Life is full of season – moments of joy and celebration, and moments of challenge and uncertainty. Each season brings change, growth, and new experiences. But through every shift and transition, one truth remains unshaken: God is with us.

The book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3 reminds us that there is a purpose for every season we walk through. Nothing in our life catches God by surprise. Whether we are in time of planting or harvesting, building or rebuilding, laughing or weeping – God is present, working, and guiding.

No matter how stormy a season may feel. God has not left us. He walks beside us, before us, and behind us. Even in silent seasons where answers seem distant.  His love, protection and presence remain constant.

The season we are in now may not make sense, but God is shaping us through it, He uses every experience – good or painful – to grow our faith, develop our character, and prepare us for what’s ahead and nothing is wasted in His hands.

Whatever seasons we find ourself in – rejoicing, grieving, waiting or breakthrough – remember this: God is with us. Trust His timing, lean into His presence, and hold onto His promises. Seasons change, but God remains faithful, present and good.

Our next tears will be tears of joy.

Life has a way of taking us through valleys we never asked to walk through. We may have cried silent tears in the night, tears of disappointment, betrayal, loneliness or pain. Maybe we have been holding it all together for so long that we have forgotten what peace really feels like. But today, hear this deeply in our spirit, our next tears will be tears of joy.

God sees our heartache. He has not been blind to our struggles or deaf with our prayers. Psalm 56:8 says “Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?” Every tear we have shed has been noticed and none of them have been wasted. God is working behind the scenes even when we can’t see it, even when we don’t feel it.

This season of struggle is not our final story. The word says in psalm 30:5 “weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning”. That joy is coming not just a little relief, not a temporary fix but the kind of joy that turns mourning into dancing and the kind that brings restoration, healing and laughter again.

Sometimes God allows us to go through storms not to break us, but to build us. What we thought could destroy us, God is using to shape us, strengthen us, and prepare us for something greater. There is a purpose for the pain, and our breakthrough is closer than we think.

Our next tears will fall not from sorrow, but from gratitude from the overwhelming realisation that God came through for us, that He never left us and that His promises are true.

So, hold on, keep the faith, keep showing up, praying, believing and trusting. God is not finished with our story yet, what’s ahead is worth the wait. Joy is on the way.

This verse refers to Abraham, the father of many nations, who demonstrated remarkable faith in God’s promises despite seemingly impossible circumstances. In the preceding verses, Paul, the author of Romans highlights Abraham’s unwavering faith as an example for believers who place their faith in Jesus Christ and His Grace.

Abraham’s story is one of profound trust and obedience. Despite being well beyond the age of childbearing, he believed God’s promise of a son and descendants as numerous as the stars. Despite the odds, Abraham’s faith remained steadfast.

The phrase “he did not waver through unbelief” emphasizes Abraham’s resolute trust in God. Even when faced with obstacles or uncertainties, Abraham’s faith remained firm. His faith was not shaken by doubt or fear but was rooted in confidence in God’s faithfulness.

Furthermore, the verse mentions that Abraham “was strengthened in his faith”. This suggests that Abraham’s faith grew stronger over time. Through the ups and downs of life, Abraham’s trust in God deepened, strengthening his resolve to believe in God’s promises. Finally, Abraham’s response to God’s faithfulness was to “give glory to God”. Despite his own doubts and weakness, God always fulfilled His promises. His life became a testament to God’s faithfulness, and he acknowledged God’s sovereignty and power.

In essence, Romans 5:1-2 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God”. We are encouraged as believers to emulate Abraham’s unwavering faith and trust in God’s promises. It challenges us to persevere in faith, even when faced with difficulties or uncertainties. Like Abraham, we are called to give glory to God by trusting in His faithfulness and relying on His powers. John 14: 6-7 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him”.

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”

One of the greatest teachings we have on this is the hymn we all have sung for many years – ‘what a friend we have in Jesus’. When we read the background of its composition, it takes on new meaning.

It was written by a man named Joseph Scriven who lived in the 1800’s in Ireland and he fell in love with his childhood sweetheart. On the day before they were to be married, they rode on horseback to meet one another and tragically her horse bucked and threw her off, she hit her head on a rock beside a riverbed, rolled unconscious into the water moments before Joseph arrived. She died and he found his fiancé dead in the middle of the river, we can only imagine, life falls apart for him.  He now leaves Ireland as he doesn’t want to face everything he knew there.

He moves to Canada and encounters the powerful Grace of Jesus. He falls in love with Christ’s word and he decides to devote his life to living out the teaching of Jesus known as the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew Chapter 5, 6 & 7.  He takes a vow of poverty, he’s very handy and he works for people. But the story goes, he actually wouldn’t work for anyone that could afford him. If they could afford to pay him, he wouldn’t do the work, it was only for people that didn’t have the means that he would do the work. Joseph Scriven’s nickname was the Good Samaritan, always helping people who were in need. A young lady saw this very Godly man and took interest in him, he took interest in her and he fell in love again with a woman named Eliza Roche. They were engaged to be married and weeks before they were to be married, at the age of 23, Eliza came down with pneumonia and died. Two times, not once, but two times the love of his life is taken from him. He never fell in love again.

Years went by and when his mother was dying back in Ireland, he obviously didn’t have the money to go and see her because he had taken a vow of poverty. So, he wrote a poem to her and he sent the poem to her. The poem actually started to become very well known, although he never took credit for it. Years later, by accident, a friend was in his house and saw the original notes of this, now a hymn, and found the words to it. And he said to Joseph, “Did you write the words to this?” And Joseph said, “Well, to be honest, “the Lord and I wrote it together.”  The poem that he wrote to his dying mom is now the hymn that has been for a couple hundred years, ‘What a Friend We Have in Jesus.’ Feel the power of the lyrics that this man wrote, knowing the story behind what he endured in life. He asked the question, “Can we find a friend so faithful, who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness, take it to the Lord in prayer. Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged, take it to the Lord in prayer.”

Psalm 34 -15 “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, And his ears are open unto their cry.”

We see therein that Jesus was explaining how this rock would have to go into the world into the future. He asked His disciples, “Whom do men say the Son of man is?” They gave the answer of all the people because the people would not accept Jesus as the Christ. They knew He was a holy man. They said He was a prophet, He was Elias, He was Jeremias come back to life, or John the Baptist, but they would not confess that He was the Christ – the Messiah, come to save them and take them to the promised Kingdom of God. He asked His apostles and said, “Whom say ye that I am?” The Apostle Peter who was known then as Simon, he answered on behalf of the apostles and said, “Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God.” We must always remember those words for those words are what our Lord described as the rock. ‘On this rock will I build my church.’ THE CHURCH MUST AT ALL TIMES CONFESS AND BELIEVE WITHOUT ANY QUESTION THAT THOU ART THE CHRIST THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD. THAT IS THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE OF THE CHURCH.

He said that Simon would be called Peter from that day, and He said that he was blessed for flesh and blood did not say that, for no flesh and blood can confess that Jesus is the Christ but by the Holy Spirit. He was blessed with a foretaste of that Holy Spirit from His Father in Heaven to be able to make that confession, that would have to be made to set in place that chief cornerstone which would hold the church together for evermore. He said that the gates of hell should not prevail against the church. We know that when our Lord went down into hell and proclaimed the proclamation of peace. He was given the keys to the gates of hell, and He introduced a new place. Hell was the place of waiting for judgment. He introduced the new place called Paradise. All of those within the Christian Church who maintain and fulfill their obligation in believing that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God, they when they leave this life go to Paradise to partake of the tree of life, to be ready for His return when He will come and set up His kingdom.

He said to the Apostles that He will give them the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. That is not a key that they have in their hand. Our Lord was talking about a different set of keys. He was giving unto them the Word of God, His Father’s word that would be as a key that would go out into the world, and for all of those who accepted this key and allowed their hearts to be opened and allowed the Holy Spirit to enter in and prepare them, they would be receiving ultimately, the Kingdom of Heaven. We are the recipients of this.

The Word of God is a very important part within this living temple of God. Without the Word of God, we would have no direction. Without the Word of God, we would have no faith. Without the Word of God, we would have no hope. Without the Word of God, we would have no forgiveness. Without the Word of God, we would have no Baptism. Without the Word of God, we would have no Sealing. Without the Word of God, we would have no Holy Communion. Without the Word of God, we would not be able to be part of the living temple of God. Those keys are still being distributed throughout the world for all who will allow them to unlock their stubborn hearts and accept that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God. It is one thing to say that we believe in that, and it is easy for us to say those things, but we have to show, by our lives, that we try to live by those Words of God and bring forth the virtues of Christ.

As Jesus travelled with His disciples throughout Galilee, teaching the people and fulfilling the law, they came again to the city of Capernaum. Capernaum was the home of Peter and his brother Andrew, who were fishermen before they left all to follow Jesus. It was there that the miracle recorded above took place. In all his previous experience, it is doubtful Peter had ever cast a line and pulled up a fish with a coin in its mouth! Scholars suppose that the tribute money at the time was two days wages per person meaning that the coin was worth four days wages.

Leaving aside the obvious lesson that the Lord is able to provide what is necessary for our daily provision, there is a profound teaching here which reflects the Lord’s life on this earth. Even though, as he explained, it was not necessary for Him to pay the tribute money, He did so to not cause any offence. When we read through the recorded events of Jesus life on earth, we can see that He always tried to avoid causing undue offence.

Offence is a coin that has two sides. We are all called to follow the Lord’s example and to avoid giving offence. Mark 9:42, “And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.” Sometimes we offend unintentionally and, if that is drawn to our attention, we are also called to make it right, where possible.

The reverse side of the coin is the taking of offence. In our modern world it seems to be that many are looking for offence as we see how quickly everyone reacts to public comment. Jesus saw how easily offence would be given and taken in the last days and its result. Matthew 24:10, “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” It should not be so for those of the household of faith and we must strengthen our faith to be able to endure offence.

It is an opportunity for His light to shine through us when we ask for His strength to endure offence and request it not be laid to the offender’s charge. It is best for all to refrain from giving or taking offence as it is then very difficult to fix. Proverbs 18:19 tells us, “A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.”

Our constant prayer should be that the Holy Spirit guide us to be swift to hear the concerns of others, slow to speak and judge or cause offence and slow to wrath when we are offended. (James 1:19)

King Solomon was rich yet could see the dangers of living in excess (riotous living). In our natural life, gluttony and drunkenness are a path to poverty. Chapter 23 reminds us that natural riches are temporal and will eventually fly away.

Most importantly, Solomon imparts wisdom on what really matters, what our heart, mind, and soul should be set on. Those things that are everlasting, God and His Kingdom to come. Proverbs 23:18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.  The “end” we await is the hereafter. The “expectation” is our hope to spend the hereafter in God’s presence and love. This promise is to all believers in Jesus Christ and cannot be “cut off” or taken away.

The opposite of gluttony and drunkenness is soberness. Soberness is not just about alcohol; it means to be moderate in all things. To moderate anything able to be consumed in excess. To not make our belly our god. It is when we are sober that we are most able to control our thoughts, words and deeds; and able to focus on important or serious matters; and be watchful.

In Apostle Paul’s letter to Titus soberness is instructed to all members of the church in Crete. It is required of ordained elders, all servants and aged men and women. These are then to teach others of the importance of being sober. We can see from this that the whole body of Christ, His Church, must display soberness.

• Bishops/Elders, Titus 1:8 But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, Just, holy, temperate;
• Aged Men, Titus 2:2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.
• Aged Women, Titus 2:3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;
• Teaching young women, Titus 2:4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,
• Teaching young men, Titus 2:6 Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.
• Teaching all, Titus 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Like Solomon, Paul reminds Titus and the church in Crete why to remain sober, the eternal purpose

• Titus 2:13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

The current pandemic sweeping the world is a “sobering experience”. For many it has forced moderation, for some it has led to loss. It has given cause for many to reconsider what matters most as we see natural things “fly away”. One role of the Church during this period is praying that those without faith in God, find it, and praying that those with faith do not lose it but rather have it strengthened.

This text shows us of the faith of the parents in those days, who recognized that Christ had the power to give blessings from God, and also the love of the parents to have their children blessed by the Lord.

The children would not have been aware of the blessing that could proceed from this act. It was done on the faith of the parents, and although the disciples tried to stop it, we see Christ’s response was that they should not be held back but He virtually commanded them to allow them to come, because of such is the kingdom of heaven.

God has always shown clearly that children are a gift of God and esteemed highly in His sight. Psalm 127:3 sums it up in these wonderful words “Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” Today because of this teaching, parents express their faith before the Lord and bring forth the little children to be baptized and also to have hands laid upon them in sealing.

Like those children in our text, the children of today are not aware of what is being done for them, but we must obey the Lord’s words to forbid them not. The parents of that day no doubt as time went by, explained to their children, of that great event in their life and so today, all parents must explain to their children the great blessings that can flow from the acts done for them, if they continue in that same faith in Christ. “This call of our Lord also extends to the natural lives of our children. We can read in the newspapers of the great concern of the Health Authorities, in the out-break amongst children of diseases, virtually eliminated through vaccination of little children. Some of these out-breaks have even led to deaths. Upon investigation it is being found that many parents are not availing themselves of this service, purely to exercise and prove that they have the right to choose. Others say they will leave it for their children to come of age and decide for themselves, and others just do not know.

Most of us today, have never lived through those reported plagues of those childhood diseases, that swept the world and caused so much heartbreak and concern. We can only imagine how the parents like those in our text, must have turned to the Lord in prayer to seek a blessing on the children. How all people would have prayed so earnestly all round the world, to the Lord that He would extend His hand of blessing. We know that He did answer those prayers by pouring out His Spirit to Medical Science to allow the way for these vaccines to be used so that future children could receive this blessing. All these blessings, along with the spiritual side of life, all fall in the same category of our Lord’s words, “Suffer little children and forbid them not to come unto me.” All the good things in this life come from God through His love.

I am reminded of the sermon of a visiting overseas Priest to our Church Service some years ago, when he saw all the little children sitting in Church. He was overcome because in his community there were only a few children. He preached that children were a gift of God, only sent to us parents on loan. As with any loan, the lender requires to receive the amount back, plus interest. It is the same with the loan from the Lord of these His treasures. How true these words are. The greatest gift we can give our children during this care period, is faith in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. This faith begins as with the parents in our text, we must have the desire in all things to bring our children to the Lord and His blessings.