This is a shorter message today as we are in holiday season and the kids are staying in. 1 Timothy 2: 1-7: I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people – 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, 4 who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. 7 And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle – I am telling the truth, I am not lying – and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles. There is an interesting phenomenon in All Nations. People regularly say to pastors: We should pray more. Well, I’ve got great news! There’s is lot of oppor...
We carry on with our Life Lessons series. This week we come to Paul, the Apostle. If you know anything about Paul you will know that I am not going to do his life and ministry justice on a Sunday morning. In fact, there are whole books written about his life and ministry, whole sermon series have been preached about him. The one aspect I want to look at today about Paul’s life is this: perseverance. Paul kept going when others would have given up. Once saved, he did not look back. Here’s some background on Paul: Born in Tarsus, a Roman city in the South East of Asia Minor (Southern Turkey today) Best education in his youth possible in the Empire at that time. Tarsus renowned for its eduction. From strictest of Jewish families, pure blooded (Acts 23:6, Phil 3:5). He had a sister and a nephew (Acts 23:16) and some other relatives (Romans 16:7, 11). At 13 years old went to Jerusalem to study law under the most famous Jewish academic of the day, Gamaliel. A few years after...