Revised Common Lectionary – Year B: First Sunday of Advent – Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37

Revised Common Lectionary Year B - First Sunday of Advent: Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37 Jesus Christ is God’s Answer to our prayer. We confess our sins to God - ‘We sinned... All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy …

He who calls you is faithful.

Daily Devotional Readings

“He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

Here, Paul is thinking about the fullness of God’s salvation (1 Thessalonians 5:23). This is the big picture. As I was reading these words about God’s faithfulness, I started thinking about the smaller picture: my own call to serve the Lord. There was a real sense of the call of God, but it wasn’t there all the time. As I moved beyond the original sense of God’s call, there were times when I wondered, “Is this really a call from God?” In times like these, I was taught to look beyond my own changeable feelings. I was reminded of God’s faithfulness: “He who calls you is faithful.”

We may think about this, and ask, “Why has God called me? What’s so special about me?” The more I thought about these questions, the more the Word of…

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Let The Lord’s Name Be Glorfied In All The Earth.

Psalm 8:1-9 The Lord is ‘majestic’ (1, 9). He does not remain remote. He does not keep His distance. He shows us His greatness, the greatness of His love. We feel forgotten. He remembers us. We feel unloved. He cares for us (4). We are tempted. He will ‘still the enemy’ (2). We look beyond …

God is calling us to be faithful in the ministry of His Word.

Jeremiah 49:7-50:10; 2 Timothy 2:1-26; Proverbs 25:21-26:2 Jeremiah speaks of a time of judgment upon Babylon (Jeremiah 50:1-3) and a time of blessing upon the people of Israel (Jeremiah 50:4-5). If the blessing, and not the judgment, is to come in our own day, we must be faithful in the ministry of God’s Word (2 …

Promise and danger

In Proverbs 22-24, we learn about promise and danger. At every stage in our journey through life, there is both promise and danger - the promise of God’s blessing to those who keep Him at the centre of their life, the danger of coming under God’s judgment when we ignore His way and go the …

Marx’s Call for a World-Changing Philosophy: Herbert Marcuse, Liberation and Jesus Christ

Marcuse emphasizes that liberation is grounded in the truth. He sees, in Marx’s thought, an “absolutism of truth (which) … once for all separates dialectical theory from the subsequent forms of positivism and relativism” (Reason and Revolution (RR), p. 322, emphasis mine). Marcuse describes this absolutism of truth thus: “According to Marx, the correct theory …

A Great Saviour – For Now And For Ever

"looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2) Where would we be without Jesus? We would have no Saviour to accompany us on our journey through life - and we would have no Saviour to welcome us into God's heavenly and eternal glory when we reach the end of our earthly journey. Thank God - …

Learning to praise the Lord

"Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and forevermore" (Psalm 113:3). Here, on earth, we are learning to praise the Lord. He is preparing us for heaven, where we will praise him forevermore.

Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord… your labour in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Jeremiah 48:1-49:6; 2 Timothy 1:1-18; Psalm 119:81-88 “A curse on him who is lax in doing the Lord’s work!” (Jeremiah 48:10). We should not be lax in doing the Lord’s work, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a Spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). Through …

When we really begin to see things from Jesus’ point of view, we will follow Him.

"Jesus was going to Jerusalem"  - to be "betrayed", "condemned to death" and to "come back to life" (Mark 10:32-34). Hallelujah! What a Saviour! "Teacher, we want you to do us a favour" (Mark 10:35) - This sounds so self-centred. What does Jesus say about this? - "Whoever wants to be great among you will …

The Suffering and Glory of Christ

 * The suffering of Christ - "My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Psalm 22:1). These words lie at the heart of Christ's suffering. He suffered for us. He died for our salvation. He is our Substitute and our Saviour: "He died that we might go to heaven, saved by His precious blood." He went …

Love that will not let us go

"No-one ever cared for me like Jesus." Life can be turned around when the love of Jesus takes hold of us. His love is the love that will not let us go.

Herbert Marcuse and Marx’s Call for a World-Changing Philosophy

The difference between Marcuse’s perspective and that of traditional Marxism is that the former is less one-sided in its analysis of the development and future possibilities of Marxism. * A Marxism, which is acutely aware of capitalism’s defects while remaining rather oblivious to the inadequacies of communism, requires to take seriously Marcuse’s criticisms of both …

Worship – This must always lie at the heart of the life of God’s people.

Ezra Following the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, after their captivity in Babylon and prior to the beginning of the rebuilding of the Temple, there was the resumption of worship at the Temple site (Ezra 3:1-6). Worship - This must always lie at the heart of the life of God’s people. Once the foundation …

Faith comes by Hearing.

The context in which man finds himself placed by the revelation of God is thoroughly existential. He is involved in the totality of his existence. Through the continuing activity of the ever-present and ever-active Spirit of revelation, man is called upon to respond to the God of revelation. The emergence of faith is the result …

A river that I could not cross

“A mighty wave, a mighty wind is coming from heaven, to raise up our nation again” (Ulf Christiansson) – As I walked along the beach, feeling the wind and watching the waves, these words of faith came into my mind. God is calling us to move - from where we are right now to where …

Some Interpretations of the Theology of Soren Kierkegaard

* T. F. Torrance writes of Kierkegaard as “the avowed enemy of all objectivism … rationalization of truth into a system of ideas” while insisting that “his emphasis on subjectivity was never intended to mean the abrogation of objectivity” (Theological Science, (London, 1969), p. 5). He continues, “That ‘truth is subjectivity’ (Kierkegaard) does not mean …

Before we can hear the Lord speaking to us, we must stop speaking against Him.

"We have spoken against the Lord" (Numbers 21:7). Before we can hear the Lord speaking to us, we must stop speaking against Him. How can we hear what the Lord is saying to us if we keep on speaking against Him? If we are to speak for God, we must begin with listening to Him. …

We will serve the Lord our God and obey him.

"The people said to Joshua, "We will serve the Lord our God and obey him."" (Joshua 24:24). Where does the desire to serve the Lord and obey him come from? It comes from the Lord. He puts it into our hearts. When our desire to serve the Lord and obey him grows weak, he comes to us, …

“Is there any word from the Lord?” (Jeremiah 37:17).

There are different ways of asking questions. "Is there any word from the Lord?" This is a question which invites Jeremiah to speak the Word of the Lord. In Genesis 3:1, we have a very different way of asking questions - "the serpent ... said to the woman, Did God really say ... ?" The "ancient serpent …

The Lord bless you and keep you.

"He placed a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see this and worship. They will trust the Lord. 4 Blessed is the person who places his confidence in the Lord ... " (Psalm 40:3-4). Our worship brings joy to the heart of the Lord - and it, also, brings blessing …

Visions of God

Ezekiel 1:1-3:27; Hebrews 4:14-5:10; Psalm 119:153-160 “Visions of God” - This is what we have in Ezekiel. These visions are not easy to understand. Their form emphasizes that God is beyond our understanding. We see the glory of God, and we fall before Him in worship (Ezekiel 3:23). We are not, however, to content ourselves …

The Problem, the Returning, the Blessing

James 5:19-20 The Problem - "if one of you should wander from the truth" The Returning - "if ... someone should bring him back" The Blessing - "Whoever turns a sinner away from his error will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins." Does God have a message of hope for …

I look at Jesus Christ.

I look at Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, and I say, "This is the beginning of eternal life. It begins with Jesus. It's all about him. Eternal life is life in him."

Christian Faith in Dialogue with Herbert Marcuse

Marcuse observes the tension between the notion of liberation and its possibilities of historical realization. He maintains that “On theoretical as well as empirical grounds, the dialectical concept pronounces its own hopelessness” (One-Dimensional Man (ODM), p. 253). Marcuse draws this conclusion on the basis that “The human reality is its history and, in it, contradictions …

Marx’s Call for a World-Changing Philosophy: Herbert Marcuse’s Interpretation of Marxism

Interpreting Marx’s intention, Marcuse maintains that “far more was involved than the liberation and rational utilisation of the productive forces, namely, the liberation of man himself” (Reason and Revolution (RR), p. 435, emphasis mine). Marcuse notes that “Marx’s conception of the ‘free’ proletariat as the absolute negation of the established social order belonged to the …

Let us worship God.

Ezekiel 47:1-48:35; 1 Peter 4:1-19; Psalm 133:1-3 “The sanctuary will be in the centre of it ... In the centre of it will be the sanctuary of the Lord ... the Temple sanctuary will be in the centre of them” (Ezekiel 48:8,10,21). Here, we have the centrality of worship in the life of God’s people. First …

Nothing is too hard for the Lord.

Jeremiah 31:15-32:25; 2 Thessalonians 3:1-18; Proverbs 25:1-10 Jeremiah 32:17 tells us that nothing is too hard for the “Sovereign Lord”, the Creator of “the heavens and the earth.” He is able to deliver us “from wicked and evil men”, to “strengthen and protect us from the evil one” (2 Thessalonians 3:2-3). We are enabled to …

God’s unfailing love

"May your unfailing love come to me, Lord, your salvation, according to your promise" (Psalm 119:41). Our salvation comes from the love of God for us, not our love for him. Time and time again, we fail in our love for God. He never fails in his love for us. His love for us is "unfailing love."

An unchanging Gospel for an ever-changing world

To restrict one’s comments on our constantly changing world to social and economic factors would be to speak as if one was a politician. It’s often said that “everything is politics.” We also need to say that “politics isn’t everything.” Even in the Church, there seems to be a reticence of speaking about the Good News …

The Word and the words (13): God’s salvation covers our past, our present and our future.

"I am the good shepherd" (John 10:11). "The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing" (Psalm 23:1). I lack nothing - God has given us a full salvation. It's a salvation that covers our past, our present and our future. -- We begin by emphasizing that God's salvation covers our past. "He makes me lie …

Jesus Is The Bread Of Life.

John 6:35 Have you ever been really hungry or thirsty? – Find food. Find drink. Eat it. Drink it. Are you spiritually hungry and thirsty? Find the Bread Of Life, come to Him and be fed. John 6:36 Some do not believe. They will not believe. They refuse to believe. John 6:37 What is God’s …

Love For God Is More Than Love For His House.

“Will you … come and stand before Me in this house, which bears My Name, and say, We are safe” – safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears My Name become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 7:8-11). We must take …

Declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.

Ezekiel 43:1-44:31; 1 Peter 2:4-24; Psalm 132:1-18 In Ezekiel, the priests are described in great detail. In 1 Peter 2:5, the Lord’s people are described as “a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” This description continues in 1 Peter 2:9 – “a royal priesthood … a people belonging to God. To His people, …

Walking in wisdom, enjoying salvation

Ezekiel 45:1-46:24; 1 Peter 3:1-22; Proverbs 28:18-28 In Ezekiel, we read of many sacrifices being offered to God. In the New Testament, it is emphasized that one Sacrifice is sufficient – “For Christ died for sins once for all, the Righteous for the unrighteous to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18). We are called …

Lord, we thank You that Your Son, Jesus, has triumphed over Your enemy, Satan.

Lord, we thank You that Your Son, Jesus, has triumphed over Your enemy, Satan. To us, Satan can seem so strong. Help us to remember that Jesus is stronger than Satan. With Jesus as our Saviour, we shall triumph over Satan, our enemy.

Our faith must be grounded in the Son of God and the Word of God.

Matthew 7:15-29 Whenever we are seeking to follow Christ, there will be dangers - false prophets (15-20), empty profession (21-23). Clearly, our faith must be grounded in the Son of God and the Word of God. This is the point of Jesus' parable of the two builders and the two houses (24-27). We must build …

You, O Lord, reign for ever … Help us to remember this when we feel like You have forgotten us.

‘You, O Lord, reign for ever; Your throne endures from generation to generation’. Help us to remember this when we feel like You have ‘forgotten’ us. When we feel like You have ‘abandoned’ us, may we remember this: ‘You, O Lord, are King for ever, and will rule to the end of time’ (Lamentations 5:19-20). …

Thank You, Lord … for victory over death … beginning here-and-now.

"Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:57). Towards the end of the great resurrection chapter, this verse proclaims Christ's victory over death - "Death is swallowed up in victory" (verse 54). We are to serve the Lord wholeheartedly, We are to serve Him with the firm conviction that "our …

In the power of the Holy Spirit

We look at Jesus' birth. We look at His baptism. We see the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes upon Mary, and Jesus is conceived. The Holy Spirit comes upon Jesus, and His public ministry is set in motion. After Jesus' birth, Satan tries to destroy the work of God. Herod tries to do away …

Some Thoughts On Mission And Evangelism

Teaching EvangelismIn the preface to his book, The Evangelism of the Early Church, Michael Green states a personal reason for writing the book:“Most evangelists are not very interested in theology: most theologians are not very interested in evangelism. I am deeply committed to both. So the study of this subject was particularly congenial to me” …

“From a distance” or “always near”?

"From a distance, God is watching us ... "; "God is always near me ... " From a distance ... always near - both are true. God is so much greater than we are. This is why we say, "From a distance... " God has sent His Son, Jesus - also known as Emmanuel (God …

When our love for the Lord gets very weak

"Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians" (Exodus 14:30). What a mighty deliverance! They had come out of Egypt. Now, they were crossing the Red Sea. We think of what God did for his people, Israel - and we give thanks to him. We think of what he has done for …

Love For God Is More Than Love For His House.

"Will you ... come and stand before Me in this house, which bears My Name, and say, We are safe" - safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears My Name become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord" (Jeremiah 7:8-11). We must take …

Declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.

Ezekiel 43:1-44:31; 1 Peter 2:4-24; Psalm 132:1-18 In Ezekiel, the priests are described in great detail. In 1 Peter 2:5, the Lord’s people are described as “a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” This description continues in 1 Peter 2:9 - “a royal priesthood ... a people belonging to God. …

Sent out into the world – to bring others to Christ

Genesis 8 At the end of the flood, God said to Noah, "Come out of the ship" (v. 16). We are "in Christ". He is the Source of our salvation. God has brought us into Christ (1 Corinthians 1:30). He does not bring us into Christ for our own benefit only. He sends us out …

Praising the Lord and being blessed by Him

Daniel 1:1-2:23; 1 Peter 5:1-14; Psalm 134:1-3 Daniel’s praise, offered to God, in Daniel 2:20-23, highlights for us the direction from which blessing comes. It comes from above. What we do not have is given to us by God – “He gives” (Daniel 2:21), “You have given me” (Daniel 2:23). Daniel’s praise is echoed in Peter’s …

Holiness and love – we need more of both …

Ezekiel 41:1-42:20; 1 Peter 1:1-2:3; Psalm 131:1-3 Ezekiel emphasizes that the Temple was to be built according to God’s pattern. Our lives are to be lived according to God’s pattern - “Be holy in all you do”, “Love one another deeply, from the heart” (1 Peter 1:15,22). The instructions for the building the Temple were …

The Sufficiency and Reliability of Scripture

Holding that the Bible is all that God wants it to be in accordance with His precise purpose, Berkouwer insists that it is unnecessary to posit a perfection that extends beyond the confines of the specific purpose of Scripture. He speaks of the sufficiency of Scripture in terms of "sufficiency for the Christian life (Holy …

Praying Through God’s Word: New Testament

Matthew 1:1-17 Lord, we’ve only just begun – to experience Your love and enjoy Your blessing. We’ve started out on the journey of faith – but we haven’t reached our destination. We’re still travelling. We dare not stand still. We must keep on going forward – with You and for You. Sometimes, we can forget …

In our hard times as well as our happy times

"I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor (trouble) a door of hope. There she will respond (sing) as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt" (Hosea 2:14-15). Here, …

The blessing of the Lord

"May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us" (Psalm 67:1). In these words, we hear an echo of the words of Numbers 6:24-26, "The Lord bless you and keep you... ." This is a prayer that we need to pray for one another. Throughout our life, from …

The fire of love

"But if I say, 'I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,' his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot" (Jeremiah 20:9). When the going gets tough, what is it that keeps the …

When the Holy Spirit comes on you

"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). This was just the beginning. It was the beginning of something big. The Lord's followers remembered Jesus. They had many precious memories. There were …

In the day of trouble

"Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will glorify me" (Psalm 50:15). In the day of trouble: Things can change so quickly and so unexpectedly. Everything seems to be going so well. Then, something happens, and everything changes. What are we to do when the day of trouble comes our …

Jesus has risen from the dead.

"The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said" (Matthew 28:5-6). Fear is not something that we can switch off whenever we feel like it. Fear grips us. It takes hold of us. …

A Life Of Obedience And Fruitfulness

John 14:15-15:17 Those who love the Lord are called to a life of obedience, keeping His ‘commandments’, keeping His ‘Word’ (21,23). We cannot live this life in our own strength. Christ must make His home in us (23). Once He has come to live in us, we are to abide in Him (4). Jesus says …

God gives us His strength. He calls us to use His strength in His service.

First, the Lord speaks to Haggai (Haggai 2:1). Then, Haggai speaks for God (Haggai 2:2). "The faithful few who returned from Babylon" (Haggai 2:2): Even if we are few, let us remain faithful. God calls us to "be strong" (Haggai 2:4). He says to us, "Work, because I am with you" (Haggai 2:4). He gives …

Come, Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus Christ. ‘No one can say “Jesus is Lord” except by the Holy Spirit’ (1 Corinthians 12:3). ‘In Jerusalem’, on ‘the day of Pentecost’ there are ‘Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven’ (Acts 2:1, 5). They are ‘amazed’ at what they hear - ‘we hear them telling in our …

None but Christ can satisfy … Hallelujah! I have found Him!

We look out beyond the life that we have found in Christ. The world's way of living is drawing us away from our Saviour. May God help us to keep our eyes on Jesus, know this, "None but Christ can satisfy", and have this testimony, "Hallelujah! I have found him!" Here are the two hymns …