The letter to Laodicea - of the seven letters in Revelation. It is jam packed with a massive rebuke. Yet, its blessing is even greater. We want to hear a rebuke about trusting in ourselves and our wealth that pushes us to earnest prayer and repentance.

We ought to also hear Jesus give us such a beautiful and heavenly promise that we should be motivated to pray and praise our God diligently.

A word to the weak. We feel weak for a range of reasons - physically weak through sickness, or surgery, or tiredness; psychologically weak, as we feel sad or stressed; spiritually weak as we wrestle with doubts and temptations. To the church at Philadelphia, and through them to us, Jesus says, “ I know your deeds… I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my Name.” Jesus with the keys to the Kingdom in his hands, keeps the door open for the weak. Join us to apply these words to our situations. Amen

In Revelations 3, Jesus speaks to the Christians at Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea, and, through them, to us! We notice one church is hot, one is cold, and one is lukewarm with respect to their relationship with Jesus. Listen out for which is which, and which one reflects your heart. There are great promises here for the

person who takes following Jesus seriously.

Let the one who hears listen to what the Spirit says to us through these letters!

Some decisions are simple and sensible, but in the heart of the moment hard to make! This Sunday we’re taking a look at 1 Corinthians 10. It is a passage addressing our decision making again. It will help us see why we struggle to let go of freedoms, the danger of that, and where to go with that struggle.

Having a certainty in life that lets us truly live! I’ve been encouraged thinking about it this week, and I pray you will be too - along with it being a clear invitation to trust Jesus for those who haven’t yet.

The average person makes around 34,000 decisions a day. That’s a lot! Some are very small. Some are life changing. But, big or small, all of our decisions have reasons, motivations, implications.

1 Corinthians 8-10 is an invitation from God’s word to take a radically different approach to our decision making. It’s brilliant, and I can’t wait to explore chapter 9 together on Sunday.

I wonder where you make most of your decisions - both the small, day-to-day ones and the big life changing ones? Do you have a goto place? Perhaps late at night with a cuppa? Perhaps you wait for a holiday, or a long-weekend to have time for such deliberations? Or maybe you’re so busy you just have to make decisions on the run?

Wherever you make your decisions, I wonder what factors go into deciding what the right decision is; especially when there are a number of right options?

This Sunday we begin a 3 part section of 1 Corinthians (ch. 8-10) that will invite us to rethink the way we think about decisions. It is an invitation to have what we know as Christians actually impact the day-to-day of our decisions.

We’ll hear this urgent word from the Apostle Paul:

‘what I mean brothers and sisters is that the time is short…

…Serving God is what counts…’

1 Corinthians 7, 19, 29

If serving God is what counts, what’s the best situation for me to be in to do that? Single or married? With kids or without? Happy or grieving? Young or old?

On Sunday we’ll hear God’s answer to that. He will speak into the particular situations we might find ourselves (especially married or unmarried) and as our great shepherd he will not necessarily lead us into or out of a situation may long for, but he will lead us in the situation we find ourselves.

1 Corinthians 7, as we begin to see the positive instructions that Paul gives with respect to our relationships and how sex should be used within them. It’s wonderful that whether we’re married or unmarried, our relationships are because of and point to the God who is himself ‘love’ (1 John 4:8).

How do you feel talking about sex? (Not my most comfortable topic either). Here is what I know: God is good, Sex is good, and the Bible’s teaching about sex is good, and for our human flourishing. In 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 Paul continues his straight talk about sex.

It is a word to Christians not unbelievers. Paul wants Christians to think right about their bodies, and act right with their bodies, particularly in the sexual realm. There are two key commands “Flee sexual immorality” “Honour God with your body” Let’s encourage each other to live these out.