blog

  • Just a Thought... 18 October

    Identity in Christ? Objections to the Gospel message very often stem from our sense of identity: The simple question ‘Who exactly am I?’: An atheist? A religious person? A pharisee who likes to control things? A social liberal whose lifestyle choices conflict with those Jesus taught? As we heard on Sunday morning, the apostle Paul wanted the Galatian Christians who were hearing objections to remember that those who have trusted in Jesus can say: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the...

  • Just a thought... 11 October

    What influences you most? Does someone’s title or status make any difference to how you treat them? Clearly showing respect for everyone is appropriate and recognition of someone’s role is always the right thing to do. Yet the idea that we should give a person extra attention because they ‘appear’ to be influential is a mistake because their influence may be a bad one: it surely depends what they say and do! On Sunday morning we heard from the apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians that the apparent ‘status’ of the church Elders made no...

  • Just a thought... 4 October

    Facing a task unfinished When you’ve got your friends and family on your mind, who aren’t yet Christians; or when you consider the great number of people yet unreached with the gospel; we can easily get overwhelmed. We heard last Sunday that almost 2000 people groups (totalling 220 million people) don’t have even a single verse of the Bible in their own language. Where to start? How can little me play a role in this unfinished task of reaching all the nations, both overseas and at our doorstep? With such a massive task before us, we’ve...

  • Just a thought... 27 September

    The right source of ‘good news’? The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of news, disasters and drama: from the energy crisis to a new Prime Minister, the death of HM the Queen and economic chaos. It’s difficult to know which reports to believe and experience teaches all of us that WHERE we get our information from matters a very great deal! Indeed, when it comes to the MOST important questions of life, death and eternity, the source of our information is absolutely crucial: We saw on Sunday morning from Galatians chapter 1 that the Galatian churches...

  • Just a thought... 20 September

    Where my confidence rests… As the world continues this week with yet another ‘new normal’ to get used to, yet again we are presented with situations which unzip the certainties we had started to get used to. It can feel as if everything is ‘up for grabs’ again. In contrast, we saw from the New Testament letter to the Galatians on Sunday morning, the certainty of God’s rescue plan in the Lord Jesus is unchangeable. Coming as it did with God’s Divine, sovereign authority, it’s absolutely all about what Jesus has done: “…Lord...

  • Just a thought... 13 September

    Where is our certainty? So many of us have felt deeply emotional at the passing of HM Queen Elizabeth II. Her long life of service has been a humbling example. It’s as if someone foundational to our lives has gone. Whoever it is and whenever it happens, death is always a shock, yet as we saw last Sunday morning from Psalm 90, it causes us to consider our own mortality in the light of God who is eternal. “Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are...

  • Just a Thought... 6 September

    The leader we need... This week sees the appointment of a new Prime Minister, who will lead our country through the looming economic & energy crisis as well as the day to day ‘ordinary’ things of our lives and government policy. It’s an unenviable task in ‘normal’ times, let alone at the moment! Yet we all know that whatever actions our leaders take or policy changes they implement, governing a country is an extraordinarily difficult, complex and ultimately endless task: next year’s problems will be different and require different solutions. We should pray for the Lord...

  • Just a thought... 30 August

    Is your life founded on the Rock? Did you also build sandcastles and walls on the beach to try whether you could stop the sea from washing it away? You piled up more and bigger rocks, made a wider wall. Eventually though, the tide coming in was the only real test. The result (inevitable destruction) isn’t the point now – but this: only when the test comes, do you really know if the building will last. Hardship will prove the foundation. Jesus makes this point in his concluding parable at the very end of the Sermon on the Mount...

  • Just a thought... 23 August

    Power for godliness Imagine a typical computer helpdesk conversation. Someone asks: ‘my laptop doesn’t work’. Answer: ‘Perhaps the battery is empty; have you plugged in your power supply?’ Without power connection, the device just doesn’t work. It might last a few hours perhaps, seem to be doing fine, but it will run out. Our Christian life is a bit like that: we need to be connected to the power supply, God himself, if anything is going to happen! Without this connection, Jesus has a frightening response (see Matthew 7:21-23). With this connection, however...

  • Just a thought... 16 August

    Judging with love Anyone who’s done woodworking or climbed a rough fence knows how painful and irritating a splinter can be. You want to get it out as soon as possible, especially if the speck is in your eye! Just like those flies that like to take a break in your eye during a bike ride, it needs to come out! Helping someone remove a speck or fly is kind. Judging something or someone may be good and required. Jesus however challenges us to reflect: how do I judge? “How can you say to your brother, ‘Let...