Week 16- Power of the Gospel

What’s your instinctive reaction when trouble comes knocking? A popular response would be to meet it head-on with all your strength and resolve, and that would indeed be a perfectly suitable response to suffering.

The concept of power and strength can vary greatly depending on the lens through which we view them. In today's world, power often evokes images of dominance and intelligence. However, within the framework of God's kingdom, the notion of power takes on a radically different form. It finds its essence in humility and embracing suffering. It's completely counter-cultural, perhaps even appearing foolish, and doesn't align with what we typically consider a wise approach to life. But God often uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise.

Consider Paul's remarkable stance on adversity and suffering; he not only accepts it but revels in it, even finding cause for rejoicing. This kind of power, rooted in the gospel, doesn't abandon us in our moments of weakness. Instead, it beckons us into a journey of surrender—a surrender of our own strength in exchange for God's omnipotent grace working through our vulnerabilities.

To surrender means placing complete trust in the notion that, even in our weakest moments, amidst failure and distress, God has the power to orchestrate outcomes beyond our wildest dreams. It's a transformative surrender that leads us to a profound realization of where true strength lies.

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Week 15- A Resurrection People

Easter is

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Week 14- A Resurrected Life

Easter is the opportunity to celebrate the life, death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

This is not a sweet, polite tale of a good moral teacher but a radical story of the pursuit of God from the beginning of time for a people - you and I- that he fiercely loves to death. And then he conquers it so that we would freely live under his grace. There is now hope at the end of death because there is resurrection for those who have died.

Scripture had already been written in advance for how Jesus was going to go on the cross so that we could enjoy the fullness of Gods closeness,so that we could boldly approach the throne of God without hindrance.

Jesus has conquered everything, so we can be immovable in our faith, not out from our certainty but from the certainty of Jesus. Death has lost its sting because Christ has conquered the power of sin and death. As we move through this week's passages, we read of Jesus being the firstborn of this resurrection life so that we could share in this same life. That through the same Spirit that raised Christ from the death, who is living and active within us, we can walk in freedom.

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Week 13- Journey to the Cross

In this Holy Week we journey with the humble King as he traverses toward the greatest act of love in history.

The one who rides a donkey instead of a horse, humble before humanity for his battle is not with us but for us.

The one who prioritises people over profit, disruption to our power structures over the healing touch of Jesus, and for all to be able to worship God.

The one who willingly partakes in his own death, allowing himself to be betrayed by one he had allowed close to him, and let down by his closest friends who cannot stay awake to pray for him.

The one who longs for another way to bring about the redemption of humanity that avoids suffering but with quaking knees and tears streaming submits to the will of Father for our sake.

The one who is mocked for the very victory he has won for us all very sin and death.

The one who hung on a tree,
nails in his flesh.

Silence.
Has death won?

Until the earth - quaked.
The temple robe - torn.
The dead- raised
The victory - won.

For-everyone.
For-ever.

Hosanna, to the Lamb who was slain.

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Week 12- Perseverance

Perseverance is one of the most understated yet most-experienced elements of the spiritual journey. To be human is to persevere. Although the mountain top moments should be celebrated - where God feels near, provision is flowing and community is close - the hard reality is that so much of our Christian life is experienced in the everyday plodding.

To keep putting one foot in front of the other in amongst weariness, strain and opposition.
To model steadfastness in the hardest of seasons.
To keep going in the now and not yet.

The New Testament writers often used the example of a race when describing the Christian life. A marathon, never a sprint. Reminding us that the reason we run isn’t out of fear nor legalism, but faith and joy. Faith in the true image bearer, who left his throne to run his own race and finished it perfectly. So now when we run our own we can resist distractions and exit strategies, joyfully fixing our eyes on the One cheering us on at the finish line.

However you are embarking on the race at the moment - steadily running, plodding, crawling or even contemplating exiting - may you be given a fresh energy to press forward, hearing the invitation of the Father to trust him in what we hope for and what we might yet not see.

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Week 11- Times of Difficulty

We are no strangers to difficulty. Life, it often seems, is a dance between breathtaking mountain-top-moments and the deepest, most painful valleys. It’s a bittersweet journey and sometimes it happens so suddenly that you’re left winded, with your head spinning and a bad case of whiplash. 

In these moments where we feel exposed and vulnerable, it’s hard not to live from a place of fear. Thankfully, Jesus loves to meet us in such places. Throughout this week's readings, God encourages us to commit our ways to Him, to trust in him, and he will act. In other words, do not be afraid, stand firm in the words He has spoken and pursue holiness. God will help you, He will prosper you.

To pursue holiness is to pursue God. To remain in Him, to dwell with Him, to rest. In his book Consolations poet David Whyte describes that to rest is ‘to prepare to give the best of ourselves.’ It’s to stop, to let go, to breathe and allow the Holy Spirit to work within us. 

When we rest in God, we start to look like Him: holy. He gives us peace, patience, strength, wisdom; he draws out our best selves. 

So as you read this week, take rest in the knowledge that our faithful Friend and Father is leading us by the hand through every difficulty. Whatever you’re facing - a fiery furnace, an unexpected bill, kids who can't sleep, the loss of a loved one, a deep depression; do not be afraid because God is on your side and He is supporting you through it all. 

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Week 10- Sin and Brokenness

Sin is not a word that we are often comfortable talking about. We find it much easier to talk about freedom and forgiveness and yet, these are only possible if we acknowledge the presence of sin.

The Bible is full of direct references to sin from the origin of it in the Garden to the New Jerusalem where there is no sin. And yet, at every opportunity, God is moving towards people in love. Being aware of sin does not result in God retreating, but the opposite. David, in the Psalms, is honest about his life and his failings and these psalms turn back to God at the end. Recognising and acknowledging our sin, instead of ignoring it, causes us to face God. This only happens, however, when we believe that God is gracious and compassionate. The way that we know this is true is because of Jesus, who came to dwell among us, face temptation himself and die on our behalf. Jesus is familiar with our brokenness and moves towards us to set us free from the power of sin and by faith we can trust.

Shame can try and stop us from acknowledging our sin and yet by bringing our sin into the light and into the presence of our loving and faithful God, we can be free because of Jesus. This week, the invitation is to allow this truth that Jesus has brought us freedom to dwell in our hearts and minds.

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Week 9- Loneliness

The pangs of loneliness are all too familiar for us as humans. The isolation that seems inescapable, the feelings of distance from what we long for, and the fog of timelessness that draws close that leads us to despair. When those that we've relied on let us down and we feel the agitation of feeling cut adrift from belonging.

These are not just our experiences today but the same experience of Jesus as he prayed in Gethsemane, waiting to be betrayed by his friends and to suffer for the very same friends. Through this death, Jesus liberated all of humanity so that we all are carried from isolation into relationship, from orphaned into family, and from captivity into freedom.

Because of Jesus, loneliness is not our eternal experience but a temporary reminder that we are in need of rescue, that we are made for relationship and proximity with another. Jesus has provided for both our rescue and our relationship with the eternal Creator. The one who does not just respond to us but prepares for our needs ahead of us, who is for us not against us, and who has revealed himself to us.

When reading BREAD this week, whether loneliness is a familiar or distant experience, press deep into the truth that God hasn’t remained distant from us but has drawn close. When we turn to him from our own efforts to lift ourselves out from the pit or navigate our course, He rescues us and brings us home.

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Week 8- Suffering

During this season of Lent, we recognise that our life following Jesus is not story of comfort or ease but of sacrifice and suffering. There have been or will be times where we all experience what the Psalmist describes, the lying awake feeling alone, feelings of withering away, and daily tasks becoming a struggle. This is a reality of what it means to be human, that each of us long for wholeness and peace instead of suffering.

What we see in the scriptures is that God does not despise these cries of our hearts, that he does hear and moves to restore us. That in Jesus we have a God who feels the rejection of his friends, the suffering with that compassion requires, and the grief that only death can bring. God does not just hear us from afar but feels these sufferings with us. More than that, these sufferings also are a sign that the world is not as it was created to be.

We also see these sufferings are not in vain, a moment to grit your teeth and to get through, but a moment to lean more into the God who deeply cares for us, who is looking to restore us not just in an intellectual way but in our emotions too. Breathe, even if they are shallow breaths, the truth that God has not abandoned us in our moments of pain but that He is Immanuel, God with us.

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Prayer

Father, you long for the restoration of all things and you have called us into relationship to be your children. We thank you for looking upon us with kindness, love and mercy in our sufferings, that this draws you in close to us as we cry out. That you are not distant or unacquainted with our sufferings but share in them with us.

Help us not to become children who shield our pain from a place of believing that you are asking us to grit our teeth and get on with our duties. May we recognise these times of suffering are not pieces of evidence that you have abandoned us but opportunities to experience your love afresh. Help us to see your longing for our attention and affection in these times. That you can take our anger, frustration, and tears when we are held in close by your loving arms.

Help us to be a people who seek out the restoration of this world, to feel it’s longing and ache as it cries out that this is not the way it has been created to be. May we be carriers of your healing and love to this suffering world.

Week 7- The Good Shepherd

He is the Good Shepherd, The one who sits and mourns with us as we cry,
when we choose to take the pain to Him.

He is the Good Shepherd, who knows first hand the fruit of long suffering and wishes to share it with us,
when we trust Him.

He is the Good Shepherd, He desires to lead us into living life to the fullest,
when we allow Him too.

He is the Good Shepherd, He knows the number of hairs on our head and calls us by name,
if only we would listen.

He is the Good Shepherd, who wants to bring freedom from situations that bring us harm and healing for our ailments,
when we bring our wounds to him.

He is the Good Shepherd, He awaits at the entrance of the gate, for us to knock, seek and find,
when we are willing to look.

He is the Good Shepherd Who protects and disciplines us when we act out of line,
when we don’t reject it.

He is the Good Shepherd, who allows us to fall within the safety of His parameters, eager to lift us up,
when we ask for forgiveness and repent.

He is the Good shepherd, whose love abounds for those that love Him and for those that don’t,
because He is love.

He is the Good Shepherd, who willingly laid his life down for us, before we took any steps towards Him.

The Good Shepherd, who brings us home.

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Prayer

Father, we thank you that you are the Good Shepherd, who seeks us out in our time of trouble, puts us on your shoulders, and carries us home. You are the one who knows that where we find home is with you and that you persistently and consistently reach out for us, even when we turn our backs on you. Though you ache from the pain of a people who choose to walk away, you still came into the world through Jesus Christ, our rescuer and redeemer, hung on that tree to defeat the power of the enemy to bring us home.

We are sorry for when we have run into the thickets and bushes in our stubborn attempts to be our own guide, not in need of any protection or direction. We are sorry that we twist the promises you have made to us to be with us into a boundary to see how far You are willing to allow us to run away, that when we encounter the wolves alone we then blame you for not being with us.

Lord help us to stay close to you, the one who protects and guides us. May we know this in our minds, our imaginations and our souls, that we may fully trust you with the entirety of our beings. We thank you that you choose again and again to leave the 99 for the one. Help us to see this overwhelming love for us and your world, that we may go and be agents of your kingdom.

Week 6- Protected by God

The Scriptures unveil to us that the maker of heaven and earth is our help and protector in times of need. These texts do not deny that there will be trouble; in fact they confirm that there will indeed be moments when we need shielding and covering from battle and destruction, but this is precisely when God shows Himself powerful.  He watches over us. He commands angels to guard us. He sends His spirit to comfort us. He pursues the enemy for us and fights our fight - all so that glory is His and victory is ours. 

As we walk through life we experience times when our faith is challenged and fear creeps in, but our unchanging God remains faithful and fearless. Even when we mistrust, misjudge and make mistakes, in His endless grace, He provides protection anyway. 

Let these words lift your gaze this week - know that with Him you are surrounded and sheltered. We may be no match for the seemingly impossible circumstances we face, but His power is matchless. He is on the throne, throwing the enemy into confusion and failure. He celebrates when we are safe and secure - after parted seas and souls refreshed - and through it all, long before the success story, He promises protection. 

Take heart in the Psalmist’s words: “The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.“

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Prayer

Father, we thank you that you are always our very help in time of need. That in our confusion and chaos, you are peace. That in our doubts and questioning, you give us room to discover more of who You are rather than giving us a straitjacket of answers. That when we are attacked from every side, You do not provide us an escape plan for us to figure out but give us your very self, our refuge.

Thank you that you do not leave or forsake us in these times. We are sorry for where we have believed the lie that you have left us in these times. That your presence in our lives is only ever marked by a comfortable life. We are so quick to forget your faithfulness to us in Jesus Christ.

Lord help us to be a people marked out by a depth of devotion to you in the good times and the bad, to live this day, this week, and the rest of our lives, in the truth that you are unchanging and forever our shield and refuge. Thank you for allowing us to turn back to you again, that your love for us is unconditional. Help us to walk in the light of this truth.

Week 5- God's Promises

This week we are reminded of what God has promised. The fact that the Almighty God makes promises to us is, in itself, something of wonder and awe - He declares truth, proclaims hope, and commits to covenant all that we need…how glorious is our God!

Going one step further, to look at what those promises are and what they mean for us, we will find ourselves reminded of His unfailing love and unending kindness. We can be free from shame, disgrace and humiliation as no promise is unsaid, undone or unkept.

We can take comfort in the scriptures we will read over the next seven days. They acknowledge that although we face challenges, He remains present while we await our promised vindication and victory. We are told that His ‘yes’ does indeed mean ‘yes’. He swears and it is so. His word does not return void. When He promises love, faithfulness, and compassion, that is exactly what we shall witness.

This week, be refreshed by the promises your Saviour has made to you. These truths tell you who He is and reflect His nature as your loving Father. In other words, to know these promises of God is to take another step forward in knowing God Himself - One who vows to protect you, provide for you and demonstrate His power in your life.

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Prayer

Father, in all that you do you are trustworthy for you are unchanging. Thank you that your promises to us will never fail; that You will never leave or abandon us. You have made a way for us to be with you in Jesus Christ. You love us with such kindness that we can never comprehend or imagine it.

We are sorry for when we have not trusted you. Where we’ve felt you are not who you say you are and that you’re really who we think you are. Lord thank you that you do not turn your back on us, that even when we are far off you reach out for us and bring us home.

Week 4- All Things New

We see God's creativity throughout the whole Bible, starting with the formation of the universe, Earth, and all living things. His creativity isn’t just a one-off event – it involves continuous renewal and redemption. Through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, God has initiated a new way of living and connecting with Him, breaking traditional norms by inviting all people to join in through the power of the Holy Spirit.

When we say yes to Jesus, we experience the transformation of our whole selves, with the renewal of our mind, body and soul. This transformative process happens from the inside out, as he invites us to walk in the light, leaving darkness behind for joy.

As children of God, we are called to live in a way that mirrors the transformation His love has brought into our lives. This includes holding ourselves to a different way of living, a spiritual formation marked by intentionality and a willingness to adopt a new, counter-cultural way.

The passages this week serve as a practical roadmap, offering guidance to navigate life and sharing the transformation we’ve experienced with those around us. We are invited in to reflect on what God has made new in us and where He is seeking to bring new life in us.

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Prayer

Father we thank you that you are the Author of all creation, that every new beginning starts with you. You have demonstrated your love for us through our very existence, that we have been written into the story of history solely because you imagined us and wanted us. Even when we reject your story and attempt to walk in our own, you pursue us in love to not leave us in our own chaos.

Lord we acknowledge that we so often forget this story and your desire for us to walk with you every day. We are sorry for when we see you as a fixed point in our time, only our beginning and end.

Help us to experience the transformation you long for us every single day when we encounter you in our day to day. We choose again to trust that following you is one that requires us to be attentive to you, to gaze into your face and look to Jesus as you walk with us.

Week 3- Listening and Obeying

One part of being human is longing to live with purpose, which leads many of us to pray for God’s guidance and direction – this might even be at the top of our minds this week. Thankfully, he hasn’t left us to our own devices. He speaks through these scriptures to us, guiding us to live in his wisdom. These aren’t just general platitudes; his Word is alive and active, cutting to the core of who we are.

If we’re willing to listen to his voice and put his instructions into practice, we find freedom to live in the way we’re made for. This is why the Psalmist wrote “Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.” By dwelling with God, reading the Bible, and choosing the way of obedience, we experience a more abundant life, not a reduced one. Like a kite needing a string to be able to fly, we rely on God’s instruction to be able to live life in its fullness. Rather than law-centred drudgery, we’re invited to remain in Jesus, demonstrating our love for him by following his commands. As we draw closer to the one who first loved us, it’s a natural response to shed any traces of allegiance to the way of sin, and choose to obey Jesus’ way instead.

As we approach this week’s BREAD readings, pay attention to the promptings of the Spirit. Where is he calling to put his Word into practice? What might it look like to live fully surrendered to God’s ways? In doing this we find joy and gladness in humbly spending our lives as a sacrifice to Jesus, the one who promises to lift us up.

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Prayer

Father, we thank you that your ways far outstretch our own, that you love us so much that we are not left to our own devices but that you provide wisdom for our every step. Thank you for speaking and leading us in many different ways so that we may learn to lean into a relationship with you rather than giving us a set of rules to attain your affection. We thank you for the freedom that you have provided for us through the life, death, and resurrection of your son, our Mighty Saviour Jesus Christ.

We confess that we choose to rely on our own ideas and efforts to earn love and approval. Help us to recognise where we need to submit to your ways, for the first time and afresh, so that we may truly experience the joy of being drawn by you into the wide open space that our heart’s long for.

Week 2- The Coming Christ

A new year often springs hope and optimism within us to see something good in our lives. “This year will be the year I…” is often the phrase that reverberates in our minds in the run up to January 1st and already some of us will have failed on what we had intended to set out.

This week we are exploring the start of Jesus’ ministry, seeing how the clues of who he is and what his kingdom is like were unveiled to those around. We hear the stories of Simeon and Anna, who like us long for a saviour to pull us up from the hole we are in, both individually and as the entire human race.

We see that Jesus isn’t an individual clawing at claims of divinity but that he operates with the full power of the Holy Spirit and the full affirmation of God the Father. We learn that he is good news for the poor, freedom for prisoners and the oppressed, and sight to the blind; yet still faced opposition and rejection from those who heard him.

These are the start of the answers to the question, “who is this Jesus?” who we can meet with every single day.

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Prayer

Father we thank you for your closeness to our humanity demonstrated in Jesus Christ, your desire to be with us despite our mess ups, failures and faults. Forgive us where we have rejected your kindness and goodness towards us when we have felt our ideas and plans are better than yours. We ask that you would help us live in the truth of these scriptures of who you are and that you long for our choice to participate in your kingdom activity today. Thank you for making a way for us to be with you in Jesus Christ today, this week and forevermore.

Week 1- God With Us

As we’ve celebrated Christmas over the past few weeks, we’ve been reminded again of the truth that God is with us. We have a God who knows what it means to be human, who’s experienced the strange cocktail of questions and joy, frustrations and hopes that we all navigate life with.

The Christmas story reminds us that we don’t worship a God who is distant, indifferent to the grazes and bruises of our stories, instead we worship a God who guides us through the landscape of our lives. Who is present in the heights of hilltop celebration and accompanies us through the depths when the darkness surrounds us.

This is the good news that our passages centre on this week: God is with us.
A Good Shepherd to the lost,
hope to the downcast,
a guide to the wandering,
strength to the faltering. 

 And so, as we stand at the start of this new year, this is the truth we hold onto. Whatever these 12 months bring, we are not alone. More than that, we hold the hand that flung stars into space, we’re guided by the voice that brought creation into being, and loved by the one who has the final word in all of history. However you’re coming into this year, expectant or questioning, tired or tentative, let the promise of Jesus in Thursday’s passage fill your being with courage again: “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age”. 

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Prayer

As we stand at the start of this new season, despite our good intentions and heartfelt resolutions, Father we confess our hearts are prone to wander from you. We therefore ask that this year you would, meet us in the stillness fill us with your presence break the burden of independence and teach us how to lean on you.

Train our eyes to see again the contours of your grace.
Remind us that your mercies are new every morning.
Give us strength to tend faithfully to the tasks before us, and grow in us an expectancy to see you move.

May this year kindle in us a fresh fire for your gospel a deeper love for your people and a willingness to be led out onto the wild frontiers of faith again.