Devotionals

 Psalm 33 Grab your Bible!  Read this Psalm and then let's ponder HIS Majesty! This is one of my favourite Psalms. I love that it's about music for one but more than that I LOVE that it reminds me that God is always in control. I don't know about you but there are times when I look at the news or read something awful in the paper and for a split second I think to myself, 'I hope this isn't too big for God to deal with'. As we enter this new season together thinking about justice...

Read 'God LOVES justice.' in full

Psalm 144: 12 ‘Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace.’ Gents: The hope that this verse puts in you is that you will be like ‘well-nurtured plants’. I’m not much of a gardener myself but the little I do know tells me that for a plant to be well nourished it must be planted in good soil. So my first question to you is this: What are you planted in? Are you rooting yourself in ...

Read 'The Pursuit' in full

 I just have one verse for you today:     Heard that one before? Sounds a bit odd doesn’t it? Jesus said this to His disciples not long before he was about to go to Calvary. Have you seen the film scenes where some important character is lying on their deathbed, or lying wounded on a battle field and the other characters get really close, hold their hand, and listen intently to their last words? Well, Jesus knew it was not long ‘til he would not be physically with...

Read 'Remain in Me' in full

What is grace? A prayer you say before lunch? or something much much more important? Have you ever heard a preacher talk about Jesus as being a free gift? Well, if you have then you've probably thought to yourself: If this is a free gift, where do all these rules come in? Why is it that these Christians talk about forgivenness but then seem to have this long list of dos and donts? Well, those are very good questions because the Bible certainly does talk about Jesus as being a free gift that fr...

Read 'Amazing Grace' in full

As Christians, we want to live life the way the Bible tells us. God sent Jesus to be an example of how we are to live. Jesus is God’s son, the son of the great, massive Mr God Himself! But when He came to earth, He didn’t go around boasting about who He is, He made himself the same as a servant, made himself lower than the low, I mean, He was even born in a smelly stable with all the animals, not many of us can say we were born in a stable. In the times when Jesus was on earth, pe...

Read 'Don't Give Up!' in full

 Ever been in a moment that feels totally and utterly random? This moment in John 12: 1 – 8 (yes whip out your Bibles and read it!) could seem one such moment. Picture the scene: Jesus is sat having dinner in a busy room (most likely all guys), when trotting across the room comes a lady called Mary. She takes a pint of Nard. (A pint of what I hear you ask! – an extremely, extremely expensive perfume – maybe valued as much a year’s wages.) She pours this stuff al...

Read 'A Foot Washing Bonanza' in full

   A fact about Elephants Did you know to keep an elephant from running away all you need is bit of rope and a peg that goes in the ground? “Is this not craziness” I hear you say! A big strong elephant could surely annihilate a flimsy rope and peg in seconds. Well you’d think so, but let me explain how it works. A baby elephant is tied by the ankle by a piece of rope that is pegged firmly into the ground. It tries to escape by pulling away, but only being sma...

Read 'A fact about Elephants' in full

   Be like Christ this Christmas “And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” Luke 2:6-7 It really happened. It is not a myth, a folk tale or legend but. Just over 2000 years ago a woman, (more like a girl), gave birth to a child (the son of God!) in a animal stall. This moment in a dirty a...

Read 'Be like Christ this Christmas' in full

Just in case you haven't already noticed, we have set up an online advent calendar for this festive season. Each day there will be devotional messages from people on readings relating to Christmas and the nativity. Messages are coming from a wide variety of contributors, including members of the Ignite office staff, as well as local church leaders and speakers. Today's message (8th December) is from Ignite International Director and Third Day's 'on-the-road' pastor, Nigel James. Keep checking b...

Read 'Igniting Advent' in full

 Why not to be a judgmental Judy….. Jesus spent His time on our planet surrounded by His dearly loved crew of motley disciples, religious leaders who wanted to stamp out his existence and people the Bible calls sinners. One such moment we see these groups of people thrown together like noodles in a take away cartoon is John 8: 1 – 11  Jesus is sitting down in the temple courts to teach, can you imagine what it would have been like to sit and listen to the voice of the...

Read 'Why not to be a judgemental Judy.' in full

Have you ever been involved in a conversation where everyone has a different opinion? Some say one thing, another something else, and at the end you have totally no idea what you think or what is right. This is ok if you are chatting about why Man United lost so badly or which hairdresser on City Road does the best cut, but when it comes to something that really matters – it can be critical to be confused. Peter, one of Jesus’ mates and disciples, was surrounded by people saying dif...

Read 'Gripping the Truth amongst confusion... and other news' in full

“Take a look at yourself and make a change” It can be so easy to see other people and think, “I’m glad I’m not like that”, can’t it? The religious leaders of Jesus’ time loved their rules and loved even more to enforce them – especially the ones to do with religious washing. The problem was, the spent so much time focussing on those, that they didn’t have any time to actually practice the biggies. You know, the loving thy neighbour ...

Read 'Man in the Mirror Part 2 ' in full

What do you do when it's lunch time and your being followed by a crowd? Have you ever been starving? Have you ever had one of those moments when all you can think about is lunch and you can’t concentrate on your lesson, on what your mum’s trying to say or even where you are walking!? Well, picture this scene and remember how the groan in your stomach felt! Jesus is up on a mountain, spending time with the motley crew that is the disciples. There is no Café like there is on ...

Read 'What do you do when it's lunch time and you're being followed by a crowd?' in full