JANUARY 2-3

“How can they believe in Him if they never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them? And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent?” - Romans 10:14-15

Good news is meant to be shared, we just can't keep quiet. We search for someone to tell it to....if we don't share it, we feel we will explode – we can't keep it to ourselves!

When our team wins and the game is over, we shout -

“WE WON!”

When the baby's born we can't wait to tell the world -

“IT'S A GIRL!”

When that special letter is received from the university - “I'M ACCEPTED!”

When the doctor smiles and says, “It's benign.”  "YES!....THANK YOU GOD!!" 

As Charles Swindoll says, “Life is punctuated with great proclamations. They add true joy to our otherwise dim and dark world. And have you noticed? The greater the news, the louder and longer we want to proclaim it.”

On Wednesday we heralded in a brand new year – 2015, as church bells around the country rang out the old, and in the new. I recall as a child, standing in the garden at midnight with my parents and siblings, listening to the cacophony of sound echoing into the night sky as every church bell in town pealed their message of Christ's birth; and the fleet of vessels anchored in the harbour blew their ships horns and whistles in unison. The very air rang with celebration, joy, and hope for the future. What greater celebration, joy, and hope is there than the proclamation of the Good News of Jesus and Salvation?

Were these your feelings as you stood on the threshold of another year? Or did you fear what the new year may bring? For some, 2014 will have been a year of health, success and happiness, while others amongst us will have experienced health problems, sorrows, loss, and disappointments. Maybe right now you're thinking, “Huh, what's good about a new year if it turns out like the last!”

Only God knows what is in store for each of us and our loved ones in 2015, but of one thing we can be certain, the Christ child – our Saviour and Redeemer, will walk each step of the way with us. So let us stride forward in faith and trust, leaving behind the disappointments, regrets and failures of 2014, and say with Mary Louise Haskins, who wrote the following words in 1908 -

“.... I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”
So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of the day in the lone East.'

God knows. His will
Is best. The stretch of years
Which wind ahead, so dim
To our imperfect vision,
Are clear to God. Our fears
Are premature; In Him,
All time hath full provision.

After hearing the angels proclamation and seeing Jesus, the shepherds couldn't wait to proclaim the news to all who would listen. Have we heard and seen? Are we bursting to tell?

The music today reminds us that the gate stands open waiting for us to walk through.  Be sure, that no matter what lies ahead, Jesus will never leave you or forsake you - B.J.Thomas singing “He's the Hand on my Shoulder.  To listen, click on the picture.

       

     Housekeeping details for you

     The point of this short blog will become clear if you decide to use this reading in the way we intend it. Netherfield Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in healthy churches. You can see what that means if you head to the relevant Healthy Churches page of the website. We also want other churches to be healthy. That means you can join in our campaign to create healthy churches, with healthy people serving the people in those churches.

     A healthy church is one where Jesus comes first. A healthy church is one where the people work together to put Jesus first. One thing we are doing is to join people together to spread that news. I would like you to look at our prayer partners page. This will explain how we want you to use this short devotional. Very basically we want you to find a like-minded Christian friend who you will join with to : choose to pray together every day, decide together on a way to serve other people together, to help them grow as Christians - and to invite the Holy Spirit into your life every day. This blog that you will receive every day simply gives a common spiritual purpose. If you are a newcomer and want to join the blog with this object in mind click here