[Friday's Devotional] - The Issue of Life and Death

Life and Death "I know your works; you have a name of being alive, but you are dead.  Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death, for I have not found your works perfect in the sight of my God.  Remember then what you received and heard; obey it, and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. Revelation 3: 1b-3 [NRSV] The words above come from the Revelation of John with a vision for each of the seven churches in the country that is Turkey today.  The fifth church is Sardis and the message above, although apparently stark, may be appropriate to some of our churches today.   Are you "alive" or "dead"?  Are you awake or asleep?  It is, in my opinion, easy to drift away from the correct path and Satan loves to entice people away from the truth and towards a life of sin.  Repentance is often overlooked and a call to repentance is not very fashionable today – I am not sure it ever was.  The passage goes on to say: Yet you have still a few persons in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes; they will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.  If you conquer, you will be clothed like them in white robes, and I will not blot your name out of the book of life; I will confess your name before my Father and before his angels.  Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Revelation 3: 4-6 [NRSV] Our reward for conquering the pollution of life, is to be clothed in white and remain for eternity in heaven. Do you need to wake up to your situation today?  Is there a need for repentance and change of direction in your life and your church? Is today the day to take the first steps? 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!

[Thursday's Devotional] - The Issue of Busyness

Busyness Life in 2017 is busier than ever, it appears.  The marketing image of the laptop and the smartphone when first they were launched included visions of freedom from desk or office and featured people connecting in locations like beaches or parks.  Reality is more often the hurried connection in an airport, station or coffee shop, sometimes even rather inconvenient locations like in the car or at home on the sofa or kitchen table. In spite of the always-on nature of our connectivity by phone, tablet or laptop, I am not surprised to see that the productivity per capita in the UK has stagnated over the past 10-12 years having grown consistently over the previous 3 decades.  We are sometimes "busy doing nothing", with the distractions of meetings, reports, data collection, social media and umpteen other factors.  Of course there are many factors in the fields of politics and economics that could account for this stagnation – but it seems to me that the increase in working hours for no extra productivity is an interesting and challenging phenomena. Perhaps somewhere along the line we have lost the "Sabbath rest" habit.  Perhaps the pressure to achieve more constantly with less has hit a road block.  We are told that millions of jobs will be lost to automation and artificial intelligence (not just in production, but in legal, medical and artistic sectors).  Change in the workplace will result in great challenges in years to come. Can you take time to experience peace?  We need to swim against the tide sometimes: Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12: 2 [NIV] What is God's will for your life?  Take time out to listen to God this week. 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!

[Wednesday's Devotional] - The Issue of Sickness

Sickness Sickness and disease have historically dictated infant mortality rates and determined life expectancy.  The human race is at war with disease constantly, and the medical profession has certainly made great strides in my lifetime. It is a strange irony that the success in battling disease in infancy and old age has led to increased life expectancy which is a major contributor to the pensions crisis we face, and the higher cost of care means the NHS and social care requires a bigger share of the public purse (increasing from 3% of GDP in the early 1950s to around 7% today in the UK – more than 10% in much of Europe).   Wherever Jesus went, he spent much of his time and energy in healing the sick, raising the dead and performing healing miracles.  Clearly it was a high priority for Jesus, and if we are to ask "what would Jesus do" then we are called to do likewise.  Perhaps you are not convinced about prayer and healing?  Remember what Jesus said: After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.  He told them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Luke 10: 1-2 [NIV] Many people who are physically healthy have some mental or spiritual sickness that needs to be dealt with.  Lifestyle issues can affect our health – living in the world can lead us to be infected with some of the malaise that comes with the territory… Many who are suffering from physical ill health find themselves facing it alone in hospital or in care.  Can you visit someone this week?  How else can you help those who are lonely, elderly or suffering? 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!

[Tuesday's Devotional] - The Issue of Slavery

Slavery Although slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire in 1833, the fact is that there are more slaves now in 2017 than there were trafficked throughout the 300 years before then.  The most common forms of modern slavery are sexual and labour exploitation.  The UK is one of the most prominent destinations for "human trafficking", and estimates are that more than 20,000 people are trafficked into and throughout the UK annually. Globally, the total number of people trapped in some form of slavery is estimated at almost 21 million. It is confusing that the bible talks about slavery in a pragmatic way, giving advice to slaves and masters.  It is also clear that slavery is not compatible with the messages of love, compassion and how we should treat others.  Although there are plans to eradicate slavery, like poverty which we discussed yesterday, the drivers of greed and conflict have contributed to the prevalence of slavery.  It is clear that the bible gives us a radical message of equality – which must have been shocking in the context of the time of Christ's ministry on earth: So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3: 26-29 [NIV] As well as slavery in the traditional sense, we who are "free" are also "slaves to sin" as Jesus said: "Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.  Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.  So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. John 8: 34-36 [NIV] Are you suffering as a slave to sin today?  Ask the Son to set you free – as a result of his crucifixion we are no longer slaves to sin.  Does that mean we won't sin anymore?  No, surely not, but sin will not hold us in slavery – we are under grace not under law.    Why not claim your freedom today. 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!

[Monday's Devotional] - The Issue of Poverty

Poverty During the past few months there has been a lot of attention to poverty in the UK.  Poverty is something we should not take for granted, neither should we be misinformed.  "An end to poverty" sounds like a good bullet point for a political party, but in reality poverty will never disappear, and the poor will always be present in this world due to conflict, greed and climatic change. On the occasion when Mary anointed Jesus' feet with pure nard (a very expensive perfume), Judas Iscariot was apparently critical of the waste of money which he claimed could have been used for the poor, Jesus replied by saying: You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.  John 12:8 [NIV] In saying this he was echoing Deuteronomy: There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.  Deuteronomy 15: 11 [NIV] Can you take the opportunity to be openhanded today, or this week?  What does poverty mean in the UK, or in Mozambique?  Who can you help that is a needy neighbour?  We may not be able to end poverty (but the rate of  extreme poverty has dropped dramatically over the past 100 years) but we must still do whatever we can to work towards that goal. You might be interested to read more about extreme poverty. 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!