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One of the questions I often get asked, usually with some note of helplessness, is what can I do? The person may feel inadequate, too old, too young, stressed because of other demands on their life but they want to do something to help the ministry of the church. When people ask me I often point to the ministry of Elisha. Now many people know his predecessor prophet Elijah but despite the fact that Elisha actually performed more miracles, for some reason he is less well known, less respected even; which is grossly unfair.
Elisha first enters the picture in 1 Kings 19 when Elijah anoints him as his prophet. for ten years he will live in Elijah’s shadow, following him around, being there for him. he will do little that is dramatic, but what he does is vital. He is Elijah’s companion. He offers advice, he encourages Elijah when he is down. He picks him up when he falls.
When was the last time you said a word of encouragement to your elder, your organist, the Sunday School teachers or bible study leaders? When was the last time you encouraged those taking part in the prayer group, the church tidy up crew or the finance committee? When was the last time you even encouraged your minister?
We live in a very critical society. Often people hear nothing at all unless they have messed something up and someone can be critical of them. Yet how much will a church ever flourish if the only time you hear about your work is when you mess up? And let’s face it, we all do that from time to time, even the minister! We need Elisha’s in every congregation across the land. We need people who are dedicated to a ministry of encouragement, who will not be afraid of telling others, you are doing a good job, keep it up. You can be young, you can be old, you can take just five minutes to do it, with a phone call, an email, a text, it does not take much time. It is truly a ministry for anyone and everyone so how about being an Elisha this year for your church?

Preparation is everything. Many years ago I was part of a minister’s group that liked to do joint events. When it came time for one of the ministers to organise an event my colleagues and I kept pressing him for information about what we needed to do and what we needed to prepare. He kept saying that we didn’t need to do anything.
As we got closer to the event, I for one, got more and more nervous. I am generally speaking not an off the cuff kind of guy. I like to prepare, I like to write things out, I like to be ready. When we arrived at the event it turned out that the minister preparing things had grand plans about how things would go, but he wanted it to be spontaneous. What he had not realised is that for something to go really well and appear spontaneous it has to be prepared meticulously. If anything it needs to involve even greater preparation than regular events.
The birth of Jesus was not spontaneous. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. God had planned for the salvation of humanity from before creation. He sent prophets to prepare the people for the Messiah. He sent John the Baptist to prepare a way in the wilderness, to make the path smooth and straight.
If you want to really enjoy Christmas this year, you need to prepare as well. You need to prepare your heart and mind through prayer and reading the scriptures, for only then will you be able to joyfully and spontaneously enjoy the birth of the Christ-child like never before.

According to John’s Gospel, Andrew was a follower of John the Baptists to begin with. John’s mission in life was to prepare people for Jesus and to point them to him. Andrew was one of the first to really get the point. There were obviously some of John’s disciples who did not see this as we hear of some of them later on coming to question Jesus about whether or not he was the messiah, but Andrew got it straight away together with a nameless disciple. Not only did he get it but he went straight away to his brother Simon and told him about this amazing preacher he had met.

So I ask you the question, have you got it yet? Have you recognised that Jesus is the messiah? Sadly, many have not. They might be interested in his teaching, they might admire him as a man but they have not recognised him as Messiah, Son of God, Saviour of the world. To accept him as saviour and Lord, makes a difference, a big difference, it makes all the difference in the world. One of the things that happens when you do accept him is that you feel his joy and his peace, something which dramatically changes your life.

I remember a story about four ministers who were working in a town. Things were not going well ad so one day when they met up for coffee one said to the others, I think we should spend a bit of time in prayer and confess our sins to God. The others agreed and they bowed their heads. One confessed, I am a dreadful one for the gambling, if there were two rain drops going down the window I would bet on which would reach the bottom first. Confession is good for the soul, I’m glad I’ve told you. The second confesses as well saying that he was an awful one for the women. Couldn’t keep his eyes off the, he was glad he had confessed and he felt much better. The third then started telling of his struggles with drink. He could never have any alcohol in the house or he would drain the bottle, he was glad he had confessed. At that point the fourth gets up to leave. They all look at him and say, hey, wait a wee minute, we have all confessed our sins, are you not going to confess as well. Aye well you see, he said, I’m an awful one for the gossip and I’m dying to get out of here!
If you have good news to share, you are always going to want to be out of there so you can tell others. When I became an uncle, got engaged, became a father I could not wait to tell people the good news we should be just excited about the good news of Jesus once we have recognised him for who he is and put our faith in him. Andrew could not wait to tell his big brother so that Simon could enjoy getting to know Jesus as well. Who have you told that you have found the Messiah?

One of the most powerful realities of the Christian faith is the Holy trinity. The fact that even before the creation of the world, God existed as three persons in a relationship of love. This shows that God is not a God of power, might or even detached indifference. God is first of all love, he is love, he created in order to have an object for his love and he wishes to love all of creation – and that includes YOU. God loves you and wants you to experience and share that love. God is therefore not going to rule in the conventional sense of the term but he is going to love us and urge us to share that love with one another. So the best way to show that Christ is King is to love one another as he loves us.

Sometimes in the midst of a busy day a word will come to you, a word from God, a word of encouragement. On my blog I hope to keep you updated with such words at least on a weekly basis. A word to cheer you in your daily walk with God. Today, I simply want to assure you that nothing can separate you from God’s love. I think one of the most amazing passages of scripture are these words of encouragement from Paul so take them to heart and carry them with you through your day. You are loved and nothing will keep you from that love. Romans 8:- 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.