God is more holy than we can imagine, and we're more sinful than we will admit, but God in his goodness invites us to enjoy his presence. ...
After the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, he spent forty days downloading to his disciples all the teaching they would be able to understand only now that he was resurrected. After that, he ascended to the heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Father. Imagine having a seat with him! What a glorious perspective that would be. Here's the dirty little secret ... you do....
When the people waived palms to proclaim Jesus as a conquering king , he used wheat to teach about the nature of his kingdom....
It's one thing to guarantee a victory in football. It's another thing to guarantee a resurrection....
When we give in to the powerful but vacuous threats of the enemy and allow fear and intimidation to lodge in our souls, God graciously meets us in our caves of isolation to restore us to his purpose for our lives. ...
The perpetual heart issue facing every person: who is your God - the Lord, or another?...
There are times to be still and quiet and know that that the Lord is God; there are other times to praise him with expressive exuberance - because He is worthy of it all. ...
The life of Job displays two glorious bookends of God's blessing; in between he experiences intense trials and difficulties, but God brings him out on the other side....
What's the meaning of life? What in this life is worth pursuing? These are the big-picture questions Solomon engages in the book of Ecclesiastes....
When the Queen of Sheba visited Solomon and saw his house, she thought, 'Solomon's great!' When people visit our church, we want them to think, 'God's great!'...
More than being a wise thing to do, trusting God with all our hearts brings a package of benefits....
Life is not a game about pursuing trivial things; whatever else you get this year, be sure that you determine to get wisdom....
What would it be like to receive a personal vision from Jesus for our lives and ministry? This happened to Paul, and from the vision Jesus gave him, we learn something about the priorities that matter to God....
Our relationship to time shapes the trajectory of our lives. ...
Sitting, standing, kneeling ... does body posture matter when we worship God?...
The baby whose birth in Bethlehem was attended by shepherds was born to be the good shepherd of God's people....
In one of her biggest hit songs, Bette Midler sings that God is watching us from a distance. It's a beautiful song, except that it's not true. God's not watching from a distance; he is personally engaged in the details of our lives....
Mathew's introduction to the Christmas story makes one big point: it all adds up to Christ....
The idea of a self-made man is a foreign concept to the Bible; we need the support and encouragement of others on our spiritual journey. ...
Great endings are almost always the fruit of small beginnings; faithfulness with little positions us for destiny....
What's the greatest benefit of the of gospel? Forgiveness? Justification? Eternal life? Perhaps the greatest benefit God blesses us with is that we are adopted into the family of God and inherit all the privileges and responsibilities that go with being sons of God....
On 31st October 2017, we celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, informally started when Martin Luther nailed 95 theses (talking points) to the church door in Wittenberg. What began as a call for conversation called God’s people back to scripture and transformed the Church. Here we reflect on the significance of this event....
What does the Bible teach about how we can be brought close to God? Do we have to climb a stairway to heaven?...
God does not want us to be uniformed regarding his will; he speaks to us in a variety of ways so that we can move forward with confidence....
God created us in Christ for a full life of destiny and purpose. But sometimes we forget who we are....
The balanced Christian life rests on the power-triad of faith, hope, and love....
Imagine an NBA superstar with amazing talent ... but too afraid to walk onto the basketball court. Paul challenges Timothy - and us - to adopt a proactive posture towards our gifts....
The Antioch church had good thing going, but the apostles in Jerusalem were suspicious: they heard that Jews and Gentiles were worshipping together, so they sent Barnabas to check out the situation. ...
Why would Jesus choose something so simple as going down into water and being raised up as a picture of the relationship we have with him through faith? What would he want us to get water baptised?...
Have you ever hit a moment in life when you felt the need to hit the reset button? That happened to me on the way to a conference in Cincinnati, Ohio. My friend and I were solving all the world's problems: we developed solutions for world hunger, global poverty, ending racism, and how to understand God's sovereignty and human choice. It was an amazing conversation, and it should have been recorded....
Acknowledging that Jesus is King is not conceptually difficult; submitting to his Lordship is a daily way of life for those who seek to follow him....
It's not about the destination - it's about the journey. Or is it? While the encouragement to 'smell the roses along the way' is good, it's also important to realise that direction and destiny are connected. ...
Normally, my wife is madly in love with me and thinks I'm great. But the time she was off the chart angry with me was when I lost our daughters....
Have you ever tried to hoover your lounge without the vacuum cleaner plugged in? It doesn't do any good to go through the motions if you're not connected to the power source. ...
God's presence with us in the Holy Spirit provides many benefits; knowing this is only the first step - encountering and enjoying God is the goal....
The fellowship of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 13:14) is one of the core benefits of following Jesus. But what does the Holy Spirit do in our lives?...
If you had 18 minutes to deliver the message of your life, what would you say? Paul gives us some pointers on maximising opportunities to deliver a profound, powerful, and trans-cultural message....
Imagine crawling across a desert, attacked by the scorching sun, desperate for a drink of water. How cool would it be - in more ways than one - to encounter someone handing out cups of water. For anyone with spiritual thirst, Jesus gives something much better than water....
What's the best news you ever heard? When Paul went to places like Rome, Corinth, and Athens, he gave people the gospel - absolutely the best news he had ever come in contact with....
Even when it feels like the wheels are falling off the wagon, God is at work behind the scenes. In surprising moments, the relational links God builds in our lives can be part of the chain of events that bring his salvation to others....
Did you ever wish that you had more gifts, more talents, and more abilities? Samson had all that - and more - and still failed. God, however, is the master of writing a new chapter in our lives....
We live in a constant tension regarding which narrative about ourselves we're going to believe: are we going to be shaped by the many voices around us, or will be be shaped by what God says about us?...
Someone recently asked me: 'What does it mean to follow Jesus - practically - on a day to day basis?' That's a great question - and here's my answer....
Positive learning involves drawing on the successes of others who can show us what to do. Negative learning is about observing the mistakes of others so that we don't do what they've done. The book of Judges is a grand lesson in what NOT to do....
Have you ever faced a moment of genuine intimidation? Have you ever been gripped with fear to the degree that you were paralysed - unable to move? This is what Joshua felt as he stood at the threshold of his moment of destiny....
When navigating transitional moments, it's good to live close to God's presence....
In the 14th century, Robert Bruce of Scotland was leading his men in a battle to gain independence from England. Near the end of the conflict, the English wanted to capture Bruce to keep him from the Scottish crown. So they put his own bloodhounds on his trail. ...
We often found ourselves surrounded by a cacophony of voices competing for our attention. And often, the majority of these voices are not encouraging faith; rather, they are dispensing doubt. But it is through the minority report of faith that we inherit God's promises....
After observing - and participating in - my daughter's wedding, I found myself wondering, 'How does this happen? How does anyone get to this point? How does love work?'. Although marriage is a destination many people reach, the process of how they get there can be quite different. Faith works in a similar way....
This revelation from scripture absolutely changes everything. It changes our relationship with God, it changes how we view ourselves, how we view life and will impact every relationship.......
Over the years, 'Heart and Soul' has been a common theme in pop music: lovers express the intensity of their feelings for another as encompassing the totality of our being, captured in the phrase 'heart and soul'. The song writers may not know they're quoting Moses, who used this phrase as a way of encapsulating appropriate devotion to God....
What would it be like to hit the economic re-set button every fifty years? Jesus proclaims the year of the Lord favour and draws on Jubilee themes to explain the significance of salvation. ...
God's presence is the greatest place there is. But getting there is trickier than we might imagine....
What does it look like to live an extraordinary life? Is it possible to make the journey from 'not bad' to 'pretty good' ... or beyond?...
Israel’s sinful idolatry led to a distortion of true worship and brought about God’s righteous condemnation. Idolatry is dangerous because it distorts our view of God and corrupts our behaviour, leading us away from God as He has revealed Himself and toward a false god who is powerless to save and transform us. In response to Israel’s just condemnation, Moses stepped in between God and the people and interceded on their behalf. As those who have Jesus Christ as our mediator, we trust in His power to overcome our idolatries and empower us for His mission. ...
The Negev is a dry, hot desert region in the southern part of Israel. If you were wandering through it, heading towards the northwest, you would eventually come to a large body of water. After the dry, arid, dusty journey through the desert, you would be excited about seeing so much water. The problem is that that the body of water is the Red Sea, packed with so much salt content that people easily float. It's water - but you can't drink it. ...
Our salvation in Christ is rich beyond measure. By understanding what God did to deliver his people from Egypt through blood, water, and smoke and fire, we have a greater appreciation for what Christ has done for us....
Have you ever felt like running away and hiding from God, his people, and his purposes? That's exactly where Moses was. His failure was so large he assumed he was irredeemable. The good news is that God creates us on purpose and fills us with purpose in Christ, but we are easily knocked off course by our own desires or our failures. In his love and mercy God finds us, reaches out to us, and brings us back on track. ...
Sometimes when we look at the pain of our past, or it seems like God is not with us in the present, we question whether he will be faithful to his promises about the future. Scripture teaches that God is faithful to heal our past, to be with us in the present, and to fulfil his plans for our future. ...
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have been a Christian during the period described in Acts when Peter, John, Barnabas and Paul were local church pastors? Whatever else may be different, hanging out with these apostolic leaders would mean that your prayer life would take a huge step forward....
Perspective is a function of location; to gain a clear vision, sometimes we have to leave the valleys of everyday life and ascend the mountain tops God provides in his word. When we do this, we see that God has called Centrepoint to empower people to follow Jesus in community, worship, and mission....
Every year our cars undergo an MOT test to validate their road-worthiness. Are our hearts ready for the new year? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus provides a series of diagnostic teachings to evaluate what's happening in our heart. While challenging, his teaching exposes our need for his grace so that we will open our lives to the working of God's Spirit. ...
When we look around the world, we may be wondering, 'Where's the Peace?' When we work so hard to exclude God from our lives, it shouldn't surprise us that there is a peace deficit in the world. More than peace at the geopolitical level, God offers us peace with himself. At Christmas God promises peace on earth; we experience this peace through Christ's presence in our life....
The word 'Christmas' brings many thoughts, images, and feelings to our minds. For me, it will forever be associated with a road trip. Every year, a few days before Christmas, we would hop in the car and make the long trek from Black Mountain, North Carolina to a little town called McRae, Georgia. This is where my grandparents lived. Even though the journey was long and arduous, it was worth: along with getting to see my grandparents and lots of good food, I knew that this process always ended with presents....
Great books often start with gripping introductions; we get hooked and so we keep reading. So then why does Matthew start his gospel with a geneology?...
Charlie Brown Christmas remains one of my favourite Christmas films. It tells the story of how a boy - Charlie Brown - just isn't feeling it in the run up to Christmas. So he goes on a quest to discover the true meaning of Christmas. Have you ever felt that way - like you're just not feeling it? The great news emerging from Luke 2:1-20 is that Christmas is so much more than a feeling. ...
The New Testament churches described in Acts perpetually challenge me for this reason: they were consistently probing opportunities to advance the gospel of Jesus. And no church exemplifies this spirit better than Antioch (Acts 13:1-3). Not content to build a local dream team of pastors, when the leader spent time praying and fasting and listening to the Holy Spirit, their response was to send their best guys (Paul and Barnabas) on mission. Rather than trying to hang on to gifted people, they were compelled by the command of Jesus to 'Go!'....
The opening scene of the Christmas story is a giant advertisement for God's capacity to use ordinary people for extraordinary things. Like Mary and Joseph, saying 'yes' to God means we step into a realm of remarkable grace, a very high price tag, and the amazing opportunity to share the love and truth of Christ with others....
Children are inspiring because their dream-machine has not yet been damaged. They live with the hopefulness that if they can dream it, it can happen. Somehow life seems to relentlessly torpedo our instinctive dream machine until it is broken, domesticated, or forgotten. ...
The gradual change in colour, and then the disappearance, of leaves from tress during the autumn season is a reminder that change is a built-in component of human life. But sometimes we need a different kind of change - a change we can't produce, a change that can only be effected by God. This is what Jacob needed in Genesis 32....
Living in dry places is difficult unless you have access to springs of water. God has given us covenant promises including his perpetual presence. Time, tradition, neglect and doubt can cover over these wells and block access to God's provision. Following Jesus involves learning how to dig wells and build altars. ...
When God tested Abraham, he provided a ram to be sacrificed in place of Isaac. Jesus is our substitute, the lamb of God sacrificed in our place. The essence of the Christian life is a perpetual looking to Jesus, trusting in Jesus, and thanking Jesus for what he has done for us. Jesus is the perfect substitute....
We don't deserve grace, but God gives it anyway. Like the ark of Noah, Jesus is the one who takes us safely through God's judgment against sin. ...
The first word God spoke to Abraham was 'Go!'; the last word Jesus spoke to his disciples was 'Go!'. When we follow Jesus and go into the new place, people, and purpose He has for us, good things happen....
Jesus calls his people to be a city on a hill, revealing the truth, life, and love of Christ to a world in need....
Paul was unashamed of the gospel; when we understand the power of God as revealed in the gospel, neither will we be ashamed....
The gradual change in colour, and then the disappearance, of leaves from tress during the autumn season is a reminder that change is a built-in component of human life. But sometimes we need a different kind of change - a change we can't produce, a change that can only be effected by God. This is what Jacob needed in Genesis 32....
Keep ReadingIn John 17, Jesus identifies three key things that he has given to us. These are not necessarily what we asked for - but they are what He has given. And they are good things. ...
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