Takeley Chapel

I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing Genesis chapter 12 verse 2

God is here talking to Abraham. He had already left his native city of Ur (in modern Iraq) and had travelled to Haran (in modern Turkey) with his father and extended family. God then directed Abram (as he was then known) to leave his family and home and travel to a distant land. As Abram travelled, God’s plan was gradually revealed to him and he began to experience the blessings he had been promised.

God had made similar promises to Adam and to Noah. He would bless them and in return they were to live as he directed. These arrangements were known as covenants and were meant to be binding agreements between God and man. However, with Abraham the notion of sharing what God has given was made a part of the bargain. More than this, it was the purpose of the covenant.

Jesus said “Give and it will be given to you”. He expects that we should be a channel through which blessings flow rather than a reservoir of treasures stored up for a rainy day. God gave us his best (Jesus, his son) as an example for us to follow. Jesus gave everything that we might believe on him and come to know God.

At this time of year we especially remember those who gave their all for our freedom. Will you give a little time to consider these things, to ask God how to be blessed in order to be a blessing?

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens … the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. … The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. Genesis 2

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, … what is man that you are mindful of him? Psalm 8

And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here” … and He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. Mark 3

This Morning we looked at the creation of man and how we can be thought of as image-bearers of God and what that means to us today. We are told that Jesus went about doing good & healing the sick, whereas his contemporaries were often judgemental. Who do we resemble? Perhaps we should focus on looking after each other and our wonderful planet.