On Sunday morning, we looked at Psalm 40 together. While it sounds like all was going well for David, it was written in a hard time. When in deep trouble, he reflected on how God had saved him in the past. He recounted God's love for him, and told other people about it. Only then did he cry for God's help, realising that God getting the glory was the ultimate aim. This is a very practical psalm. It is easy for us to wallow in feeling bitter or angry at our circumstances. Yet Christians can always recall God's goodness and faithfulness to us in Jesus. Remembering this will help us approach our prayers in hard times with confidence. God loves us and has shown this to us. Let's be confident in what God will do for us in the future, and be keen to speak to others about what God has done.

On Christmas Day, we looked at the account of the magi who came to worship the newborn king Jesus. These odd men had seen a star and come from far away, at great expense in terms of money and time, to honour Jesus. Yet they encountered a local ruler who feared Jesus as a rival and religious people who knew about the Christ yet did not care for him. Jesus is the real king, yet a different king to what many expected. He came to rule everything not only a country, and he came to serve not to be served. We were challenged to consider how we are responding to such a king. Do we see Jesus as worthy of all we have, like the magi? Or is he a rival we'd like to get rid of, or perhaps someone we know of but don't care about? 

We looked at the birth of Jesus from Matthew 1 on Sunday morning. From God's perspective, the birth of Jesus is the climax of so many promises and patterns. God brings about the birth of this impossible baby, and all of the details line up with ancient prophecies. From Joseph's perspective, while so much of this was confusing, he trusted God when all seemed difficult and impossible. We're also told the reason for Jesus' coming: to save his people from their sins. Jesus saves us from sin, our biggest problem. And he saves a people, not just you and me. Christmas is a time to consider what matters most. If you're not a Christian, it is a time to consider whether what Jesus claims is true. If you are a Christian, it is time to reflect on God's remarkable gift to people who don't deserve it.

On Sunday morning, we looked at the first part of the flood account in Genesis 6 and 7 together. We saw that the world had become a terrible place, with sin not being the exception but what defined everyone. Everyone did what was right to themselves and not to God. God's response was a devastating flood that killed almost everyone. This was the fair response to sin. Sin deserves death; here we see that illustrated. Amid all the destruction we also see hope: Noah and his family were saved by God's design, God's work, and God's grace. This is a small picture of what Jesus has done for us, saving us from terrible destruction to life. Take time this week to confess the sins that deserve such destruction and to thank God for his incredible grace.

On Sunday morning, we looked at the family line of Seth from Genesis 5. We saw that God blessed the line of Seth, with many children and long life spans. We also saw the results of the fall played out with the repeated chorus: "and then he died". Yet this family line was quite different from Cain's in the previous chapter. People were named with God in mind, and their relationship with God was more prominent than their achievements. A highlight was Enoch, who walked with God and did not die. For Enoch, walking with God was the same as living; his life was defined by walking with God. If we believe that God is so important and Jesus is so central, is that reflected in our lives? Take time this week to thank God for Jesus, and to consider whether Jesus is central to how we live and act.

On Sunday morning, we looked at the account of Cain and Abel from Genesis 4. The birth of these boys was a great act of grace and hope after sin and the curse. Yet it led to tragedy with Cain killing his brother. This was a progression in sin from his parents; God warned him in advance and he did it anyway. He failed to confess and take any responsibility. Cain was both punished and shown grace. His family line went on to great things, but they did not return to God or show any interest in the things of God. This reminded us that achieving great things and having a nice life is not enough. Without God, without a right relationship with the one who made us, it will be hollow and will not satisfy. Take time to thank God for his love even to people like us who do not deserve it.

Last Sunday morning, we heard from Acts 7:54-8:8 together. In this passage, Stephen is killed for his faith in Jesus. A widespread persecution then breaks out against the church, and believers are scattered across Judea and Samaria, where they carry the gospel into a new region. We especially saw that as Christians, we and the worldwide church will eventually suffer for our faith. Yet, even in the midst of suffering and persecution, there is hope. Jesus Christ our Savior has suffered before us, dying to pay for our sins. Not only that, but God even uses suffering and persecution to spread His Word in this world. One day, our suffering will be over, and Jesus Christ will welcome us His blood-bought children home to glory. This week, take some time to thank God for Jesus Christ who suffered and died to save us. Then, ask for strength from the Holy Spirit that we and the worldwide church can face whatever suffering we experience with patience, faith, and grace.

On Sunday morning, we looked at the curse that God put on the world as a punishment for sin. This explains so much of what our world is like. Conflict between good and evil, difficulty in child-raising, conflict in male-female relationships, and frustration with work are all part of God's curse. And, of course, death was now a reality. Life, in many ways, is hard now. We feel the challenges and the futility of living in this world. We have no way of fixing it ourselves, just like Adam was not given a way to fix it. God instead gave him hope and explained that one day it would be fixed. That solution is only found in Jesus. Sin explains why our world is a mess, and many feel the difficulty of living in this world under a curse. Yet we have hope, and joy, because of Jesus. One day the effects of the curse will be completely gone for those who trust in Jesus. In the difficult times that come this week, remember this. The effects of sin are temporary but the future hope we have is eternal.

On Sunday morning, we looked at the terrible fall into sin in Genesis 3. The man and woman, tempted by the serpent, decided to do what God had told them not to do. This led to all of us being like them, choosing what we wanted instead of what God has for us. This led to awful outcomes for them, conflict between them, the reality of shame, and hiding from God. This passage is helpful for us in at least two ways. One if that it shows us what sin is like, even in our own lives. We need to trust God's word and understand his rules are for our good, and resist temptation with the help of the Spirit. The second way is that it shows us why we need Jesus, God's perfect solution to the sin problem. If left to ourselves, we hide, we don't earn our way back to being right with God. Spend some time this week both confessing your sins and asking for God's help, as well as thanking God for sending Jesus to die for our sin.

On Sunday morning, we looked at the relationship between men and women from the end of Genesis 2. We already knew that men and women are equal in God's sight, both made in God's image - we saw that in chapter 1. This passage described the creation of woman as a way of helping with the issue of man being alone. People need one another. We need to have relationships with the opposite gender from ourselves. There is difference in role but equality in value between the genders. We shouldn't read the word 'helper' here as a word that describes a lesser person in any way! God made men and women because each gender has a different way of honouring God and living well in God's world. While there will always be gender wars and disagreements and cultural issues to work through, we must always remember the principle of equality in value and difference in function. 

We looked at Paul's prayer at the start of the letter to the Philippians on Sunday morning. We noticed that it was full of references to God and Jesus; the focus of this prayer was not Paul's needs, but Jesus. He took time to thank God for the Philippians and to pray for their growth and fruit in the gospel. This type of prayer is so different to a lot of our prayers. We can easily fall into the shopping list kind of prayer, where we just ask God for the things we would like to happen. That makes God someone who simply does what we want; the reality is the other way around. We should ask how we can better serve and honour God with our lives. If we love Jesus and see serving Him as the priority in our lives, that should mean we pray for God's priorities and not ours. Take time out to pray this week. See if you can pray without asking for the urgent things you often pray for - fill it with thanks and prayer for growth in godliness. Pray for other Christians too. This will be more in line with the way prayer is modelled for us in the Bible.