The danger of being a Christian - Acts 8

Daily Bible Reading

Acts 7. 54-60, 8. 1-3, Acts 9. 1,2

Scripture Text

1 Timothy 1.15 

Paul said ‘This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, 

that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief”

Ø  In some countries being a Christian is easy but in many places it can be very dangerous. I don't know where you live but I know that it is hard for some people to follow Jesus. Jesus never pretended that following him would be easy. Sometimes He seemed to scare people off who wanted to follow him by telling them how tough it could be. Why did Jesus do this? I think it was so that people understood how hard it is to be a Christian. If they were going to follow Him it would be with their eyes open to the problems that they could face.

It couldn't be done

The Poetry Foundation website has this poem by Albert Edward Guest entitled ‘It Couldn’t Be Done’.  

Somebody said it couldn’t be done but he

with a chuckle replied 

That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be

one who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried. 

So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin 

on his face, if he worried he hid it. 

He started to sing as he tackled the thing

that couldn’t be done, and he did it! 

Post-truth and Fake News

Every year the Oxford English Dictiounary introduce a new word to their word dictionary.

Back in November, Alison Flood wrote an interesting leader in The Guardian about post-truth, she wrote,’ In the era of Donald Trump and Brexit, Oxford Dictionaries has declared “post-truth” to be it's international word of the year. Defined by the dictionary as an adjective “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief”, editors said that use of the term “post-truth” had increased by around 2,000% in 2016 compared to last year. The spike in usage, it said, is “in the context of the EU referendum in the United Kingdom and the presidential election in the United States”.

Helping out other Christians - Acts 6

Scripture Reading - Acts 6. 1-7

Key Verse - Acts 6.4 ‘And the word of God increased and the number of the disciples multiplied’

When you woke this morning were you

grumpy? Did it make you cross when

someone else had something that you

wanted? We can all be a bit like this at

times! It’s better not to be, but it

happens.

Do not lie to God - Acts 5

Daily Bible Reading - Acts 5. 1-11

Key Verse

Acts 5.4 ‘You have not lied to men but to God’

“Liar, liar pants on fire” – maybe you shouldn't say this but I

think you know what it means. Telling the truth can be harder

than telling lies but lies will always catch up with us in the end!

Going to Pray - Acts 4

Suggested Bible Reading - Acts 4. 23-31

Acts 4. 24 

‘And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God’

Can I tell you a secret? Promise not to tell anyone? Well here it is – when I was a boy I didn't like going to the church prayer meeting. It seemed quite boring to spend time sitting quiet. What was the point of meeting other people if you couldn't talk to them? When I grew up I discovered that the prayer meeting could be exciting! 

This was when I realised that prayer meetings are times when we speak to God.

In search of a better life!

One of the most pressing problems for the European Union presently is that of the migrants who set out to cross the Mediterranean every week in search of a better life. In the Far East a similarly ghastly scenario is unfolding as thousands of Rohingya migrants flee persecution in their homeland, Burma. Some of these have not been allowed to disembark in neighbouring countries and have been turned away to face the perils of the merciless Andaman sea, the horrors of further weeks adrift and the all too real possibility of perishing in the insatiable waves.

Life is unpredictable!

Life is so unpredictable. At times this can be very exciting but sometimes it can be very frightening.
That flood in the house, the illness that took us by surprise! How were we to know? It can be disconcerting! As mere mortals, we cannot control our circumstances and have to try to cope with what is inevitable as well as we possibly can.

Is it always right to feel guilty?

There are times when it is right to feel guilty. If we have genuinely wronged someone guilt is the God given mechanism that warns us that ‘action needs to be taken’. Sometimes we can rectify the problem and make amends. Other times it is outside of our power to reverse the effect of our actions. It is only right that, where possible, we should fix the problems that we have caused.

Life's Uncontrollable Events

A New Year brings fresh challenges and opportunities but life is so unpredictable! At times, the variety life brings can be very exciting but sometimes it’s a bit frightening. That flood in the house, the illness that took us by surprise! The speed of change and our helplessness can be disconcerting! As mere mortals, we cannot control our circumstances and have to try to cope with what is inevitable as well as we possibly can.

Saying Goodbye - Acts 1

Acts 1.11 ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven’?

 Sometimes it’s hard to say good-bye to someone. But it’s

especially hard when we really love them. Jesus’ disciples had

seen Him every day for about three years. They had become very

attached to Him.

85% of what we worry about never happens!

I am told that 85% of what we worry about never happens. 

Paul is writing a series of exhortations to the Christians in Philippi in his closing comments of the letter. In chapter four verse four he has encouraged them to ‘rejoice in the Lord alway’. This is something we all need to be reminded about from time to time. When things get on top of us we often forget to see the blessings that we have and to rejoice in what God has done. I am sure we all know people who can see the goodness of God in everything. We should all cultivate this way of thinking.