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The Great Commission Matthew 28:18-20 Jesus’ mission (manifesto) was passed down to the disciples and so on, all the way down to us believers today. Mark 16:15-18 is similar to Matthew 28:18-20 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Jesus’ manifesto was first passed to the 11 disciples and ultimately to the whole church including us- c.f Matthew 28:18-20 The Great Commission is our commission. Many believers look for confirmation in a “calling.” But Jesus did not call some (or any) of his followers to his mission. Rather, he called them to himself and sent them on mission. If you are walking with Jesus, his manifesto is incumbent on you and me. Every disciple must be a disciple-maker, whether God sends you down the street or to the other side of the world. As you go to work, to the grocery store, to the foodbank, or to the gym- live and love like Jesus. Be confident in his authority. Mark 16:15-18 describes the full gospel: salvation from sin, deliverance from demons, healing and curing of sickness and disease, and immunity from poisons. The next transmission of Jesus’ manifesto was in: The Great Commission Matthew 28:18-20 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Consider the four “alls” of Christ’s commission, “All authority”, To go to “all nations”, To communicate “all his teaching,” strengthened by his presence “all the time” (translated always). Jesus claims to have all authority in the universe to lead us on this journey. He claims that his teaching is the most important thing in life to follow and therefore, he claims that all nations need to know his teaching. And last but not least, he claims that he will be with us for all time. Huge claims, and in the literal sense, incredible — you would not believe them unless Jesus is God. Whatever, the four “alls” might mean for you and me and wherever the Lord takes us, be it near or far we must not let fear crowd out our faith. Jesus spoke these words to give us a task and to give us courage in and through the task. These four “alls” remind us that the burden is not on us but on Jesus Christ himself. However, we are obliged to obey Jesus’ command, for the Great Commission is for every believer. Amen Personal Prayer In Part 4 we consider the onward transmission of Jesus’ manifesto on the day of Pentecost.

Isaiah 61:1-2 and Luke 4:18-19 Isaiah 61:1-2 1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound. 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God. To comfort all who mourn, Jesus quoted from this scripture showing that the Holy Spirit had anointed him, like the holy oil used to consecrate holy persons (the priests) and holy things (in the tabernacle and temple). Yeshua Ha’Meshiach in Hebrew becomes Jesus Christos in the Greek i.e. the anointed one and we Christians are the little ‘anointed ones’. The anointing confers God’s power on the anointed one showing that the Messiah is chosen and empowered by God. The Messiah would fulfil this scripture which is exactly what Jesus did in Luke 4:18-19 These verses describe the essence of Jesus’ mission or ministry. The ministry of the Messiah is empowered to bring healing, freedom, and comfort to his people i.e. full redemption. Back to Luke Luke 4:20 Then He closed the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 So all bore witness to Him and marvelled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” v20-21 Jesus did not prolong his message but stuck closely to the point which was that those people privileged to hear these gracious words were actually simply hearing not only these prophetic words about the coming Messiah but were witnesses to the actual Messiah proclaiming them- in a sense Jesus is saying – the promised Messiah- I am he. v22 the congregation were astonished by these (lit.) words of grace- but wanted to dismiss Jesus claims of being ‘the Messiah’ – who does he think he is – I kent [1] his faither Joseph. Will not the Messiah come from royalty and come on a big white horse to defeat the Romans? In Part 3 we will consider the onward transmission of Jesus’ manifesto (mission) through the church. [1] Scottish vernacular used to make a point.

Luke 4:18-19 The UK news media is buzzing at present with speculation as to when the next UK general election will take place. Once the date is announced the politicians will be delivering their manifestos to entice the electorate to vote for them and their party. The manifesto contains the promises of what the politician intends to perform If the people elects them. In a sense that is what Jesus did in in the scripture Luke 4:18-19 which you could say was his manifesto, or his mission, or his agenda, or his platform, or even as his job description but please note his manifesto was based exclusively on the will of Father God as described in the Holy Scriptures. A what a wonderful manifesto it was, no one has before or since gave such wonderful promises to humankind as Jesus did in his manifesto. And unlike many politicians, Jesus delivered, then and now, each and every promise in his manifesto. PTL. Context of Luke 4:18-19 Luke 4:16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: Jesus’ Manifesto 18    The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed. 19    To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Jesus was anointed (saturated) with the Holy Spirit to fulfil the specific purposes for which the Father God had sent him. Each point Jesus makes is part of the wonderful news in his manifesto. 1.To preach the Gospel the good news of salvation to the poor. The poor* being everyone who was as sinner and had no way of obtaining forgiveness of their sins and receiving God’s salvation. * biblically =dependent on others i.e. spiritually speaking to us all. 2. To heal the broken hearted- one of the Teen Challenge (addiction recovery) leaders explained to me that everyone who has addiction problems has had a broken heart in their relationships in life. Many other people have had their hearts broken too in their life relationships and experiences but without addiction. Jesus came specifically to bind up the broken hearts to restore meaning, purpose, and wholeness to our lives. Remember Matthew 12:20 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory; (Isa 42:3) when we feel that we are hanging by a thread or that our candle flame is going to go out. Jesus binds up our strands and breathes his oxygen onto our flames. The wonderful news in Jesus’ manifesto continues. 3. Jesus came to set people free from the bondage and slavery of sin which takes them captive at will. The believer no longer is at the whim of sin but can stand against it in using the full panoply of armour of God and the weapons Jesus has given us. Jesus came to remove all our guilt, and shame-these are often Satan’s weapons to hold us back from serving God. 4. Not only did Jesus often heal the physical blindness in his earthly ministry but more importantly took away the blindness of the unbelievers when we were saved into God’s Kingdom. Remember the hymn line from ‘Amazing grace’: ‘I once was blind but now I see.’ That was you and I until we became believers. 5. Jesus came to set at liberty those who are oppressed by the devil, those held down from living their lives to the full by demonic oppression in its various manifestations. v19 The acceptable year of the Lord refers to the Jubilee year (50th) of the Lord in which land was returned to the original owner, all debts were forgiven, slaves were released- these are good parallels in the life of the believers when we are first saved. The Jubilee year was the year of redemption, Jesus announced that He was bringing full scale redemption to humankind in his manifesto. Amen Personal Prayer In part 2 we consider the words that Jesus read from Isaiah 61:1-2

Luke 24:5 “Why are you looking for the living amongst the dead” Guest blogger Jacky Wilson This portion of Scripture details how the women go to the Lord’s tomb very early in the morning taking with them the spices they had prepared. (Passover had now finished, when the Israelites remember their freedom from under the yoke of slavery to the Egyptians.) These women all have names, and they all have stories. Mary Magdalene was among them. The Lord had cast seven demons out of Mary; then there was Joanna, whom Jesus had healed, a wealthy woman in her own right who helped support Jesus’ travels and preaching from her own financial means. Her husband was a manager in King Herod’s household. Then there was Mary, the mother of Jesus. From the cross Jesus entrusted his widowed mother to John’s care, and she was to live in his home. Also, Salome (the mother of James and John). Then there was Mary the mother of James and the mother of another apostle chosen by Jesus who also walked to the tomb with the other women. What was going through their minds? Were they remembering and talking about the events of the past few days? Just three days earlier Jesus had been betrayed and sentenced to death. The betrayal had broken their hearts. First, their long-awaited Messiah was dead. Second, one of their trusted leaders, one of the Twelve, had sold Jesus for just 30 pieces of silver. Were they concerned how they would roll the very heavy stone away, or did it not enter their minds, were they just concerned with anointing Jesus' body with spices as was custom for the Jewish People as they did not embalm the dead? As the women approached the tomb, they found the stone rolled away. What was going through their minds? Panic? Fear? Has anything happened to Jesus’ body? Mary Magdalene took off running; she ran to Peter and John. The other women stayed. Then suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. The women bowed their faces to the ground. They bowed in reverence. The men said to the women “Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you these things, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” Then the women remembered Jesus words …. Amen Prayer

God is shooting to kill God now tells Israel via the prophet Ezekiel that it is high time for payback for all their rebellion against Him. Several times in this chapter does the Lord tell Ezekiel to warn the disobedient Jews of impending judgement. The Canadian preacher D. A. Carson puts it like this ‘God is shooting to kill.' This chapter clearly highlights the need for Christians to urgently preach repentance towards God as part of the Full Gospel message. God has appointed His church as watchmen to the nations. Judgment on Israel Is Near 1 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying,2 “And you, son of man, thus says the Lord God to the land of Israel: ‘An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land. 3 Now the end has come upon you, And I will send My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways, And I will repay you for all your abominations. 4 My eye will not spare you, Nor will I have pity; But I will repay your ways, And your abominations will be in your midst; Then you shall know that I am the Lord!’ Several times in this chapter the Lord tells Ezekiel to warn the Israelites that the end has come i.e. they are past the time for repentance and that God has had enough of them. God is angry and will judge them according to their own standards. If the wages of sin is death, then the Jews have been working overtime. The Jews had gone so far in rebellion against God that He has reached stage where He refuses to spare them or indeed show further pity on them. God is going to let them feel the full wrath of His fury on their abominations right in the midst of the people. They will not mistake the source of these judgements and it will be clear they are from God Almighty. 5 “Thus says the Lord God: ‘A disaster, a singular disaster; Behold, it has come! 6 An end has come, The end has come; It has dawned for you; Behold, it has come! 7 Doom has come to you, you who dwell in the land; The time has come, A day of trouble is near, And not of rejoicing in the mountains. 8 Now upon you I will soon pour out My fury, And spend My anger upon you; I will judge you according to your ways, And I will repay you for all your abominations. The Lord continues his pronouncement of disaster upon the nation of Israel indicating that it has already started. The time of trouble and judgement is now upon them, and they are inescapably doomed for the Lord is going to pour out the full measure of his anger upon them. God will judge their ways and measure his punishment against this. 9 ‘My eye will not spare, Nor will I have pity; I will repay you according to your ways, And your abominations will be in your midst. Then you shall know that I am the Lord who strikes. Again the Lord stresses that the Israelites are now beyond Him turning a blind eye or even taking pity on them. He also restates the judgement is on their lifestyles and those abominations amid where they dwell. The Lord will personally strike them suggesting His honour has been profaned. 10 ‘Behold, the day! Behold, it has come! Doom has gone out; The rod has blossomed, Pride has budded. 11 Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness; None of them shall remain, None of their multitude, None of them; Nor shall there be wailing for them. 12 The time has come, The day draws near. The time of savage judgement has now arrived bringing doom onto the disobedient. Their sin is fully ripened, and they are filled with pride. Violence and wickedness have reached their full measure. Not a single a one of the guilty will escape and no one will mourn their passing. Pay-back time from God is knocking on the door. ‘Let not the buyer rejoice, Nor the seller mourn, For wrath is on their whole multitude. 13 For the seller shall not return to what has been sold, Though he may still be alive; For the vision concerns the whole multitude, And it shall not turn back; No one will strengthen himself Who lives in iniquity. The upcoming judgements will confer no advantage either to buyers or sellers since all the people are coming under God’s judgement. There is no way out of these judgements for any of the guilty and they will certainly be punished. There is no defence against the judgements of God. 14 ‘They have blown the trumpet and made everyone ready, But no one goes to battle; For My wrath is on all their multitude. 15 The sword is outside, And the pestilence and famine within. Whoever is in the field Will die by the sword; And whoever is in the city, Famine and pestilence will devour him. The Jews think they can in some way resist the upcoming judgements by being battle-ready. But is God Himself who is wielding the sword against those Jews outside of Jerusalem and He himself is also instigating famine and disease inside the city. There is no escape for most Jews except for a small remnant. 16 ‘Those who survive will escape and be on the mountains Like doves of the valleys, All of them mourning, Each for his iniquity. 17 Every hand will be feeble, And every knee will be as weak as water. 18 They will also be girded with sackcloth; Horror will cover them; Shame will be on every face, Baldness on all their heads. A small remnant will escape to the mountains and go into deep mourning for their own sins. This remnant will be weak and feeble and clothed in sackcloth. Their faces will show both shame and horror and their heads will be shaved bald. 19 ‘They will throw their silver into the streets, And their gold will be like refuse; Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them In the day of the wrath of the Lord; They will not satisfy their souls, Nor fill their stomachs, Because it became their stumbling block of iniquity. Their treasures of gold and silver that they idolised will be unable to save them and will neither be able to appease the wrath of God nor even buy food for them to eat. 20 ‘As for the beauty of his ornaments, He set it in majesty; But they made from it The images of their abominations— Their detestable things; Therefore I have made it Like refuse to them. 21 I will give it as plunder Into the hands of strangers, And to the wicked of the earth as spoil; And they shall defile it. 22 I will turn My face from them, And they will defile My secret place; For robbers shall enter it and defile it. God had provided them will gold and silver to make the holy things for use in the Holy Temple, but they has spat in God’s face as it were by using them to make heathen images. The Lord has rubbed their noses in it by showing them that their gold and silver have no value to help them, and that eventually evil men will take it all away one day. In fact God is going to permit one day that evil men will enter and plunder the sanctuary in His Holy Temple. 23 ‘Make a chain, For the land is filled with crimes of blood, And the city is full of violence. 24 Therefore I will bring the worst of the Gentiles, And they will possess their houses; I will cause the pomp of the strong to cease, And their holy places shall be defiled. 25 Destruction comes; They will seek peace, but there shall be none. 26 Disaster will come upon disaster, And rumour will be upon rumour. Then they will seek a vision from a prophet; But the law will perish from the priest, And counsel from the elders. The Jews are sinners and criminals and are only fit to be chained up. Murder and violence are so rife that God is going to handpick the very worst of the Gentile nations to come and completely defile all that is sacred to them including the very sanctuary of the Living God. These Jews may seek peace, but they can forget it. Disaster upon disaster will flood over them like waves and even cause further rumours of more doom. In their desperation the Jews will try to find a word of comfort from a prophet or from the Law, but the word of the Lord will not come to them. 27 ‘The king will mourn, The prince will be clothed with desolation, And the hands of the common people will tremble. I will do to them according to their way, And according to what they deserve I will judge them; Then they shall know that I am the Lord!’” God will judge everyone from the king down causing them to tremble with fear. God is now going to cause them to reap the bitter crop of all the evil they have sowed. No one will be any doubt as to who is behind all these judgements i.e. the Lord God Almighty.

Making mention in prayer Some years ago, whilst working in my role as a biomedical scientist, I heard about a patient who had a kidney transplant. Such patients need to take a type of medication called immuno-suppressive drugs. These drugs prevent the patient’s immune system from rejecting the transplanted organ. The doctors were able to gradually reduce the patient’s anti-rejection tablets from several a day at first, over a year or two right down to a half tablet each day. This worked fine and for something like 14 years the half tablet did the job. However, one day the patient forgot to take the half tablet and sad to say, he went into graft rejection and lost the kidney. Although he was only taking a tiny dose it went a long way and unfortunately as soon as he stopped the entire benefit was lost. This story made me think of a recurring theme in the bible of how God can make a little go a long way. Let us bring some of these stories to mind. Elijah’s tub of flour and jug of oil never ran out during the famine (1 Kings 17:8-16). Elisha prayed that the widow’s jar of oil would keep flowing and she was able to clear all her debts (2 Kings 4:1-7). God filled every vessel of the widow which c.f. with us being filled with the Spirit but he is never diluted or diminished. Jesus prayed and the loaves and fishes were multiplied to feed a multitude (Matthew 14:17-21) and they had lots of leftovers too. Again, Jesus tells us (Matthew 17:20) that if we have the tiniest measure of faith, then we can move mountains! God certainly can make a little go a long way! And God does it repeatedly to bless his people to meet their needs. Let us now focus specifically on a little going a long way in the context of prayer. Sometimes we think that for certain types of prayer to be effective, then the prayer must be nice and long. But could God act on us merely mentioning someone in our prayers? Well, here are 4 biblical examples from the Apostle Paul, who clearly thought mentioning someone in prayer was very worthwhile. Romans 1:9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention [1] of you always in my prayers. Ephesians 1:16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. 1 Thessalonians 1:2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers. Philemon 4 I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, So, what does it mean to mention someone in prayer? A dictionary definition of the word ‘mention’ -a brief comment or remark, or, to remember briefly. As we get older in the faith our daily prayer lists get longer and longer! Paul’s prayer list must have been very extensive (he prayed for the Galatians, Colossians and many other churches, families, and individuals). But he felt that it was important to continually be mentioning his fellow believers in prayer to the Lord. Sometimes, we think that for a prayer to be effective that it must be long! As an older car battery charger gives a trickle charge, so our making mention of others in prayer is constantly bringing them before the throne room of grace. Sad to say, from my own experience, for several years I used to briefly mention each day two children with serious health problems. They always seemed fine. But I unintentionally forgot them for a year or two. When I next saw them, I was surprised how much they had deteriorated, and I decided that I had to start mentioning them before God each day again. Beloved, God can make your little go a long way. So, give God your littles: (your little prayer, your little time, your little finance and little resources, your little strength, your little capacity to care for others, your little faith that can move mountains), and know this that even mentioning someone in prayer to the Lord is positively making a difference in their lives. Amen Prayer Father God in Jesus name, we offer to you the ‘littles’ in our lives, our time, our strength and energy, our finance and resources, and all other areas of our lives where we feel ‘little,’ asking that that you make each one of them go a long way in the building your kingdom. Amen [1] 3417. mneia, mni'-ah; from G3415 or G3403; recollection; by impl. recital: --mention, remembrance.

The width, length, depth, and height of God's love Ephesians 3:18-19 Picking up from Part 1 in Ephesians 3:18 we see that there is a supernatural order of the dimensions of God’s love. The Holy Spirit directs our attention as follows. A. What is Breadth? We have some difficulty in seeing the breadth of God’s love to all men of every race and colour, every age from a foetus in the mother’s womb to a man on his death bed, embracing each one of these. In all time past, back to Adam and forward to Christ’s second advent. This breadth tells the Jewish believers of God’s love for the Gentiles and tells us now of His love for all the various parts of the body of Christ. In my Father’s house there are many mansions. God’s love is so broad it embraces His whole family beyond any man-made barriers. He is not a respecter of rank or position. His love is so broad it includes from the humblest to the most exalted of his people. B. Length, this invites us to meditate on the eternal nature of God’s love. Christ loved us before we got born again. 1 John 4:19 tells us that we love him, because he first loved us and as his love knows no end, so it has no beginning and is from everlasting to everlasting. Jeremiah 31:3 Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness. I have drawn thee the Lord says this to each one of us. His drawing of us unto himself is the effect of his love. John 13:1 Jesus loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. Romans 8:35-39 Nothing can separate us from God’s love. Are you catching a glimpse of its length? C. Depth, another way to look at the depth of God’s love is to look back to where we came from, dying and on the way to eternal death. Each one of us can take a minute to meditate on how deep our Father’s love was to raise us up out of the pit of our sinful lives. We were children wrath by nature see Ephesians 2:1-6. Does this not speak to your heart of the Depth of our Father’s love? D. Height, so far, we have seen the love of God has a boundless breadth, an endless length, a fathomless depth then surely its height is measureless? In trying to comprehend the height we may look to both our present privileges and our future promises as clearly identified in the word of God. 1 Samuel 2:8, Isaiah 56:5 Romans 8:16-17, 1 John 3:1, and Revelation 22:4-5,19 that we might know the love of Christ which passes knowledge by the Holy Spirit that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. Did Paul get carried away with it here or was the Holy Spirit showing us the summit of the prayer? Are we not heirs of the Father, joint heirs of Christ? If we ask for bread, will he give us a stone or a snake instead of a fish? This is the point; the word of God tells us that God wants us at filled with all His own fullness. Our hearts and minds must constantly be occupied with the love of Christ to be prepared for the being filled with all his fullness. Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness as in Matthew 5:6? The Greek for ‘filled with all the fullness’ suggests a continuous process, a progressive and enlarging experience. As a vessel is filled to the brim the vessel then expands and the process continues thus our hearts will grow and take in more of him on an ongoing basis. Suggestion: Let us agree not to pray any more weak and feeble prayers! Pray for yourself and others in this manner. Prayer Father God we bow our knees to you in the name of Jesus Christ. We ask that you grant us, according to your riches, that we might be strengthened with your mighty power in our inner man. We pray that Christ may be dwelling in our hearts by faith, and that we are becoming rooted and grounded in your divine love. We ask that we may be able to comprehend with all your saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of your love, and to come to truly know your love which surpasses mere human knowledge, that we might be filled with the love of God as you are Lord. Lord, we know you can do much more above all we can ask or even think because your power is at work in us, and we say. Amen

According to Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 The Apostle Paul came to preach the gospel to the Roman church to a society much like ours today in terms of the unrighteous lifestyles as described in Romans chapter 1. The Gospel was the only answer to the downward spiral of human activities in Rome and is still the same answer to the same problem in the modern world today, which is the preaching of the one true Gospel. So what is the Gospel according to Paul? Romans 1:1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God 2 which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, 3 concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. 5 Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, 6 among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ. We find in the above passage in Paul’s own words,• the message he preached is the gospel of God (verse 1)• the good news Paul preached, the gospel of God, was foretold by the holy prophets long before Paul lived (verse 2)• the gospel message focuses on Christ Jesus, a descendant of King David according to the Scriptures (verse 3)• though born of a woman and, thus, being fully man, Jesus was also fully God and divine in nature; His Sonship was indisputably established by the Holy Spirit through His bodily resurrection (verse 4)• Paul’s authority as an apostle, being called to preach the gospel of God, was granted to him by none other than the Lord Jesus Christ (verse 5)• those called of God, having heard and believed the gospel of God, now belong to the Lord Jesus (verse 6). Romans 2:16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel. Paul speaks of the gospel message he proclaimed as “my gospel” in Romans 2:16 and 16:25. What, then, is the “gospel of Paul”? Does it differ from the true gospel, the gospel the other apostles preached? Paul also lays out the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, According to this passage, • there is only one gospel: it is the gospel of God that Paul preached and in which the redeemed have taken their stand (verse 1)• this is the gospel that saves, the gospel Paul delivered, and the gospel that must never be forgotten or discarded (verse 2)• according to the Scriptures, the Lord Jesus died for our sins. His sacrifice paid our sin debt (verse 3)• after His lifeless body was taken from the cross and laid to rest in a borrowed tomb, Jesus miraculously walked away from where He lay, as foretold by the holy prophets, proving His absolute power over sin and death (verse 4) This is the Gospel truth! Paul’s gospel teachings are in harmony with the Old Testament patriarchs and prophets, his New Testament contemporaries, and, most importantly, the teachings of Jesus Christ. Those who accuse Paul of having strayed from the gospel have no evidence to support themselves. Scripture proves that, rather than teaching a “different gospel,” he gave the church greater insight into the only true gospel, the gospel of God (Romans 1:1). The following passage gives ample evidence that Paul’s prime motive was not in making a name for himself, but in furthering the cause of Christ: 1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. This is the one and only true gospel that will save your soul -have you believed it? For further reading see also Romans 10:9-10 Amen Personal Prayer

Common pitfalls in using the scientific method The scientific method is indeed a powerful tool. Like any tool, however, if it is misused it can cause more harm than good. The scientific method can only be used for testable phenomenon. This is known as falsifiability [1]. While many things in nature can be evaluated and measured, some areas of human experience are beyond objective observation e.g. the meaning of life. An everyday example of something not falsifiable is the statement ‘cake is always better than biscuit’ this is because it is very subjective. Both proving and disproving the hypothesis are equally valid outcomes of testing. It is possible to ignore the outcome or inject bias to skew the results of a test in a way that will fit the hypothesis. Data in opposition to the hypothesis should never be discounted. What type of questions does the scientific method best address? It is widely accepted that the scientific method is particularly good at answering the ‘how’ questions in science e.g. how do antibiotics such as penicillin kill bacteria [2]. However when it comes to answering the ‘why’ questions as to the meaning and purpose of certain things including your life itself, the scientific method has less to contribute. This can be best understood by posing the ‘why’ questions to your own life. Amongst these big questions we might ask ourselves we might include the following. 1. Who am I? 2. What Is My Life Purpose? 3. What is My Life Plan? The go-to place for life’s big ‘Why’ questions is the bible. A good starting point with our ‘why’ questions can be found In just one bible verse: John 3:16 KJV: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The answers we can deduce from this verse include the following: 1.       There is a loving Creator God who adores his created human beings including you. 2.       The Creator God loved humankind including you enough to sacrifice the life of his Son. 3.        The Creator’s plan for us (including you) is that we believe in the Gospel of his Son Jesus Christ so that we can enter eternal life with him. Amen [1] Falsifiability is the capacity for a proposition, statement, theory, or hypothesis to be proven wrong. The concept of falsifiability was introduced in 1935 by Austrian philosopher and scientist Karl Popper (1902-1994). [2] The antibiotic properties of the mould Penecillium genus were identified and described in 1929 by Alexander Fleming in London. He named the active agent as penicillin.

What is the scientific method? Can science explain everything these days? Is there a need for a supernatural hypothesis to make sense of life? Why should we believe in an invisible God? Modern science and its multiple successes has since the 17th century has been based on a procedure called the scientific method. The scientific method consists of a methodical approach that involves the systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and the modification of hypothesis for the study [1]. We should also note that a critical approach to each stage forms the backbone of the scientific method and that the process must be based on currently validated scientific methods. Here is an example: The scientific method and the development of the smallpox vaccine [2] Edward Jenner (1749 – 1823) was a medical doctor and scientist who lived in England [3]. At that time smallpox was a dangerous disease for humans, with a mortality rate of around 30% of those infected and also leaving survivors badly scarred or even blind. However, Jenner knew that smallpox in cattle was comparatively mild and could be spread from cow to human through sores located around the cow’s udders. Jenner discovered that cattle workers thought that if they had already contracted cattle pox (which was cured quickly) then they would not get human smallpox. Observation: The starting point of Jenner’s work was that the belief that immunity from smallpox might be obtained from the subject having had the lesser infection of cattle pox. From this observation Jenner went on to the next step of the scientific method, starting with the hypothesis that this belief was true and developing the necessary experiments to prove or refute it. Hypothesis: Infection with cattle pox gives immunity to human smallpox. Experiment: The experiments that Jenner performed would be considered highly unethical today, since they were performed on humans. Although at that time there was no other way to evaluate the hypothesis, experimenting on a child today would be completely unthinkable. Jenner took cowpox sore contents from the hand of an infected milkmaid and applied it to the arm of a boy. The boy was ill for several days but then fully recovered. Jenner later took material from a smallpox sore and applied it to the same boy’s arm. However, the child did not contract the disease for a second time. After this first test, Jenner repeated the experiment with other people and later published his findings. Conclusions: the scientific method confirmed the hypothesis. Therefore infecting a person with cowpox protects against a smallpox infection. Subsequently, the scientific community was able to repeat Jenner’s experiments and obtained the same results. This is how the first “vaccines” were invented: applying a weaker strain of a virus to immunize the person against the stronger and more harmful virus. [1] For a useful overview of the scientific method see https://www.britannica.com/science/scientific-method [2] The smallpox example was adapted from Examples of Scientific Method - Examples Lab [3] Jenner’s life story see https://www.jenner.ac.uk/about/edward-jenner In Part 2 we investigate what questions can be answered by the scientific method and also the type of question it cannot answer.

What is the cost of caring? Jesus tells the Parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” 30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ 36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” What is the Cost of Caring? It may cost you time, or effort, or money plus commitment, inconvenience, and you might get covered in blood etc! Jesus was willing to pay the price for caring for you and me! Hebrews 12:2 And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. So who is your neighbour at work, at home and in other areas of life? We might not meet someone who is physically beaten, but what about in other ways? How can you show a duty of care to your family, church family, work colleagues, strangers etc? What is the cost of not caring? Dare to care! Jesus says to you and me today “Go and do likewise.” Prayer; Lord give us hearts that are willing to care and to share like you and make us willing to go the extra mile to show your care to those in need who become our neighbours. Amen.

What quality should our care be? All our care/ministry for others should be excellent! Question: Why should our ministry both to and for God be excellent? Answer-The first and foremost reason is that our God is the most excellent God. Psalm 8:1 O LORD our Lord, how excellent [is] your name in all the earth! who has set your glory above the heavens. The Lord our God has an excellent name and He is worthy of our very best. Question: why does it matter what we offer to God in terms of our ministry. Answer: All through the Old Testament God made it clear that whatever was offered to him in sacrifice should be without spot or blemish. The book of Leviticus has dozens of sacrifices specified but all without blemish. Lev 19:2 This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never come. In the New Testament, Ephesians 2:5 Jesus will present his Father God with a glorious church not having spot , or wrinkle or any such thing ; but that it should be holy and without blemish . Jesus offers only excellent ministry to his father. We should copy Jesus. In other words anything that we give to God whether spiritual, material or service it should be excellent in every way. We should never offer anything that is a reject or substandard or second quality nor damaged in any way, Everything we offer to God should be excellent in nature, not defective in any way, not sloppy, ill prepared or executed. For example, if you have three weeks, three days or just three hours to prepare a bible study, God will give you the grace to make up the difference in what you can achieve. However if you have plenty of time we honour God by making excellent preparations. This applies at work too! Obstacles to caring; sometimes the people we care for look terrible or they have an unpleasant smell, they may be aggressive, unhelpful, unwilling to share and often ungrateful. There but for the grace of God go I. Prayer: Lord, help us to offer excellent care to our fellow human beings which is pleasing to you. Help us to see the poor through your eyes. Amen. In Part 5 we consider the cost of caring