[Friday's Devotional] - We need more…Love

We need more…Love And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love 1 Corinthians 13: 13 [NIV] Why did I leave love until Friday?  Perhaps it would have made sense to start with the greatest – but I decided to leave it to the end.  Everything in the law and the prophets can be summarised as loving God and loving our neighbours – if we are unloving we need to first get back into a right relationship with God. 1 Corinthians 13 is perhaps the most commonly chosen passage in the wedding service. Paul talks about love in terms of "love is…" and "love isn't…".  Jesus also talks about the relationship of the bride and groom being like that of God and his church. God loves you so much, he sent his only son to die for you.  Take a moment to reflect on that.  Although we may have learned John 3:16 by heart, we need to take a fresh look at it. I find that looking in a different bible version opens up new understanding, here is how it is paraphrased in The Message bible: "This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. John 3: 16-18 [MSG] Lord, thank you that you loved me so much, help me to overflow with your love that I may love others more.  Amen   Dave MacLellan   Twitter Website Copyright © 2018 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!

[Thursday's Devotional] - We need more…Self-awareness

We need more…Self-awareness   Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?  Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? Mark 8: 34-37 [NIV] It is easy to get tangled in the web of self-absorption.  The notion of denying self is not very fashionable – we need to "look after No.1" as we say.  How can we be self-aware without being self-centred? Jesus teaches that we need to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow his example.  This doesn't mean that we are to face the same death as he did, rather that we need to "put to death" the idol of self – and be prepared to follow the path Jesus trod, dedicated to the service of others and putting our self-satisfaction below everything that matters. I know that I can be guilty of spending too much time thinking about myself and my well-being.  Taking time to listen to others is a good antidote to this. Jesus dedicated his life to others: to teaching, preaching, healing and interceding.  He also spent time on his own away from the crowds – not to relax and have a holiday, but to pray. Lord, I pray that you will help me to be aware of myself and my tendency to think more about me than about you. Help me to follow you today. Amen. Dave MacLellan   Twitter Website Copyright © 2018 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] - We Need More... Hope

We Need More... Hope Do you have a lot of hope?  Where does it come from and where does it go to (if you are in a time of despair)?  2017 was a tough year in our church, but does living through tough times increase or decrease your faith, and how does that faith lead to hope? Paul talks about hope in Romans chapter 8 – if you are going through a "dark night of the soul", then this chapter is a good place to revisit.  Our hope is not a vague wish like "I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow" – hope to the Christian is based on solid evidence from the word of God, who cannot lie. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.  For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8: 22-25 [NIV] We live in the period between Christ's first coming and his return.  We may be uncomfortable with the way the world is today – but we know what God's intention for the world is in the future, and we therefore have something to long for, and a basis for a secure and solid hope.  Can we live today remembering this as our "status" and not be dragged down by the world's negativity? May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15: 13 [NIV] Let this be our prayer. Dave MacLellan   Twitter Website Copyright © 2018 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] - We Need More... Joy

We Need More... Joy Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour. Habakkuk 3:17-18 [NIV]   Does your joy come from circumstance?  Sometimes it is hard to keep our emotions and environment from determining our state of mind.  Things might seem bleak to you.  Looking at your life, your church, your world – you might feel that things are lacking, withering, absent or failing – like in the verses above.  I confess that I know so little about the book of Habakkuk, I couldn't even spell it before I looked up the verses above.  Not a lot appears to be known about Habakkuk and his entry on Wikipedia suggests not a lot of facts about him exist.  Yet his one book in the bible contains a psalm of praise – and we could do well to sing it If your circumstances look grim, and your situation is challenging – rejoice in the Lord and be joyful in God your Saviour. Remember Gideon, who, having had his army whittled down from 10,000 to 300 was able to enjoy the victory and give the Glory to God. Lord, help me to be joyful even when there seems to be so many things that would steal that joy from me.  Amen Dave MacLellan    Twitter Website Copyright © 2018 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] - We Need More...Inspiration

We Need More... Inspiration This week I want to look at some of the themes that scored lowest in a recent survey of our congregation (by NCD in October 2017).  What do we need to work on in 2018? At the top of the list (or the bottom of the scores) is the theme of inspiration.  Are you feeling inspired? It can be inspiring to listen to a great sermon, spend time in wonderful worship or in close fellowship with other people.  The danger is, we can seek our inspiration second hand - from others - rather than from the word of God, the life of Jesus or the activity of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  We can also seek our inspiration infrequently.  One thing that does seem to be lacking is a daily habit of spending time in the bible and in prayer where we can gain our inspiration from listening and talking to God.  I know I find it hard. Imagine you are on an Alpha course. You meet once a week, have a great meal and a wonderful time together with your group – but then you eat nothing else all week.  By the time you come back a week later you will be starving!  Yet this is the experience we face if we limit our time with God to once a week – whether or not we feel the same keen sense of hunger, the absence of spiritual food is as bad for us. We have a real need for the inspiration of Scripture, the words inspired by God and written down for our benefit.  Let's try to get some daily food this week. All Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration] and is profitable for instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God's will, both publicly and privately—behaving honorably with personal integrity and moral courage]; so that the man of God may be complete and proficient, outfitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3: 16-17 [AMP] Lord, I need your instruction, conviction, correction and training today. Help me to spend more time in your Scriptures this week.  Amen. Dave MacLellan   Twitter Website Copyright © 2018 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!