Ezekiel as Watchman - Ezekiel 3 and 33

Ezekiel chapter 3 talks about a 'watchman', with the instructions to look out and warn the people of impending danger. It spells out: 'if I make you a watchman, and you don't warn the people, and disaster comes ... then it is on your head'. In other words it spells out responsibility - which is placed firmly on the watchman, holding him responsible for the people's lives.

Holiness of God - Snippets from Ezekiel

Last week we looked at the 'otherness' of God - the fact that He is beyond us, with the difference between God in the spiritual and us in the physical. This is related to the theme of the 'holiness' of God, which occurs in various ways through the writings of Ezekiel.

God is God, We are Not - Ezekiel 1

After the introduction about Ezekiel in chapter 1 it gets straight into his first vision in verse 4. Immediately it is over-whelming: a violent storm, immense cloud, flashes of lightning, brilliant light. We know that there is nothing like the ferocity of nature to stop us in our tracks and remind us of the awesomeness of God - be it a hurricane from the Atlantic, huge waves, the shock of hail stones bouncing up from the pavement or the crash of thunder. They all remind us that there are forces bigger than us.

Ezekiel - An Introduction

We are told that Ezekiel was a priest, brought up to honour and serve in the religious rituals of Israel. From verse 1 we reckon his age to be 30 - which was the typical age for a priest to commence their full duties. We also get from the book of Ezekiel clear markers in time and history: verse 2 sets a date which relates to 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles - the surrender of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 597BC. That led to royalty, officers, fighting men and skilled workers being led off to exile in Babylon.

[UP] What does it mean for us to foster resilient discipleship?

Challenge: Review where you were at in terms of your personal walk with God in January, at the end of March … and compare it to now

Prayer Simplicity - Matthew 6:5 - 13

Prayer seems to many a mystery: both to people who haven't discovered Christ and those who have. The fact is that we are all lifelong learners when it comes to prayer - none of us have it sussed. For those of no faith they may mistakenly believe they can't pray, or that they need someone to pray for them. That's why as a church we have put some simple resources on our new 'Help Me' page to help get people started.

Life Foundations - Matthew 7

We are familiar with Jesus' story of building the house on rock or sand. We know that buildings need foundations, and we know that unsteady ground spells trouble: storms will come and things will shift. So the natural question for every person is 'what are the foundations of your life?'. What is your life based on, and are those foundations going to be sound when storms come?

Covenant Relationships - Proverbs 27:17

At theological college we were reminded of this saying by Spurgeon himself: "As iron sharpens iron, so one person to another". Spurgeon was highlighting how we can help each other improve and become more Christ-like in our understanding of God, Jesus and the work of the Spirit. Spurgeon didn't make this up - he was actually quoting Proverbs chapter 27 verse 17.

Gospel Living - Romans 1

When Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, we should remember that the church had no buildings. They met in homes, as small pockets of believers - in fact in chapter 16 when Paul greets various people he even writes 'and the church that meets in their house' on some occasions. Secondly Paul himself had not yet been to Rome. He sorely wanted to get there, and was frustrated that so far he hadn't. We see that in verse 10 and 11: hoping that at last he will make it, for he is longing to see them.

[OUT] Who is God leading you to?

Challenge: Pray for opportunity