And for the Israelites, waiting for their promised Saviour was central to their beliefs. Much of the Old Testament focuses on a King who will come from the line of David to set God’s people free from their slavery and bondage. The Israelites thought this promise was only for them, but then Jesus came and demonstrated that it was actually available for everyone who was made in God’s image. Some of the final words that Jesus shared with His followers was to show them how all of Scripture speaks about Him and point to His coming as Messiah (see Luke 24:27,44; John 5:39).

This summer we’re going to spend some time in the Old Testament looking at some of these passages that overtly point towards Jesus. I hope that you’ll be able to come and hear and learn more about how all of Scripture is about Jesus, not just the Gospels and letters in the New Testament. We will meet right through the summer at our regular time of 4pm at Bethel, except for our two outdoor services (July 28th and August 25th) when we will meet at Memorial Park.

Enjoy the sun and warm weather! Have a blessed week!

One of the ways that we can do this is by appreciating different styles of music, and recognizing the creativity with which God has blessed us. While rap, or country, or southern gospel, or hard rock may not be your music of choice, we can still hear the truths of the Gospel proclaimed and how each style is taking the command of God to “sing a new song,” a command He gives 6 times in Scripture. The Psalms themselves were created to be sung, and there are many other examples throughout Scripture of people singing and making music to God.

Another way to appreciate musical worship is to see how the Bible is used in creating the lyrics. At The Centre, we will only sing worship songs that are Biblically based. If a song is not based on a passage or theme found in Scripture, we won’t sing it. This means that we have to know what we’re singing about. This is not only a good exercise in learning about God and His Word to us, it is also a good practice in discernment, learning to see and know what is from God.

So why do we sometimes (much of the time!) struggle with prayer? How come it often feels like when we pray our words/thoughts stop at the ceiling? In order to pray well we need to know who we are praying to. If we don’t have a good understanding of who God is and what He is like, then our prayers will be focused more on ourselves rather than on God. I believe that if we have a clearer picture of who God is then our prayer life will become more vibrant.

Like each of the other topics we’ve looked at, prayer is a discipline, something that we need to train ourselves in and work at in order to improve. Even for those for whom prayer comes more easily it is still a discipline and needs to be cultivated. Jesus taught His disciples and others how to pray, and modeled what a prayer filled life looked like by often going off on His own to speak with God. If Jesus needed to pray in order to stay connected with God, how much more do we need to pray?

I believe the main reason we struggle with fasting is because of all the Spiritual Disciplines it is the most invasive in our lives. It changes our daily rhythms and schedules. It affects us physically. It is hard to hide that we’re fasting if we’re in a public place, and then there comes the issue of explaining what we’re doing without sounding “holier than thou”! In short, fasting disrupts our lives.

Fasting is good for us for that reason alone, because out of all the Spiritual Disciplines, fasting demonstrates most clearly what it means to be a follower of Christ. When we accept Jesus as our Saviour and say that we will follow Him, He enters into our daily rhythms and schedules and rearranges them so that they are in line with His. This change in our lives should be hard to hide from others, especially family members and co-workers. Following Jesus affects all areas of our lives, and fasting is a simple reminder of this.

Pastor Mike

To give an analogy, there are many ways in which I let my wife know that I love her. Quite often it is spoken, but it is also demonstrated in different actions throughout the day such as a hug or holding hands while walking, or simply spending time with her. Then there are the special times and dates in our lives that we set aside to especially remember and honour each other through gifts, cards, meals and times away. And there are also other, more mundane ways in which I show her love each day through doing things around the house. As her husband, my posture and attitude towards her should always be motivated by love and putting her before myself (look at Ephesians 5:25-33).

On a much greater scale, this is how each follower of Jesus is to live for God. Our whole lives are to be an ongoing act of worship of God (Romans 12:1-2), and involve every area of our lives. There will be special times and gatherings, but worship doesn’t start and stop when we enter or exit the church building — it should be everyday in every action, even in the mundane and boring. It is a continual remembrance of who God is, and who we are in Him. It is both communal and individual, audible and silent. Eventually, when we are in the new heaven and earth, it will be ongoing, never ceasing, but until that time it will have to be a conscious choice on our part, and a choice that we are expected to make.

In our culture, if you want to learn about somebody the easiest thing to do is look at their Facebook page, Twitter or Instagram feeds, or Google search their name (you’d be surprised what you’ll find!). We can get a snapshot of who the person is, what they’ve done, their likes and dislikes, and what others say about them. It’s gotten to the point that managers looking to hire people will look at the person’s online presence to see what type of person they are.

On a much grander scale, God has given us the Bible, His Word, so that we can know Him and learn all about Him. In the Bible we also learn about the plan of redemption and how He has orchestrated a rescue plan for us, to save us from sin and death. The Bible is one of the primary ways that God has given us so that by it we can have a relationship with Him. This begs the question, if people want to understand who God is then why don’t they read the Bible more often? Research in Canada shows that only 1 in 5 Christians read the Bible more than once a week to understand how it applies to their lives (results from the 2014 Canadian Bible Engagement Study). That means 80% of Christians go through their day to day lives, saying they are a follower of Jesus, but not really knowing what that means or fully knowing how. There’s lots of room for improvement here!

This Sunday we will continue our series in Spiritual Disciplines, focusing on studying the Bible. I’d encourage you to take some time this week and do just that by reading Psalm 119. And this would be a good time for you to practice what we looked at this past Sunday, Silence and Solitude. Before you begin, take 2-3 minutes to sit quietly and ask God for guidance and direction as you study the Bible. Don’t think of this as wasted time, but as preparation for your study, like stretching before working out — it’s all part of the same activity.

In our day and age, while the church seems to be plateauing and even declining in North America, it is growing exponentially in China and South East Asia, parts of Africa, and throughout Central and South America. One thing that each area has in common is the persecution of Christians. Why is the church growing in areas where it seems the most unlikely? I believe the answer is found in what Jesus taught (it’s always a good place to start looking for answers!). In Mark 10:17-31 we read the story of a rich man who approached Jesus and asked Him how he could inherit eternal life. Jesus said to the man that he needed to go away and give all that he had to the poor, and the man went away sad because he was very rich. Then Jesus said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” There is our answer.

And because there is nothing new under the sun (read Ecclesiastes to get that message), this is the same message that we can read in Hosea. The people had everything, and so they didn’t need God. They thought they could do it on their own apart from God. They were wrong. My prayer and hope for the church in North America is that we recognize our need for God above all else, that we wouldn’t become enamoured with the things of this world, and we would listen to what God is calling us to be and do. My fear is that history will repeat itself because we are so slow to learn from our mistakes.

This Sunday we will continue our study of Hosea looking at chapters 9-11. One thing I’ve greatly appreciated as we’ve gone through this book is God’s promise of forgiveness that is always underlying the discipline. If they’d only turn from their sins and return to God He would forgive them. That message is still true today. Our gathering begins at 4pm. If you’d like to come for prayer before the service we will be meeting from 3-3:30 to do just that. Hope to see you on Sunday.

Blessings, Pastor Mike