Songs in the Key of Life

Expectations

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Songs in the Key of Life ImageThe Roman Philosopher, Horace once wrote that “Life is largely a matter of expectation.” What are your expectations? Of life, of God, of church, of others, of prayer?

Where does your prayer life begin? John Wimber commented that prayer “begins with an understanding of God.” He continued, “Who God is and what he does is of paramount importance in considering prayer. how a person prays disclosed what he/she believes about God.”

Our opinions and expectations of God will determine how we pray.

In the following talk, Nick Sutton looks at Psalm 118. This is the psalm the crowds, full of expectation, sang on that first Palm Sunday as Jesus made his entrance into Jerusalem. What do you expect? Are you ready to expect the unexpected!

Praise

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What is the chief end (the purpose) of man?

The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

What do we celebrate in society? What do we applaud? Things like family or financial stability might come up.

What do you celebrate? Who do you applaud? What do you worship? Whatever it is that you enjoy, you praise.

We need to understand what it means to enjoy God, and then to let out our praises for Him, for all around us to hear.

Not All Daisies and Butterflies

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For many of us, the journey of following Jesus is not the ‘skipping into the soft focus sun-shiny distance through fields of daisies and butterflies’ but an often brutal, desolate, hard stumble into darkness. When we live in the kingdom of God, in the will of God, an easy life is never guaranteed, a safe life is never a certainty.

Have there been times in your life when you felt like life was brutal, desolate and full of darkness? How has this impacted your thoughts about or faith in God?

Disorientation

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It can comes as surprise when trouble invades our life or we experience loss, pain or anxiety. How do we deal with this sense of disorientation? How do we pray when we experience “the rawness of life”?

The Psalms give us abrasive, revolutionary and authentic words for the cry of our heart. In this talk Nick looks at how we pray when we experience loss, anxiety and pain. With special guest, Chris Darlington.

Songs in the Key of Life

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#1 Songs in the Key of Life
Do you wish you prayed more often? Prayed better? Prayed more consistently? You’re not alone.

This year, we’re setting out to change our prayer lives for the better. Not just because it’s apparently a good thing to do, but because we know that a life closer to God means a life more fulfilled.

Looking at and meditating on Psalm 1, our series opener sets out the motivation for the weeks ahead.