blog

• Just a thought... 21 June

  Undeserved kindness Too wet, too dry; too hot or too cold – it seems that the weather always gives us something to complain about... However, rain and sunshine come out of God’s hand, who gives not just to the good and righteous, but also to the evil and unrighteous (Matthew 5:45)! God indeed loves even his enemies, those who hate him, ignore him, and disobey his laws (5:44). And by nature, we’re all in that category! What undeserved kindness! Given by the God who promised in the covenant with Noah that “as long as the...

• Just a thought... 14 June

  Like father, like son “He looks like his dad”; “she’s so much like her mother” – you might have said or heard it. Something in our behaviour or character might make others think of a family member. You can even have this with friends: if you spend lots of time together, you begin to think and act alike. A similar principle is true for Christians: we’re supposed to become more and more like Christ, our Saviour and King. He is our example, our model. As children of God, we should imitate him, live on the basis...

• Just a thought... 7 June

  “Seated in heaven?!” ‘We’re in heaven!’ Now, you might imagine that’s about your dream holiday location, with perfect weather, and those you love around you... That’s often the way people use such a phrase. Yet, Paul said the same to Christians! In Ephesians 2:6, he writes: “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.” But what does Paul mean? Not just a good time here on earth, of course, but something much better. First, our future is so certain that...

• Just a thought... 31 May

  “Honestly?” How much do you care about truth, about honesty? The news can regularly provoke our annoyance or anger when politicians have (again) broken promises. You might feel similarly when someone hasn’t kept their word and you’re left waiting, or when your child hasn’t tidied up as you’d asked. Then again, it’s all too likely you’ve let someone else down in a similar way. We struggle to let our ‘yes’ be ‘yes’, to keep our promises. Perhaps because we simply forget, after having spoken too quickly. Or we fear the...

• Just a thought... 24 May

  The right response to amazing grace? Yet again last Sunday morning, we heard the testimony of someone who is a recipient of God’s amazing grace in Christ: The wonderful story of conviction of sin being amazingly met with forgiveness because Jesus has already taken all the punishment deserved on the cross. The stunning reality that His resurrection from the dead sealed the certainty of future hope. Redemption’s work is done again, as it is for every true Christian! Yet, what is a right response to such amazing grace? We saw on Sunday morning that it’s to take...

• Just a thought... 10 May

  “Make yourself at home!” are warm words of welcome. Yet it can sometimes be a meaningless phrase that amounts to little more than ‘take a seat’. The question of being ‘at home’ and ‘where is home’ is one we saw Nehemiah and his colleagues working on last Sunday morning from chapters 11 & 12 of the Old Testament book of the same name. They were trying to re-populate the newly re-built city of Jerusalem and in the only way they knew how, working out the large variety of people who would enable the...

• Just a thought... 3 May

  Although we now have our own building, it was in Hardenhuish School hall on 17th April 2005 that our church held its first public service of worship. This year that was Easter Sunday, so we chose to celebrate last weekend on 1st May. Starting our anniversary service with Psalm 90 we considered again the benefit of marking the passing of time: “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90 vs 12) As we paused to reflect the past, with its joys and sorrows, its encouragements and its pain, the overarching...

• Just a thought... 26 April

  It’s one thing knowing a fact or truth or idea but it’s an entirely different thing seeing it put into practice. Often a principle can sound great in theory but watching the effects it has in someone’s life can be either really convincing or show that it’s wrong.On Sunday morning in our Sunday School gift day, we saw together from 2 Timothy how the apostle Paul pointed to Timothy’s mother and grandmother as examples of the Gospel put into practice. Faith in the Lord Jesus and His Word had such an obvious great effect...

• Just a thought... 19 April

  Bizarre as it sounds, some people might regard the resurrection of the Lord Jesus not happening, and the Gospel not being true as very convenient: As we saw on Sunday evening from 1 Corinthians ch 15, no resurrection would mean our bodies are disposable like single-use plastic rather than renewable, and we can (mis)use them now however we want! Yet it would mean that even if there IS a God, there is no way to know, let alone placate Him. We would only be left with the hopelessness of whatever life we now live. As Paul put it...

• Just a thought... 12 April

  It’s almost never the wrong time to reassess how we’re getting on. Our western culture likes to do it at the start of each year, but it can be helpful to do at other times too: Last Sunday morning we continued to see Nehemiah and his colleagues doing that, having finished rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. In the light of what they heard from God’s Word, they sought to recommit themselves to Him. Yet having confessed their sin in ch 9 their only solution was to renew the covenant in ch 10, which we might sadly summarise...