Medway Community Church

09/09/2026

For further study, read: Having A Personal Relationship With God

09/09/2026

Compel them to come in, so that My house will be full. Luke 14:23

Read Luke 14:15-24 Karen said that before her close friend’s wedding, they meticulously set the table for two hundred guests at the reception. With joyful anticipation they spent hours folding napkins, aligning cutlery, straightening tablecloths, and arranging flowers. After putting in all that work, they couldn’t wait for guests to arrive and enjoy it! But when many seats remained empty, they were sorely disappointed.

The Lord Jesus shared a similar story with some Pharisees as they ate together (Luke 14:15-20). He described a man who lovingly planned a great banquet for many people, but few attended and gave flimsy excuses. The man was angry at their rejection. He extended his invitation to society’s outcasts, “the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame” (vs 21). When there was still room, his servants went even further abroad to “compel others to come in” (vs 23).

This parable reminds us that many of God’s chosen people refused the Lord Jesus as their Messiah and rebuffed His invitation into His kingdom (John 1:11). To continue God’s plan to save the world despite their rejection, He opened His invitation to the gentiles, people not of Jewish heritage. All who receive the Lord Jesus by faith are welcome to God’s kingdom banquet, regardless of whether the world thinks they’re worthy. The invitation is still open today.

Reflection
What do you think the guest list to God’s kingdom banquet looks like? How can we spread the good news?
Prayer
Dear Lord Jesus, thank You for making a way for me to experience a personal relationship with You. Amen 👑👁️☝🏽✝️📖🙌🏼🙇🏻‍♂️🙇🏽‍♀️🫂✝️

08/09/2026

08/09/2026

For further study, read: Give Me Jesus

08/09/2026

Stand firm in the one Spirit. Philippians 1:27

Read Philippians 1:27; 2:1-4 Rachel “church hopped” for three years before finding a Bible study group that provided what she couldn’t find in a traditional church—community. Rachel is Deaf. Around the world, many Deaf people face similar worship challenges. Her house church nurtures community by watching a Deaf church service on YouTube, discussing the teaching with each other, and then sharing a meal. The small group provides the Holy Spirit-led church family Rachel craves.

The apostle Paul explains what makes a church a community: the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Writing from prison, he urged this connection to the church at Philippi. His hope, in part, was to encourage spiritual unity in a congregation he’d formed and loved.

“Stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together as one,” Paul urged (Philippians 1:27). He added, “If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, . . . then make my joy complete by being like-minded” (Philippians 2:1-2).

So don’t be selfish, he said, “not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others” (vs 3-4). Those wise words can guide all church families. By the power of God’s Holy Spirit, our communities can serve Him in harmonious fellowship with each other.

Reflection
How do you sense the Holy Spirit working in your life? How can God’s Spirit help you grow His fellowship in your church?
Prayer
Dear Father God, in a sometimes-unloving world, please inspire me to follow Your Holy Spirit’s leading to help build communities that reflect You.Amen 👑👁️☝🏽✝️💪🏽🙇🏽‍♀️🙇🏻‍♂️🗣️🦻🏽📖🙌🏼✝️

07/09/2026

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with My loving eye on you. Psalm 32:8
Read Psalm 32 verses 6-8
Dave said that he and his wife, Sue, had just finished walking five miles across the Mackinac Bridge, which links Michigan’s two peninsulas. This annual Labour Day event in the United States is a tradition in their state dating back to 1958. They grabbed a seat on a park bench to rest. A man sat down next to them to catch his breath as well. Soon his wife and adult daughter joined him, and they learned that their family—also believers in the Lord Jesus—had suffered through the death of a teenage girl just as Dave and Sue did many years ago.

Together they were able to share how God has sustained them and given them strength and faith through the years. It was amazing to think that among the 33,000 walkers that day, they found a family that understood their hearts.

Two families with similar stories ending up together in a sea of people. It sounds a little like something that can happen only because of what God told King David in Psalm 32. After David expressed his appreciation to God for protection and deliverance, he got this encouraging word from Him: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye” (vs 8).

God watches over His children, and He brings them together because they need each other. It’s another indication that “the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in Him” (vs 10).

Reflection
When have you experienced something that reminded you that God has His loving eye on you? What does His unfailing love mean to you?
Prayer
Dear Father God, thank You that You’re real and that You’re always watching over me. Amen 👑👁️☝🏽✝️👀🫵🏽🙌🏼🙇🏽‍♀️🙇🏻‍♂️🙏🏽✝️

06/09/2026

This mornings sermon by Lawrence Payne:

Reading: Romans 11:33-36 & 12:1 33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!z How unsearchable his judgments,and his paths beyond tracing out!a 34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?”j b

06/09/2026

Save others by sn**ching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear. Jude 1:23

Read Jude 1:20-23 A twenty-seven-year-old student studying in Japan had to be rescued from Mount Fuji twice in one week! After being airlifted during his first climb due to dangerous conditions, he realized he’d left his phone and other belongings behind. Four days later, ignoring warnings, he returned to the mountain, only to need to be rescued again—this time suffering from altitude sickness. His story made headlines for its rarity but also because he’d knowingly trekked back into danger.

This account mirrors a spiritual reality—we often tend to head back to what God has rescued us from. Jude captures this tension in his little letter. Written to a church threatened by false teachers and moral compromises, he exhorted believers “to contend for the faith” (Jude 1:3), not just for themselves but for others too. Jude challenged them to sn**ch others “from the fire” (vs 23)—taking an active role in shielding struggling believers from false teachers. As believers in the Lord Jesus, we can’t simply stand back and watch others flounder and fail.

Today, God is calling us to rescue others and to resist returning to the place we were rescued from. His grace will rescue us more than once, but it also calls us to live like we’ve already been rescued. Through God’s strength, let’s contend for the faith and help others be built up in the “most holy faith” (vs 20).

Reflection
How can we show mercy to believers who doubt? What does it mean to show mercy mixed with reverent fear?
Prayer
Dear Father God, please help me contend for the faith and help those experiencing doubt. Amen 👑👁️☝🏽✝️🗻🏔️🚁💪🏽📖🙏🏽💒🙌🏼✝️