Joshua 1:1-18Sometimes life feels rather mundane. Going to work, paying the bills, pushing the trolley round the supermarket, going to church. We long to do something heroic. But the Christian life is heroic. It demands that we be strong and courageous. It’s certainly not for wimps or those who just need a crutch in life!
Revelation 12-13 Do you find the Christian life often feels like a battle? A battle to resist temptation and pursue godliness; a battle to keep going in faith and love and hope; a battle to read the Bible and pray and serve others in the church? It feels like a battle because it is a battle. We are at war. This passage gives us the perspective we need to keep going.
Isaiah 59-63“A dangerous monster threatens a community. One man takes it on himself to kill the beast and restore happiness to the kingdom”. This basic plotline of so many stories and films expresses one of the deepest longings of the human heart in a messed-up world. It finds its fulfilment in the coming conqueror of the final section of Isaiah’s prophecy.
James 3:13-4:10In sport we witness and experience the joy of victory and the sorrow of defeat. But in the end it’s only a game. The Christian life however is not a game. How can we make sure we are living victorious Christian lives rather than defeated ones? This passage tells us.
Ephesians 6:10-23 For many Christians spiritual warfare is about the sensational world of deliverance ministries and naming demons and driving them out of believers. But that is not the spiritual warfare we find in the New Testament letters. Instead it’s about putting on the armour God has provided for everyday Christian living. That is how we stand firm against the forces of evil.
2 Timothy 4:1-18 You’re lying in bed in a hospice. You’ve just been told you’ve only weeks left to live. What will your perspective be as you look back on your life and look ahead to death? Will you be able to say with the apostle Paul that you have fought the good fight and finished the race and are longing to meet the Lord?
Joshua 1 An Ironman is a long-distance triathlon – 3.86km swim in open water, followed by 180km on a bike, and then a marathon to finish off. It’s not for the fainthearted. But it takes just as much strength and courage to be a Christian. God calls us to be strong and courageous – and tells us how to do it.
Revelation 12-13 Do you find the Christian life often feels like a battle? A battle to resist temptation and pursue godliness; a battle to keep going in faith and love and hope; a battle to read the Bible and pray and serve others in the church. It feels like a battle because it is a battle. We are at war. This passage gives us the perspective we need to endure.
Isaiah 65 Hundreds of millions of people profess to worship God – but there is a huge spectrum of beliefs about what he is like and how to worship him. They can’t all be right. What is true worship? And why does it matter that we get it right?
Isaiah 65 What should I wear today? What should I eat for dinner? Should I look for a new job? Where should we move to? Life is full of choices. But the biggest, most momentous choice we each face is whether to be rebels against God or servants of God. It’s a choice with eternal consequences. God wants us to choose life.
