According to God’s law, children’s relationship with their parents was inextricably linked to God’s kingdom promises, and even to their own personal welfare. Honouring one’s parents was meant to be a way to sustain the good life of God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule. Disobedience and dishonour was an evil that would lead to the fall of the nation (Deuteronomy 28:15ff). The Lift Up Your Hearts devotional series for the month of March 2021 are provided by Canon Craig Roberts, CEO, and hi...
Mar 08, 2021•5 min•Season 1Ep. 46
When was the last time you forgot something? It might have been yesterday; it might have been five minutes ago. For most people, it will be recently! We have alarms, calendars, and diaries because we forget little things daily. Sadly, we tend to forget big and significant things as well. This is why we have monuments to commemorate times of tragedy and war, national days of remembrance, and songs and poems which lead us to reflect on momentous events that impacted generations before us. In Austr...
Mar 07, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 45
The story of Jacob and Esau is really the story of God’s prerogative to bless those whom he chooses to bless. Right from the very beginning of Genesis we hear the words of blessing from God to his creatures, first the airborne and sea creatures (Genesis 1:22), and then to his privileged image-bearers (Genesis 1:28). And God continues to bless humankind even after the Fall, after the Flood, and notably, after Babel, God makes a very particular and astounding blessing to Abram (Genesis 12:1-3). It...
Mar 03, 2021•5 min•Season 1Ep. 43
When I was eight years old, I felt very special. My grandfather entrusted his utility (name of a pickup truck in Australia) to me when he taught me how to drive it on his farm. I thought it was fantastic. My friends were so jealous. When Josiah was eight years old, he would have felt very special, because God entrusted him with his whole plan to save the world when he made him King of Judah (2 Chronicles 34:1). The Lift Up Your Hearts devotional series for the month of March 2021 are provided by...
Mar 03, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 48
When the curtain goes up at the start of a play or musical, the audience sees a background which immediately gives context for the action that is about to unfold. Most often, there is a problem that needs solving and so we are looking for a hero. The Lift Up Your Hearts devotional series for the month of March 2021 are provided by Rev Craig Roberts, CEO of Anglican Youthworks in Australia and his colleagues. Today’s devotion was written by Craig who is also the leader of Gafcon's Youth and Child...
Mar 02, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 42
The question of personal identity is one of the most significant questions of our time. Young people are surrounded by messages telling them that being authentic to their identity—who they are and what they desire—is the only way to live a fulfilling and satisfying life. The Lift Up Your Hearts devotional series for the month of March 2021 are provided by Canon Craig Roberts, CEO, and his colleagues from Anglican Youthworks in Australia. Today’s devotion was written by Kate Haggar....
Mar 01, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 41
It's right there, in the beginning, implicit in God’s second Day Six creative speech. Intergenerational discipleship. Each generation passing on to the next the imperative to produce men and women who might grow into a relationship with God. That theme will be our guide through the Scriptures this month, starting here on the first page of the Bible we will follow some key contours of salvation history to see how we are called to intentionally invest not just in our own relationship with God, but...
Feb 28, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 40
While for many this season is marked by near worldwide political upheaval, a still stifling pandemic, and untold economic stress, for Christians it’s still the season of Lent; a time in which we remember the suffering of Jesus. As my Bishop Philip Jones says, “the church doesn’t go through time, time goes through the church.” There’s never been a moment in which the relevance of Lent has been more obvious. As Jesus suffered—in the garden, on the cross, in the grave—He confronted that fear behind...
Feb 25, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 39
How long after becoming a Christian should one wait before sharing their faith? Three years? Four? The disciple Philip waited only two verses! In John 1:43 Philip becomes a follower of Christ. In verse 45, he’s found sharing the gospel with Nathanael! Then as now, sharing the gospel was met with skepticism. Nathanael’s doubt revolved around Jesus’ hometown, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” While Nathanael’s question may seem straightforward, it’s more complex than it first appears. This...
Feb 24, 2021•6 min•Season 1Ep. 38
In 1 Chron. 10: 13-14, we see that David is the rightful ruler of God’s people, but his reign isn’t yet recognized by everyone. We noted in yesterday’s devotional that this is the already/not yet position believers find themselves in today—Christ’s kingdom is here, but still coming. It behooves us, then, to observe of how the Israelites handled their “in-between” time. Today, we’ll take note of the fact that the people live unworried and with understanding.
Feb 23, 2021•5 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Yesterday, we took note of the fact that believers live in the already/not yet of Christ’s Kingdom. His reign has been inaugurated, but not consummated. This is the position God’s people found themselves in when David is anointed King, but Saul’s reign is still in effect. By seeing how they lived in today and tomorrow’s devotionals, we’ll see how we ought to live. Today, we’ll look at 1 Chron. 10: 13-14 and take note of the fact that the people live with unction and with unity.
Feb 22, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 36
How should citizens of a heavenly kingdom live while on Earth? In his seminal book Paul and the Faithfulness of God, N.T. Wright gestures towards that very question: “The new creation—both the new creation and the new creation—has already been launched, and Messiah-people must learn how to live within that new world. They are ‘already in the new age.’ Equally, the final new creation is yet to come, and their behavior must look ahead to, and live in accordance with, something which is ‘not yet’ a...
Feb 22, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 35
In yesterday’s devotional, we noted that God rules over all of creation, not just the “religious” parts. Today, we’re going to consider how God rules—through us.
Feb 18, 2021•5 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Where does God rule? In asking that question, it’s easy to answer, “the church,” or “places of religious work.” But the message of Scripture says something very different. God’s rule is final, and all-encompassing. We see this from the very first pages of the Bible.
Feb 17, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 33
Yesterday, we saw that the prophet Jeremiah ate God’s word—he consumed it. Today, we’re going to take note of the fact that, for Jerimiah, the word of God wasn’t bland. It wasn’t something to eat only for the nutritional value. It was broccoli. No, God’s word was something he savored, something in which he took delight! He tells us so in Jeremiah 16:16, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God...
Feb 16, 2021•5 min•Season 1Ep. 32
Have you eaten God’s word, or just tasted it? The Prophet Jerimiah is one who ate God’s word, as we see in Jerimiah 15: 16, “Your words were found, and I ate them.” This harkens back to his finding God’s word. Jer 1:9 , “ Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.”
Feb 15, 2021•5 min•Season 1Ep. 31
When you feel lost, remember the time in which you were first found by God. Today, many Christians feel lost. The world feels new and scary. This feeling of disorientation—personal, cultural—is nothing new for God’s people. The Prophet Jerimiah knew this feeling well. He was living in a time of cultural upheaval and societal injustice. Personally, he felt betrayed and isolated—he never married because God told him not to. Life didn’t seem fair, and he felt lost.
Feb 14, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 30
Is kindness intelligible apart from the gospel? For Fredrick Nietzsche, virtues like grace, mercy, and kindness are “merely an honorable form of stupidity.” Those who practice them simply “project their own honorable stupidity and goodness into the heart of things.” The “things” to which Nietzsche refers is the mystery of the universe - God, namely. A loving God is the work of fiction produced by the sentimental pining of a kind person. Our internal kindness simply gets reflected back onto the e...
Feb 11, 2021•5 min•Season 1Ep. 29
How should Christians relate to civil authority? We should submit to it and we should subvert it. That’s the point of Matt 22: 19-21
Feb 10, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 29
All through the New Testament, people try to trap Jesus. They want to trap him because they want to control him—they want to make him safe, tame, and usable.
Feb 10, 2021•5 min•Season 1Ep. 28
How do we respond when you get the dreaded call? Perhaps the call comes from your boss in the middle of the morning—the job we’ve relied upon for years is being taken away. Perhaps the call comes in the middle of the afternoon from our doctor—the health we’ve taken for granted for years is in jeopardy. Perhaps the call comes from our dad in the middle of the night—the sibling we’ve known and loved our whole life is fighting for their life after a car accident. In those moments, how do we respond...
Feb 08, 2021•5 min•Season 1Ep. 27
How do we grow in our trust of God’s plan for our lives? More to it, how do we grow in our trust of God? While we may say with our lips that we believe God is working out all things for our good, often our hearts believe something very different.
Feb 07, 2021•3 min•Season 1Ep. 26
In the same pews, at the church at which I’m privileged to minister, sit people of different races, ages, and political parties—all confessing their sins, singing of God's grace, and taking the Lord's Supper together. In a culture too often broken up into rival factions, what could explain such a diverse, loving community? The short answer is Jesus is King .
Feb 05, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 25
We can spot family members because they share common characteristics. In chapter one of 1 John, the apostle identifies three traits shared by those in God’s family. John says they listen, walk, and confess.
Feb 03, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Is life a gift to be received or a puzzle to be solved? Paul answers this question in Colossians chapter 2. What does it look like to view life as a gift?
Feb 02, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 23
How can one know God the Father? That’s the question John answers in 1 John 1:1-2.
Feb 01, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Sin comes from our hearts and leads to ruin, while righteousness comes from God and leads to restoration. This is the message of Scripture, clearly taught in the first chapter of James. In James 1:13-14, we see the source and result of sin. Dustin Messer is Pastor for Faith Formation at All Saints Anglican Church in Downtown Dallas, TX.
Jan 31, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 21
The author of this homily from the fourth century is unknown, but this gem of spiritual exhortation has survived despite all odds and continues to encourage, edify and strengthen the Christian's life of prayer and our calling to live in the light of Christ and in loving union with God.
Jan 28, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 20
This anonymous second-century homily is among a handful of Christian sermons that have been preserved from the very earliest days of the Christian church. It is bold in its proclamation of salvation through the passion and death of Jesus Christ, and its strong encouragement for Christians to stand firm in the faith and to live holy lives as a testimony to the power of God's saving grace and eternal forgiveness.
Jan 27, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 19
This anonymous second-century homily is among a handful of Christian sermons that have been preserved from the very earliest days of the Christian church. It is bold in its proclamation of salvation through the passion and death of Jesus Christ, and its strong encouragement for Christians to stand firm in the faith and to live holy lives as a testimony to the power of God's saving grace and eternal forgiveness.
Jan 26, 2021•4 min•Season 1Ep. 18
