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...just a thought for anyone looking for devotions or a Bible reading plan for the new year, try http://www.backtothebible.org/devotions/ - a one-stop web page for a choice of devotional reflections and Scripture reading plans for each day :)
As we draw to the end of 2006, we want to thank all the SCC staff and students for their participation in our devotional project this semester....your insights have been challenging and enriching for so many people....we have received dozens of feedback emails from people from the SCC world and beyond who have been blessed by your reflections.
2007 will be an exciting year of moving forward and encountering God's goodness and love in more ways than we can imagine! We have a stack of fresh projects going on at college, and they will be our new focus, so the daily devotional emails/blog entries will be paused for a while, so stay tuned to the new developments in our chapels and campus life! (check out our website at www.scc.edu.au to stay in the loop.)
We wish all our readers and contributors a special Christmas and pray you will continue to find fresh ways to draw closer to our amazing Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ in the holiday season and beyond!
by Rachel Hemans
The idea of prayer is not in order to get answers from God; prayer is perfetc and complete oneness with God” - Oswald Chambers
Prayer so often becomes a duty instead of a pleasure, a discipline instead of a joy. Why is it that it seems so difficult sometimes to pray? Why do we struggle to find words, do not know what to pray about, or keep looking at the clock to see when we have prayed enough? Why does there seem to be more pressure and expectation at prayer meetings to pray well, to be deep and spiritual, to be fluent?
There appears to be so many expectations on prayer, on being effective in prayer and reaching the throne of God. Prayer has become a skill, a talent, something to be practiced and mastered. There are so many things to consider now when praying: the form, content, and delivery.
Somehow I don’t think that this is what God has in mind when he asks us to pray. It is simple communion with God, pouring out whatever is on our hearts and listening for what’s on His. Our hearts can express worship, thanksgiving, petition, confession or intercession - in the end all that matters is we’re talking to God. In doing this, there are inherent principles of trust in God, earnestness, purpose, faith…but the important issue is to be able to come to our heavenly Father without having to analyse how we’re praying, to come to the throne without fear but boldly. For me, Romans 8:26 highlights the simplicity of prayer to the point of it just being groans!
Let us come to the Father in the knowledge that He loves us and wants to spend time with us, for this is the joy of prayer.
by Joseph Premnath
Jesus said, Go into the world, preach, baptize and make disciples. That was the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). The Great Commission is evangelism. It has a great many activities. Proclamation of the gospel, praying for the salvation of the lost, interceding for the lost, praise and worship in a church, fasting for the lost, food parcel ministry for the poor people and the lost, community projects for the lost people, counseling a non-Christian person, giving a testimony before non-Christians, showing love, grace and empathy, living a holy life, meeting the felt needs of others etc. and it goes on.
We need to win souls for Christ. The power of evangelism is to mobilize as many people as possible to spread the gospel. Proclamation of the gospel was the major part of Jesus’ life
Today every member of the congregation should practice evangelism. Every member who is part of the body of Christ is expected to go into the world and spread the gospel.
Proclamation is only telling the word of the bible but affirmation is accepting the gospel. If there is no commitment Satan can take the people back to their old life. To evangelise is to present Christ Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit, that people shall come to put their trust in God through Him, to accept Him as their saviour, and to serve him as their king in the fellowship of his church and body.
A few weeks ago I met a person during the Bankstown street evangelism, I had the Holy Spirit urging me to speak to him. At that time I did not know that he was involved with nine armed robberies. He was waiting for his friend to go for the movies. He said that no one loves him anymore. His story was so sad and pathetic. He was driven into a criminal world. When Jesus Christ was presented to him as the only saviour who loves all sinners he accepted Christ and gave himself to Jesus. While talking to him we also shared food for dinner. He has started to come to our church. This is the purpose of evangelism. He was given a valid reason and opportunity to accept Jesus Christ.
I will bless the LORD, who has given me counsel;
my heart also instructs me in the night seasons.
I have set the LORD always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I shall not be moved.
(Psalm 16:7-8)
I wrote this scripture down some time ago and keep it in a 3x5 card loose in my bible. I did this so that no matter what I may be reading it will always catch my attention. Also, it’s easy to pop into a diary or purse so I can reflect on it at different times. I ask the Lord for a lot of counsel in the decisions I make from day to day and I have found this scripture so encouraging as I ‘bless him who gives me counsel’. That even in the ‘night seasons’ or times that prove tougher, that I still find His instruction. It reminds me to ‘set the Lord before me always’.
Recently though, in light of the topics covered in class to do with ethics, I once again thought on this scripture. There are so many theories and ideas on how to deal with ethical issues that may arise in life from time to time. I could ascribe to a certain theory, and when need be I probably will. However I was thinking that above all theories and understandings, that coming before the Lord to receive counsel is what needs to be done. He has said it in His word, and also proved Himself faithful as my counselor. I believe knowing which ethical theories there are is definitely beneficial in helping to work out a situation, but what we need more than anything is the counsel of God. I pray that I never lean on my own understanding of life to solve a problem. I hope rather that I will always find myself enquiring of the Lord as I know that He is always ‘at my right hand, I shall not be moved’.
by Sharon Ingram
For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts (1 Thessalonians 2:3-4).
Paul states here that he has been entrusted with the gospel. As Christians each of us have also been entrusted with the gospel message. We have been commissioned to take this message to all nations. I see it as an honour that Almighty God would entrust such an important message to me. I want to make sure that His trust in me is not misplaced and that I do deliver the message he has given to me. I want to make sure I am delivering the full and correct message though.
In our desire to see people become Christians, it is easy to be tempted to alter the message or water it down a bit to make it more palatable and acceptable to others. We never see Paul changing his message to make it sound more acceptable, although he did make sure he used an appropriate method for each audience he gave the gospel to. We too can make our style of presentation appropriate to our listeners, but we must not compromise the full truth of the gospel. God has entrusted us to deliver this message in its entirety.
One of the reasons we sometimes present a more acceptable gospel is because we think that we are personally responsible for bringing people to a point of repentance and accepting Jesus, so we tell them what they want to hear to get them to that point. However, our responsibility is actually to proclaim the gospel and it is the Holy Spirit’s work to bring conviction upon the recipient of the gospel and call them to respond. So let us be good stewards of the message entrusted to us. Go and preach the full gospel and trust that the Holy Spirit will do His work in calling people to respond to the message.
rby Gibson Sebastian
Through the Bible, Jesus and the prophets tell us to take care of the poor. The Ten Commandments say to love your neighbour as yourself. In the Gospels Jesus tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus. In Acts 10:31 the angel said, ‘Cornelius, God has heard your prayer and remembered your gifts to the poor.” All these incidents tell us that we as Christians will have to dig into our pockets to help the poor. As long as I can remember there were poor people living in our community and had on many occasions, as a kid and through the encouragement of my parents, given food or money to them. Why are we faced with these problems in our societies? What can be done to eliminate the problem?
As a Christian growing up, I was always taught to take care of the poor by providing for them. Many years later I realised that giving them handouts was not the means to an end, it just perpetuated the situation. The poor in our society need help to get them out of their predicament. Starting in 2000 the Smith Family began to publish reports on poverty in Australia on a regular basis. The Smith Family is a national, independent, social enterprise that supports disadvantaged Australian children to create a better future through education. At the Conference on Child Poverty, Education, and Health in London on February 26, 2001, Horst Köhler, Managing Director of International Monetary Fund said that the ways we nurture and equip the children of today will shape the world of tomorrow. It is through organizations like this that a nation and the world at large can address some of the issues on poverty.
In the local scene we through our churches and other organizations can participate in providing proper care to the less fortunate through organizations like St Vincent de Paul, Care Australia, World Vision and many such organizations. There is a need to teach our young the importance of reaching out to the poor. We cannot call ourselves Christians if we do not help the poor, for Jesus said, “even a drop of water given in my name will not go unrewarded.”
by Anelle Beeby
“Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord…In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
(Ephesians 5:22, 28-30)
After completing my essay on the spouse relationship in the Ephesian Household Code, I realized the significance of this passage and its context. This passage (the conclusion of the Household Code) leads into Ephesians 6:10-19, The Armour of God – which exemplifies spiritual warfare.
God place within both man and woman (Husband & Wife) abilities, when combined (united) they are an unbeatable warfare team. The fall handicapped one-flesh warfare, but through Jesus the ability was restored.
Sad to say but most families have only one spouse who does warfare. No wonder there are casualties. If we are not fighting the enemy together, we are wasting precious resources. We need to be open that the Lord can teach both spouses how to warfare together.
Furthermore, the woman is like the man. She is his flesh, his body. As the creation story asserts, whe is bone of his bone, she and he are one. Paul rejects the dominant ancient view of women as inferior, and presents her as man’s equal. The husband is exhorted to be committed to one person, his wife as his body, not some other men or other women. Women are commanded to serve and help (Gen 2:18,20) their husbands ‘as to the Lord’. I view this as a great privilege and an opportunity, as a wife what I do for my husband is indirectly what I do for my Lord.
The husband is commanded to love. Ninety-two words in eight verses are addressed to him. Paul commands him to love three times (vv. 25a, 28, 33). Love and love alone is the husband’s critical obligation to his wife. Further, Paul does not leave it to the husband’s imagination to define love. The example of Christ defines the nature of love. Headship and power language are redefined in the most radical terms. To be the head is to love and give up self for the sake of other, the wife. (John E. Toews)
Love casts out all fear…”Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).For no one ever hated his own body, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church— because we are members of his body…”
Satan will try to pervert our ability to love one another (Husband & Wife), Love is power and a love focused on God and united in the marriage will do serious warfare in the heavenlies. The ‘I’ gets diffused and becomes ‘Us’ – together with the Power of the Spirit we become the one-flesh warfare team.
by Tammie Sutcliffe
Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
For the LORD is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
Psalm 95:1-7
WOW! God just loves to hear us worship Him. Give to your God His greatest desire. God loves to hear your heart bring Him Praise and Worship. He just loves to sit with you when you give Him your time in Praise and Worship. Rejoice before your God, let your mouth sing songs and shout out His goodness to you. For his love endures forever. Let songs, shouting, gratitude and praise be inside of your being so you are open to worship your God. Let there be a time of silence and quietness as well for this is also a time of worship. For he is well pleased with those who make time to praise and worship Him and all He has made. He loves to communicate with those who love to worship him alone. Let no other God or thing take away your time to Worship the one and true God. So make time today to give your God His greatest desire. This is to have you worship and honour His name.
A picture began circulating in November. It should be "The Picture of the Year," or perhaps, "Picture of the Decade." It won't be. In fact, unless you obtained a copy of the US paper which published it, you probably would never have seen it. The picture is that of a 21-week-old unborn baby name d Samuel Alexander Armas, who is being operated on by surgeon named Joseph Bruner. The baby was diagnosed with spinabifida and would not survive if removed from his mother's womb. Little Samuel's mother, Julie Armas, is an obstetrics nurse in Alanta. She knew of Dr. Bruner's remarkable surgical procedure. Practicing at Vanderbilt University Medical center in Nashville, he performs these special operations while the baby is still in the womb.
During the procedure, the doctor removes the uterus via C-section and makes a small incision to operate on the baby. As Dr. Bruner completed the surgery on Samuel, the little guy reached his tiny, but fully developed hand through the incision and firmly grasped the surgeon's finger. Dr. Bruner was reported as saying that when his finger was grasped, it was the most emotional moment of his life, and that for an instant during the procedure he was just frozen, totally immobile. The photograph captures this amazing event with perfect clarity. The editors titled the picture, "Hand of Hope." The text explaining the picture begins, "The tiny hand of 21-week-old fetus Samuel Alexander Armas emerges from the mother's uterus to grasp the finger of Dr. Joseph Bruner as if thanking the doctor for the gift of life." Little Samuel's mother said they "wept for days" when they saw the picture. She said,”The photo reminds us pregnancy isn't about disability or an illness, it's about a little person." Samuel was born in perfect health, the operation 100 percent successful. Now see the actual picture, and it is awesome...incredible...The world needs to see this one!
P.S. Don't tell me God isn't awesome!!!!!
So I pretty much hate blood, pass out with needles and anything medical just turns my stomach! I received the above in an email awhile back and it moved me greatly then! Today during my ethics class on abortion I was reminded of it and challenged to think about the instinctive value we put on human life and that when we see or hear of a human life that has unfairly been taken, been hurt, rejected or despised it pulls at something deep inside saying this isn’t right.
80 million people aren't meant to go to bed starving tonight and 27000 children die from malnutrition today!
In the next twenty four hours, 1,439 Teens will attempt suicide. Did you know suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15 - 24 years old, and the sixth leading cause of death for 5 - 14 year old?
“The photo reminds us pregnancy isn't about disability or an illness, it's about a little person."- a little person who was made in the image of God for the will of God. I suppose I was challenged to look at how I value human life and out work this in my day to day living. How do you value human life and outwork this in your day to day living? Are you like the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) filled with the love of God who is able to put aside surface differences and love and value each man as a child of God?
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