[Thursday's Devotional] - What is necessary and what is not?

What is necessary and what is not? Drawing a snake with legs In the state of Chu, a man who had held a sacrifice gave the goblet of sacrificial wine to his stewards. "This is not enough for us all, "said the stewards, "but more than enough for one. Let's draw snakes on the ground and the one who finishes first can have the wine." The man who finished first picked up the goblet, but holding it in his left hand went on drawing with his right. "I am adding some legs," he said. Before he finished the legs, though, another steward completed his drawing and took the goblet from him. "A snake has no legs," said this last. "Why should you add legs?" So, he drained the wine instead. And the one who had drawn the legs had nothing to drink. [Warring States Anecdotes]   This story always makes me smile. The title has become a stock idiom in Chinese, - perhaps a cultural equivalent would be "gilding the lily". How often do we miss the prize because we over-complicate things unnecessarily? The Christian Church today has come a long way from the simplicity of the church described in Acts where:  "they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." Acts 2:42 [NIV]  Belonging to a church variously requires attendance at meetings, a particular dress code, particular attitudes like teetotalism and all sorts of other cultural impositions. We need to take a long hard look at what Jesus requires of us, and jettison all the extra baggage we are carrying that is superfluous and distracting. Ask God to remind you, or reveal to you, the true nature of the gospel and where you should be concentrating your efforts. Mairi Mowbray   Twitter Website Copyright © 2017 St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as a subscriber to the Daily Devotionals Our mailing address is: St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church 1a New Street Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 7BE United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list Want to be added to our mailing list? - sign up here!

[Wednesday's Devotional] - Looking in the wrong place

Looking in the wrong place Marking the boat to locate the sword. A man in the state of Chu was ferrying across a river when his sword fell into the water. He lost no time in marking the side of the boat. "This is where my sword dropped," he said. When the boat was moored, he got into the water to look for his sword by the place he had marked. But since the boat had moved while the sword had not, this method of locating his sword proved unsuccessful. Lu Shi Chun Qiu It is easy to mock the ferryman for his stupidity. But it reminds me of the story of Jesus' resurrection when the two men in white spoke to the bewildered women who had come to attend to the body of Jesus and found his body gone: 'Why do you look for the living among the dead. He is not here; he has risen!  Luke 24:5 [NIV] Sometimes, like the women we can fail to understand that we are looking in the wrong place. How many people in our society are looking for fulfilment in the wrong place, through possessions, success, experiences, relationships… Ask God to show you where you are wasting your time by looking for something in the wrong place and start looking to Jesus instead.   Mairi Mowbray   Twitter Website Copyright © 2017 St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as a subscriber to the Daily Devotionals Our mailing address is: St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church 1a New Street Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 7BE United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list Want to be added to our mailing list? - sign up here!

[Tuesday's Devotional] - Who should we be trying to please?

Who should we be trying to please? The Bird Killed by Kindness A seagull alighted in a suburb of the capital of Lu. The Marquis of Lu welcomed it and feasted it in the temple hall, ordering the best music and grandest sacrifices for it. But the bird remained in a daze, looking quite wretched, not daring to swallow a morsel of meat or a single cup of wine. And after three days it died. This was entertaining the seagull as the Marquis of Lu liked to be entertained, not as a seagull likes to be entertained. Zhuang Zi This made me reflect on the many activities the church organises as part of its outreach and mission programme and also how we try to engage the "unchurched" (rather an ugly phrase I feel) in the kingdom of God through our worship services. It is a reminder that we should be looking at things from the perspective of those we would like to help and reach rather than from the perspective of what we would like to do for them. We have to look beyond our own cultural and class expectations and be truly inclusive. This is sometimes harder than we think because we don't always consult our "service users". Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27 [NIV] He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8 [NIV] Ask God to show you if something you are doing in his name is missing the mark, and what you can do about it. Mairi Mowbray Twitter Website Copyright © 2017 St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as a subscriber to the Daily Devotionals Our mailing address is: St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church 1a New Street Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 7BE United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list Want to be added to our mailing list? - sign up here!

[Monday's Devotional] - Recognising the need for self-control

Recognising the need for self-control What a joy to be sorting through our books before shelving them on our new book case. I came upon a favourite from University days which I shall use as the basis of this week's devotionals titled 'Ancient Chinese Fables' full of extracts from the works of Ancient Chinese philosophers. The Chicken Thief There was a man who used to steal a chicken from his neighbours every day. "It is wrong to steal," someone told him. "I'll cut down on it," promised the chicken thief. "I shall steal one chicken a month from now on, and stop altogether next year." Since he knew he was wrong, he ought to have stopped at once. Why wait another year? Mencius How is your self-control? I wonder if there is something you do, which you know is wrong, but you indulgently carry on doing despite knowing it to be wrong, maybe promising yourself you will give it a phased withdrawal? Giving habits up is not easy. St. Paul recognised the reality of our sinful nature, although he probably phrased it differently to the way the Message Bible does! But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. Romans 7:19-20 [MSG]   If you know it is wrong, why wait to give it up? Stop doing it now! Ask God to help you identify and give up some aspect of your behaviour that is wrong and to grant you more self-control.   Mairi Mowbray   Twitter Website Copyright © 2017 St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as a subscriber to the Daily Devotionals Our mailing address is: St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church 1a New Street Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 7BE United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list Want to be added to our mailing list? - sign up here!

[Friday's Devotional] - Live

Live The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.  John 10:10 [NIV] We are not called to wallow, to survive or to be extinguished.  We are called to LIVE – to have LIFE and to have it in abundance.  Jesus gives us life – because of him, we are not dead men (and dead women) walking.  Those who don't know Jesus live in a state of death – of sin unforgiven, of promise unfulfilled and of eternal life unlived.  They are killed and destroyed by the thief (Satan).  Looking at the world today, we can see so much evidence of the thief – and not enough of the shepherd.  What can we do to turn destroyed lives into changed and fulfilled lives? Do you feel like your life (the one you wanted) has been stolen from you? Lord, help me to follow you, to live a life worth living and to show others the way of life that lasts for ever and makes us complete.  In Jesus name, Amen. Dave MacLellan   Twitter Website Copyright © 2017 St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as a subscriber to the Daily Devotionals Our mailing address is: St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church 1a New Street Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 7BE United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list Want to be added to our mailing list? - sign up here!