Most churches, especially as they get larger, tend to have specialised children, youth and young adult ministries. If a church is large enough, perhaps it will also have a dedicated youth or university student worship service. At the other end of the demographic scale, it is common to see ministries or services aimed at shall …
Our modern Western culture often thinks of everything only in terms of the individual. Many of the questions we ask are to do with our personal situation, like: How does this impact me? What do I get out of this? What do I need to do next? We are self-interested people, of course, and we …
God made each of us for a bigger purpose. We are not satisfied with just going through the motions every day. We need hope. We need to know that there is some bigger picture to life, some purpose beyond the tasks we are working on day by day. Think of the swimmer who trains in …
The promises that God made to Abram in Genesis 12 were very big promises. When did they happen? That is a good question to ask. Like with so many Bible promises, God fulfilled them in stages. I think it is helpful to think of partial fulfilment, ultimate fulfilment in Jesus, and then the final fulfilment …
We are not told of Abram saying anything to God in response to God’s promises and command. He just did it. Such a big move at 75! Genesis outlines who came with him; it included his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot. He also took all of his possessions with him. Abram was a wealthy …
Look at the end of Genesis 12:3: “In you [that is, Abram] all the families of the world shall be blessed”. That’s a big claim that needs a little further attention. Remember the context of Genesis 12; it has come just after a long list of nations and people in chapters 10 and 11. The …
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will …
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. (Gen. 12:1 ESV) Genesis 12 starts with the LORD speaking. This is important. God speaking is how creation came to be. God’s word is always the basis for creation, or …
The logic of evangelism is really simple. Christians have the good news, the news about Jesus the King who has died in our place and risen again to pay for our sins. This is the most important news ever. It is news that we are tasked with telling others about. And, for some of these …
What do you do when you have a few minutes with nothing to do? If you’re like most of the world, your tendency is to pull out your phone and scroll. It might be news, or social media, or email, but we have mainly loss the ability to just ‘be’. We need to fill the …