So lovely to be reminded that God is a forgiving God and not judgemental as Joel said. Thank you. I must tell my sister Ruth with a locked in syndrome, it is so miserable for her, not able to communicate or move her body. please pray for her this Lent.
We appreciate your kind words. Our thoughts are with your sister Ruth as she faces the challenges of locked-in syndrome. Prayers for her strength, comfort, and healing during this Lenten period.
Excellent … repentance can appear sad and depressing beating ourselves up but Mr. Wright emphasizes the Love of God He has for you. You are the apple of His eye and gods wants the best for you and repentance is a required path we must take daily rooted foremost in the Love ofGod for you. Don’t let our temporal humanity get in the way of God’s best for you thru repentance.
Having listened to this again, what was very encouraging was Prof. Wright's final thought about the ultimate purpose of all "Lenten" reflection, introspection - to return to God Himself. It is not so I can beat myself up for my failures and weaknesses, but they are to be a motivation to direct me back to my love-intimacy with my loving Father and Sovereign. Thank you for this insight!
I tend to focus on my own sinfulness and miss the part about focusing on the four qualities set forth in Joel. If I were to focus on both, I believe Lent is a wonderful time to show the forgiveness of the Cross.
I enjoy these videos. The Habit of the Heart phrase for lent is a refreshing renewal cry that calls each believer to 'rend the heart'. This passage does remind us of the character of God, which we all too easily lose sight of when we stray from those habits of the heart: gracious, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love. Thanks for these videos.
I just heard about this being on RU-vid and I like the way it’s done. I only wish I could have seen it sooner. Thank you very much. This is very different in the way it is typically taught. Excited to hear it all.
Powerful. Even when Jesus is calling the children of Israel in Exodus, he calls them out of idol worship BECAUSE of HIS love. That love ignites Holy wrath.
These 4 characteristics of God from this passage encourage me to focus on each attribute, one at a time, during the duration of lent, almost like advent, where we focus on those themes.
Thank you so much for your video. I have smoked heavily for 50 odd years, but I gave up yesterday because I believe my addiction stops me from receiving the Holy Spirit. I want to rely fully on Jesus & our Father in Heaven, & not be addicted to nicotine, so I have repented & called out to God for help. Your video has really inspired me remain steadfast in my undertaking, & to say to myself, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". Thank you! GB.
We're grateful that you've shared this here with us in our community, Janette. May the presence of the Spirit sustain you along with the support of trusted people, one day at a time.
How are you doing? Keep going, don't give up, I will pray for your strength. Receiving the Holy Spirit is amazing, instead of tobacco, use your prayers each day and wonderful things come into your life. 💕
Thank you for such a timely message! You put me back on the right track and make me understand that it is not about inward-looking and lamenting on my sin but God's gracious and steadfast love that will sustain us through Lent. Thanks be to God!
This video has helped me get a better focus on what I am preaching on this Lent at our congregations. I serve as the pastor of two, rural, Lutheran congregations in Texas, USA. The focus on those four characteristics of God. Thank you.
Lent is life to remember who am I and my intimacy relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ in His grace and love. Thank you for the precious message.💝👍🙏
Helpful start to this season - focus on God - these four characteristics are a helpful starting place - gracious, merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love. Retrieving covenantal promises during challenging days in the world by checking the depths of our hearts and the things that turn us from God and to God.
Thank you for leading me into a. Great start of this journey on Ash Wednesday! Focusing on repentant on the basis of those four characteristics is what we all most commonly forgot!
I praise God for you Tom Wright. Your messages are always given to remind us of the character and attitude of our Lord's heart. May we all focus on Him and ask for hearts that are committed and devoted through His Spirit working in us to be like Him as witnesses to the world.
I love the videos you put out! To be honest I miss the little tea bit 😊 always felt warm and welcoming. Thanks for all the work done to make the Gospel easy to receive and understand!
Glad you like them! Thanks for the feedback. We're trying to keep it interesting and different, but we'll keep that in mind. There are lots of ways to make tea (although switching up the milk first or second could be controversial!).
Thank you for this reminder to shift my focus away from my shortcomings and towards His character. When I take time to meditate on how the scripture is telling me who the Living God is and what He's like it reminds me what it means to best follow Him. It helps me to remember that the only way that I am able to put aside my flesh and be gracious, merciful, loving and slow to anger with others is to spend time in the presence of the one who does that perfectly with me and my shortcomings. I'll be watching this again and again throughout the week as I read the passage from Joel.
@@NTWrightOnline Thank you. I took so many notes! The passage 2:28-32 where Joel talks about what would happen after repentance stood out the most to me. God pouring out His Spirit on all flesh led me of course to Peter's sermon in Acts 2. Then there's everything happening at the colleges here in the States, like Asbury. I started to study more about repentance and "revival" because I was curious about it. I had been invited to speak at the ladies breakfast at my church and had a whole other topic prepared. God took this little personal study about repentance and used it to give me that gentle nudge He sometimes does and said "You're speaking about this instead." I love reading His word and teaching others about it. This is the first time I spoke publicly at my church though. I praise God for the word He gave me and I thank you for the encouragement to write my thoughts which led to the message. I'll come back and put a link to the message. Also, there's a ministry called Spoken Gospel and they do wonderful dramas to introduce and give an overview of each book of the Bible and how it points to Jesus. Their Joel video was pretty cool, but the one they did for Numbers always gets me. You may want to check them out 🙂 they are on RU-vid too.
Thanks for sharing your story and the link to your message. It's encouraging to hear about how the seed of reading Scripture together prompted further study and then to your first public speaking at church! Sometimes those 'gentle nudges' lead to giant leaps!
Love this reminder of God's characteristics--it is easy to fall into the thought or "feeling" God is out to get me --just looking for a way to punish me when life is hard but praise the Lord he is gracious, merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love! Thank you for this sweet message N.T. Wright!
Well put sir! 👏 thank you for reminding us of the MEANING of lent ... to connect with God & discover His love FOR US. Lent is a time of reflection & an opportunity to discover his love for us.
Thank you again. These are all such excellent reminders. I appreciate the emphasis on lent. And I struggle with God's mercy - partly from my own inadequacy of faith (trust), or many overt failings; and partly from circumstantial suffering. This was a timely reminder.
Interesting observation. We struggle with mercy sometimes because it doesn't seem fair, either due to our own failings or the impact of other's failings on us. Give us this day our daily bread...comes to mind
@@NTWrightOnline yes. I often read Psalm 25:16-21 for help in that light which petitions God’s mercy for help with personal distress (lonely, afflicted, troubled heart) v.16-17; forgiveness v.18; & protection from enemies v.19ff.
Thank you for the reminder to start the Lenten journey looking to God and allow that experience to rend our hearts in repentance. God is moving in my life. Thanks for speaking the Word of God into my life.
I don't normally follow lent but this year I've decided to go for it. And I want it to be a matter of the heart- a true repentant heart. Thank you NT. 🙏
Wonderful to hear! We also have an online course available, 'A Journey through Lent', taught by our friend and colleague, Prof. Esau McCaulley: www.udemy.com/course/a-journey-through-lent/
One way of looking at this might be as we live within the New Covenant and as we embody the Promise of God through the Church. And, we have access to experience and to witness to the loving and gracious precious of God through Christ by his Spirit.
Many find the daily readings and prayers (collects) in the Book of Common Prayer to be a helpful devotional companion. You might also select a Gospel to read through or commit to readings through Paul's letters. Our friend, Prof. Esau McCaulley, has a new book called, 'Lent: The Season of Repentance and Renewal' as well a video course with prayers and readings: included: www.udemy.com/course/a-journey-through-lent/
I see NT wright wearing these gloves, maybe to protect his hands, I do not know. I hope he is OK. The kind of gloves I would wear riding a motobike to keep my hands warm in the morning.
As we get older, many of us experience pain in our hand chiefly due to arthritis but also other inflammatory ailments or diabetes. Cold weather makes it worse. The therapeutic compression gloves like Tom is wearing can help with the discomfort.
I can see the value of building repentance into the rythm of our communal life. But doing so creates a paradox. What should be a heartfelt daily practice turns into virtue signalling. Those who need repentance least wind up being the only ones who take the ritual seriously. Your effort to amend this is great. But I'm afraid that, until we actually suffer for our ambivalence toward the Lord, nothing is really going to change.
I think I understand. As one who comes from a background where we don't really observe any rhythms, I've found some value in beginning to keep them to some extent. For me, I think of it like this: every morning when we leave for work, my husband says "I love you, have a good day" and I say it to back to him. It is a routine, and yes, sometimes I reply without even thinking. But we mean those words even if they are now a habit, and I try to remember to focus on them when I say them, to mean it with my whole heart. And that's the approach I've taken to anything that can be repetitive spiritually as well. I try to think of mindlessness as the real enemy and embrace the routine. That's been helpful for me.
