blog

  • 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...

  • Just a thought... 9 August

    More valuable than grass If your lawn looks anything like ours at the moment, it’s pretty brown and dry and badly needs some rain! Yet when it does get that water, the grass is often able to recover so well, and become green again. Hasn’t God made this very common, tiny, plant so beautiful? “If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” (Matthew 6:30) On Sunday morning, we heard...

  • Just a thought... 2 August

    Our only comfort in life and death Last week I shared a Q&A from the Heidelberg Catechism, that summary of biblical teaching written in the 16th century. This week, I want to share the first Q&A from this historical document. It might not be as well-known to us as the Westminster Shorter Catechism’s opening question (Q: “What is the chief end of man? A: To glorify God and enjoy him forever”), but it is just as beautiful and worthwhile to memorize. One of the hymns we’ve been singing recently (“Christ our...

  • Just a thought... 26 July

    Both able and willing When we pray “Our Father in heaven...” as Jesus taught us in Matthew 6:9, those few words contain an amazing wealth of truth. With these words acknowledge that God is both far beyond us and at the same time so preciously near. He’s both the Creator of heaven and earth, and – through faith in Jesus Christ – our Father. In the last 2000 years, Christians have summarized biblical truth in great creeds and confessions and catechisms (teaching in the form of questions and answers). One of the oldest creeds is...

  • Just a thought... 12 July

    Forgiveness is about relation Christianity is all about a relationship, with God. Other religions and worldviews in the end come down to living and working and doing your religious practices all to get right with the god or gods, or just to cope with life itself (for those who deny the existence of the supernatural). However, the one true living God doesn’t want religious performance, but he wants to be our Father. He wants a relationship of love. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning...

  • Just a Thought... 5 July

    God knows our needs You see a man on the street, looking around in a confused way. He doesn’t seem well at all, so you walk up to him: “Can I help you? Is there anything you need?” He replies, “Ehm... I don’t know...” Sometimes life can feel like that – you don’t know what to do; you don’t know what you need. Maybe you’ve just heard terrible news about someone close to you. Or you’ve just lost your job. Or the busyness and struggles of recent weeks have left...