Teaching

MY PEOPLE

(November 01, 2023) Dr Jim McClure shares … 

Over these past few weeks we have been shocked, sickened and stressed by the horrendous events that have been taking place in Israel. We have been confronted by the graphic details of unimaginable acts of human depravity.

This has not just a battle between Gaza and Israel about ‘land rights.’ It is intrinsically much more profound than that.  What lies behind all this hatred and hostility which has caused such unimaginable carnage?  Why is this tiny nation of Israel the focal point of so much animosity?

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HARVEST TIME REFLECTIONS

(October 07, 2023) Brian Bell shares reflections on two harvests of God’s blessings…

As Moses approached the end of his earthly life, he reminded God’s people about the festival of harvest (Deuteronomy 16:10) which was one of the three festivals they were to celebrate each year.

These festivals were an opportunity for God’s people to reflect, remember and recognise the Lord’s blessing on them.

Here in Northern Ireland, Harvest Sunday is for the most part, still a fairly traditional celebration, usually in the colder, wetter, and darker months of September and October and held especially for folk in our farming/agricultural communities.

God’s handiwork
On Sunday, October 15, we will celebrate harvest in my home church and while we would not be described as being folk who live in a designated farming/agricultural community, some of our folk do come from such backgrounds.

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COVERED!

(October 03, 2023) Dr Jim McClure explains… 

The holiest day in Judaism has been celebrated each year by millions of Jews throughout the world for over well over 3000 years.  On the appointed day  in September or early October the celebration begins at sunset on Sunday and ends 25 hours later.  In Hebrew it is called ‘Yom kippur’ and in English ‘Day of Atonement.’

1. Source of the commemoration
Yom Kippur is so much more than just a commemoration of a past event and so much more than just a Jewish religious festival. Its significance reaches out to us today and also points to the future.

We read about it in Leviticus 23:27 where God said to Moses, ‘The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to the Lord by fire.’

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PAUL’S GREAT CONCERN

(September 26, 2023) Brian Bell shares some thoughts on Paul’s concern about non-Christian behaviour…  

The apostle Paul had spent about 18 months with the believers in the Roman city of Corinth before he moved on. During the next three years that church grew in number but, unfortunately, also encountered a range of problems. And now a disquieted Paul writes them a letter expressing some concerns.

In many senses Paul’s 1 Corinthians’ letter may be considered unpleasant reading, since he addresses some exceedingly difficult issues – what we in our generation would call – ‘non-Christian behaviours.’

Among other things he talks about is rival factions within this gathering of early believers. I would draw our attention to the following…

Paul’s Plea
In verse 1:10bNLT, a troubled Paul writes pleadingly about divisions in the church – ‘Let there be real harmony so there won’t be divisions within the church, I plead with you…’

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BEGINNING, MIDDLE AND END

(September 12, 2023) Dr Jim McClure shares an encouraging truth… 

While the Bible is a library of 66 books of a variety of styles –  stories, history poetry, songs and letters – they all unite to form one ‘big picture’ that has a beginning, a middle and an end. 

Paul made a reference to this big picture when he wrote, ‘He (God) made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment  to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ’ (Ephesians 1:9-10).

The Bible reveals that God has a plan to bring all things to a conclusion according to His will. Nothing happens in the world that takes Him by surprise even when it may appear that everything is spinning out of control.  Before He created the universe, God knew exactly what was going to happen on earth and He knows precisely how everything is going to end.  

He has never abandoned the world and always get involved at exactly the right time! Paul again mentioned one of those ‘right time intervention’ in when he wrote,  ‘When the time had fully come, God sent His Son’ (Galatians 4:4).  While it may appear to us that our world is stumbling towards irrecoverable disaster, the biblical account, from Genesis to Revelation, reveals that things have not spun out of God’s control and that God has not, and never will, abandon us.

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YOU – VITAL PART OF THE BODY OF CHRIST!

(August 29, 2023) Brian Bell shares encouragingly on an important 2023 matter… 

These few thoughts I share with you here are taken from 1 Corinthians 12:12 – 31 in which Paul addresses the subject of spiritual gifts.

In these verses the apostle uses the human body to bring an illustration of the church – those early Christian believers – the ‘body’ of Christ.

And those lessons are also for us today in these troubled  times… Paul reminds us that within the body of Christ all of us are important. It doesn’t matter if we have different roles, abilities or gifts – whatever our part, our role – we should serve for the encouragement and strengthening of one another!

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HOW GREAT IS GOD!

(August 15, 2023) Dr Jim McClure challenges readers… 

Around 3500 years ago something occurred that still impacts our lives today – God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. 

Let me give you a brief background here. After the people of Israel had spent 400 years in Egypt God raised up Moses to lead them out of Egypt. Early in their journey to the Promised Land God gave them the Ten Commandments which are a brief summarise the basic life values which are just as relevant today as they were when God first revealed them to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 20:1-21).    

While those commandments have repeatedly been broken throughout history, today we are witnessing a deliberate and defiant disregard of them!

As I was reflecting on this and considering how they tell us much about the fallibility of human nature, I was aware that they also reveal something about the breathtaking character of Almighty God.

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SQUEEZED, PUSHED AND PULLED

(August 15, 2023) Richard Winter challenges…

This happened to me in college –

We all had to take two art classes, one painting and the other pottery. I thought I knew how to draw and paint – but not well, and pottery was something I knew nothing about, so I went for it.

We threw a lump of clay on a spinning wheel and squeezed, pushed and pulled that clay until it resembled a pot of some sort.

Jeremiah 18:4 says that God has an illustration of how a potter can make a pot of his choice and,  if he doesn’t like it, can squash it down again and make another pot.

This is a life message!
In this world we can be squeezed, pushed and pulled to conform to the image that it wants to make of us. But this is not what God wants for us so He makes a new life for us –  we are to be born again by the Spirit and not the flesh.

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KABOD – GLORY!

(July 30, 2023) Dr Jim McClure shares on this Hebrew word… 

‘Glory!’ Christians often use the word ‘glory’… but usually do not have much idea of what it means!

The Hebrew word for glory, kabod, is found 200 times in the Old Testament and its development is interesting.

Development
The root of kabod actually means ‘heavy’ and is associated with the liver (Exodus 29:13), which is the heaviest of the internal organs.  The use of the word as ‘heavy’ is seen in a number of Old Testament passages such as Psalm 38:4KJV, ‘For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.’

Glory developed into the concept of splendour.It referred to material wealth, that is, being ‘heavy with riches.’  Note Isaiah 10:3, ‘To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your wealth?’  Here ‘wealth’ is ‘kabod.’ 

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AMOS THE LORD’S MESSENGER (Part 3)

(July 29, 2023) Brian Bell continues sharing his meditation in Amos… 

When I began looking at Amos it was for my own ‘personal’ study and I did not expect the Holy Spirit to lead my thoughts into what is now the third article and which is meant to be the ‘final’ in a short if unexpected series!

In this meditation I bring your attention to Amos 8:11 and 9:9-15 and encourage you to consider the –

Famine of God’s word
Chapter 8:11 reads ‘I will send a famine … not a famine of bread … but of hearing the words of the Lord.’

In writing his gospel account, Luke records the Lord Jesus as saying the following words in response to the temptation to turn a stone into bread… ‘The scriptures say people need more than bread to live.’

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