John 14:12
12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
“…whoever believes in me will do the works…” As I read these words, I find myself reflecting on what Jesus truly means. Does he intend that if I believe and have faith, I will demonstrate that faith through the works that follow? That I will accomplish great things because of my belief in Jesus? This is one way to interpret his statement.
But as I ponder more deeply, I wonder: Do the works Jesus speaks of serve as evidence of my belief, or do they come because of God working in me because I believe? Is the focus on what I am doing for God, or on what God is doing in and through me? Regardless of how we interpret Jesus’ words, there is no doubt that as believers and followers of Jesus, we are called to a purpose—there is meaningful work prepared for us to do. Whether it is a matter of opening our hearts to allow God to work within us, or actively doing the work God gives us as an expression of faith, both perspectives require us to be involved in God’s purposes. Purposes that will produce great things.
Jesus, thank you for everything you have done for me through your death and resurrection. Thank you for calling me to believe and to follow you. As I follow you, open my heart and my eyes to see the work you have set before me, so that I may participate fully in your purposes for my life.
Pr Nich Kitchen, Epping.
Luke 11:1-2
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say:
“‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.”
The words your kingdom come” is part of the Lord’s Prayer, which Jesus taught his followers to pray: “Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.” We often understand this as a request for God’s presence, healing, justice, and order to enter our world. We desire God to bring goodness and set things right.
But what if praying for God’s kingdom is more than a plea for him to intervene? What if it’s also an invitation for God to work in and through us? This shifts our prayer from focusing solely on external circumstances to asking how God’s purposes might unfold in our own lives. Instead of only praying about issues “out there,” we recognize that God’s kingdom also comes through us, as we allow him to shape our actions and character.
Praying this way can be more challenging, as it asks us to be open and willing participants in God’s work. However, this challenge need not be intimidating if we remember the prayer’s beginning: focusing on God’s glory and giving him honour sets the tone for how we respond. When we place our attention on who God is—his holiness, love, grace, and mercy—we rightly understand that our involvement in his kingdom is his work in us. As his children, one way we bring honour and glory to his name is by participating in what he is doing in the world.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for who you are. Thank you for your love, grace, mercy, and compassion, which you give me every day. Help me to honour your name by allowing you to work your purposes in my life as you bring your kingdom to this world. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Pastor Nich Kitchen, Epping
Luke 8:49-50
49 While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.”
50 Hearing this, Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.”
Trusting Beyond the Impossible
Jesus was on his way to Jairus’s house. He had agreed to go because Jairus's daughter was gravely ill and on the verge of death. Before they could arrive, someone from Jairus's house brought devastating news: his daughter had already died. They told Jairus, “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.” It seemed as if the situation was hopeless and nothing else could be done.
This idea—that seeking help is pointless when a situation seems beyond hope—is something many people can relate to. Through our own eyes, we often decide that a problem is unsolvable, so we stop seeking help and try to handle things on our own. In those moments, we may adopt the same attitude: “Why bother Jesus?”
However, Jesus's response to Jairus was filled with encouragement: “Do not be afraid; just believe.” Jairus could have given up and gone home to face the harsh reality alone, but instead, he chose to trust Jesus’s promise.
There is a powerful lesson here for our own journey of faith. Trusting Jesus’s promises means recognizing that he holds everything in his hands, even when a situation appears impossible to us. Rather than giving up or thinking we shouldn’t bother Jesus, we are encouraged to stay close to him—trusting that every challenge we face is under his control and that he will work things out for our good and his glory.
Jesus, thank you for your promise that you are with me always. When my understanding is limited by what I see, help me trust that you have everything under control. Remind me that your goodness and glory is at work in every circumstance I face. Amen.
Pastor Nich Kitchen
Luke 8:47-48
47 Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. 48 Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”
The woman in this crowd was a woman of courage. She had been sick with a bleeding disorder, which made her unclean. The fact that she was even in the crowd at all would have been considered outrageous. Unclean people were not allowed near others. Here she was in the crowd, not just in the crowd but close enough to touch Jesus. Right in the middle of the crowd! After her healing, I think she would have preferred to stay quiet and stay in the background. Perhaps sneak away without being noticed. But if she had, she would not have heard Jesus words to her. “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.” These words of Jesus are powerful. This woman had been excluded from society because she was unclean and outcast, isolated from community. Jesus words to her restored her dignity; she was a child of God, she belonged and she now knew it. She could go in peace. But if the woman did not have the courage to come, to seek, to touch Jesus, who knows what her life would have looked like? Here is a challenge for us: do we have the courage to come to Jesus in our times of need? Will we overcome our thinking that other people have issues worse than ours and that Jesus is busy with other people? Will we come to Jesus, even when others may disapprove?
Do we have the courage to let God work in us, like he did for this woman, by taking the initiative and seeking him out?
Lord, thank you that I am your child and that you treat me with dignity. Help me today to have the confidence to come to Jesus with my needs, knowing that I will receive grace and mercy. When I am afraid, give me courage so that I take the initiative to come to you, knowing that you will receive me. Amen.
Pastor Nich Kitchen
2 Peter 1:5-7
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.
We are told to make an effort to add to our faith…. In other words, things like goodness, knowledge, self-control, etc., are not things that we naturally have; they are things that we are to add to our character. We grow into these things. How do we grow in these things? Well, for most of these, we involved ourselves with others. Take, for example, adding mutual affection and mutual love. If I love my wife and family, then I am involved in their lives. I have a relationship with them. How could I love my wife and family if I only focus on myself and do not pay attention to them? Or take self-control; this is learnt when we are involved with others, particularly those who irritate or annoy us. But we work at these things by being involved with others, because God through Christ Jesus is involved with us. He works his love and grace in and through us as we seek to grow in our character as we walk with him.
Heavenly Father, thank you that you come to me with your love and grace every day. Thank you for sending Jesus into my life. As I seek to follow Jesus, help me to add goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, and mutual love and affection to my character as I love you, the people you have placed in my life.
Pastor Nich Kitchen
2 Peter 1:4
4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
In our lives as Christians, there is often a tension that we wrestle with. It’s the tension between what God does for us (Gospel) and what he asks us to do in response (law). We can easily at times swing one way or the other. We focus on what God has done, paying little attention to what he is asking us to do. Or perhaps we focus on everything he asks of us and forget what God has already done for us. Today’s reading reminds us that we need both. God has given us great and precious promises. These we hold onto. These we focus on. These we read and hear and think about. We remind ourselves that the Lord always keeps his promises. But it is through his promises that lead us to participate with him in what he is doing. To participate means that we are involved. There is an expectation that we have a part to play in what God is doing in our lives and in the world. As we participate, we bring the Lord’s light and life into a world that is corrupt and full of darkness. His promises to us bring life, and this life we bring to others as we participate with him in this life he gives.
Father, thank you that you have given to me your word of promise in everything that Christ Jesus has done for me. Thank you for giving me new life. Help me in response to intentionally participate in all that you have asked me to do so that your light and life can work through me into this world of darkness. Amen
Pastor Nich Kitchen
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
TO PONDER
There is a fairly consistent message in the Bible about the church isn't there? We have seen it all week, we are built together, we are parts of one body under Christ who is the head.
It's the headship of Christ I want to draw us to today. Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the busyness of church and outreach programs and the political machinations of national church institutions and to think that the church is all about us, that it only operates if we keep the wheels turning and driving things forward. There is certainly something to be said for getting involved in the work and mission of God's church (we look at that next week), but a big part of the task is growing to become like the head of the church, Jesus Christ.
How often do you worry about how much your life looks like the life of Jesus? I don't mean in a Monty Python's, 'Life of Brian' kind of way, but how often would people recognise the grace, love and forgiveness of Jesus being expressed in the way you live, the choices you make, the way you behave and the things you say?
These days we talk a lot about 'deep fakes', those AI generated images that look like celebrities and can be used to endorse a product but are nothing more than an AI generated image. If you look closely and know what to look for, you can usually spot a fake. The world is pretty good at noticing 'fake' Christians. Don't let your life be a 'deep fake'. Spend some time today asking Jesus to help you be more like him.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, please help me to look more like you today. Help me to show your love, your compassion and your heart for those you bring my way today. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
TO PONDER
I can't imagine how many times I have read this verse over the years. However, in reading it for today's devotion, something struck me for the first time. Yes, it is true that we are God's chosen people, that we are set apart as his holy nation and a priesthood of all believers acting as intermediaries between God and those who do not yet know Him. But God has called us and chose us and is forming us and equipping us for a purpose... That we may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.
Being part of a holy nation, a royal priesthood, being God's chosen people is not about simply sitting in a favoured and priveledged position. It is about being free and able to proclaim Gods goodness and declare his praise. This is the purpose of the church (the people, not the building or institution). It's not to build awe inspiriting buildings and cathedrals in which we can gather privately. It's not about employing a large staff of various ministry professionals to run fancy outreach and evangelism programs. It's not about the style of worship music or the liturgical forms you use on a Sunday morning. It is simply about declaring the praises of the God who created and redeemed you out of darkness to live in his wonderful light to anyone who will listen.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I pray that you will help me today to see all the ways you are at work in me, through me, and around me so that I may point it out to others and proclaim your goodness and mercy to all who have ears to hear. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.
TO PONDER
I wonder if any of us have ever come close to experiencing something like the community of the early Christian Church under the leadership of the first apostles. It sounds kind of wonderful don't you think?
No one having to go without, everything being shared among the community, the people devoted to learning whatever they could from the apostles - as the apostles dedicated themselves to the task Jesus had left for them - to make disciples of all nations, baptising and teaching them.
The crazy thing is that the task of the church today is no different than it was back then, but the church today looks very different. We have institutional churches with heirarchies, and policies and various doctrines - some which look like the things that Jesus and the apostles taught, many which have nothing to do with any of that stuff. We don't have everything in common, and instead are often quick to point out when our beliefs or practices are different from others and separate ourselves rather than find ways to work together.
The world today looks different than it did for the early Christians, but the task we have as God's church is no different. Maybe if we looked a bit more like the early church, we might find more people drawn into the community, as the early Christians did.
PRAYER: Jesus, please help me to remember that being part of a church is not about simply attending church services, but about being dedicated to learning from your word, to meeting with and supporting others in our church community and to gathering to worship you. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle