It’s hard to imagine what it’s like to live in a country where simply going to church is a life-threatening activity. Yet for millions of Christians, it is dangerous and often even illegal to gather to read the Bible, to sing, and to pray with others. Earlier this year, Mandy, Barbara and I caught a […]
At today’s commissioning service for Adrian, Anita, Matias and Maia Lovell, it was a fresh reminder of our deep partnership with them and with the Church Missionary Society, CMS. We gathered along with representatives of six other churches to show our support for the Lovells, and to pray for them as they prepare to return […]
Imagine… When we see ____, we long for justice God punishes in _______ People get what they _______, now God punishes by _____ God punishes at the end of the _____ ____ is running out Liberty: nobody will be _______ Universalism: _________ will be saved Imagine all the people living life in _____?
Embarrassed by sin We need to understand our spiritual ________ Sin is the _________ of God as ruler We’ve all ______ to our own way Sin _______ every human Sin makes us fail to ____ as we should If we’re not following God, we’re following the _____ We’re alienated from the ______ itself Humanism: all […]
In our increasingly-professionalised world, we now employ people to do many of the things that we once did, ourselves—from mowing lawns to walking our dogs. There are good reasons why we engage the services of others, but as we have become wealthier, we now value our time so highly that we spend money to deliver […]
A problem with authority We all want to ____ ourselves Since God created everything, we need to ______ him God _______ everything God lovingly _____ everything God has made ______ to rule under him ___________: ‘what you see is all there is’ _________: ‘what you don’t see really matters’ _____: ‘it’s all a big machine’ […]
Dear Father God, In light of Hamas’ recent attacks on Israel we are reminded yet again of the sad reality that the present Jerusalem is in slavery with her children.We pray for those who belong to the heavenly Jerusalem – our brothers and sisters living in both Israel and Palestine – that you’d enable them […]
One year ago I received the bad news that my cancer was back, and since then I’ve lost a few kilograms, gained a few kilograms, had a longish break from chemotherapy after a bad reaction to a dosage, and recently I’ve just resumed chemo with a different drug. A number of my medical consultants have […]
Synod We are part of something ______ Partnership usually involves _____ They wanted to know about ______ Each Sunday they’s put aside some _____ We can set and forget our __________ We should be willing, cheerful and ________ In the Old Testament they gave a _____ Christians are not required to _____ ___ percent is […]
When I ask someone to give thanks for the food, I don’t normally expect them to mention cattle… but this is exactly what I often heard in prayers when I was a student at theological college. As we were about to eat our meal, the principal would sometimes quote from Psalm 50, saying, “Lord, you […]