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This morning as I was doing some work around the house I decided to put some music on. Feeling a bit nostalgic I decided to rock it like it was 2006/7 and put on one of my favourite albums: United We Stand by Hillsong United. I have fond memories of listening to this album countless times as I drove to varsity in the mornings, and back in the afternoons.The CD actually belonged to my sister, she had all the Hillsong United albums at that stage, and me, being a bit of a contrarian, had been later to the party. Since the Christian teens and young adults were all listening to Hillsong United, I wasn't. For some reason or other I borrowed Steph's copy of United We Stand and fell in love with some of the songs. Other songs on the album, that I initially wasn't so keen on actually became some of my favourites the more I listened to them. To this day, it remains one of my favourite albums, but it's not merely because I enjoyed the songs, more than that, they had become a soundtrack to a significant part of my Christian journey. When I hear these songs, they remind me of a time in my life where my faith was deeply challenged and evaluated, and as a result became stronger, more mature and established. I'm reminded of quiet times journalling in my car before the lectures started. Having my faith questioned, and even mocked by peers and even lecturers (not personally but indirectly through their critiques of Christianity or religion itself). I remember how God was leading me down the path to ministry without me even realising. And then, when I had been offered the job of assistant pastor, I remember these songs inspiring me as I started to plan out my very first sermons. All of these memories, and more, were brought to mind this morning as I had the album playing in the background and I thanked the Lord for all He had done in my life. I thanked Him for those special years where my spiritual life grew in leaps and bounds, despite the struggles and the doubts. It is good to remember and give thanks.1 I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart;    I will recount all of Your wonderful deeds.2 I will be glad and exult in You;    I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.    (Psalm 9:1-2)I would like to encourage you to take some time to remember all the wonderful things that God has done in your life. Remember His faithfulness in times of trial, remember His loving care as He led you to Himself and healed your wounded and sinful heart, remember Him in the dark of night and the bright of day. I'm sure there are some songs that hold a special place in your heart as they remind you of significant moments in your journey with the Lord, why not give them a listen again?God BlessGraham

Two nights ago my beautiful wife asked if I wanted to watch a movie with her. I agreed, and we began the process of finding something to watch. I don’t know about you but this can sometimes be a time consuming process as you try and figure out what to choose! Fortunately this time was pretty easy and we decided on a recently released movie on Netflix. In one of the more tender moments in this action packed film, one of the main characters is being questioned by another about his life. After being transparent and sharing a difficult memory the one asking the questions responds by saying, “You drown, not by falling into the river, but by staying submerged in it”, quoting a line from a book he had read.I thought this was quite a profound statement probably because I have been struggling a bit lately. I think a lot of what I am going through at the moment is due to our current life of lockdown and I am still adjusting to this new way of life. There have been days when I have just felt down and not motivated to do much and actually just wanted to climb back into bed. This feeling is almost as if I have fallen into a river and am sinking. There’s nothing wrong with how I am feeling as it is a natural response to our situation but I must be careful not to wallow in this feeling (which I have been guilty of doing in the past). While thinking about this scene and my current feelings I was reminded of these life giving words from Isaiah 43:1-31 Now this is what the Lord says—the one who created you, Jacob,and the one who formed you, Israel—“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;I have called you by your name; you are mine.2 When you pass through the waters,I will be with you,and the rivers will not overwhelm you.When you walk through the fire,you will not be scorched,and the flame will not burn you.3 For I am the Lord your God,the Holy One of Israel, and your Savior.Now while these words were written for Israel I find a lot of comfort in them because these are words from the same God who looks after us in difficult times. I can stand firm in these truths even though I am struggling at the moment because God has not and will never let me down. I have no reason to fear as I been redeemed by the blood of Jesus, I am one of the children of God who has been called by name, and I belong to the Holy and set apart God in whom I find my salvation! Reading these verses has helped make me feel a bit better and I will definitely keep coming back to them in the weeks to come.Much love,Luke

Yesterday we observed Freedom Day in South Africa. It was, ironically, one of the least free Freedom Days that we have experienced in recent years, due to the restrictions on our movement during the lockdown. I got to thinking about what freedom means and the words of Jesus were brought to mind:34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.   (John 8:34-36)There is so much to be said about the freedom that we have in Christ but there is one aspect that I want to focus on in this blog post. Jesus set us free from enslavement to sin, and not only that, he also set us free from trying to earn God's approval and acceptance. As Jesus said, a slave has no permanent place in the family, they have to work hard to prove their worth, to earn their place. A son is a member of the family by virtue of his birth, he does not need to earn his place in the family. Through Jesus, the Son who set us free, we are brought into God's family by grace. We don't earn our way in, nor do we have to relentlessly strive to keep our place. So many Christians don't realise the full impact of the Gospel truth. Jesus is our righteousness, it is through Him that we are made right with God and receive God's approval. We are so used to having to go to the ends of the earth trying to please people that we struggle to fathom the amazing truth of God's grace. Instead we try to be the "perfect" Christians, doing more and more for God and then harshly judging ourselves for not meeting the standard. Or, disheartened, we stop trying at all, defeated by the impossibility of the task. Yet when we begin to fully appreciate and understand the incredible gift of grace that God has given us, we finally experience the true freedom we have in Christ.I came across a wonderful testimony that illustrates this point:"The harder I tried to be perfect, the more miserable I became. It took me almost having a nervous breakdown before I internalized the gospel truth that Jesus saves me by his grace — period. How emancipating to realize that I couldn’t be good enough for him to love me more, or bad enough for him to love me less! Gradually, I learned to love Jesus freely and accept his ludicrously lavish love. Instead of being bound to a list of do’s and don’ts, I began to serve God out of gratitude for all he accomplished on the cross."There's the amazing thing. Realising that we don't need to strive to earn God's approval doesn't mean we stop serving the Lord. In fact it has the opposite effect. It frees us to serve the Lord from…