Tag: reflection

Evening reflection from John 8:47-59
Daily Reflections

Evening reflection from John 8:47-59

VandaLeave a comment

When Jesus says that those who obey won’t die, he is talking about spiritual death, not physical death. Even physical death will eventually be overcome. Those who follow Jesus will be raised to live eternally with him.

The great “I am” statement is one of the most powerful statements uttered by Jesus. When he said that he existed before Abraham was born, he was undeniably proclaiming his divinity. Not only did Jesus say that he existed before Abraham, but he also applied God’s holy name to him self. This claim demands a response. It cannot be ignored. The Jewish leaders tried to stone Jesus for blasphemy because he exclaimed equality with God. But Jesus is God.

How have you responded to Jesus?

Church Chatter · Lent

Past Blessings

VandaLeave a comment

WEDNESDAY, THIRD WEEK OF LENT

Past Blessings

But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor to let them slip from your mind all the days of your life. —Deuteronomy 4:9

In this passage, Moses implores the Israelites always to remember and pass onto their children and their grandchildren stories of the wonderful things God has done for them. This speech comes after God freed them from slavery in Egypt and sustained them on their 40-year journey in the wilderness. Moses’ advice is still good instruction today, especially when things look bleak, and we despair that some difficulty might never end. Remembering—and telling others—what God has done for you in the past can strengthen your trust and their trust that God will continue to do great things in the present and future.

FOR ACTION:

Find a way to share with someone today a story of at least one-way God has blessed you. Invite them to share one or more past blessings with you.

Lent · Priest's Perspective

Lent 2021 9 March and Ark of salvation not a temple of religion

Fr. Andrew ManningLeave a comment

The building of the Temple is a different theme altogether, but I want to think for a moment about the difference between building an ARK of Salvation and a Temple of Religion. For me, the building of the Temple in Jerusalem by Solomon brought about or was a result of a sad shift in thinking, and if you read Nathan’s comments to David on building the Temple: 2 Samuel 7:4-7.  “Are you the one to build for Me a house to dwell in?  For I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt until this day, but I have moved about with a tent as My dwelling.  In all My journeys with all the Israelites, have I ever asked any of the leaders I appointed to shepherd My people Israel, ‘Why haven’t you built Me a house of cedar?”

Building the Temple in Jerusalem was man’s idea not God’s. You see the body of Christ is meant to be the temple, 2 Samuel 7: 12 and 13. “I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He will build a house for My Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.  God is talking about Jesus not Solomon and a people who would be called by His name;” Not a gold gilded building, not a fixed way of thinking, not a cast in stone mindset, for we are a pilgrim people, following God’s lead and going where God sends us.

The ark had no rudder and no sail and yet it came to rest at God’ chosen destination. I am not saying that we must be blown by every wind, but that we must be moved by the Spirit of God to do what God requires. Just as in the desert when the people moved when God called them to move and camped when they were told to camp, we need to be prepared to move with God’s Spirit. This is what repentance is all about, realigning ourselves with God’s plans, his will and his desires for us.

Salvation is a Ark of love, not a temple of self righteousness.

challenge: What is God saying to you and your approach to your life in Christ, as you read this reflection on the Ark?

Let us pray to the Lord.

Loving God,

as we float on the deep waters of life,

we seek the consoling love of Christ, to be our salvation.

Free us from all prejudice and fear, and strengthen us to trust you.

we choose faith and not fear and surrender ourselves to you this day.

Amen.

A Year Later
Church Chatter · Lent

A Year Later

VandaLeave a comment

Welcome to our Lenten reflections for the weary and tired. We are embracing the Lenten Season after a challenging Pandemic Year.

FEBRUARY 17
ASH WEDNESDAY

A Year Later

Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. —Joel 2:12-13

During Lent, many people decide to give something up that they love – perhaps chocolate, sweets or even using social media. Others might decide to take up something, like helping out more at home or making an effort to be nicer to their brother or sister. This may not sound at all appealing to us this year. Since the coronavirus began sweeping across our country almost exactly a year ago, haven’t we done enough of that?
Perhaps never in our lives have we fasted so much from hugging family members and physically touching our friends, from gathering together in book clubs, choirs, sports arenas, restaurants, and churches. Maybe you have lost a loved one, and you still cannot stop weeping. Even if you have not lost someone you know, our country and world are collectively mourning the pandemic’s death toll, the economic devastation it has created, and the political divisiveness it has spawned. Our hearts have been broken in so many ways this past year that perhaps God is not calling us to mourn and weep this Lent. Maybe instead the invitation is to merely return to God with our entire hurting, weary selves.

FOR PRAYER:

Take a few minutes today to imagine yourself simply being in God’s presence in whatever state you find yourself in. Allow God to be with you no matter what you are feeling.

Reflection on the parable of the mustard seed.
Church Chatter

Reflection on the parable of the mustard seed.

Vanda1 Comment

Mark 4:30-34
30 He said, “To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? 31 It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. 32 But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.” 33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it. 34 Without parables he did not speak to them, but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.

Jesus uses hyperbole in describing the mustard seed as the smallest of seeds and its plant in full growth as the largest of plants (a mustard plant could only grow as high as 8-12 feet). This is another “kingdom parable.”

What is the contrast that Jesus is making between the mustard seed and His Kingdom?

Answer: The contrast here is between the small beginnings of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and its future expansion to encompass the whole earth, sheltering all who come to dwell in the household of Jesus that is the Church.

The allusion to the kingdom becoming so large that birds of the sky come and dwell in the shade of its branches is probably a reference to the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar in which he saw a huge tree that sheltered “birds of the sky” and other animals (Dan 4:7). Daniel interpreted the tree and the animals to represent Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom and the many different peoples over whom he ruled. The comparison is that the Kingdom of Jesus Christ will be even greater than the Kingdom of the Babylonians (also see Dan 9:17-19).

What is the symbolism in the Parable of the Mustard Seed?

Mark 4:30-34 – The Parable of the Mustard Seed.
The tiny mustard seed is the small beginnings of the Kingdom or Church of Jesus Christ.
The mustard seed that is planted in the earth, is Jesus who plants the seed of the Gospel in the hearts of all who accept His message.
The great growth of the mustard plant is the tremendous growth of the Church that is nurtured by the Holy Spirit.
The large branches and the creatures that dwell in its shade, is the spread of the Church across the face of the earth, calling all men and women of every ethnicity to salvation in Christ Jesus.

How can this parable be interpreted today, in our modern and contemporary world?

Let us first go back to Christ’s ministry. Jesus chose disciples, to teach them about the Kingdom of God, and to equip them to teach others about the Kingdom of God, to plant the seed of faith. And here we are, continuing the original disciples ministry, Jesus’ ministry.

We may not physically go to all the corners of the earth, on away missions, but we are certainly reaching more people than ever before. In our modern age, we can reach people from all across the globe from our laptops and cellphones. There is no limit to what can be done, to spread the Word.

Planting the seed, includes online ministry, a phone call or a Whatsapp. We can do this in the power of the Holy Spirit, we already have the mustard seed growing within us. What we can do today, is fertilize other peoples hearts, and plant the seed. So that God, the Holy Spirit, can come and germinate the seed, so that they can grow in faith.

It is difficult at the moment, with the Covid 19 lockdown, when people expect ministry to happen only when the physical building is open. No!

Our Whatsapp services, reaches people from all across South Africa, that would not normally have been at the Church service. The Zoom services, reaches people from all over the world. We now run morning and evening prayers daily on Zoom, where that never happened before. The blog posts on the website, reaches people from all across the world, and is being read by all of them. They may have found the blog post by accident, but the seed has been planted. We all have a way that we can help plant a seed, it is different for each one of us.

Sometimes, that door needs to close behind you to open news ways of planting a seed. Have you thought about how you could be planting seeds of faith in people’s hearts? Instead of lamenting that the Church door is closed.

Good people, let the Holy Spirit guide you, in realizing your potential as a disciple and as a seed planter. Do not let doubt cloud and obscure your potential to reach people. There is no obstacle to great, to be able to walk this path with God.

May God show you the way.

Vanda Chittenden