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Many are ‘like sheep without a shepherd’. We must not fail them. We must ‘teach them many things’ (Mark 6:34). In all our teaching from the Scriptures, let us point people to Christ (Luke 24:27). He is "the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep." He has come to give us "life in all its fullness" (John 10:10-11).

“A red sky at night is the shepherd’s delight. A red sky in the morning is the shepherd’s warning.” – Let’s think about the sun and the Son, the shepherds and the Shepherd. “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). “Is there anything new?” Yes! There is. Beyond the sun, there is the Son – Jesus Christ the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Saviour. Jesus comes to us from above. He is “the Man from heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:47). He has come to earth for us: “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son” (John 3:16). His love is brighter than the brightness of the sun. “The sun rises and the sun sets” (Ecclesiastes 1:5). The Son rises – “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead” (2 Timothy 2:8). He never sets – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Our world will come to an end. That will not be the end of our Saviour: “the end will come, when He hands over the Kingdom to God the Father” (1 Corinthians 15:24). It will n

Where do we see Jesus – and hear Him speaking to us? Does this only happen when we’re at Church or when we’re reading the Bible? Come to Church, read your Bible – and look for Jesus everywhere you go. He’ll give you glimpses of His love! “Open our eyes, Lord, We want to see Jesus … Open our ears, Lord, And help us to listen” (Songs of Fellowship”, 443). Let us celebrate the love of Jesus. May our hearts be filled with His love.

Jesus calls us to follow Him. Are you and I following Him? or Have we settled for something less? When we speak about church membership, we must ask ourselves, "Where does Jesus fit in? Is He at the centre of our life? or Has He been sidelined, while we settle for something less than following Him?" Let's think about church membership. What does it mean to us? (1) There is the church member who joined the church because thus is what other people were doing at the time. It was never really anything to do with following Jesus. It was more about following the crowd. When the crowd drifts away from the church, so does this kind of church member. How different is the true disciple who says, "If no one joins me, still I will follow. (2) There is the church member who joined the church because he was interested in the activities associated with the church. This kind of church member is a great enthusiast for his own particular organization, but he shows no enthusias

We're going to look at the Lord Jesus in two very different situations. We will see two sides of Him - two sides which belong together. In John 2:1-11, we see Him at a wedding, celebrating with the newly-weds, sharing with them in their happiness. In John 2:12-16, we see Him as the religious reformer, strenuously defending the purity of worship in God's House. These two sides of the Lord Jesus show us something about the purpose of life. The Westminster Shorter Catechism begins with question, "What is man's chief end (purpose)?" The answer is given, "Man's chief end (purpose) is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever." Glorifying God and enjoying God - the two belong together. In the Christian life, there is both privilege and responsibility - the privilege of being a Christian and the responsibility of being a Christian. In John 2, we learn about the joy of being a Christian and the seriousness of being a Christian. We learn th

The concluding message, preached by Joshua, is a call for the people to exalt the Lord. They make a definite and public commitment to the Lord. The Christ-centredness of real commitment to the Lord is summed up in the words of John the Baptist: "He must become greater; I must become less" (John 3:30). We must confess Christ and honour Him - "The One who comes from heaven is above all" (John 3:31). We must listen to what He says to us - "The One whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit" (John 3:34). It will not be easy to live a life of true commitment to Christ. Nevertheless, we have God's promise: "Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you" (Psalm 55:22).

The Rock and the River are still there – even when I can’t see them! We look out towards Dumbarton Rock and the River Clyde. There is, however, a problem! Straight ahead of us, there are some large trees. When the leaves are on the trees, we can’t see anything that’s behind the trees. We can’t see the Rock and the River – but they’re still there! There is another Rock – Jesus Christ, the Rock of our salvation. There is another River – the Holy Spirit, the River of God ’s blessing. When our faith is weak, we must remember this: Jesus is still the Rock of our salvation. When we don’t feel very blessed, we must remember this: the Holy Spirit is still the River of God ’s blessing. Jesus told a story about two builders. One was wise. He built his house on a rock. The other was foolish. He built his house on sand.   How are we to build our lives on Jesus Christ, the Rock of our salvation? We must hear His Word. We must obey His Word (Matthew 7:24). Hearing and obeying – this is the wa

Some people think of Jesus as a great teacher of morality. Is that all that we can say about Him? Those who “believe” in Him say something else about Him – He’s “the Son of God” and “the Saviour of the world” (Luke 1:35; John 4:42). The critics say, “You can’t say that!” We give this answer: Jesus said it! He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). He said it then. He’s saying it now. Thank God – He’s given us more than a great teacher. He’s given us His Son – our Saviour. We sing of God’s “amazing grace” – “How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.” Sometimes, we lose our way, and we wonder, “Where is the blessedness I knew when first I saw the Lord?” Sometimes, Jesus doesn’t seem to be so precious. Sometimes, we don’t feel so blessed. What’s the problem? We’re the problem. We’ve taken our eyes off Jesus. We’ve forgotten how great our Saviour is. When you’re going through a hard time

We look at the first seven chapters of John's Gospel. Our seven words are (1) Who; (2) What; (3) Wind; (4) Worship; (5) Wholeness; (6) Word; (7) Witness. (1) Who is Jesus? Chapter 1: (a) the Word (v. 1); (b ) God (v. 1); (c) the life (v. 4); (d) the light of men (v 4 ) and the true light (v. 9); (e) the only begotten Son (v. 18) or the Son of God (vs, 34, 49); (f) the Lamb of God (vs. 29, 36); (g) Master (v. 38); (h) the Messiah or the Christ (v. 41); (i) the King of Israel (v. 49); (j) the Son of Man (v.51). We focus our attention on another description of Jesus - "this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit" (v.33). This is based on the Spirit's descending, like a dove, to abide on Jesus (vs.32-33). (2) What kind of Spirit does Jesus baptize us with? What kind of Spirit does He pour out upon us? What kind of Spirit does He give to us to live in us? Chapter 2: The Holy Spirit is "the Spirit of Jesus ( Acts 16:7 ), "the Spirit of Christ" (

If I were to go around the congregation and ask you, "Why have you come to this church service?", I'm sure I would get quite a variety of different answers. Some of you, if you were being perfectly honest, might have to say, "I came because I've got into a routine of coming to church on a Sunday." If this is what you're thinking, that's very sad. How can you expect to get anything out of the service, if you have only come to church because it's part of your weekly routine? Others may say, "I feel that I must come because it's my duty." There's a sense in which this is true, yet, if that's all that brings you to church, you're missing a great deal. Such an attitude is surely a far cry from the attitude of the Psalmist: "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the Lord'" ( Psalm 122:1 ), Others may say, "I've come to church to hear the minister speak." Yes. You will