The prayer for the 4th Sunday in Advent asks for God's grace to help us run with perseverance the race marked out before us.
Baptism is a participation in the life and death of Jesus.
Joel 3 shows why the day of judgement is something good that we long for.
The Holy Spirit gives everyone gifts. Christ calls us to use them to build his church and bless his world.
Joel’s prophecy “And afterwards I will pour out my Spirit on all people … and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” fulfilled on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2.
Joel calls upon people to rend their hearts and not their garments and return to God in true repentance. God promises restoration in response to repentance.
How might a community respond to natural disaster? The prophet Joel suggests in the first instance lament.
Psalm 135 is based firmly on who God is and what he has done in history. It shows us that the natural outworking of reflecting on this is praise. Our God is above all other gods, and he cares about his people. We are his special possession who he has rescued and brought out of darkness into his wonderful light. As we meditate on all that God has done for us, let us join with the psalmist in declaring his praise.