The religious system in Jesus’ day was built on rules and regulations. Following them determined whether you were accepted into the community. There were some ‘untouchables’ that the church and the world stayed away from. When Jesus came, He was not afraid of them making him unclean, instead He leaned in and made them clean.

As we look at the encounter of Jesus with the lepers, what do we learn about Jesus’ heart for those that we consider unacceptable?

One of the more challenging experiences that Christians have to process is walking through Unanswered Prayers or at least what seems to us like unanswered prayers.

In James we read that, “You do not have, because you do not ask God”, and so it can feel like the rug has been pulled out from under us when we DO ASK God, and He doesn’t answer us.

What gives?

As Christians we see all kinds of terrible things going on in the world and even in our own lives and we might be tempted to ask: “Why isn’t God doing something about all this?”

Could it be though that it is actually God who is astonished and asking ME…asking YOU… asking his church… “Where are the Christians? Why aren’t they praying?!”

Scripture makes a case that God moves in the affairs of mankind according to the degree we pray.

It seems we are to ask and keep on asking until He answers or until He tells us we have asked enough.

Prayers of faith are not about praying once but praying THROUGH!

Prayer is often seen as a monologue in which we ASK for God to help, fix or provide stuff.

What if we have missed one of the most significant aspects of an "abiding" life with God in prayer... that of Prayer as Thanksgiving and Praise?

As George Herbert once wrote:

"God, You have given me so much. Give me one more thing – a grateful heart"

Prayer is the first and most important task of a Christ follower.

Prayer is an invitation to intimacy. It's a response to grace. Prayer is a collective cry for God to move in our midst, heal our brokenness, save the lost, restore the wayward, forgive our sins and unify our hearts.

Prayer is our declaration of dependence!

In this multi-week series we long not just to learn about prayer but to grow in our practical experience of it. In fact while the Biblical lessons of prayer are many, they are primarily learned though PRAYING!

In prayer we become people who live close to God. People for whom God is everything and for whom God is enough!

There are natural rhythms and seasons where it is wise to reflect on what has come and plan for what is ahead. The beginning of January is one of those obvious times.

But instead of making resolutions (which are good intentions that statistically speaking are more likely to fail than not), consider making some GOD intentions... listening to the Spirit for just ONE THING that might make all the difference this year.

We'll lead you through some questions that we are believing will clarify your next spiritual step in 2023... you're "one thing"!

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Why is there Christmas? It's simple: God loves us deeply and wanted to offer us a way to be reconciled with him. This journey begins with the celebration of the birth of Jesus, who is the Son of God and the saviour of humanity. Jesus was sent to earth to live as a human and ultimately to die on the cross as a sacrifice for our sins. Through this act of selfless love, we are forgiven and have eternal life with God. The celebration of Christmas marks the beginning of this journey of salvation through Jesus.

The last three weeks of challenging us this Christmas to UNhurry... to be UNdistracted... to UNplug from all our screens and devices... all of it, has led to this.

Answering the "WHY" question.

WHY should we be present this Christmas (and beyond)?

You'll see that it leaves room in your schedule... space in your heart... room in your mind... to respond to Jesus the way he deserves to be responded to.

The way those who encountered him 2000 years ago responded.

In joyful, unapologetic, unequivocal, unabashed worship.

Humans have always had hurry. We've always had distractions. We've always had to adjust to new technologies and innovations ("curse this wretched sun-dial). But the last 10 years or so have truly been a seismic change in how we relate to the world and to each other.

We carry all the world's knowable information in our pockets. That seems like a good thing... doesn't it?

What's most notable though is how our human interactions have changed in the last decade, and very few people are asking... "How are these devices affecting my soul? My faith? My relationship with Jesus?"

It's interesting to scan the predictions of so-called "futurists" from the past to see how they got things wrong.

In the 1960s as "time-saving devices" ramped up, there was a genuine concern that by the time we got to 2022, we would have a crisis of too much time on our hands... a crisis of leisure time you could say.

Does anyone feel that you have too much time?

I didn't think so.

I suspect your crisis is closer to mine... feeling like there are not enough hours in the day. A feeling of hurriedness and unsettledness and unfocused. And is there any season where this is more acutely felt than Christmas?

Maybe it's not a crisis of finding more hours but prioritizing the hours we each have been given.

That we would - as Jesus said - choose the BEST things.

The things of eternal value. The things that give life.

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