Last Sunday we started our Autumn teaching series, 'Rise and Fall' looking at the reign of David as told for us in the Old Testament book of 2 Samuel. Quite a bit of this material also appears in Chronicles.
These two videos, from the Bible Project will give you a great overview of both books and help as we seek to understand and apply God's word.
Thursday 13 September 2018
Tuesday 4 September 2018
A new beginning
This week there will be nervous 11-year-olds heading to secondary school for the first time. And as well as nerves, many of them will be excited at the new adventure. Some will be dreading what might lie ahead.
And facing new situations doesn't end when we leave school. No matter how old we are and how settled we feel new things might be just around the corner. Sometimes we choose that for ourselves - changing career, moving house. At other times life imposes change on us whether we want it or not.
But how do we respond when faced with something new?
Last Sunday at CBC we looked at Joshua 1:1-9.
Moses and the people of Israel had been in this place before. Last time they acted out of their fear rather than their trust in God. Now God wants to encourage Joshua to trust him, to keep walking in step with him and to move forward into what God has in store for them.
There are many times in the Bible when we are told not to be worried or anxious about what is before us. Philippians 4:6-7 is a great example. The trouble is that we still worry - and then we worry that we're worrying. Is my worry a sin?
The Apostle Paul told us to rejoice always - and yet there were times when he was sad. He tells us not to be anxious but there are times when he worried about things. From personal experience, I know that there are times when God does give us a supernatural peace but I also know that there are times when I wake up in the middle of the night churning things over in my mind, or my palms are all sweaty at the thought of saying the right thing.
When faced with something new I don't think we need to worry about whether we're worried. The important thing is that when we act, the decisions we make, our choices - these are governed by our trust in God and our obedience to him and not by our fears. So whilst my fears may be saying, 'keep your head down, blend in, don't stand out' - my trust and obedience to God may mean I do none of those things.
On Sunday we watched a couple of videos from Igniter Media - you can follow the links to them here.
https://www.ignitermedia.com/products/8673-god-of-the-new
https://www.ignitermedia.com/products/42274-be-the-new
And facing new situations doesn't end when we leave school. No matter how old we are and how settled we feel new things might be just around the corner. Sometimes we choose that for ourselves - changing career, moving house. At other times life imposes change on us whether we want it or not.
But how do we respond when faced with something new?
Last Sunday at CBC we looked at Joshua 1:1-9.
Moses and the people of Israel had been in this place before. Last time they acted out of their fear rather than their trust in God. Now God wants to encourage Joshua to trust him, to keep walking in step with him and to move forward into what God has in store for them.
There are many times in the Bible when we are told not to be worried or anxious about what is before us. Philippians 4:6-7 is a great example. The trouble is that we still worry - and then we worry that we're worrying. Is my worry a sin?
The Apostle Paul told us to rejoice always - and yet there were times when he was sad. He tells us not to be anxious but there are times when he worried about things. From personal experience, I know that there are times when God does give us a supernatural peace but I also know that there are times when I wake up in the middle of the night churning things over in my mind, or my palms are all sweaty at the thought of saying the right thing.
When faced with something new I don't think we need to worry about whether we're worried. The important thing is that when we act, the decisions we make, our choices - these are governed by our trust in God and our obedience to him and not by our fears. So whilst my fears may be saying, 'keep your head down, blend in, don't stand out' - my trust and obedience to God may mean I do none of those things.
On Sunday we watched a couple of videos from Igniter Media - you can follow the links to them here.
https://www.ignitermedia.com/products/8673-god-of-the-new
https://www.ignitermedia.com/products/42274-be-the-new
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