Pastor Brian Taylor

It is the Christian privilege that they are called the children of God. There is something in a name. The custom of the old testament was to name children with a great name, a name that had a great story which belonged to an earlier hero. The name gave him or her a standard to live up to, an inspiration for living. No-one would usually use a weak or insipid name for their child – that in itself could be so discouraging. So the Christian has the privilege of being called the children of God.

We might say some of God’s servants in the Bible spent their time alone. Yes. but it was not meant to be that way. Well, not for long; because their life had no real meaning until they were amongst people.

The living God is not like us, that is all the more reason to seek Him. Tozer said: “what we think when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” What are we thinking? Isaiah 66:2: “But on this one will I look: On him who is of a poor and contrite spirit, and who trembles at My Word.” He is speaking of reverence. That is something I need to know. Listen to Pastor Dave’s message again. So many good lessons when we are in a valley with a shadow.

Partiality based on appearances is wrong, it is not for the church. The Lord Jesus in John 7:24 began to speak to the multitude about John the Baptist: “What did you go out to see?” He was telling them not to judge by the way things look.

There are two important questions for everyone: Who am I? Where do I belong?

We see God’s self-control at the cross, where our lord Jesus died for us. Romans 8:32 – “He who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us.”

Pastor Dave in this series on “Dear God” is taking us through a difficult period concerning current affairs. These are making the news each day. His textbook is the Bible. We have seen him holding it out towards us, telling us, last week, it is a mirror into which we must look. So, let us take a look.

Be still and know that I am God”. He knows what is happening, He knows what’s around the next corner. We must learn to trust him more, worry less and rush less. God is our refuge.

The series by Pastor Dave on “Developing Contentment” has told us, obviously, that it is an inside job and that contentment is not automatic. Being an inside job seems to put the emphasis on us, and that is where we might want to stop. If it depends on me it just will not happen. It is hard to be content. But there is a lot of incentive to develop contentment, and we have help. Paul says ‘It is God who works in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure’, in Philippians 2:13. So let us pay attention.

Every father knows that he is not a father only on one day, but a father on every day. The greatest Being in the universe, the One Who created it, He never changes, He is everlasting. When He gave us a title about Himself it was relational. It was not about a job or a career, or His creative power – it was Father.

Our Sunday message came from Mark’s Gospel Ch. 8 was named ‘A new type of King.’ In vv27-30, we have Peter confessing Jesus as the Christ. Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi, and on the way He asked them “Who do men say that I am?

We do not live in a perfect world; and we all have events in our lives we do not want to talk about.We, for sure, do not want others to talk about or remind us of these things. We must remember that if they knew everything about us it would be even worse.

When Pastor Dave started our latest series “Closer”, he put on the front page of the Jan/Feb guide: “God is closer than you think.” This is one of the most important things you must think when thinking about God.E. M. Bounds writing on prayer says, “God is everywhere, watching, superintending, overseeing, governing everything in the highest interest of man… He is not an absentee God…