Archives for August 2019

Each of us needs to have a growing relationship with God, knowing Him as our Heavenly Father. I hope the following Scriptures from the Sermon on the Mount will encourage you to draw closer to Him:

1) Know that God the Father is perfect and He is your example to follow – ‘But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.… Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect’ (Matthew 5:44-45,48).

2) Pray to your Father – ‘But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you’ (Matthew 6:6).

‘This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-10).

3) Your Heavenly Father knows what you need and He cares for you – ‘Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?’ (Matthew 6:26).

‘So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well’ (Matthew 6:31-33).

‘If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!’ (Matthew 7:11).

4) Obeying the Father’s will is what saves us – “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).

We honour God and praise Him for being our Heavenly Father. In Him we put our confidence and hope. His love for your is eternal. God bless you, Pastor Matthew.

 

‘By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict’ (Hebrews 11:23).

Here is a background to the story of Moses: The descendants of Jacob who went to Egypt, including Joseph, numbered seventy. Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, but the Israelites became so numerous that the land was filled with them.

Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power. He put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labour, but the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites and worked them ruthlessly.

The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, “When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live.” The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt commanded. And because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own. Pharaoh then gave this order to all his people: “Every Hebrew boy that is born you must throw into the Nile.”

Moses’ great-grandfather Levi had three sons who arrived in Egypt during the time of Joseph. Levi’s second son was Kohath, Moses’ grandfather. Kohath had four sons and his first son was Amram, Moses’ father. Amram married Jochebed, who was also from the tribe of Levi. She bore Amram three children: Miriam, Aaron, and the youngest of their family, Moses; who was born at the time of great danger, when the Israelite baby boys were not permitted to live.

Moses’ parents saw that there was something special about their child. They did not know what a great prophet he would become, but by faith they made sure he lived. They saved one child, and for that the world is forever blessed.

Moses symbolizes Jesus as our Deliverer and Saviour, while Pharaoh symbolizes the evil one. Crossing the Red Sea symbolizes our baptism into Christ and our deliverance from the kingdom of darkness. The sovereign power of the Lord is demonstrated through the testimony of Moses, so that even today we can stand in awe of God.

God bless you, Pastor Matthew.

 

‘…he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me’ (2 Corinthians 12:8-9).

God often uses us when we are weak. Even the apostle Paul, who had a face to face encounter with Jesus, needed to learn that lesson. When Paul pleaded with the Lord three times to take away his difficulty, he got the simple reply that, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” We must rely upon God’s grace.

My comments for today’s newsletter are in light of being in Uganda for well over a week now. Before going I was contemplating how my precious missions to Africa came about and how they led to this trip. God frequently gives us lessons to teach us to rely on Him.

I was invited to do a three-night gospel outreach in a central town in Ghana, West Africa. The local believers were working hard to set up staging and a sound system, but everything seemed to be going wrong. When it came time for the evening meeting to start, they were nowhere ready. It wasn’t until about 9pm they finished and by then it was too late. Everyone had gone home, except the faithful group who had struggled to organize this event.

I had to share a short message to the remaining believers, to encourage them that despite the difficulties of the day, this gospel outreach would take off tomorrow and we would see God do great things. I therefore shared with them Paul’s words from 2 Corinthians 12, that in our weakness the power of Christ will rest upon us. God’s grace is sufficient.

Previously in this town, when they had tried to do this kind of outreach, the believers had been attacked and some of them had ended up in hospital. The devil seemed to be fighting against it again. We needed to put aside today’s discouragement and simply persevere.

The next day we were on time. I preached on the power of Jesus and many people responded. It was exciting. Little miracles took place. A person came reporting that they had a dream of Jesus and another person had been able to eat properly for the first time after being healed of painful mouth ulcers. When we are weak, Jesus will arise on our behalf and make us strong. His grace is sufficient, even when we have to really cling to His grace.

Please pray for Alan and me in Uganda that Jesus will do great things this coming week, that His grace and favour will rest upon us. Thank you and God bless you, Pastor Matthew.

     ‘During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them’ (Acts 16:9-10).

 

The Lord Jesus Christ is the One who opens doors or closes them for the sake of the gospel. The apostle Paul and his ministry team went forth in Jesus’ name, but they found that the door to where they wanted to go was at first closed. They needed to look to God for His direction. This was confirmed to Paul in a vision, which they immediately sought to obey.

I am reminded of a dream I had when for a few years I had been doing missions trips to India and Nepal. In my dream, I was doing the dishes at the kitchen sink at a friend’s house. When I turned around my friend said to me, “What about Africa?” I was thinking, “I can’t evangelize Africa and Asia at the same time; it’s too much.”

I had many wonderful opportunities to preach the gospel in Asia, so Africa was no longer on my radar, but through that dream, a little seed was sown into my heart that maybe God still wanted me to do more missions trips to Africa. In due time I did another two trips there, making that a total of four. Now, heading off on my fifth African mission (this time with Alan Telford), I’m excited that God is in control, He leads and guides our steps and He knows when it is the right time to preach the gospel in various places.

Last year (2018), I was praying about doing a missions trip this year. I had no desire to go to Africa because it is far away and the plane ticket is more expensive. But all other doors closed and the one to Uganda opened. Jesus presents Himself to us as the One who opens and closes doors for His service (Revelation 3:7-8).

Please pray that the purpose for which Jesus has opened Uganda at this time will be fulfilled. We don’t know what the future holds, but we are blessed when we know that we are doing God’s will. Something amazing will happen.

 

Thank you for your prayers, Pastor Matthew.

Two weeks ago I shared the testimony of Jacob, which included Jacob’s perspective of his beloved son, Joseph. This morning we will look at that same story but from Joseph’s perspective. To remind you of Jacob’s side of the story, here is a recap of what I shared last time:

“I loved Joseph more than any of my other sons, because he had been born to me in my old age; and I made a beautiful robe for him. Joseph began to have dreams, but I rebuked him, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” But I kept the matter in mind.

One day my sons came to me with a robe covered in blood. They said “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.” I recognized it and said, “Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.” Then I tore my clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for my son many days. All my sons and daughters came to comfort me, but I refused to be comforted. “No,” I said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the grave,” and I wept for him.

The time came when there was a severe famine. I heard that there was grain in Egypt, so I sent my sons to go and buy some for us, so we could live and not die. I did not allow Benjamin to go because I was afraid that harm would come to him.

When they returned I heard that the governor of Egypt had accused them of being spies and that was why Simeon remained as a prisoner in Egypt. He would not be released unless they took Benjamin to verify that what they were saying was true. I said to them, “You have deprived me of my children. Joseph is no more and Simeon is no more, and now you want to take Benjamin. Everything is against me!”

The famine continued so I had no choice but to let them go, this time with Benjamin. When they returned from Egypt they said to me, “Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt.” I was stunned; I did not believe them. But when they told me everything Joseph had said to them, and when I saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry me back, my spirit was revived.

When we arrived in the region of Goshen, Joseph had his chariot made ready and came to meet me. As soon as Joseph appeared, he threw his arms around me and wept for a long time, and he took me to be presented before Pharaoh.”

Now get ready to learn of God’s love and mercy through the testimony of Joseph. God bless you, Pastor Matthew.