(By pastor Jean)

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land” (2 Chron 7:14; NKJV). This is one of those “if, then” portions of scripture where we have a part to play and if we do our part then God can do His. Let’s see what is involved in our part. Firstly, we need to make sure we are called, that is that we belong to God and are part of His family. Eph 1:4 says that we were chosen by God but we have to respond to that by becoming born again (John 3:7). We are then required to humble ourselves; in other words, we shouldn’t think highly of ourselves and should be submitted to God’s will. Next, we have to pray and seek God’s face. To seek God’s face is spending time in His presence so we can pray and intercede. The word “seek” in Hebrew is translated “crave” or “require”. This isn’t ho-hum prayer but it is earnest, focused prayer (James 5:16). Then we have to repent which means a change of mind which leads to change in behaviour (Matt 3:2). God says if we do all that He will hear us, forgive us (see also Matt 26:28 and 1 John 1:9) and heal our land; how much do we need that! The only way we will see things turn around in our country is by an intervention from God which necessitates us doing all the things required in the verse above, Let’s remember to pray for our country and leaders on a daily basis (1 Tim 2:1-2).

(by pastor Norman)

The tabernacle of moses described in the Old Testament, had two portions, the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place (See Ex 26) but only the High Priest entered, into the very presence of God in the Most Holy Place (Ex 25:21) and then only once a year on the day of Atonement (Lev 16). The High Priest took the blood of animal sacrifices into the Most Holy Place, sprinkling it Infront of and on the mercy seat (Lev 16). This sacrifice brought God’s atonement or forgiveness for the people’s sins in the previous year. In the book of Leviticus, the Lord tells Moses that, “The life of the flesh is in the blood” and that, “Blood makes atonement for the soul” (Lev 17:11). The Jewish law required that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb 9:22). Praise God that “Christ was offered as a sacrifice once to bear the sins of many” (Heb 9:28). His blood was shed so we could be forgiven of all sin past, present and future (Heb 9:12). Jesus died and rose again to return to the very presence of God in heaven. “With His own blood, He entered the Most Holy Place” (Heb 12). The high priest was the only one that entered the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle but when Jesus died on the cross the veil that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom (Mark15:38) obviously by the hand of God. By His death, Jesus opened the way for us to come into the very presence of God, every sin forgiven! Praise God!

(by Pastor Jean)

“Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt 5:48; NKJV). When we think of the word “perfect” we think of someone with no faults but the Greek word used here is teleios and actually means, whole, complete, fully mature or brought to a successful conclusion. As new Christians no one would expect us to be fully mature but if we are true disciples of Jesus then we will be growing in maturity or becoming a little more “perfect” every day of our lives. It is a lifelong process. We were created in the image of God (Gen 1:26), therefore as we mature, we should become more and more like God. God is love; He is compassionate, merciful, kind forgiving, just and unchanging (to mention just a few of His attributes). If we are following Jesus as we should then these attributes will naturally begin to develop in us in the form of the fruit of the Spirit, just like fruit forms on a tree. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal 5:22,23; NKJV). All these components of the fruit of the Spirit could really be included in the word love. We have been created to develop this love and to share it with those around us, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35; NKJV). As the Holy Spirit works in our lives, we will never reach perfection but gradually become more and more like “teleios” people.

(by pastor Norman)

Jesus prayed for those who would believe in Him, that is Christians, “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (john 17-21; NKJV). Wow! Jesus said a united church would draw the whole world to Christ. In the early church believers were in one accord (Acts 2:46, 4:24, 5:12). They were, “of one heart and soul” (Acts 4:32a) and thousands were added to the church (Acts 2:41), with people being saved daily (Acts 2:47b). Now, neither God the Father nor Jesus ever change (Mal 3:6a, Heb 13:8), so we should be the extension of the early church with that same one accord, based on the same gospel of Jesus Christ and the teachings of the early church leaders as found in the Bible. In the teachings of the apostle Paul, we see that in the church of Jesus Christ we are to be like minded, in agreement, walking in love, in harmony, in one accord, in unity with no divisions, but united (1 Cor 1:10, Phil 2:2, Col 3:14). We are all different, with different personalities and giftings but we are all members of the one body or church (1 Cor 12:12-13). Similarly, we are all one in Christ, no matter our background or origin (Gal 3:26-28), Col 3:11). I love Ephesians 4:2-6, we are reminded to love one another and that there is one faith and one body. We are all charged to keep the unity and it is the Holy Spirit that brings that unity. Let’s get into God’s word and learn about unity and allow the Holy Spirit to work through all of our lives to impact the world!

(by pastor Jean)

I was reading in Hebrews chapter 11 and came across this verse which I had previously underlined but felt like I had never seen it before! Talking about Moses, it says, “He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible” (Heb 11:27; NLT). If an unbeliever was reading this verse it would seem like a conundrum to them because how can you look at someone you can’t see? Of course, as Christians we know that we look with the eyes of the spirit, by faith; we can look at Jesus, knowing He is everywhere though we cannot see Him. Hebrews 11:1 tells us about faith, that it is the certainty of things that you cannot see with your physical eyes. There are more scriptures that confirm looking at the invisible; 2 Cor 5:7, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” Similarly in 2 Cor 4:18, “We fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever” (NLT). Hebrews 12:1,2 talks about running the race that God has set before us and says that we do this by, “keeping our eyes on Jesus.” Colossians 3:1 teaches us to think about heaven where Jesus is now. These verses all encourage us to focus on Jesus because He is the solution to all our problems; He is our all in all, everything we need. Of course, it is impossible to do this non-stop all day long, but we can keep bringing our minds back to Him asking God to help us redirect our focus and fix our gaze on Him.