words2encourage

Change
I recently attended a course at work called "Managing Change." My employer has recently merged with another company and therefore there is change on the horizon. For some of us our working patterns will change and for others there will be doing different jobs with new responsibilities. Staff will react to this in differing ways, some will embrace change and some will resist it. There will be some who will look back on what they perceive as the good old days and will remember those days with fondness.... More

The Importance of Housegroups
The writer of the letter to the Hebrews in Chapter 10 verse 25 says, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching." One of the ways in which we can do this is to belong to a housegroup. So what is a housegroup? Generally speaking a housegroup is a small group of Christian who meet together during the week in someone's home to study the Bible, pray, encourage one another and to build up relationships in the body of Christ.... More

The Importance of reading the Whole Bible
Towards the end of his life the apostle Paul wrote the following words to Timothy "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." ( 2 Timothy 3: 16-17). I expect if we are being honest many of us probably have whole sections of the Bible which we rarely read. Yet here Paul is saying that all Scripture is God-breathed and useful. Yes that does include the second half of Exodus and the book of Leviticus!... More

Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem
In Psalm 122 David instructs us to: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels." Christians over the years have held differing views on the nation of Israel. Some believe that the returning of the Jews back to the Middle East and the nation of Israel reforming is part of God's plans for the end times. Others say that the Church has replaced Israel in fulfilling God's purposes.... More

Reflections on 1 Peter 5
Peter draws his first letter to a close with specific instructions directed firstly to the elders, then to the young men and finally to all Christian believers. To the elders he encourages them to serve as overseers of the people. This should not be done as a sense of duty, but because they are willing, which is what God wants. As is so often the case in Scripture, God sees the heart and it is important that we have the right Godly attitude motivating us.... More

I recently attended a course at work called "Managing Change." My employer has recently merged with another company and therefore there is change on the horizon. For some of us our working patterns will change and for others there will be doing different jobs with new responsibilities. Staff will react to this in differing ways, some will embrace change and some will resist it. There will be some who will look back on what they perceive as the good old days and will remember those days with fondness and not want to move forward and change. But as the working situation has now changed, so they will also have to face that reality.

As Christians we too face the challenge of change. We all know that God wants changes to be made in our individual and Church life but we can be very resistant to this. Sometimes we may be scared of change and leaving the security we know behind. Fear of the unknown maybe. Other times we just stubbornly refuse to change thinking that we know better than God.

After God rescued the Israelites from Pharaoh it didn't take them long to start complaining and saying that they wanted to go back to Egypt. They seemed to have had rather selective memories about the past they left behind in Egypt. It suddenly seemed very appealing and they quickly forgot about the hardships they had endured under Pharaoh.

What about us? How do we react when we feel God wants changes in our life? Do we rejoice that He is refining us and changing us to be conformed to His image or do we resist and moan? Lets ensure that with God's grace that we embrace change and grow in our relationship with Christ.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews in Chapter 10 verse 25 says, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching."

One of the ways in which we can do this is to belong to a housegroup. So what is a housegroup? Generally speaking a housegroup is a small group of Christians who meet together during the week in someone's home to study the Bible, pray, encourage one another and to build up relationships in the body of Christ. Although the sizes of groups will vary they often would have between 6 to 12 members. Once a group grows beyond this number then it might be wise to split the group and to form two separate groups.

Bible study is very often a key feature of the group. One of the advantages of a housegroup is that the group can study the Bible together and members can discuss how the passage they are studying is relevant to their everyday life. There is also the opportunity for people to ask questions about anything they do not understand in the passage. Generally speaking when we are listening to the sermon on Sunday it's not normal practise to interupt the preacher and ask them questions if we don't understand the talk! However, in the privacy of an individuals home there is the chance to ask questions. And often we find that other people may have the same questions as us too. Discussing a passage together in this manner can be very benefical because we get onto real issues that concern people and we can discuss them to a depth that is not always possible on a Sunday.

What's the best Bible study for our group to do you may ask? Well there are literally hundreds of very good Bible study booklets available. Some people like to discuss subjects for example: Women of the Bible; whilst others may like to study a particular book of the Bible. Some churches will do a study based on the current theme of the sermons that are being preached at their Sunday services. If you are not sure what to study in your group a visit your local Christian bookshop to see what they have in stock or chat to your Church leaders.

Another advantage of the housegroup is that you can share prayer needs within the group and pray for one another. Whilst your Church leaders would probably be happy to pray for you on Sunday the opportunity for this may not arise. If you belong to a larger Church then there might be too many prayer needs for everyone to be prayed for on Sunday. However, in a small group you can share your needs and ask for prayer. One of the groups I used to be a member of would have a "sharing and pray" evening from time to time. We would go around the group saying how life was treating us and mention any prayer needs we might have. The other members of the group would then pray about the issues raised and then we would go onto the next person. (In that Church the housegroups were known as "Support Groups" which was an appropriate title). These were important meetings as we could be honest with the group and share disappointments or struggles we were having as well as praising God for the good things in our life.

Sometimes group members may have personal prayer requests which whilst they are happy to share with the group they would not want the rest of the Church to know about. Housegroups is the ideal place to do this.

Many people do find praying in public scary. They worry about getting the words wrong or drying up. However, praying in a housegroup can be a good place to practice and build up one's confidence. It's often a good idea to write down the items you prayer about so that when you meet together again you can see if the prayer has been answered yet. It can be very encouraging for the housegroup to see God answering the prayers they pray.

Another benefit from attending a housegroup is getting to know your fellow Christians better. It can be daunting for anyone who is quiet or shy to get to know people in a big Church. However, a housegroup offers a good opportunity to get to know people in the comfort of someone's home. This is one of the things I have gained from the housegroup of which I'm currently a member. In other housegroups I have attended at previous Churches I have been fortunate to build up some great friendships as a result of cultivating them through the housegroup.

If you do not currently belong to a group I would strongly encourage you to consider seriously joining one. Not only will it benefit you but you too can also be a blessing to the group and the Body of Christ.

Towards the end of his life the apostle Paul wrote the following words to Timothy "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." ( 2 Timothy 3: 16-17). I expect if we are being honest many of us probably have whole sections of the Bible which we rarely read. Yet here Paul is saying that all Scripture is God-breathed and useful. Yes that does include the second half of Exodus and the book of Leviticus!

To enable us to get the most out of God's word it is important that we read it all. If we only read the New Testament then we are missing out on seeing all God did in the Old Testament with his people Israel. There are so many great and inspiring stories in the Old Testament: Ruth loyalty to her mother-in law Naomi (Ruth 1:16-17); Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego's determination not to compromise their faith (Daniel 3) and David humbling himself before God after his sin with Bathsheba (Psalm 51) to name but three.

Although reading the whole Bible can seem a daunting challenge, it is relatively easy to read it all the way through in a year. If you spent 20 minutes a day reading the Scriptures you will read the whole of the Bible in a year. Most of us can find 20 minutes to spare to do this and if that seems too much, how about 10 minutes in the morning and another 10 minutes in the evening? When you think about how long we spend watching television or on the internet surely that is not too difficult to do!

In Psalm 122 David instructs us to: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May those who love you be secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels."

Christians over the years have held differing views on the nation of Israel. Some believe that the returning of the Jews back to the Middle East and the nation of Israel reforming is part of God's plans for the end times. Others say that the Church has replaced Israel in fulfilling God's purposes.

Whichever of the two views one may hold it is important to pray for the people who live in this troubled land. But how do we pray? What is God's will for the Middle East?

In his first letter to Timothy, Paul says: "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority...."

So the first thing we can do is to pray for the leaders of Israel and its neighbouring countries. We may or may not like the various leaders in that part of the world, but God has allowed them to rise to these positions. In the Old Testament God used kings who did not even know or acknowledge him to fulfill his purposes. Therefore, it is important to pray for them that they will govern wisely and make Godly and just decisions.

The second way that we can pray is to follow David's plea and "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem." Humanly speaking getting peace in Jerusalem is impossible. However, we are instructed to pray for this. One of the advantages of praying this pray is that we can put aside some of our political and religious bias and pray for the inhabitants of that great city. I have found it helpful to pray for the different religious and nationality groupings in Jerusalem: Israelites, Arabs, Palestinians, Armenians, Christians, Jews and Muslims. And we need to keep in mind that God loves all those in Jerusalem and his Son died for all of them. That includes the ones whose views and policies we do not support!

Peter draws his first letter to a close with specific instructions directed firstly to the elders, then to the young men and finally to all Christian believers.

To the elders he encourages them to serve as overseers of the people. This should not be done as a sense of duty, but because they are willing, which is what God wants. As is so often the case in Scripture, God sees the heart and it is important that we have the right Godly attitude motivating us. Peter exalts them not to do this for money but because they are eager to serve. How different this approach and attitude is to what we encounter in the world. It is the same attitude that Jesus adopted, one who came to serve and not to be served.

The next group that Peter addresses are the young men. He instructs the young men to be submissive to those who are older than them. Sometimes young men think that they know everything and do not need to listen to advice. But again, as with the elders, Peter gives them instructions which are different to the way the world operates.

Closely linked with being submissive is humility which Peter moves onto next. The apostle says they should clothe themselves with humility.In fact this should be an attitude that all the believers should have for one another. And the reason he gives for this is taken from Proverbs 11 v 31: "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

All of us need God's grace in our life and therefore humility should be an attitude we desire for ourselves. I wonder how many church splits could have been avoided if we had more of this quality in our churches?

Peter reminds his readers that if they are prepared to humble themselves, then in God's timing they will experience the blessing of being lifted up. If we sow humility we will reap the benefits.

One of the benefits is that we can cast all our anxieties, worries and cares on God because we can be assured that he loves us. And once we have done that the weight of them shifts from us to God. What a tremendous promise! Sadly it is so easy to give them over to God and take them all back the next day! I expect that we have all done this on many occasions. We need to learn the liberating joy of leaving them with God once and for all, and then moving on.

As Peter closes this letter he reminds his readers of the spiritual attack that they can expect to receive from the devil. They are encouraged to be ready and alert and to also be self controlled. Although we cannot avoid the risk of attack from the devil, Peter encourages us to resist him and to stand firm in our faith. He reminds the readers that throughout the world all their fellow brothers and sisters are undergoing this battle. For many of them this would have meant imprisonment and death. Most of us will probably not have to face this, but many of the early church did. In fact in some countries today believers are going through this and we need and should support them in prayer.

Peter then reminds his readers that God will give them the grace to be strong. We may stumble, slip or fall over but God's grace will see us through to the end.