Written by: Sean Andrews - Church Army
Romans 16 v 17-19
Brothers and sisters, I ask you to look out for those who cause people to be
against each other and who upset other people's faith. They are against the
true teaching you learned, so stay away from them. Such people are not serving
our Lord Christ but are only doing what pleases themselves. They use fancy
talk and fine words to fool the minds of those who do not know about evil.
All the believers have heard that you obey, so I am very happy because of
you. But I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.
Notes
If you have the gift of the gab it's very easy to sell anything to anyone,
regardless of whether what you're offering is genuine or not, or whether
it's good value or not. In the reading today, Paul is warning us to take
care and not to be taken in by all people claiming to be Christians; not
to be taken in by false promises and quick fixes for heaven, because if what
we hear is of God, if it is of Christ, then there are no false promises and
quick fixes. If we want to get on in life, we need to get a good education
and a good career; we know that the only way to get there in the end is to
study hard because there is no other way of doing it.
Today Paul is telling us that that we need to study God's word and to accept it for what it is, rather than what others might want it to say to us. The saying "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing" is true in this case, because it can leave us and others vulnerable. The lesson for us today is to study the scriptures as part of a loving Christian community - to help guard ourselves against those who pretend to have all the answers, and to help protect the more vulnerable friends, relatives and colleagues around us.
Prayer
Lord, help me to study your word and the truth that is written, and to be faithful
to it so that I can share your glory with others. Amen
Romans 16 v 20-24
The God who brings peace will soon defeat Satan and give you power over him.
The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
Timothy, a worker together with me, sends greetings, as well as Lucius, Jason,
and Sosipater, my relatives.
I am Tertius, and I am writing this letter from Paul. I send greetings to you
in the Lord.
Gaius is letting me and the whole church here use his home. He also sends greetings
to you, as do Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus.
Notes
To be part of a group is special, because we find from that group that we get
support, love, care and encouragement. We also, when we need it, receive
constructive criticism if we get out of line with other members of the group
or if we do something wrong. That's what being part of a loving caring community
is all about.
In today's reading we meet some of Paul's friends, co-workers and relatives. Sometimes we switch off when lists of names are mentioned in the Bible, because we don't think that they are relevant to us. But a list, even if it just a list of names, can be very helpful to us, and it's true in today's reading.
You might be asking why? The answer is easy: community. This list showed that there was a local Christian community which met together - for prayer, for study, for fellowship and for support. Life wasn't easy for the early Christians in Rome; in fact, it was a dangerous place to be. This list tells us how important it is to meet together as Christians, whether it be for study and prayer, or even if it is just to get together, to go out and have a bit of fun and to relax with one another.
This list tells us that supporting each other in our faith in Christ is just as important today as it was then; after all, being a Christian is sometimes not the easiest place to be in our world today. Knowing that there are others around who have Jesus in common can help to bolster our faith in trying times. So next time when you're reading your Bible, don't skip the lists because you don't know what you might be missing.
Prayer
Lord, help me to be part of the whole Christian community. Help us to support
each other and to uphold each other. Amen
Romans 16 v 25-27
Glory to God who can make you strong in faith by the Good News that I tell
people and by the message about Jesus Christ. The message about Christ is
the secret that was hidden for long ages past but is now made known. It has
been made clear through the writings of the prophets. And by the command
of the eternal God it is made known to all nations that they might believe
and obey.
To the only wise God be glory for ever through Jesus Christ! Amen.
Notes
It amazes me that when we turn the telly on, we are faced mainly with bad news,
whether it is a war, a terrorist attack, famine or a whole host of other
bad news stories. We see the same in our newspapers; there is a saying that
good news doesn't sell papers.
In December 2004 I became, through Chinese whispers, a product of the culture of bad news. I had an accident where I fell out of my wheelchair, which was very painful. Thankfully, after the worries of a possible broken hip and a trip to hospital, I'd just bruised my knee and hip, as well as my pride. However, by the time the news had gone 200 metres up the road the accident had turned into a mugging. I'd been done over and left for dead! Bad news travels fast.
Today Paul is reminding us that in the middle of all the dirt and grime of life there is Good News, and that that Good News is Jesus. Jesus is the secret that the Old Testament prophets like Isaiah had been telling all people about. That Good News today is still a secret for some, and the only way the secret can get out is by you spreading it. The Bible outstrips any book publication figures, with more than 150,000 per day being distributed worldwide. Remember today that the Bible is a bit like butter: the secret is in the taste, it needs spreading thickly, and it needs us to spread it.
Prayer
Lord, help me to spread the Good News of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Amen
Psalm 33 v 1-5
Sing to the LORD, you who do what is right; honest people should praise him.
Praise the LORD on the harp; make music for him on a ten-stringed lyre.
Sing a new song to him; play well and joyfully.
God's word is true, and everything he does is right.
He loves what is right and fair; the LORD's love fills the earth.
Notes
Being consistent is something that we all have difficulty with from time to
time. It's very easy for us to treat people differently to each other, when
the situation needs us to treat others the same across the board. The psalms
are a mystery to many, because people can't see what their relevance is for
us today. The psalms should mean a lot, because within them are great truths
of how we get it wrong from time to time, and they are also full of truths
of how we get it right from time to time in God's eyes.
The beauty of the psalms is that they were on the whole written by King David, who like us was a person, and who got it right some of the time, just like us. Just by reading these first five verses of Psalm 33 we get the idea that David was a good musician, he enjoyed music and he enjoyed singing. However, David through his music realised that even though he wasn't the most consistent of people, God was and God is. David tells us that God's word is true, that it doesn't change.
These few verses tell us that God treats everyone equally, that he doesn't have favourites. God's love is greater than any religious barrier, racial barrier and cultural barrier that we might put in the way. Today remember that it is important to treat others in a right and fair way, that there isn't room in our lives for intolerance. Remember: God loves all, and so should we.
Prayer
Lord, help me to be consistent and tolerant in my faith and towards others.
Amen
Psalm 33 v 6-11
The sky was made at the LORD's command.
By the breath from his mouth, he made all the stars.
He gathered the water of the sea into a heap.
He made the great ocean stay in its place.
All the earth should worship the LORD; the whole world should fear him.
He spoke, and it happened.
He commanded, and it appeared.
The LORD upsets the plans of nations; he ruins all their plans.
But the LORD's plans will stand for ever; his ideas will last from now on.
Notes
When was the last time you looked around and took in the beauty of God's creation,
all that is in our world and us? In the reading today, King David warns us
of the dangers of taking what we have around us for granted. We sometimes
forget that the world was created by God and that God gave us creative minds
to enhance how we live in the world, not creative minds to abuse the world
and everything in it, including ourselves.
Have you ever made plans, only for someone to regularly spoil them, to let you down at the last minute? When this happens it is very hard to trust that person again, because you don't really know where you stand. In situations like this, I find comfort in the knowledge that we can trust God, that he isn't going to change in any way in his purpose for our world and our lives.
I sometimes think that God must have doubts about the way that we treat the beauty around us, because we must let him down time and time again. It's a very difficult concept to get our heads around, that even though we do the things we do to ourselves and our environment, God still has that faith in us, enough to trust that one day we might get it right. How do we know that? Jesus, that's how. If you love someone so much, you would want to share the most precious parts of yourself with them regardless of their shortcomings. That's what God did; he shared Jesus with us so that we can go back to him and realise that he is Lord of all.
Prayer
Lord, help me to be faithful to those around me and to you. Amen
Psalm 33 v 12-19
Happy is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his very
own.
The LORD looks down from heaven and sees every person.
From his throne he watches all who live on earth.
He made their hearts and understands everything they do.
No king is saved by his great army.
No warrior escapes by his great strength.
Horses can't bring victory; they can't save by their strength.
But the LORD looks after those who fear him, those who put their hope in his
love.
He saves them from death and spares their lives in times of hunger.
Notes
Love is something that pursues us throughout our lives down many different
avenues. We experience the love of our parents, the love of a partner, the
love of a friend, and as Christians the love of God. We know that things
happen in our personal relationships that affect the way we are with each
other, and sometimes that feeling of love seems very distant. Yet whilst
it's there, that love is unconditional, with no strings attached, and nothing
too great can get in the way. It's hard when we fall out with each other,
but what happens if we fall out with God (and there probably are times when
that happens)? The answer is that he keeps on loving us in his own unconditional
way until we come back to him.
People can be very impatient, which is the exact opposite to what God is. He waits for the time we decide to come back to him because he's patient and will wait as long as it takes. God gave us something to prove his unconditional love for us, something that we couldn't do. He gave us Jesus, a gift from him to us, to rekindle that saving relationship between God and ourselves.
The psalm says that earthly kings and warriors and horses can't save us, but God can. And he has through Jesus' death and resurrection. Today we learn that as God's love for us is unconditional, with no strings attached, then our love for him should be the same because through him we are saved.
Prayer
Lord, help me to untie the knots that affect my relationships with others and
with you. Amen
Psalm 33 v 20-22
So our hope is in the LORD.
He is our help, our shield to protect us.
We rejoice in him, because we trust his holy name.
LORD, show your love to us as we put our hope in you.
Notes
Hope is only four letters long, but for me it is one of the biggest words in
our whole language. It is something that we rely on from an early age. We
hope for this and we hope for that; we hope that this doesn't happen and
that doesn't happen. Hope is an expectant word. We say it in such a way that
an action is needed. When I think of Jesus I often think of him just as hope,
because that's what Jesus was and is. He is our hope for eternal life; he
is the hope for the whole human race.
A few years ago the US government and others were exploring the idea of a system called "Star Wars" that would protect the planet with a shield from nuclear attack. The technology behind it is so vast, complicated and mind-boggling it's unbelievable.
In today's reading, the psalm talks about God being our help and shield to protect us. God provided hope; he turned hope into an action that was needed, because he could see how wrong we were getting things. When hope (Jesus) arrived and he began his ministry, there was expectancy, and with that for many there came pure and honest trust. As Christians, we need to continue with that same pure and honest trust in God. You can put your trust in machines and technology, but in the end which shield is going to protect you into eternal life and hope? Think about it.
Prayer
Lord, I give thanks for hope sent down. Help me to trust in your love and protection
into eternity. Amen
word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes