New Creation Church Loughborough

We have an extraordinary privilege as believers in Jesus. He has given us authority, as his Church, to confront and overcome all the forces of evil, and to see the Church built. When we faithfully proclaim Christ and declare what God’s will is for people, heaven itself will back us in a partnership, where Jesus builds his Church on the "rock" of us knowing and announcing who he is.

On Israel's journey from Egypt towards the Promised Land, recounted in Exodus chapters 12 to 17, they stopped in 7 places, each of which carries a lesson for us today. As Paul asserts in 1 Corinthians 10:11, their experiences serve as examples for our life as Christians in this present world. Each stopping place provides an encouragement which will help you have hope for your own journey towards the "promised land" of eternity with Christ.

When you release generosity as sincere worship to God, your attitude of heart matters much more than the magnitude of your giving. Whatever your contribution, giving from your material wealth involves you in what God is doing, and he will cause your resources to increase so that, as you exercise the gift of generosity, your ability in it will also expand because of what he is able to add to you.

What is it about singing, particularly in praise and worship of God, that makes such a difference? Far from being simply an introductory time-filler before a Bible message on a Sunday, sung praise and worship is a powerful act of resistance against evil, a way of solidifying spiritual truths within us, and a means to help us access heavenly realities, to bring transformation to the world around us!

There is a decisive Day coming, when the Earth will be "harvested" - a judgement and a sorting that will have vastly different outcomes for different people. This is depicted in dramatic and sometimes lurid fashion in Revelation 14:14-20. But there is grace hidden in this difficult passage - a promise of sufficiency and a power to bring holiness, that will touch your life and set you apart for God, if you will let it.

If you fail to recognise God's active involvement with the course of your life, there will be much you do not understand in what happens to you, and many mistakes made, because you will be constantly working from the wrong starting point. In God's grace, there are many ways he will direct your steps - through his providence, his provision, through open or closed 'doors', and through his own Spirit's presence with you. Watch out for these things in the year ahead, and expect God to lead you and show you the way!