A Letter from Christians Against Poverty

During the Christmas Carol Service we took up a collection for Christians Against Poverty. We collected £60.00! To find out more goto http://www.capuk.org.

A Letter of thanks for the gift is below.

THANK YOU

Thank you for your gift!

Below is a thank you letter from one of our clients:

Dear Christians Against Poverty How can we begin to explain the difference CAP has made in our lives? Before CAP I spent every month juggling credit card cheques to pay different debts, and I felt physically sick at the thought of how I would cope. I felt so ashamed that someone like me could ever have allowed our finances to get into such a mess. I had faced three redundancies and each new job meant a drastic reduction in salary. My husband also took early retirement due to ill health so our income dropped even more. I felt an absolute failure; incompetent and unworthy of help. Since we contacted CAP we see a light at the end of our tunnel. We know that we will be totally debt free, an experience I have not known for many years. We know what we have to pay each month and we know our bills and debts are getting paid. The shame I felt about these debts has faded because of all of the wonderful people at CAP. They have shown love, support and understanding without a hint of condemnation. We believe that we were guided to CAP not just to help us find a way out of debt, but to find the loving God who really does love us as we are, debtors and all. Thank you to all at Christians Against Poverty for making it possible for us to enjoy the present and enabling us to look forward to the future. Our love and prayers are with you for your continued success, Mary x

'....and if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.' Isaiah 58: 10

Christmas Carol Service Talk

What would you do? Many a time you try and help and make friends with someone and they spurn your help?

What if you knew a better way to do things but you were constantly rebuffed.

Well, so it is with God! He created the world and the world turned its back on Him.

But instead of turning His back on the World, He declared His love and favour! Favour that was undeserved!

It was to shepherds the Good News was first declared. Not Kings, not nobles but down to earth, hard working shepherds.

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.”, was the cry of the angels. They were excited.

The Angels declared a Saviour. “A Saviour who is Christ the Lord.” He said.

When Mary was told to name this child Jesus “for he will save His people from their sins.” He would get us out of our mess.

What does favour from God to man look like? It is a gift of unmerited and constant love. Constant love when we mess up.

For unto us a Son is given. This is the gift of love. And isn’t that what real giving is all about. Giving even to what is undeserved.

And that is what God did: He gave of his very own to those who did not deserve it. I know I don’t deserve it.

The often quoted Bible verse 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.”John 3:16
.
And so the offer is open to everyone. Like the Christmas story those that heard it were working class shepherds,. What was their response? Let us go, they said.

So what is our response? Shall we go and discover more about who Jesus is? There is a present waiting for us. : “He came to the world that was his own, but his own people did not accept him. But to all who did accept him and believe in him he gave the right to become children of God.

Jesus:He is Head of the Church

Colossians 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church.

Foretold of old Ps 118:22-24 22 The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; 23 the LORD has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes. 24 The LORD has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.

Jesus knew it applied to Him Matt 21:42 42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvellous in our eyes’?

Who is the church? John 1:12 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—

We are His body 1Cor 12:27 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

He Loves the Church and gave Himself for her Eph 5 25-27 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing[b] her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

Jesus prays for His church Hebrews 7:25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

He wants us where he is. John 14:1-3 1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

We have a Glorious future with Him Rev 21 1-7 1 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

We have a responsibility Col 3:12-14 12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever. (Hebrews 13:8)

Jesus has a past
John 1 1-2. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.
John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”


Jesus felt and showed compassion.
Matthew 9:36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Jesus healed many
Matthew 4:24So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them.

Christ died….

1 Peter 3:18
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.
….While we were still sinners.
Romans 5:8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us

Now alive!
Rev 1:17-18
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

He lives for ever to pray for us

Heb 7 24-26
24 but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. 25 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
26 Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.

He will return
Rev 22 12-13
12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

Jesus: The Lamb of God

Tower Hamlets Christian Prayer Group
Thursday 11th August 2011
Jesus: The Lamb of God

John Testifies About Jesus

29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

God will Provide a Lamb
Genesis 22:7-9New International Version (NIV)7 Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.

The Sacrificial Lamb
Exodus 12:21-24New International Version (NIV)21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. 23 When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.

Christ though raised and glorious is still the Lamb of God
Revelation 5:5-7New International Version (NIV)5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne.

Christ as Lamb an encouragement for humility
1 Cor 5:7b
7 Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch—as you really are. For For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.
Revelation 7:9-11New International Version (NIV)
The Great Multitude in White Robes worshipping the Lamb9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God,who sits on the throne,and to the Lamb.”11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God.

Jesus , the Lamb is the light of our Heavenly City
Revelation 21:21-23New International Version (NIV)21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.gives

He is before all things and in Him all things hold together.

Thursday 15th September 2011

Jesus Christ: “He is before all things and in Him all things hold together”. (Colossians 1 v17)

• Jesus is God

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John 1 1-3

3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. Heb 1 v3

• He is before all things (Col 1 v 17)
  58 “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8 v 58)
  5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. John 17 v5
  13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

• And in Him all things hold together
  Heb 1:3,
  
  28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.(Acts 17:28)

• The World was made through Him (Col 1 v 16)
  John 1 v3,
  6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. 1 Cor 8 v 6
  2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. Heb 1 v 2

• What is our response?

A responsibility to worship
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. Rev 1:17


A responsibility to Obey
Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” John 15:19 b

Jesus: Coming back soon

Thursday 1 September 2011

Jesus: Coming back soon

• Jesus said He would come back

John 14 1-41 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God[a]; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

· Angels said He would come back

Acts 1:9-11 9
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

• What are the signs? Matthew 24

• Are you ready – What does The Parable of the Ten Virgins teach us?

Matt 25: 1-13 The Parable of the Ten Virgins
1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’
7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’
9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’
12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’
13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.