The church is not only called to love the family of faith but to be a witness to the watching world and that witness is most clearly seen in how we love.

Under King Saul, the people had divided hearts and worshipped other deities; but David asks to be a beacon of why one should have a whole heart towards the one true God, but also recognises that he cannot set that example on his own, but that it would require God Himself helping David to understand what it means to have one whole, “undivided heart,” towards God.

Ezekiel was a prophet-priest active in the turbulent years leading up to and following Judah’s exile to Babylon. Though taken captive as a young man, God called him to prophesy both against His own rebellious people and for their restoration.

One of my favourite things about the book of Revelation is the glimpses and insights we get into the worship taking place in heaven.  By my count, there are 8 songs of worship described throughout the book What I love about this song is that, while the song is set in a specific moment in future history, there’s an invitation to participate in it for us even now. 

2 Corinthians reads as a scrap-book of the apostle Paul’s thoughts, feelings, experiences and reflections on the church in Corinth—an outpouring of love, pride, and grief. But pasted into the middle of this intimate monologue is this month’s Worship with the Word passage.

In Isaiah chapter 57, we read of the prophet Isaiah addressing Israel’s idolatry, spiritual unfaithfulness, and the judgement they were subsequently bringing upon themselves. They no longer feared God and instead were trusting in futile idols…Despite this sin, God in His mercy offers His people a way back to Him.

When thinking about the idea of becoming holy, it can be easy to focus solely on the changes that we need to make in our behaviours so that we can become holy. But we see in this scripture that the starting point- and our frame of reference for our holiness- is found in our belonging to the Lord.

There was one man whose hands were kept completely clean. There was one man whose heart was kept completely pure. And as He ascended a hill called Golgotha, those hands were pierced and even as his blood ran down them, they remained clean. After He breathed His last, that pure heart was pierced. And as the temple curtain was torn in two, a new answer to that question arose. 

Revelation chapter 4 describes the apostle John's experience of being transported to heaven in a vision and witnessing God's radiant glory.

Amid trouble, accurate perspective is vital.  In this passage we see how Isaiah was offered true perspective to worship and live from.

During times of uncertainty and even foreign dominance, these psalms were bold reminders to the people of God that the Lord is still on the throne, He is ruler over all nations, He is in control.

We begin our new series by inquiring of the Lord.  We start with a question, not an answer…  What is He like?  To whom can we compare Him?  How can we even begin to describe Him?

How kind and considerate of the Lord to teach us how to pray with a short, simple prayer of incredible depth and new revelation every time we meditate on it. 

Whatever is included in this prayer must be of the highest importance to His mission and of the closest proximity to His heart.

As both wholehearted Jesus-lover and longsuffering gospel-labourer, who better than Paul to instruct us on how to pray, and what to pray for in mission?

When we look for answers in the world, we never find something truly and eternally satisfying. It will always feel like a losing battle. But what is the response of Jesus to a lost people looking for hope and meaning?

Like the scattered Christians Peter originally wrote to, we are ‘living stones’ – not uniform ‘bricks’ with the same background, experiences, traditions and heritage; but individuals

Malachi 1:11 is one of those verses that we love to quote in the prayer and missions worlds. It’s not a goal or an aspiration, it is a statement , His name will be great among the nations.

In Isaiah 56, the verses for this month’s worship with the word series paints a beautiful picture of what happens when people choose to respond to God’s loving invitation to enter into relationship with Him.

As we draw near to Christmas, we are considering the convergence of worship, prayer and missions in the very person of Jesus Himself. This messianic psalm is a prayer for the coronation of the coming King…