Time to wake up CHURCH and pray! By Nathan Jukes

It is time for us to wake up as a Church.  You should know that in a few weeks in the USA there is a vote for gay marriage.  I live in the UK.  It came in a few years ago here and because of it some of our Christian people have a lot of problems.  I know of a few things that have happened here. One Christian couple had a Christian guest house, two gay men came and said they wanted a room with one bed, but the Christian couple said they could have a bedroom with two beds but the men took them to court and very sadly they lost the case. The point is that gays seem to be winning here. Do we want the gays in the USA? No, we don’t want them because God hates the sin but God loves them and wants them to repent from their sin. 

This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. Ephesians 5:14(NIV)

1.       It is time for us to WAKE UP. We need to pray that the gays will not get their way in the USA. They will cause a lot of problems for us, the church.

2.       We need to rise from the dead; this means that we need to stop acting like we are Dead!

3.       If we try to be awake and not asleep then Christ will shine on us.

4.       I would like to encourage you to pray for the big vote that is coming up on gay marriage. Let‘s do our best to keep it out of the USA, we want it to be a Christian country.

Don't worry let God take care of it By Daniel Jukes

Do you ever get worried about things? I certainty do, we can worry all day long about something but it never makes anything better it just makes things worse. Wouldn’t it be good if we never worried about anything we would be a lot calmer and confidant wouldn’t we?

Well in Matthew 6:25 Jesus tells us not to worry about life he even goes as far as saying not to worry about what we eat, our body and what we wear. In Luke 12:25(NIV) He says, who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? So worrying won’t add anything to our life. By worrying we just waste time that we could be using for other things that will benefit us.  

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33(NIV)

We need to seek God's kingdom and righteousness and then God will meet our needs, so we don’t need to worry.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30(NIV)

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:11(NIV)

The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him Nahum 1:7(NIV)

So we need to take all our worries and fears to God and trust him to take care of them for us and then not worry about them anymore.

Why God sent his son for us By Nathan Jukes

What would life on earth today be like if there wasn't a God? The whole Earth would be turned upside down more than it is today. What would the Christians of today be like if there wasn't a God?  The world is already a wicked place, but if God did not exist, the world would be a lot worse than it already is. The people that are Christians now would be as bad as the rest of the world going around doing the things of this world. The world would be a terrible place to live it would be like nothing like the world we live in today. The world would be 100% filled with evil that never stopped. But wait there is a GOD, even though sometimes we feel like there isn't one. God has a plan for the world, and one day there will be no more evil in this world. And part of his plan was to send his son Jesus into the world to take away our sin. John 3:16 says.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV)

This means that anyone who does call on God to be saved will be saved, when we get saved that isn't  good enough we have to change from our old ways. We need to live for God after that so other people can see our light in this upside down world. Ephesians 2:8 says.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God. (NIV)

We have been saved by God’s grace and not by ourselves and this is God free gift to us. What would happen if God had not sent his son to die for us? We would only have our life on earth from the time we were born to the time we died. That would be the end of us we would go into the ground and that would be it. Because Jesus died for us we can live for ever and ever, life will never end. We have a lot to be thankful for, because he died for us we owe God everything. We have been saved; God knew we would never be good enough to save ourselves that’s why God send his son Jesus to save us.  We owe everything to God there’s no excuses at all not to live for him, we should want to share our God with other people so they might not have to go to hell. Will you lead someone to Christ?

Comments welcome below.

How do we overcome temptation? By Daniel Jukes

But each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. James 1:14(NIV)

We are all tempted let’s face it, we are tempted to eat something we know is unhealthy, or we are tempted to look at something online we know is wrong, or to tell a lie about something. The devil even tempted Jesus, see Matthew 4:1-11 so we know we’re tempted but how on earth do we overcome it?

Watch. We need to watch out for temptation, see Matthew 26:41.

Pray. We need to pray that we will not fall into temptation like Jesus tells the disciples, see Matthew 26:41 it’s also part of the Lord’s Prayer, see Matthew 6:13.

Resist. Then when temptation does come we need to resist it, see 1 Peter 5:9

Stand firm. We need to stand firm in the faith see 1 Peter 5:9. When Jesus was being tempted by Satan he used the word of God to stand firm, see Matthew 4:1-11.

Find the way out. We need to find the way out because there’s always one, see 1 Corinthians 10:13.

God will help us. When we find our self’s in the middle of temptation we need to remember that it’s not God tempting us because God does not tempt anyone, see James 1:13 and he won’t let us be tempted with more than we can take, see Corinthians 10:13 God is able to help us when we are tempted because Jesus himself suffered when he was tempted, see Hebrews 2:18.

Feel free to comment 

SAVED? By Jack Lewis

What happens when we die is a big question we ask. As the Bible states there are only two possible outcomes, Heaven or Hell. The latter is such a horrible place that is actually mentioned more times in the Bible than Heaven. Many people try to avoid the subject of Hell for a fear of seeming to judgmental; however, if one person hears about it, and is saved from it, then it is surely worth having a few people being just slightly offended with you.

If you have read about the torment in Hell, then the chances are you would do anything to avoid it, but how do you know you are saved from it. The way of salvation is simple, just ask God through prayer to forgive you of all the sins that have messed up your life, and he will write your name in his book of all of us who will one day live with him forever in a place better than the best place we could ever imagine. There is no specific words that have to be prayed, no precise passwords, no fancy words that need be used, just as long as you have wholeheartedly asked him to save you, then you have found the only way to Heaven!

If you have prayed this sort of prayer before, but feel you have gone away from God, then why not pray this prayer again, you can never pray this to many times.

Like I said, there is no specific prayer that has to be prayed, but if you are totally stuck and don’t know what to say, here is a suggested prayer:

Dear Lord

I confess I have not been following you, and have not been the person you created me to be. I ask that you will take away the barrier of sin that has barred me from you, and I thank you for dying on that cross so I could live with you forever.

Amen

God won’t mind at all if you read the prayer on here or anywhere else, as long as you meant it.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace that came through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:23-24 (NIV)   

Getting on with Christian’s who are weaker in their faith. By Nathan Jukes

Getting on with Christian’s who are weaker in their faith

Can you get on with other Christians? God wants us to live in harmony with each other; we should try to get on with other Christians especially the ones who are weaker in their faith.  This is what Paul has to say.

                Do not refuse to accept into your group someone who is weak in faith. And do not argue with him about opinions. Romans 14:1(ICB)

I know we all have lots of different opinions on everything. Everyone is different, we all think differently.  We all do have our opinions on everything. But what is Paul saying, do not refuse to accept into your group someone who is weak in faith. That means that if there is someone that is newer to Christian faith, like someone who has just got saved we should accept him or her and help that person to grow in their faith.  And now we come to the second part of what Paul is saying. And do not argue with him about opinions.  Just for an example, one of your friends you have been praying for just got saved, you give him a Bible and he reads it. A few weeks later he comes to you and he states his opinion on something he read, you have a different opinion on that subject.  You don’t just state your opinion you tell him that you’re right about it and he’s wrong. You start an argument with him about it. A few days later you are no longer friends. He gives you back the Bible and rips out the page you had been arguing about, if only you had helped him grow in his faith instead of killing the seed that was planted in his life.

And walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Ephesians 5:2(NIV)

We need to live a life of love, to love everyone just as Christ loved us. This does not mean that it’s just for loving other Christians, we need to love everyone in the world not just Christians. For us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. What does this mean; it means that Jesus took the sacrifice for us so that we might be able to live for ever. Jesus took our sacrifice, but God still wants us to be good holy people for him that will be careful about the way we use our opinions. So that means he wants us to try to be more like Jesus. God does not want us to be perfect but live our lives as a light for him in the darkness.

It is good and pleasant when God people live together in peace! Psalm 133:1(ICB)

Feedback welcome feel free to comment.