Sunday 30th June – 1 Peter #6 – Doing good
As human beings, we tend to take a short-term view of most things. Well, of the good things, anyway. We don’t expect them to last. Peace and happiness – joy, even – we see as transitory. Whereas pain and suffering loom large in our minds. They not only seem to go on for a long […]
Sunday 23rd June – 1 Peter #5 – Wives & Husbands
“Wives, in the same way submit yourselves…” does not, at first glance, sound like a rallying cry for 21st century feminists! But when we look at 1 Peter 3.1-7 in context, we discover that – far for being down on wives, and on women in general – the Gospel is good news of liberation. And […]
Sunday 16th June – 1 Peter #4 – Commended for suffering unjustly
In 1 Peter 2.11-25 we find that – as well as the privileges we have as citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven – we have responsibilities. On of these is that we are called to follow Christ’s example and to “bear up” under suffering. Suffering that will come upon us unjustly, because we are His followers. […]
Sunday 9th June – Peter, Pentecost & the Holy Spirit
We tend to think of Pentecost as being the day the Church was born. But was it? And was it really the first time that the Holy Spirit came upon the believers? Furthermore, where do bubbles come into the story?!
Sunday 26th May – 1 Peter #2 – Foreigners
Wherever our “home” country might be, Peter says we are to live out our time as foreigners here on earth. Why are we foreigners? In this second look into Peter’s first letter (1 Peter 1.13-25) we discover the eternal perspective that our heavenly citizenship should bring to our lives. We also try to grasp something of […]
Sunday 12th May – 1 Peter #1 – A living hope
In the first of this new series, we see how Peter explains the living hope that Christians have. The hope that we have – because of our salvation – is rooted in the past, alive in the present, and will go on for all eternity. (No need for a Tardis, really, therefore!)
Sunday 5th May – Abdicate, delegate or collaborate?
At his Ascension did Jesus, in effect abdicate? Did the Apostles delegate and then supervise? If so, what does the Bible mean by “fellow workers in Christ”? And where do church biscuits come into it?!
Sunday 28th April – Bringing a tent peg to a sword fight
Who on earth would bring a tent peg to a sword fight?! A woman called Jael, that’s who, in Judges 4. It seems God likes getting his people to use ordinary everyday tools, rather than weapons, to fight battles, But why?
Sunday 7th April – Lent – Eggs #5 – Eggs not Scorpions
No-one in their right mind would serve their kids toasted and buttered soldiers with a scorpion instead of the expected boiled egg. But isn’t that what we half-expect God to do when we ask him for something? In Luke 11, Jesus sets us right about how we should pray.
Sunday 31st March – Lent – Eggs #4 – The Partridge
The prophet Jeremiah presents us with a partridge (or IS it a partridge?!) hatching out another bird’s eggs, as a mental image to help us understand the difference between the man or woman of God and the rootless opportunist (Jer 17.7-13). God, he says, sees into the heart and mind of man. That, of course, […]