Merland Rise Church

Just a reminder, the youth are doing their Sponsored Bible Read-a-thon tomorrow. They'll be reading the Bible aloud between 9am-6pm. If you'd like to pop down to listen and leave a donation, you'd be very welcome 😊

"Do you want to leave a legacy? Get to know Jesus. If you really want to make a difference in your children’s lives, show them your extravagant devotion to Christ." Kevin DeYoung

“Don’t dishonor God by devaluing the gifts he’s given you. Don’t waste valuable time grumbling about gifts you don’t have or resenting others for the gifts they do have. Aspire to be the very best and most fruitful you that you can be for God’s glory.”
—Jon Bloom

Before the death and resurrection of Jesus, people would have to go to the temple to meet with God. Even then, they couldn't go into the inner sanctuary, they would need a priest to stand between them and God, to go before God on their behalf. In order to do this, the priests would have to first undergo extensive cleansing rituals to purify them. This wasn't because God is afraid of germs (!) it's because His holiness is so great that any trace of sin is burned up before Him-... it was to protect the priests from His holiness! There was a thick, tall curtain which separated the inner sanctuary where God's presence was, from the other areas, so no one could be in any doubt, or go in there by mistake! (There are many stories in the Bible of when people went into God's presence in an unfit way, and suffered the consequences!) God put these things in place to protect us from his Holy fire, but when Jesus died on the cross, the temple curtain was ripped in two, from top to bottom. God's holiness didn't change, but because Jesus took our sin and impurity upon Himself, we can now come before God as though completely cleansed. We are cleansed by the blood of Jesus and can stand before God without fear! We no longer need a priest to mediate between us and God! How incredible is that?! So, my question is this: Do you come boldly and confidently into God's presence? Do you make the most of this opportunity we've been given to draw so close to the Creator of the Universe, without fear of rejection or judgement? Christian, you have full and unguarded access to the King of Kings, you have the ear of the Living God, will you take the time to come into His presence today?
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REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE! Ephesians 2:10 says "For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." Henri Nouwen states this beautifully, "From all eternity, long before you were born and became a part of history, you existed in God’s heart. Long before your parents admired you or your friends acknowledged your gifts or your teachers, colleagues and employers encouraged you, you were already ‘chosen’. The... eyes of love had seen you as precious, as of infinite beauty, as of eternal value." Christian, when darkness looms and troubles seem overwhelming, as well as on the brightest days when everything is well, remember that because of Jesus, and His victory on the cross, we already have all the weapons of victory in our battle against the enemy. Don't let the lies of the enemy diminish your strengths and magnify your insecurities! Child of the living God, REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE!
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WISDOM!

New challenge!