In Our Communities

As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed. Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” And He said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.” Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” And He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. They will say to you, ‘Look there! Look here!’ Do not go away, and do not run after them. For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day. But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same as happened in the days of Lot: they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.  Luke 17:12-30 NASB

Those are the words of the Lord focused on things eternal and not temporary.  

Temporarily, He was about to undergo unimaginable pain and suffering. 

Eternally, He kept His eye on the glory awaiting Him.  May we be His people who do the same.  

COME BACK TO GOD IF YOU GAVE HIM YOUR HEART but have closed your eyes to His presence - look back over your own life’s testimony- trusting that God has always been at Your side, remember what you sang with Holy Spirit, prayed with Jesus, and heard from God and  take those truths even further into your own heart, by faith we see the hand of God, Yes Lord! We won’t leave our prayers and worship in the parking lot when God commands us to take it with us wherever we go. 

Choose now a life of faith in Jesus Christ the risen Savior of the world. You may know His Name, but have not responded to His call to follow Him. Or, you may be following Him, but are overwhelmed by challenges, pain, grief, and confusion. Or, you may be at a point in life when you are wondering if the future holds anything for you. Is there any reason to trust God? Is there any reason to keep walking in faith on the hard road of life? Why go on this journey with Jesus?

Because in this “present evil age,” we can live free from the dark despair Jesus Christ’s sacrifice has saved us from.  We were alienated from our Heavenly Father, but Jesus brings us near. we are given access to every good and perfect gift the Lord offers when we walk within His will. 

This leads us to Holy Spirit given opportunities, to share the real reason behind our hope and peace.  Jesus Christ. Because of Him we are free from the chains that hold us captive. We are no longer a slave to sin, to fear, or to the world. My friends our identity as a child of God is unshakeable. While chaos, death, destruction appears to abound those who cling to Jesus will have His peace, we have His joy, we have hope, we have faith, we have the living, true, written word of God to stand on. 

Each time we read the Bible we are renewed, Holy Spirit breathes life into us. We were dead and now with Jesus as our Saviour we are alive. My friends, you, me, each of us, has been revived from an eternal death for a place in God’s kingdom.  We have been revived to tell society a better narrative, to stand with the family of Jesus, to seek the teachings of the Christ, to stand with the Gospel in our own homes, to bring Holy Spirit led change to the communities we dwell in, and to live on mission for God, under His will!  In Jesus’ very name! Hallelujah!