Oxlow Lane Baptist Church

26/11/2021

04/11/2021

06/09/2021

Tiny Teddies Parent & Toddler group is starting back up this Monday 9.30am-11am 13/9/21

04/11/2020

Let us not forget as we come to Remembrance Day the greatest of all deaths! The Lord Jesus Christ who died for us so we can know the forgiveness of sin and have peace with God!

13/05/2020

“Just be true to yourself” sounds very intuitive. It sounds very right in our individualized culture. It’s a message we hear from all kinds of directions, but it’s actually a very catastrophic philosophy.

Jesus said that what is the problem with us is, in fact, our true self. He talks, in Matthew 15, about how it is out of the human heart that evil thoughts, murder, adultery, and all manner of other things come out (Matt. 15:19). And the issue, therefore, is the heart itself. On another occasion (Matt. 16:24), Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, they must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow him.

So Jesus teaching about the self is that the most important thing we do with the self is not express it, but deny it. And the amazing thing is, as we deny self, we actually do become the real person God always intended us to be.

Sam Allberry on the Problem of ‘Being True to Yourself’
Posted on The Gospel Coalition site.

04/05/2020

“Who has given a gift to [God] that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. (Romans 11:35–36)
When it comes to obedience, gratitude is a dangerous motive. It tends to get expressed in debtor’s terms. For example, “Look how much God has done for you. Shouldn’t you, out of gratitude, do much for him?” Or, “You owe God everything that you are and have. What have you done for him in return?”

I have at least three problems with this kind of motivation.

First, it is impossible to pay God back for all the grace he has given us. We can’t even begin to pay him back, because Romans 11:35–36 says, “‘Who has given a gift to [God] that he might be repaid?’ [Answer: Nobody!] For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever.” We can’t pay him back because he already owns all we have to give him — including all our efforts.

Secondly, even if we succeeded in paying him back for all his grace to us, we would only succeed in turning grace into a business transaction. If we can pay him back, it was not grace. If someone tries to show you a special favor of love by having you over for dinner, and you end the evening by saying that you will pay them back by having them over next week, you nullify their grace and turn it into a trade. God does not like to have his grace nullified. He likes to have it glorified (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14).

Thirdly, focusing on gratitude as a motive for obedience tends to overlook the crucial importance of having faith in God’s future grace. Gratitude looks back to grace received in the past and feels thankful. Faith looks forward to grace promised in the future — whether five minutes from now or five centuries from now — and feels hopeful. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for” (Hebrews 11:1).

This faith in future grace is the motive for obedience that preserves the gracious quality of human obedience. Obedience does not consist in paying God back and thus turning grace into a trade. Obedience comes from trusting in God for more grace — future grace — and thus magnifying the infinite resources of God’s love and power. Faith looks to the promise, I will be “with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9), and ventures, in obedience, to take the land. "A devotional from John Piper"

27/04/2020

“For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.” (1 Samuel 12:22)

The name of God often refers to his reputation, his fame, his renown. This is the way we use the word “name” when we say someone is making a name for himself. Or we sometimes say, that’s a “name” brand. We mean a brand with a big reputation. This is what I think Samuel means in 1 Samuel 12:22 when he says that God made Israel a people “for himself” and that he would not cast Israel off “for his great name’s sake.”

This way of thinking about God’s zeal for his name is confirmed in many other passages.

For example, in Jeremiah 13:11 God describes Israel as a waistcloth, or belt, with which God chose to highlight his glory, even though there were times when Israel was temporarily unfit. “For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.” Why was Israel chosen and made the garment of God? That it might be a “name, a praise, and a glory.”

The words “praise” and “glory” in this context tell us that “name” means “fame” or “renown” or “reputation.” God chose Israel so that the people would make a reputation for him. God says in Isaiah 43:21 that Israel is “the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.”

And when the church came to see itself in the New Testament as the true Israel, Peter described God’s purpose for us like this: “You are a chosen race . . . that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9).

In other words, Israel and the church are chosen by God to make a name for him in the world. This is why we pray first and foremost, “Hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9). This is why we pray, “Lead us in paths of righteousness for your name’s sake” (see Psalm 23:3).

When we speak of being a God-centered people, remember, this is because we are joining God in his God-centeredness. And on this side of the cross, that means being a Christ-dependent, Christ-exalting people. “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake” (1 John 2:12). “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17).

Devotional excerpted from The Pleasures of God, pages 85–86

16/04/2020

Thanks to all who have given to the food bank. Please do continue to give and pray for the food bank ministry. Many people are being helped especially in these very difficult times. Many who are coming in for food are also asking questions about Jesus as well.

16/04/2020

Food Bank at Bethel Christian Centre

12/04/2020

“Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. Rev 1:18

12/04/2020

Thine be the glory,
Risen, conqu'ring Son;
Endless is the victory,
Thou o'er death hast won;
Angels in bright raiment
Rolled the stone away,
Kept the folded grave clothes
Where Thy body lay.
Thine be the glory,
Risen conquering Son,
Endless is the victory,
Thou o'er death hast won.
Lo! Jesus meets us,
Risen from the tomb;
Lovingly He greets us,
Scatters fear and gloom;
Let the church with gladness,
Hymns of triumph sing;
For her Lord now liveth,
Death hath lost its sting.
Thine be the glory,
Risen conquering Son,
Endless is the victory,
Thou o'er death hast won.
No more we doubt Thee,
Glorious Prince of life;
Life is naught without Thee;
Aid us in our strife;
Make us more than conquerors,
Through Thy deathless love:
Bring us safe through Jordan
To Thy home above.
Thine is the glory,
Risen conquering Son,
Endless is the victory,
Thou o'er death hast won.