In his upcoming book, Missions: How the Local Church Goes Global, Andy Johnson writes, “God intends not only that his mission would go forward, but that it would go forward on his terms. He means to get glory by showing that the mission is his, and that his power sustains it. Any effort on our part to change or broaden the mission, or to substitute our ideas for God’s, runs the … [Read more...]
Prayer and the Great Commission: Praying for Provision (Luke 11:1–4)
The highlight of the annual calendar at Brackenhurst Baptist Church is our annual missions conference, known by our members as the World Outreach Celebration (WOC). The theme for WOC 2017 is “The Greatness of the Great Commission.” A pastor from Zambia, Choolwe Mwetwa, will be delivering five messages on different aspects of the greatness of the Great Commission. It promises to … [Read more...]
Prayer and the Great Commission: The Purpose of Prayer (Luke 11:1–4)
Someone has well said that prayer is to the life of the Christian as oxygen is to the body. In a moment of time, a newborn infant is brought into a brand new and strange environment, with a unique atmosphere, where he drinks in the first of billions breaths that he will take throughout his lifetime. So it is for the newborn child of God. He has gone from the environment of … [Read more...]
Normal Expectations (Luke 2:40)
The conception of the Lord Jesus Christ was abnormal. He was conceived in the womb of a virgin by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). But His birth came about in the normal way and, despite apocryphal accounts, His boyhood was also normal. In the third-century apocryphal book, The First Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ, several accounts are recorded about Jesus as … [Read more...]
The Trouble With Christmas (Matthew 2:1–12; Luke 2:1–20)
Christmas time is most often associated with joy and gladness and cheer. And rightly so. The reality that God became man is the fulfilment of Emmanuel, “God with us.” And for those who follow through with the whole Christmas story—all the way through Easter—“God with us” translates into “God for us.” This truly is joyful. This gives us sufficient cause for gladness. And yet. … [Read more...]