Advertise on podcast: Trails Church

This week we find that Paul is now in the custody of the Roman authorities who pulled him out of a life-threatening mob at the temple. By no means does this mean that he is far from potential harm.  That said, we see God (in His sovereignty) bringing deliverance in ways unique to Paul’s circumstance that speak powerfully to us today of a great purpose behind his and our deliverance.  As you prepare today to hear God’s word, wrestle with the question; ‘for what purpose have I been saved?’

This Sunday we return to the book of Acts. As we have observed throughout our study, we see again the call and the cost of bearing witness to Jesus. We read how Paul was falsely accused of bringing a Gentile into the temple and nearly killed by an angry mob. Then, by the end of our passage this week, he is arrested and taken into Roman custody, beginning a lengthy season of imprisonment.The question for us is challenging yet simple: do we view our trials for Christ as mere hindrances or as opportunities? Our desire should be that we consider our trials opportunities for faithful witness to the power of the gospel. As you read the sermon text, pray to that end, that we too would value more highly our opportunities to bear witness to Christ.

This Sunday we come to the end of Book 1 of the Psalms. In Psalm 41, David writes in reflection on period of sickness that nearly ended his life. Although his enemies wished him dead, his deliverance from this illness once again gives him confidence in the promises of God.As you prepare for tomorrow, read Psalms 1 and 2 alongside Psalm 41, as the truths in each complement one another. Spend some time in meditation on the promises of God in Christ. And pray that our hearts would be stirred by the joy of the Lord’s grace and blessings toward us.

Life is full of waiting; it’s unavoidable. But Christians do not just wait for circumstances to change, we wait on the Lord himself. In fact, waiting on the Lord is the posture of the entire Christian life. So then how can we learn to not waste our waiting? How do we wait well?Psalm 40 contains David’s testimony of worship for how the Lord delivered him. But what God has done for David has far-reaching implications for God’s people. Because we too are waiting for our ultimate deliverance, and the king’s deliverance bolsters our trust that we too will be delivered.As you read Psalm 40, consider and pray through what you are waiting on God to do for you. Meditate on how what God has done through Christ in the past helps you to trust what God will do through him in the future.

We know life is short, but we often live as though we have all the time in the world. We put off obedience, spend ourselves on things that will not last, and assume there will always be another season to get serious about what matters most.In Psalm 39, David is forced to face just how brief and fragile life really is. And it leaves us with an important question: If our lives are only a vapour, how do we make sure we don’t waste them?As you prepare for worship, take some time to read and meditate on Psalm 39. Ask the Lord to help you see the brevity of your life clearly and to show you where you may be living as though you have more time than you do.Join us as we look at Psalm 39 and consider what it means to live a brief life faithfully

This penitential Psalm has David in the dark and heavy throws of repentance. God has struck him down with deep sorrow and conviction over his sin and he is rendered helpless because of it; knowing that that same God is the only one who can remove sins’ burden and bring relief to his tortured soul. In the 22 verses of David’s cry we see the marks of true repentance and have opportunity to ask a few questions. Questions like; ‘what does repentance look like in my life? And, what is God’s intended goal of the guilt and godly sorrow that should come with it? Join us for worship this Sunday to learn the answers to these questions and much more!

Psalm 37 is a complex passage with a really simple message. Remain faithful while you wait. But the Lord knows that it is difficult for us to do so in a world where the wicked seem to prosper and the righteous so often suffer.So where do we find the strength to endure? How are we called to remain faithful in the waiting? The answer is found in seeing what God has promised he will do.

How you see determines how you will live.We hope you will join us for worship this Sunday.

Psalm 35 is one of those passages of Scripture that likely upsets our sensibilities. We wonder how some of these prayers square with what Jesus tells us. My hope is that we will come away understanding how Christians can faithfully pray these justice-seeking prayers.David’s prayer in Psalm 35 provides a blueprint and model for how we too can pray for God to fight on our behalf. As you read and pray, also meditate on how we need the Lord to bring justice and to halt the advance of evil in this world. Pray that he would do just that. Hope to see you at our gathering.

God Hears, God Saves Psalm 34 is one of the rare Psalms that gives us the context from which the Psalm arises. Not only is the text a testimony to the goodness of God and His saving work; but it also teaches us how to navigate frightful circumstances. What does it look like to seek the Lord in fear-filled moments? How does He minister in those times? And how is it possible that the fear of the Lord is key to navigating through them? But, just as we start to think that we may have a neat and tidy list of things to work at in order to be righteous in fearful situations, we find there is a tension that tells us otherwise. A tension that leads us to worship God and boast in Him alone.

For my money, Psalm 33 is a quintessential psalm of praise. In each praise psalm God’s people are called to worship and are given reason after reason why we ought to worship the Lord. In Psalm 33, the fuel for our worship is God’s sure word and total rule.But just as what God says is fuel for our worship, it also acts as the fuel for our trust in him. But so often our trust wanes, based more on our circumstances than what God has said or done. As you prepare for our time in the word, pray that the truth revealed in Psalm 33 would brighten our hearts and fuel our worship and our trust in God’s saving purposes for his people.

This Sunday we will consider the blessedness of forgiveness. In Psalm 32 we read how David was convicted by his sin, he confessed it to the Lord, and was completely forgiven. Trails, this is the gospel preached to us, written over 1000 years before the cross. Remember that repentance and faith does not only describe the beginning of the Christian life but characterizes the whole of the Christian life. So how does regular confession of sin factor into your prayer life? Pray that we would grow in conviction for our sin, and grow in the joy of forgiveness.

This Sunday we are in Psalm 31, a lament that majors on the theme of trust in the Lord. Even in his deepest distress, David remains confident in the faithful love of God that will deliver him.How can we do the same? What does it look like to remain confident in God even when our pain does not have an end in sight?As you read Psalm 31, prepare for our gathering by praying through these words. Consider also why Jesus took up the words of Psalm 31:5 for his own prayer when he was on the cross.

It is rather providential that on this Father’s Day we find ourselves in a passage that deals with the theme of God’s discipline of his children. In Psalm 30, David praises God for how he delivered him, not from enemies, but from discipline for his own sin. In this David gives thanks for how God has restored him through several redemptive reversals.God’s corrective discipline is not something we often consider and it is a painful experience to be sure. However, remember that through the gospel we too have enjoyed these same redemptive reversals. Therefore, though we may not enjoy discipline, we know that our Father will turn all our sorrows to joy in Christ.As you read and prepare for tomorrow, meditate on the imagery and emotional language David uses to describe his experience. Consider your own need for correction and how you have responded in the past. Pray that we would respond as David did and that we would know the joy of the Lord’s favor in a more tangible way.

Have you ever faced a time of what you might consider ‘God-ordained suffering’? What do we do in those situations? Do we avoid it at all costs? Have you ever had to watch a fellow believer enter a time like that? What do we do in that instance? Do we act to save them from the pain ahead? And, have you ever asked yourself ‘what is God’s role in suffering?’ Didn’t He die on the cross so we wouldn’t have to suffer? This Sunday we talk through Paul’s final leg on the journey to Jerusalem; the place that will act as a gateway into years of imprisonment and his eventual martyrdom. While we do, we will attempt to answer the above questions in order to learn how to navigate this inescapable state that every Christian is bound to enter sooner or later. A state where the glory of God is revealed in a potency that can’t be found in the less rocky terrain of life.  As you ready your heart to receive God’s word, meditate on the suffering in your life and the suffering you see around us in this world. Ask God to reveal to you the path through that suffering that would reveal His glory the most in order that His Spirit may enable us to walk it.