Year 2 Day 303


Pray (ACts)


Read - Mark 7:6-8


Message - Alan Burke


Many people have an idea of Jesus that simply doesn’t match up with the pages of scripture. More often than not he is portrayed as ‘Gentle Jesus, meek and mild’ as the hymn writer Charles Wesley puts it. Yes, we see the compassion of Jesus throughout the gospels, we see him befriending those who are often outcasts, excluded, those who are the ‘religious’ have no time for, this is often the popular idea of Jesus. These things are true, but when we begin to look at the four gospels accounts there are often times that Jesus is anything but meek and mild, when we look at the gospels Jesus wasn’t afraid to call a spade a spade. He wasn’t afraid to call out sin for what it was or confront error. 


Here these words here as he speaks to the Pharisees and teachers of the law are brutal, he replies to their question not with a gentle retort, this is full on confrontational, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites”. I wonder if I said something like this to someone what would the reaction be? Anyway, Jesus doesn’t try to justify what his disciples, how they did not follow the traditions of the elders, he doesn’t try to simply explain it away instead he goes for the jugular and he challenges these Pharisees and teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem. 


Now how hypocrites is used here isn’t how many of us think of what a hypocrite is, you know that person who is pretending to be something that they are not, they talk a good talk but in reality that’s all it is. We would think that a hypocrite in religion is someone who might keep up appearances when they will be seen, at church, at the school gate, in the knitting club, what ever it may be, but we come across them in other walks of life and we see that it’s nothing more than religion, it’s nothing than traditionalism the dead faith of the living and they are hypocrites. 


But here we have something else, these hypocrites are those who are taking their ‘religion’ their ‘traditionalism’ seriously, it matters to them how it is observed, how it was followed not only by them but by others to, they were very serious about it all. The issue is they had all the external stuff and that was it. The quote of Jesus from Isaiah; “These people honour me with their lips, the outward, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’” Says as much, these Pharisees and the teachers of the Law who had come down from Jerusalem they were those who took it seriously, their religion mattered, their traditionalism mattered, but their hearts were far from the Lord. 


And we can see people like that today, I’ve come across them, I’m sure you have, what matters is not the heart of what we are doing, it’s how it’s been done, you can’t change it, it needs to be the way it has been, doesn’t matter if it has failed miserably for 50 years and lets be honest most of what we have done has failed for more than 50 years, still they don’t want to give up the way things are done, their traditionalism. All of us though should be those who are coming examining our motives, why are we doing what we are doing, is it mere religion, traditionalism, is it because how it has been done or is it because that’s how God wants it to be done, are we desiring to please God?


The Pharisees and teachers of of the law were keeping up appearances, they were focusing on the outward, it was a sign of their piety, their devotion but really it was a complete nonsense and their teaches were but rules taught by men. They were holding on to the traditions of men not the commandments of God, what we have here is that Jesus is making the point to them, that if man made traditions mean that one breaks the law of God, when it causes us to fail to love the Lord our God our our neighbour as ourselves then those things must be rejected. Not all traditions are bad, some are helpful but when our traditions cause us to violate the word of God then we must turn from them, when traditionalism cause gurning and complaining, when the cause strife, when they are a barrier to the gospel we must leave them aside.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q62 What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment?
The reasons annexed to the fourth commandment are, God’ s allowing us six days of the week for our own employments, (Exod. 20:9) his challenging a special propriety in the seventh, his own example, and his blessing the sabbath-day. (Exod. 20:11)
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Year 2 Day 302


Pray (ACts)


Read - Genesis 47


Message - Scott Woodburn
A word that has constantly found its way into these Genesis devotions is “providence”. God provides for His people. He rules over them and guides their path and opens doors and puts them where He wants them to be. God provides. Jacob knew all about the providence of God and he would soon see a little bit more for he and his sons would stand before the most powerful man on planet earth, Egypt’s Pharaoh.


Standing before any such individual would cause fear and trepidation in even the bravest of souls but not even a Pharaoh can resist the hand of Almighty God. Joseph’s brothers received an audience with Pharaoh and were immediately asked “what is your occupation?” (v3) This seems like an innocuous enough question until we remember that Egyptians hated shepherds (Genesis 46v34). Why? Various reasons have been suggested. Perhaps it was to do with racial customs - the Egyptians didn’t eat with the Hebrews (Genesis 43v32) and perhaps they didn’t want to mix with them either. Others suggest that the Egyptians had an age old distrust of nomadic shepherd people who were seen as untrustworthy. Or maybe it was down to sheer arrogance from city folk looking down upon the common shepherd. Whatever the reason…Egyptians hated shepherds and Jacob’s sons were shepherds (v3b).


Egyptians may have hated shepherds but God is sovereign over sinful attitudes. Pharaoh offers Joseph’s family the best of the land and wants one of the clan to be in charge over his own flocks (v6). Later at Pharaoh’s command and by Joseph’s obedience, Jacob and his family are settled in the land of Rameses also called Goshen (v11). It was a land that providentially kept the people of Israel close to Canaan while at the same time sparing them from full integration into Egyptian life and customs.


If God rules providentially over the lives of His people, He also providentially governs those who reject Him. The famine continued in Egypt and was beginning to have a massive impact. Providentially the Lord had placed Joseph in exactly the right place. He bought grain from the people (v14) and later exchanged food for livestock (v17). When the famine continued the people again returned to Joseph and this time he bought their land from them in exchange for food (v20). He then made a statute that decreed that from any future harvests the people would owe Pharaoh a fifth of their produce (v26).


Despite the poor situation they were in (no money, no food, no livestock, no land) the people were incredibly thankful for Joseph’s work. They may now have been Pharaoh’s slaves but they happily declared that Joseph had “saved our lives” (v25).


This seems like an odd account but within it we again see the providence of God. Joseph’s family multiply in the land of Goshen (v27). The people and the land had been saved from the grip of the famine by Joseph’s governance - many lived who would surely have died. At the same time, Joseph’s dealings with the people and his statute had underlined Pharaoh’s power and riches. The land of Egypt had been blessed by the presence of God’s people and by the unseen but always working hand of Almighty God.


Nothing has changed. The Lord still overrules attitudes. The Lord remains sovereign over kings and queens. The Lord directs our footsteps and preserves us in the land. He causes the rain to fall on the wicked and righteous alike. He is the great God of providence who is good and faithful in all His ways. Trust Him!


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q61 What is forbidden in the fourth commandment? The fourth commandment forbiddeth the omission, or careless performance, of the duties required, and the profaning the day by idleness, or doing that which is in itself sinful, or by unnecessary thoughts, words, or works, about our worldly employments or recreations.
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Year 2 Day 301


Pray (ACts)


Read - Mark 7:1-5


Message - Alan Burke


None of us would have ever imagined back at the end of 2019 that the stories of an outbreak of something called CoronaVirus in Wuhan would have impacted us in the way it has. Back then you went into a shop with your face covered and you would have been refused entry now people would challenge you to why you hadn’t covered your face. Also when you walk into anywhere there are those bottles of hand sanitiser that you are expected to use, and encouraged to do that or wash our hands with soap and water regularly throughout the day. We are to remember the basics of good hygiene. 


That’s not the reason that the Pharisees and teachers of the Law took issue with what the disciples were doing. They weren’t panicking because their hands were a mess and they were going to get covid or that they were covered with germs. No their issue with them not washing their hands was that it went against their tradition, they were not following the ceremonial washing. What these Pharisees and Teachers of the law had seen was not what Jesus was doing, how the people were flocking to him, how he was healing, no what they saw was that Jesus and his disciples were messing with their traditions, they didn’t follow the tradition and practices of the elders by ritual washing (2-4).


The ceremonial washing of hands was a tradition, in the Torah, that’s the first five books of the old testament where God gives the ceremonial, civic and moral law to his people. There God instructs his priests to wash their hands when they go to give sacrifice in the temple, that’s in Exodus 30:19 and 40:12 but the one that matters is the the instruction God gives for those who touch someone with a discharge. Leviticus 15:11 “Anyone the man with a discharge touches without rinsing his hands with water must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and they will be unclean till evening. (Lev 15:11)”. 


But there was no commandment in the Torah that required a ceremonial washing before eating, none, nothing, it’s just not there. What had happened is that this requirement, this tradition had came about not just to give people some other thing to try to keep, another requirement, something that was burdensome, rather it was give to help the people avoid breaking the law of God. Where the scriptures were silent on any give subject or vague then the Pharisees and teachers of the Law  would try to find a way to make sure that they didn’t accidentally break the law accidentally. Yes it began with good intention, the problem is that their oral traditions and at this stage it was an oral tradition had the same weight as scripture, “Man Made Traditions Treated As God Given Commandments”. 


This tradition that they had, for that’s what it was, they enforced it. There was nothing wrong in wanting to wash, like there is nothing wrong in wearing a suit on a Sunday, but when you make that the requirement, you make it tradition or religion when, when you view “Man Made Traditions Treated As God Given Commandments” then we are wrong. Jaroslav Pelikan in his work The Vindication of Tradition says the following… “Tradition is the living faith of the dead, traditionalism is the dead faith of the living. And, I suppose I should add, it is traditionalism that gives tradition such a bad name.” What is it, what are we doing, what is our faith based on, tradition or traditionalism, is our faith the living faith of the dead or the dead faith of the living?


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q60 How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?
The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, (Exod. 20:8,10, Exod. 16:25–28) even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; (Neh. 13:15–19) and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’ s worship, (Luke 4:16, Acts 20:7, Ps. 92, Isa. 66:23) except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy. (Matt. 12:1–31)
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Year 2 Day 299


Pray (ACts)


Read - Genesis 46


Message - Scott Woodburn
The family of Israel began to make their way towards Egypt but what would become of the promises of God? The Lord had been clear about possession of the land of Canaan and now the entire clan was upping sticks and moving to a foreign land - would the purposes of God fail? Perish the thought. Just as the Lord is sovereign over famines, He is sovereign over our travels and travails. His Word doesn’t return empty, the Lord will accomplish all that He plans.


If Israel had any doubts about the move, the Lord gently disabused him of his worry. After Israel had worshipped the Lord (v1) the Lord spoke to him in a dream and urged him not to be afraid to go to Egypt (v3a). The words “do not be afraid” may be simple but they often bring such comfort to a frightened soul. God Himself speaks these words to Jacob. The Lord had a clear purpose in taking His people to Egypt for it would be there that He would make them into a great nation (v3b).


God’s ways are not our ways and sometimes we sinfully question His wisdom. But the Lord is no fool, His promises will not fail and we are to trust Him even when we cannot make sense of the journey in front of us. The Lord was going to multiply His people in Egypt, He knew them by name (v8-v25) and He counted every single one (v26-27).


Yet surely as the Lord would take His people and multiply them in Egypt, His plan was to eventually bring them home. “I will also bring you up again” said the Lord. The descendants of Israel would indeed return to the promised land. They would not spend their entire history by the Nile but they would one day cross the Jordan and return home.


But before that day Jacob would see Joseph once more. The Lord promised that “Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes” (v4b) or in simple terms Jacob would see his beloved son before it was time for Jacob to die.


It had been twenty-three years since Jacob had last seen his son. Joseph’s apparent death had caused his father great heartache and he couldn’t quite believe that Joseph was still alive and thriving in Egypt. We can imagine the anguish from both father and son and all of it poured away in joy filled weeping as they were reunited (v29). God’s plans had not failed. The sojourn in Egypt would not trouble the Lord. He would fulfil all that He promised and from this troubled but now reunited family would come the Saviour of all of God’s elect people.


The Christian walk is a difficult one which often seems too long for our legs with too many twists, turns and detours. Yet today with confidence we lift our eyes to Christ and remember that He is for us. Life may rarely make sense and at times it can seem that the Lord is exceptionally slow in answering our prayers but He hasn’t forgotten you, for He cannot forget you.


I do not know what troubles you today but without an ounce of patronising let me point you again to Christ. Today He intercedes for you. His plans are being fulfilled. One day you will see Him with you own eyes. So precious child of God because of Jesus…do not be afraid, it’s going to be okay.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q59 Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath? From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly Sabbath; and the first day of the week, ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian Sabbath.

Year 2 Day 298


Pray (ACts)


Read - Mark 6:53-56


Message - Alan Burke


Remember back to how the the account of the feeding of the five thousand began, as Jesus went with the apostles to a quiet place, to a solitary place (v32/32), was because he had compassion on them, to give them rest (v31). Since then they haven’t had much of a chance, in feeding of the five thousand, then hours on the boat. Finally after all of this, after the wind and the waves die down, and they had crossed over, they land at Gennesaret. They had been on the way to Bethsaida, an hours journey from where the feeding of the five thousand took place, but they end up not going north to Bethsaida but cross the lake to Gennesaret. They go there later but now they need some rest after the night that they have had. But it’s not as simple as that. 


There as they, get of the boat people recognise Jesus. This wasn’t because they had seen him before, but because news of him had spread, the miracle worker from Nazareth. While the disciples did not know who he was, the people of Gennesaret are convinced that this man who has just got of the boat is Jesus and that he has power to heal. They may not fully understand who heals them either, but their great faith in Jesus’ power contrasts with the little faith of the disciples. To them he gave hope, they trusted that they would be healed even if all that they could do was touch the edges of his cloak. What we are told is that all who touched him were healed. 


Even though they were pursuing Jesus for what he could do for them, as they brought even the sick on mats, Jesus continued through the region, we went into villages, towns and the countryside and where ever he went they brought their sick to him in the marketplace. For the marketplace was the main gathering point of the people, there in the open air as he went from place to place Jesus would have taken the good news to the people, teaching them just as he had been doing throughout  about the kingdom of God, proclaiming the good news of God and what was that good news, “The time has come” “the kingdom of God is near, repent and believe the good news” (Mk 1:14). In his compassion he fed and healed them. 


As we close I want to ask you this, where is your hope today? The people flocked to Jesus, they placed their hope in him, but it wasn’t hope of anything more than healing from the temporal ailments that they faced. The people wanted to be healed but they had not understood the real reason that he had come, for the healing that they needed was not physical but spiritual. These people would have went home, they would have been freed from their ailments but they would get sick once more and they would like all of us will one day, face death. What they needed was before them, they needed a saviour, a saviour not from their temporal affliction, we don’t need a saviour from the temporal we need a saviour from the eternal consequences of our sin. For this is why he came, to save, save us from our sin.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q58 What is required in the fourth commandment?
The fourth commandment requireth the keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his Word; expressly one whole day in seven, to be a holy Sabbath to himself. (Deut. 5:12–14)
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Year 2 Day 297


Pray (ACts)


Read - Genesis 45


Message - Scott Woodburn
As a child I loved nothing more to curl up on the sofa and watch an episode of Scooby Doo. Scooby was a dog who would solve mysteries with his human friends and each episode would finish with a great reveal. The monster wasn’t real, the ghost was fake and the dinosaur hadn’t stolen the diamonds - behind each mystery was a human in a mask. The mask would be removed to reveal the true culprit and Scooby and his friends would go on their merry way.


Genesis 45 is the great reveal in Joseph’s story. He had been on an incredible journey which had seen him rejected by his family. They sought to murder him but sold him into slavery instead. He had prospered in Egypt yet at the same time had spent some time in prison. There had been ups and downs, twists and turns but ultimately the Lord had provided for his every step. As this chapter begins, Joseph’s emotions come pouring out. All of the years of sadness and frustration result in Joseph weeping so loudly that many people heard the tears of Joseph.


Finally with tears on his face he revealed to his brothers that he was their long lost brother Joseph. They were dismayed at this news (v3), not because Joseph was alive and their plot had failed but because the Lord had brought them to a place of shame and repentance. Their actions were disgraceful and they knew that full well.


If his brothers were distraught at their wicked actions towards Joseph, he was full of forgiveness and grace. He reported to them the whole story. He wasn’t full of rancour or accusations. He didn’t demand that they spend time in prison or lick his boots. Joseph had forgiven his brothers. Indeed as he spoke to them he helped them to see that behind their family story was the providential hand of Almighty God.


God had sent Joseph to preserve his brothers lives (v5). God had sent Joseph to Egypt in order to preserve a remnant of his people on the earth (v7). It was the Lord who had sent Joseph to Egypt - not his brothers (v8) and it was the Lord who had given Joseph favour in the eyes of Pharaoh (v8b). Joseph’s retelling of family history put the Lord front and centre. The brothers may have thought they were in control but they were sadly mistaken.


There was no vengeance from Joseph, instead he urged his brothers to return home and bring his father Israel and all of their belongings to Egypt (v10). There were to be a further five years of famine and Joseph would care for his family. With all said that needed to be said, Joseph and his brothers wept together and talked together. Reconciliation had come to the house of Israel.


Amazingly, Joseph was so well regarded in Egypt that even the Egyptians rejoiced when they heard about the Israel family reunion (v16). So much so that they sent the brothers home to Canaan with provisions, wagons and “the best of all the land of Egypt” (v20). Joseph sent his brothers on their way commanding them not to waste time in quarrelling (v24) - they were to move quickly and bring Israel and his family to the land of the Pharaohs.


When Jacob heard the news he didn’t believe it (v26) - but when all was reported to him and he saw the bountiful harvest from Egypt (v27) he decreed “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”


There are some exceedingly brutal chapters in Genesis but this isn’t one of them. Genesis 45 overflows with the exceedingly glorious provision of Almighty God. The Joseph story had taken years to unfold but in every day, every week, every month, every year, God was at work to bring favour, forgiveness and reconciliation to the family of Israel. In response we too consider God’s providential care in our own lives. He guides us, protects us, governs us and loves us. How should we respond? By forgiving those who have wronged us and by being reconciled to those who have sought previously to harm us. Such actions are costly but they do not compare to the cost of Christ at Calvary. So precious church of Christ, as we have been reconciled to God by the blood of Jesus, may we be reconciled to one another and may the pagan world be amazed when love overflows in the church - for Christ’s sake. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q57 Which is the fourth commandment? The fourth commandment is, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day, and hallowed it.
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Year 2 Day 296


Pray (ACts)


Read - Mark 6:47-52


Message - Alan Burke


If you have ever taken the ferry across to the mainland, you may have been caught in the midst of a storm that causes the ferry to rise and fall with the swells of the sea. If you have you can testify that it is not the most enjoyable experience. Now imagine being on a boat about 27ft/8m long, 8ft/2.4m wide, powered by a sail, the wind battering against you so that the sail was down and you were struggling to go anywhere for hours and hours on end. Doesn’t sound like fun! With Jesus praying on the mountain side this is what the disciples were experiencing. 


There while they are struggling, Jesus goes out to them, they are tired, no they are exhausted, likely soaked to the skin, straining with all that is with in them, all that’s left to get where they want to go. And Jesus goes out to them out walking in the water, this shouldn’t surprise us, after all he had calmed the storm (Mk 4) he had healed many, raised the little girl from death to life (Mk 5:21-43), fed the five thousand (Mk 6:30-44), he had shown his power over creation, his power over sickness and death itself, he had shown his creative power to his disciples and now reveals his absolute power over all of creation doing what no man can do by walking on the water. 


We’re told how Jesus was about to pass the disciples by and when they saw him walking on the lake it was too much for them, they thought he was a ghost. This was like nothing they had ever witnessed before, they were terrified, but then He spoke and told them to take courage it is I don’t be afraid, climbing into the boat with him (49-52). Here in these verses we have so much going. Firstly maybe you thought with the comment at the end of v48, he was about to pass them by as something almost horrific, uncaring, showing no compassion. After all these disciples of Jesus were in the boat, snuggling for hours to try and get to the place that he was sending them. 


Why would Jesus do that!? Why did Jesus mean to pass them by!? Well here Jesus was teaching them through what was happening, something that they would understand later, only after Jesus had died and rose again, and for those who read this gospel who knew their scriptures of the Old Testament would have seen and understood. What Jesus said to them when he told them to take courage makes that clear, although we loose it in translation, the Jesus said literally, “take courage “I AM” do not fear.” (V51). 


Jesus' actions and words reveal that he is the incarnate Creator, that he is the saviour. In their fear he does not rebuke them, instead assures them, climbs into the boat with them, the wind died down and look at what we are told, they were completely amazed. The word here means to be amazed beyond comprehension, amazed is that of aww and fear! Now with Jesus on the boat, they began to learn more of who he was and is, the terror had changed awe and fear.


Their problem was their hearts were hardened, think of it, they had seen much, they had seen many signs and wonders, they had done much themselves, but they had failed to understand the identity of the one that they were with, how they were in the presence of the living God. Not because they couldn’t see or hear, not because they weren’t intelligent, it is because their hearts were hard.  


The only hope for any of us is that the Lord God himself works. God had promised to his people… I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (Eze 36:26). The only hope for sinners is that God works within. When we think of those around us it is dependant on the work of God from beginning to end, it is God who must work salvation in them, let us pray that God would give them what they need, hearts not that are hardened, hearts not of stone but of flesh that hear and respond to the gospel. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q56 What is the reason annexed to the third commandment?
The reason annexed to the third commandment is, That however the breakers of this commandment may escape punishment from men, yet the Lord our God will not suffer them to escape his righteous judgment. (1 Sam. 2:12,17,22,29, 1 Sam. 3:13, Deut. 28:58–59)
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Year 2 Day 295


Pray (ACts)


Read - Genesis 44


Message - Scott Woodburn
There was unquestionably evidence that the Lord had done a work of grace in the lives of Joseph’s brothers but there would be one final test. Joseph commanded his servant to send his brothers on their way back home with an abundance of provisions but the servant was also to take Joseph’s silver cup and place into Benjamin’s sack (v1-2). The steward was then to overtake Joseph’s brothers and accuse them of theft (v4-5)


Everything happened as Joseph commanded and needless to say Joseph’s brothers protested their innocence. They were so confident of their innocence that they promised that if one of them had stolen the cup he would die and the rest would willingly become servants of Joseph (v9). The steward didn’t threaten death but instead he made it clear that the thief would become Joseph’s servant while the rest could go home (v10).


As the brothers opened their sacks eventually the silver cup was found in Benjamin’s belongings causing great anguish among the sons of Israel (v11-13). Soon the brothers went back to the house of Joseph and fell before him. Judah spoke for his brothers and promised that all eleven would become Joseph’s slaves - God had found them guilty (v16).


Yet Joseph offered all but Benjamin a way out - only Benjamin would become a slave, the others could go home (v17). What an offer! Certainly Israel would be distraught at the loss of Benjamin. It would mean that essentially both Rachel’s sons would now be considered dead but at least the lives of the other ten would be free. Previously Judah and his brothers had thought nothing about their father’s welfare. They were prepared to kill Joseph and lied to Israel about his son - surely Judah and the boys would leave Benjamin high and dry and head for Canaan?


Perhaps the Judah of years before would have taken this approach but not the Judah of Genesis 44. Judah passionately speaks to Joseph and we see the old selfishness is gone. As far as he is concerned it is simply not possible to return to his father without his beloved son Benjamin. Judah is clear, his father has already lost Joseph and losing Benjamin would send him to his grave. Instead he proposes a solution - Judah will stay in Egypt as Joseph’s slave. Judah will become a substitute so his brother might go free (v33).


Judah’s love and compassion for his father and little brother shines out. The Lord’s hand of providence had brought this situation to a head. Slowly but surely he chipped away at the hard hearts of Joseph’s brothers. Judah now realised that God had declared them guilty in their treatment of Joseph and here they now were bowing before their brother as he once had seen in a dream. No longer do they seem to be filled with wickedness but instead repentance and contrition.


Behold the grace of God! All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and yet He reaches into the pit and redeems guilty sinners. Christ is the Lion of Judah who becomes the willing substitute for His people. He dies a sinner’s death so that we might go free. We were wicked, guilty, hell bound and hell deserving sinners…but now…through faith in Christ…we are saved! There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ! This is good news and may we respond to it with an attitude of praise. May we be quick to repent, may we rest in the assurance of sins forgiven and may we love our brothers and sisters with a sacrificial love without grudges or grumps.


“Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.” (1 John 2v9-10)   


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q55 What is forbidden in the third commandment? The third commandment forbiddeth all profaning or abusing of anything whereby God maketh himself known.
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Year 2 Day 294 


Pray (ACts)


Read - Mark 6:45-46


Message - Alan Burke


With the feeding of the five thousand over, Jesus made the disciples get on the boat and go ahead of him. If you take a quick look over to John’s gospel, 6:15 you will discover that after the feeding of the five thousand the people were intending to make Jesus king by force, so that explains why Jesus ‘made’ the disciples go. After all they were as likely to jump on the band wagon as the rest of these people for they expected an earthly king who would overthrow Roman rule. So Jesus ‘made’ them go head of him to Bethsaida. 


The disciples are gone, Jesus dismisses the crowd, and as the great multitude start to disperse, Jesus leaves them and he goes to pray (46). This is something that we have seen before in Mark’s gospel, back in chapter 1 after he had healed many, while it was still dark he got up and went to a secluded place to pray. Likewise here Jesus goes off alone, to pray! We see this in the gospel of Matthew, Luke and John also. The importance of prayer is seen in the life of Christ, many of us would just be off to the next thing, but here Jesus intentionally goes, even thought he was and is in eternal communion with the Father, he still goes off to pray, for he knew that success in his ministry required time in prayer. Throughout his ministry he took time to pray to commune with God the Father. Wee question for you, you know it’s coming but I’m not asking it to guilt you, make you feel like a rubbish Christian, I’m only asking for your benefit, how’s your prayer life?


We all know that we should pray without ceasing (1 Thes 5:17), and it is such a privilege and responsibility after all we are able to commune with our creator. We here we are reminded by the actions of our saviour Jesus Christ the importance of the need to commune with our heavenly Father in prayer, for help, for him to sustain us. This is a privilege that we have, to come into the presence of the Living God to speak to him, with our hearts laid bare before him. Each time in Mark’s gospel we are told of Jesus going to pray (1:35, 6:45, 14:35-39) it was when he faced something that lay ahead, he prayed in what he faced. 


The disciples saw this, in how Jesus would go to pray, go off by himself, he wasn’t like the pharisees who prayed in front of everyone who tried to gain the approval of men, no, Jesus quietly went to pray, pouring out his soul to the Father. This is why the disciples desired in Luke that he would teach them how to pray (Lk 11:1). The simple acrostic A.C.T.S. Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication, helps us to see the priority of what we should be praying to the Lord as we come to the Him in prayer. This is why we use this acrostic in these devotions. For as we come in adoration, praising him and as we do we realise out need of confession, when we have confessed our sin we overflow with thanksgiving for what God has done and then in supplication as we pray for others. 


On Sunday in the sermon I will talk to the boys and girls about this, but I’m going to leave you with what I plan to say to them. “Boys and girls, do you know how to say something is great or amazing or wonderful? I imagine you do, we call that ‘adoration’. Boys and girls, I have another question, do you know how to say sorry? Of course you do, we call that ‘confession’. Boys and girls do you know how to say thank you? Try it for me, say thank you, great job, we call that ‘thanksgiving’. Last one, do you know how to ask for help? I know you do and when we ask for help in prayer for others that’s called ‘supplication’. Boys and girls, in prayer we should do these things, say Lord, your amazing, wonderful, we should say sorry for our sin, we should say thank you for what God has done, and we should as for help for ourselves and others, I know you can do all those things, when you come before God you don’t need to say big words, talk to him in prayer, adoring, saying how great he is, confessing, saying sorry, thanksgiving, saying thanks and supplication asking for help.” It doesn’t need to be complicated, keep it simple, use His word as a guide and know the privilege you have. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q54 What is required in the third commandment?
The third commandment requireth the holy and reverent use of God’ s names, (Matt. 6:9, Deut. 28:58) titles, (Ps. 68:4) attributes, (Rev. 15:3–4) ordinances, (Mal. 1:11,14) Word, (Ps. 138:1–2) and works. (Job 36:24)
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Year 2 Day 292 


Pray (ACts)


Read - Genesis 43


Message - Scott Woodburn
Joseph had told his brothers that if they were to return to Egypt then they needed to bring their brother Benjamin with them. Despite a severe famine and the urging of Reuben, the family hadn’t immediately started back to Joseph (v10). Eventually the food they had brought back from Egypt ran out and Israel told his sons to go and get some more (v2). Judah reminded his father that such a journey would require Benjamin’s presence (v5).


Israel took some persuading but Judah promised that he would do all he could to keep Benajmin safe. Finally Israel relented and instructed his sons to take a gift to the mysterious Egyptian including the money that had been placed in his son’s sacks (v11-12). Israel prayed that the Lord would grant his sons mercy and eventually bring all his sons back to him (v14).


As Israel’s sons arrived in Egypt they found themselves invited to a feast at Joseph’s house (v16-17). They wondered if the invitation would be used to punish them - perhaps Joseph believed that they had stolen the money and would attack them at the feast (v18)? So in a display of honesty and integrity the brothers explained the situation to Joseph’s steward. They had no idea who had placed the money in their sacks and had returned with it in full (v20-22). The steward told them the money was a gift from God - they had nothing to fear (v23).


Soon the brothers were reunited with Simeon and in a sign of respect they prepared the gift that they had brought for Joseph, bowing before him as he entered. Joseph asked after the welfare of his father and must have been overjoyed to hear that his dad was alive and well (v27-28). But soon  Joseph would finally set eyes upon his youngest brother Benjamin. He was so overcome at the sight of his mother’s baby boy that he went to his chamber and wept privately (v30). Later as the feast began, Joseph ensured that Benjamin’s portion was five times larger than his brothers (v34).


What’s going on in this chapter? Joseph continues to prod his brothers. Israel loves Benjamin and it takes a long time before he agrees to let him travel to Egypt. Benjamin is the baby boy and to this day that often remains a favoured spot. Joseph is moved with compassion for his little brother and deliberately gives him five times more than his brothers. How will they respond? In years gone by Joseph’s brothers had been filled with jealousy towards him that had seen him almost murdered and then sold. Were they still a jealous bunch? Would Joseph’s favourable treatment of Benjamin cause his brothers to hate their little brother? We are told that Israel’s once jealous sons now responded with maturity. Benjamin may have been served more but his brothers rejoiced with him regardless (v34b).


In this chapter we see the fruit of contrition and repentance. The brothers keep their word in returning to Egypt. They go out of their way to explain the situation with the money and when their little brother is treated like a king they display no jealousy but instead drink and make merry with him. The Lord has been sanctifying these men. Their hands were not clean but the Lord had moved them to deal with their treatment of Joseph. They now act with integrity, honesty and maturity, thanks be to God.


Before I leave my pulpit I read two things. One comes from John 3v30 “Christ must increase, I must decrease.” The other is a quote from George Whitefield “Let my name die everywhere, let all my friends forget if by that means the cause of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ be promoted.” They are little reminders that the world doesn’t revolve around me and church is certainly not there to entertain or glorify Scott Woodburn. 


Joseph’s brothers seemed to growing up and as I begin this new year as a balding, middle aged man I want the same. Perhaps you’ll pray with me? Father God, forgive me my sins and grow me up in the faith. Produce in me fruit in keeping with repentance. Sanctify me by your word, your word is truth! May Christ increase and I decrease. For Christ’s sake. Amen.


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q53 Which is the third commandment? The third commandment is, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
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