follow Jesus, to learn from him, to spend time with him, to imitate him. Our allegiance is to Jesus - we put his claims first - he has first claim on our lives. We will be those who look to introduce others to Jesus just like the first disciples did. And we will be those who make disciples, who will then make disciples ...

Jesus' instruction to disciples is to make disciples, which involves teaching and obeying. Our vision talks about seeing lives transformed - and we'll look at this in a few week's time - but part of this transformation happens as people become disciples - responding to the call of Jesus - and then learn what that means by walking close to Jesus - which, in practice, we do by walking close to others - part of what it means to be an authentic community.

The first century gospel setting was generally hot and dry and dusty. As you walked along you threw up dust in your wake which will have covered those following behind. Whether it’s an urban myth or has any basis in fact there is the reported saying amongst disciples about ‘being covered in the dust of your rabbi’s feet’ - the closer you follow your rabbi the dustier you are going to get.

Our vision is to be covered in the dust of Jesus' feet. But what does this mean in practice? I guess that if we push this analogy a bit further, and bring in some of the thoughts from being an authentic community, then we will be those who are both being covered in the dust of one or two others who are walking slightly ahead of us - and from whom we're learning what it means to follow Jesus, and dust from our feet will be covering one or two  others who are walking just behind us who are learning what it means to follow Jesus from us.

We'll be thinking more in a couple of weeks' time about this image of walking close to Jesus as we think about what it means to walk in step with God.

[Picture credit: www.LumoProject.com]

Sunday morning poetry

During a sermon at CBC there will be some people who tweet, there will be some who take notes, there will be many who will listen (some with their eyes closed), and then there will be one or two who write poetry. 

Here's the poem that Sophie Smith wrote on Sunday as we continued our series on the Kingdom of God, looking at the Upside Down Kingdom from the Beatitudes.

Thank you Sophie for letting me share it here.


You hear my mourning
You hear my prayer
And so you keep it
From becoming despair

You hold the key
To the kingdom door
Your grace and mercy
Allow me in once more

The love of God 
Is not about me
It's all about
What you choose me to be

I don't need
To feel happiness
All I need
Is your forgiveness 

I lay down all
My fears of love
And know that you
Will love me from above

As long as I 
Have you in my heart
I know the kingdom
Will be my start 

I won't fear 
That I may be missed 
Because with your grace
Everyone will be blessed. 

Sophie Smith

It's not what you know but who you know...

If you're following the Read Scripture Bible reading programme I hope you're still enjoying it. We're now into Exodus, and the story of Moses and the escape from Egypt. And maybe with the exception of the 'bridegroom of blood' incident in chapter 4, the storyline is fairly easy to follow.

Sometimes when I'm reading the Bible I find a particular word used over and over again. I noticed this yesterday (Exodus 7-9) - you may have noticed it too. The word was 'know'. When I looked back at the previous day's reading it occurred there several times too - and again today.

At the beginning of this part of the story, as Moses and Aaron come to request the release of God's people we find Pharaoh declaring "I do not know the Lord and I will not let the people go" (5:2).

But God promises that he will deliver the people and as a result God says, "I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God". (6:7).

Because Pharaoh refuses to let the people go, God is going to bring the plagues on Egypt, to demonstrate his power, and as a result the people of Egypt too will "know that I am the Lord" (7:5).

In these readings Moses tells Pharaoh that there is no one like their God, that he is God of the land, in fact the earth belongs to him (7:17; 8:10, 22; 9:14, 29).

For Christmas I got some iTunes vouchers and used them to buy an 'NIV Word Study Bible with GK & Strong's Numbers' to go with the Olive Tree Bible software that I use. One of the great things about this book is that you can engage with the original languages that the Bible was written in without having spent years and years learning Greek or Hebrew. You can select an English word - easily find out what that is in Hebrew - and then do a search on that Hebrew word. The value of this is that sometimes our English translations use a range of different English words to translate the same Hebrew word.

In this case, this kind of search shows that in 2:25 "So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them" the word translated 'concerned' is the same word that has been translated 'know' in the above examples. 

[At this point it is always helpful to check some alternative translations before you try and build a whole Bible study on some limited Hebrew or Greek. One of the things we were warned at college was that the only thing more dangerous than no New Testament Greek was a little New Testament Greek! This is where online tools such as Bible Gateway come in very useful.]

The ESV translates this verse - 'God saw the people of Israel - and God knew'. The ASV (American Standard Version) says - 'And God saw the children of Israel, and God took knowledge of them'. The NKJV says - '...and God acknowledged them'.

The people are known by God and God wants them to know him. We too are known by God and can know God ourselves.

Here are a few verses to take those thoughts a bit further:

• Psalm 46:10
• 1 Corinthians 2:2
• 1 Corinthians 13:12
• Philippians 3:10

The Upside Down Kingdom

When a child prays, "Dear God, please bless Mummy, please bless Daddy, please bless Auntie Joan and Uncle Bob, and please bless Buster the dog" the thought behind the prayer is usually a request that 'good' things will happen to these people (and the dog) - the sorts of things that will make them happy.

Yesterday at CBC, as a part of our series looking at the Kingdom of God, we looked at the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) - helping us to explore a bit more what life in the kingdom looks like and recognising that the kingdom Jesus is inviting us to be a part of is very much an upside down kingdom. 

That is to say, those values and people which are usually looked down on and despised suddenly find themselves at the top of the pile rather than at the bottom.

We'll have a look at the individual Beatitudes later in the week but today I want just to think about what it means to be 'blessed'.

The word used in the New Testament here is 'makarios'. In the NIV this is mostly translated 'blessed' but is also translated in a few verses as good (e.g. Matt. 24:46), fortunate (Acts 26:2) and happier (1 Cor. 7:40).

Some translations, such as the Good News, translate 'makarios' here in Matthew 5 as 'happy' - e.g. "Happy are those who mourn; God will comfort them!"

In his Life Builders Bible Study notes on the Sermon on the Mount, John Stott writes, 

...it is seriously misleading to render makarios "happy". For happiness is a subjective state, whereas Jesus is making an objective judgement about these people. He is declaring not what they may feel like ("happy"), but what God thinks of them and what on that account they are ("blessed"). [page 56].

A while ago at CBC we started singing a few songs by Rend Collective, and for Christmas I got their latest CD - As Family We Go. One of the tracks on this album is 'Joy of the Lord' and the story behind this song demonstrates the Upside Down nature of the kingdom - how that even at times of great personal difficulty and pain we can still choose joy.

Listen to Ali and Gareth from Rend Collective talk about a difficult time in their marriage due to a miscarriage and how the song "Joy Of The Lord" came about.

Missing Videos

If you're following the Read Scripture plan, but have not subscribed to their emails, and are relying on the single sheet print out that was available at church a couple of weeks ago, it is possible that you may have missed out on a couple of theme videos.

Although this sheet had all the book videos listed, it did not contain the theme videos. A new two sided version is now available which includes all the videos. You can download it from here, or they will be available at CBC on Sunday. I would also encourage you to subscribe/sign up to their emails, follow them on Twitter etc etc ...

In the meantime here are the videos that you may have missed.

2 January - Heaven and Earth



3 January - The Covenants




Today, 16 January - The Messiah

Being Community

Seeking to be an authentic community of disciples, becoming more like Jesus - walking in step with God, alongside each other and seeing lives transformed

Last week we began a weekly series of Friday posts exploring and unpacking our Vision here at CBC. If you miss any of the posts as we go through you can access them easily by clicking on the link to the relevant word above - or by clicking on the 'Vision' label which you will find at the bottom of this post.

This week I want to think about what it means to be 'community'.

If you were to do a search on the word 'community' in the NIV New Testament you would only get one hit (Acts 25:24) - but the Greek word used here occurs elsewhere in the NT but is translated variously as 'crowd', 'assembly', 'group' etc.

But within the NT account of the early church we certainly find the first Christians committed to meeting together for worship and fellowship - e.g. Acts 2:42-47. The writer to the Hebrews warns against no longer meeting together - for when we come together we are able to encourage each other and spur each other on (Hebrews 10:24-25). The language of the NT speaks of disciples as brothers and sisters - the language of family.

Jesus was accused of eating with the wrong kinds of people - and we find this practice - of eating together, and sharing hospitality - continues into the life of the early church. Jewish Christians share the hospitality of Gentile Christians - something that would not have happened without the transforming power of the Holy Spirit - and an outward sign of a deeper inner change. 

Contrast, for example, Paul's comment in Acts 10:28, "you are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with Gentiles of visit them" with the invitation just 30 verses later, "Then they (a household of Gentiles) asked Peter to stay with them for a few days". This Peter presumably did because of the charge against him in Acts 11:3 "you went into the house of the uncircumcised and ate with them". Similarly Lydia sees the offering and acceptance of hospitality as an outworking and sign of her new faith (Acts 16:15).

Clearly the picture we find in the NT is of believers in Jesus who are sharing their lives together - not just 'in church' but also opening their homes to each other and eating together.

In our journey of discipleship we will all be at different points. There will be some people we learn from and there will be others we teach. We saw last week that life is often messy and therefore we need to be authentic and real. Young children learn by watching and copying - and it is the same with our faith. We learn by watching and copying - but we can only watch those who we share life with.

CBC is not a big church but it is probably too big for everyone to know everyone - it is certainly too big for everyone to know everyone really well. If you wanted to invite everyone round for Sunday lunch - either you would need a massive house or it will take you months and months and months. But you can know a few people really well - people who you can share your life with. For many of us this smaller group of individuals may be our home group, but there are also other groups who meet regularly (e.g. the musicians/singers, men's breakfast, the Bumps & Babes team). There will be things that are going on in your life that you don't want to share publicly but hopefully there will be one or two people that you can share with for support and prayer - and just to 'off load'.

In their latest Idea magazine the Evangelical Alliance highlight the positive impact on health - both physical and mental - of living in a community where people feel they have a strong support system where people can open up, talk and experience the power of prayer. (Two copies of this magazine are available in the centre for you to take away and read.)

But within any larger group of people there will be those who are not a part of any smaller group, those who are on the fringe for one reason or another - there will be those who choose to remain on the edge of what is happening. It is our vision that CBC will be a place where no one feels isolated, where everyone feels welcomed and a part of what is going on, everyone feels supported and is supporting others, a place where we do life together.

One of the challenges we face is how do we develop community when circumstances, shift working, family commitments etc mean that patterns of church attendance are changing. If you were to ask someone 15 years ago - regular church attendance meant Sunday morning, Sunday evening and midweek Bible study (as a minimum). Regular church attendance today (in terms of Sunday) can mean twice a month. So how do we ensure that we still share life together...?

Praying the Psalms

We're now nearly two weeks into the new year, and for those who are following the Read Scripture plan by The Bible Project that means we're approaching the end of Genesis, currently in the middle of the story about Joseph.

One exciting part of this programme is the prospect of praying through the book of Psalms two and a half times during 2016. If you've printed out the reading schedule the instructions for the Psalms state,

One Psalm is listed each day for you to slowly pray through, making its words your own. By the end you'll have prayed through the book of Psalms 2.5 times.

Someone asked me this week what it means to pray through the Psalms - how do you do it?

Already in these two weeks you will have noticed that there is a great variety in the Psalms. You may have also come across a few verses that you're not too sure about praying - for example 3:7 says, "Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked" - doesn't seem to be a very 'Christian' prayer to me.

One of the other things you've probably noticed about these first few Psalms is that they are not always written from a 'happy place'. Quite a few are clearly written from a very low point "why Lord do you stand far off, why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?" 10:1 and yet still hold on to the knowledge that "the Lord is King for ever and ever" 10:16. Or today's reading from Psalm 13, "How long Lord? Will you forget me for ever? ... But I trust in your unfailing love..."

(Psalms like today's do reassure us that when we pray God is able to cope with our honesty, he can cope with our questions and our doubts.)

At other times there are words of praise, "I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds... 9:1.

It may be that on a particular day you are able to identify with the emotions and thoughts of the Psalm you are reading, and therefore make the words your own, but on other days that may not be the case.

One approach to praying the Psalms is to read the Psalm through slowly a couple of times and then to think about:

• one thing the Psalm teaches about God that you want to give thanks for;
• one thing the Psalm reveals about yourself that you could repent of;
• one thing the Psalm shows you you could aspire to, ask for or act on,

and then allow these thoughts to shape our prayers.

Timothy Keller, author of 'My Rock, My Refuge: A year of daily devotions in the Psalms' also points out in this short audio interview that simply reading the Psalms on a daily basis will give us the language to pray.

Understanding Matthew's Gospel

This morning we're starting a new series at CBC looking at the theme of the 'Kingdom of God'. We're going to be focusing on Matthew's gospel - of the four gospels Matthew says most about the Kingdom of God (although he often uses the phrase the Kingdom of heaven).

We won't have time on Sunday to look at the structure of Matthew's gospel in any detail but here are two introductory videos that will provide us with a good overview of Matthew's gospel.

Those of you who are following our Bible reading programme will recognise these videos as the work of the great people over at The Bible Project.