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For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Even when the Cross is preached with power it does not mean everyone will believe. People still divide over this message. It is possible, thank God, to be saved through it; but it is also possible to ‘perish’ if we reject it.

Towards the end of last week I spent two very happy days in Wigan, along with my sisters. We spent many of our formative years in the Wigan area, and  had long-planned this trip down ‘memory lane.’  For me, it was where I became a Christian as a child, and where I felt the call to Christian ministry as a teenager. It was where my experience of church came richly alive in my teen years. I recognised during these two days how much Wigan is ‘in’ me. I realise I owe a debt of gratitude to many people who lived and worked and worshipped there – not least my lovely parents.

However, on the train journeys, I heard and saw things around me that reminded me how much  the gospel is needed in our godless society. How far, it seems, people are drifting from the shores of Christianity. Some appear so far out to sea that we might wonder how they could ever be reached. As I thought about this I realised two clear things:

1. God can do anything. He can reach anyone He chooses. If He could apprehend a Saul of Tarsus He can arrest anyone in their tracks. But also:
2. If these various groups of people had a Christian friend among them: someone they liked ( even loved) and respected, who was prepared to live and speak the gospel – then who knows what God might not do through that person?

You, and I, might be that person in some lost individual’s world.

Prayer: Lord, here I am wholly available

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

There is, potentially, a way of presenting the gospel that is far too clever and philosophical and ‘show-offy’. Although it may impress people, it fails to fully proclaim the Cross and does not carry the power of God with it.

But was Paul calling for an unintelligent presentation of the gospel? I think not. Two of the greatest Anglican preachers/evangelists of the 20^th century, Michael Green and John Stott, were men of great intellect. They were highly educated and respected scholars. But they preached (and wrote) in a way that simply exposed the inner logic of the gospel. By humbly sticking to the truth of the Bible they allowed it to speak for itself. So their ministries were powerful and their God-given fruit speaks for itself.

I was greatly affects by Timothy Dudley Smith’s two volume biography of John Stott. One story that stays with me is of John preparing his sermons on his knees, because he wanted to be under the Bible’s authority and not sitting over it in judgment. That is breathtaking humility. No wonder God used him so greatly. He knew the power was in the Word.

Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so no one can say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.)

It is stating the obvious, but our church leaders are not Jesus, yet sometimes some people come close to worshipping them. This is obviously a huge mistake. Our pastors (evangelists, apostles etc – whatever labels they bear) are in the church to point to Jesus, to preach Jesus, to increasingly exemplify Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit (although they too are sinful). Their ministry only has value to the degree that they glorify Christ.

You may love and honour the leaders God has given you. It is right to do so. But they did not die on the Cross for you. Remember always to whom you belong: the Lord who bought you at such a great price.

‘Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “ye were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.’ Dietrich Bonhoeffer in ‘The cost of discipleship.’

‘Dear Lord Jesus! I Thank you that you love me. I am the least of saints and the chief of sinners, but in the bankruptcy of my soul I trust in the riches of your grace.’ ( From F.B.Meyer’s  ‘Daily Prayers’).

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature God,

    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;

7 rather, he made himself nothing

    by taking the very nature of a servant,

    being made in human likeness.

8 And being found in appearance as a man,

    he humbled himself

    by becoming obedient to death—

        even death on a cross!

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

    and gave him the name that is above every name,

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,

    to the glory of God the Father.

Last Sunday, in church in Leeds, Karen Reilly led us in a beautiful song. We were so blessed by it and I wanted to share it with you in today’s devotional. You may know this song already; you may be hearing it for the first time, but I encourage you to soak in it this week-end as you prepare for your Sunday worship – wherever that may be:

What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”

We might be tempted to think that the party who said, “I follow Christ” got it right. After all, this is the believer’s true standing. We belong first and foremost to the Lord – to the Christ who bought us (see the next verse, and the end of chapter 6). We do not belong to any human leaders.

But commentators tend to see here a ‘super-spiritual’ group, who in their pride looked down on everyone else. Such super-spiritual thinking is a constant danger for Christians, local churches, movements and denominations: we believe we are better than others; that we have got it all right and correct, while others are wrong in so many ways. This is an ugly weed that can easily grow in the garden of a soul, and if we see it may God give us the grace to pluck it out before it spreads and chokes many other lovely flowers. We should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought, but with sober judgment (see Romans 12).

‘They that know God will be humble, and they that know themselves, cannot be proud.’ John Flavel

Prayer: Lord, let me see my true self that I may repent of every manifestation of sinful pride. Help me pull those weeds out by the roots as soon as I see them.

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”

Was Paul saying that Christians should always agree on everything? On the face of it this would seem to be the case. But it does not fit with what he taught elsewhere. There are such things as disputable matters – non-essentials where we need to be charitable towards one another.

No, the problem in Corinth was that what we might call ‘personality cults’ had arisen around certain leaders. People were dividing over their favourite leaders. (There is no indication that any of those  mentioned here were trying to build their own following. This was what people were doing to them).

Sadly, this problem has not gone away. Still, today, some Christians establish ‘fan clubs’; and no doubt there are some church leaders who build them. This is not good, it is not right, it is not healthy. In recent years so many high profile leaders have dramatically fallen from their pedestals. Of course you don’t have to be well known to have your ‘Humpty Dumpty’ moment. But there is often unbearable pressure brought to bear on famous Christian leaders.

In a little while Paul is going to put things into perspective, reminding the Corinthians that even their greatest leaders are “only servants” through whom they came to believe. It is God alone who gives the growth.

Celebrity Christianity is a contradiction in terms. Let us shun every manifestation of superstar church leadership.

Prayer: Lord God, we pray for our leaders to see themselves through your eyes, so that they may not become discouraged, nor overly puffed-up with pride. Let them walk humbly with their God.

I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…

Jilly and I were struck by the Christo-centric nature of the Queen’s funeral services. There can be no doubt that in planning them, Her Majesty rightly put the focus on the Jesus she trusted and served.

The whole Bible is Christo-centric. God’s purpose for the universe centres in Christ, and I note the Christ-centred nature of Paul’s appeal in 1 Corinthians 1:10. The only genuinely authoritative basis we have for urging believers to behave in a certain way (or to change their behaviour) is Jesus Himself: Who He is; what He taught, and what He has done. The Queen could say that it was the example of Jesus that caused her to seek to treat all people with love, kindness and respect. Paul is here making his own appeal for loving behaviour in the church, based on the reality of who Jesus is. If we really want to honour Him we will seek to live in harmony with one another. To continue to live in unrepented disunity is to be out of kilter with the Person of Christ.

Lord, you have been our dwelling place

    throughout all generations.

2 Before the mountains were born

    or you brought forth the whole world,

    from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3 You turn people back to dust,

    saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”

4 A thousand years in your sight

    are like a day that has just gone by,

    or like a watch in the night.

5 Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—

    they are like the new grass of the morning:

6 In the morning it springs up new,

    but by evening it is dry and withered.

7 We are consumed by your anger

    and terrified by your indignation.

8 You have set our iniquities before you,

    our secret sins in the light of your presence.

9 All our days pass away under your wrath;

    we finish our years with a moan.

10 Our days may come to seventy years,

    or eighty, if our strength endures;

yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,

    for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

11 If only we knew the power of your anger!

    Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.

12 Teach us to number our days,

    that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

13 Relent, Lord! How long will it be?

    Have compassion on your servants.

14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,

    that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,

    for as many years as we have seen trouble.

16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,

    your splendour to their children.

17 May the favour of the Lord our God rest on us;

    establish the work of our hands for us—

    yes, establish the work of our hands.

Lord God,

On this sad and solemn day, we thank you for the life and reign of our gracious Queen, Elizabeth. We are grateful for her Christian faith, witness and service, and for the remarkable impact of her example.

We pray for her family who mourn today – especially for her children, grandchildren and great- grandchildren – who have suffered two significant losses in the last eighteen months. Like other families they grieve. But they have to do their grieving before billions of watching eyes. Strengthen them to face the demands of the day (and the days to come). We pray that the service will be full of the power of the Holy Spirit, bringing comfort, peace and joy, and creating faith in Jesus, who is our only true hope in this short life, and for the life to come.

We pray you will anoint our new King Charles, that He may follow you as his mother and grandmother did. May he rule in your wisdom and strength, and we ask that his reign will be a beacon of light for our nation, the commonwealth, and the whole world. Lord, in your mercy, grant that this may be a new day of spiritual renewal in our land.

God save the King.

As we come towards the end of an emotional and momentous week, and prepare for the solemn days ahead, I want to share a thought from Frederick Beuchner, who also passed away recently at the great age of 96:

To Truly Live

FREDERICK BUECHNER

Have you wept at anything during the past year? Has your heart beat faster at the sight of young beauty? Have you thought seriously about the fact that someday you are going to die? More often than not, do you really listen when people are speaking to you, instead of just waiting for your turn to speak? Is there anybody you know in whose place, if one of you had to suffer great pain, you would volunteer yourself? If your answer to all or most of these questions is no, the chances are that you’re dead.

Source: Listen to Your Life

Prayer: Lord, teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom