Luke 2:25-35 At the time of the birth of Jesus Christ, the promise and expectation of the Messiah’s coming into the world had become a matter of traditional belief but not of vital faith and hope among the Jews. There was no comfort in it. If their hearts were stirred up at all, it was Read More…
The Good News
The Work of the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Birth of Christ
Luke 1:26-38 The Christmas season is here again, and to kickstart our celebration of the birth of our Lord, we want to consider the work of the Spirit in the virgin birth of Christ. In his book on the Holy Spirit, published about forty years ago, Frederick Dale Brunner calls the Holy Spirit the shy Read More…
Results of Being Spirit-Filled (2)
Ephesians 5:18-25; 6:1-9 In Ephesians 5:18, we find the important command to be filled with the Spirit. Having considered how to be filled with the Spirit, we started our meditation on the question: How can I recognise whether or not I am filled with the Spirit? In other words, if I am filled with the Read More…
Giving thanks to God – The result of being spirit-filled (1)
Ephesians 5:15-21 Having dealt with the meaning of the divine command to be filled with the Spirit, a fair question that anyone may be asking is this: “How can I really know if I am walking in step with the Spirit and realizing His fullness?” The apostle answers this with three clear evidences for judging Read More…
How to Be Filled With the Holy Spirit
Ephesians 5:15-20 It has been said that the Christian life is not hard, it’s impossible. For many, defeat and discouragement characterize their Christian life. And while it’s true that the Christian life is impossible to live out of your own strength, God does not want defeat and discouragement to characterize the believer’s life. Because of Read More…
The Blessing of the Holy Spirit
Luke 11:13 In His reply to the request of one of His disciples that He should teach them to pray, Jesus said four things—one, that prayer should be for the fulfillment of God’s purposes (Luke 11:1-2); two, that prayer should be for the supply of God’s provisions (Luke 11:3-4); three, that prayer should be with Read More…
How to pray to God
Luke 11:1-13 In our message for last Sunday, titled, Blessing for Helpers of the Helpless, we saw that anyone can be in a situation of helplessness. We also saw that what is expected of anyone in such a situation is to cry out to God in prayer, like David did. Prayer, indeed, is God’s recommended Read More…
What to Do When You Are in the Pit
Psalm 40 These are very difficult and challenging times, but this should not come as a surprise to those who believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour. In fact, Jesus told His disciples to expect trials. He begins John 16 by stating (John 16:1, 2), “All this I have told you so Read More…
The Patience of Jesus Christ
Psalm 40:1 In the light of Jesus’ command that the Lord’s Table be observed in remembrance of Him (Luke 22:19), we want to consider, very briefly, the Patience of Jesus Christ. Our text is taken from Psalm 40:1 where the Psalmist said, “I waited patiently for the LORD; He turned to me and heard my Read More…
The Blessings of Forgiveness
Psalm 32 Marghanita Laski was one of England’s best-known secular humanists and novelists. Just before she died in 1988, she said in a television interview, “What I envy most about you Christians is your forgiveness; I have nobody to forgive me.” Unfortunately, there are many people like her in the world today without the experience Read More…