I remember starting my brief sabbatical about ten days ago with somewhat mixed feelings. It was odd being at church on my final Sunday thinking that it would be the best part of two months before I got to see everybody again. However, I was also deeply grateful for it- especially as I am aware […]
I enjoy Graham Beynon’s writing. He has an ability to take an issue that is relevant to us and then write balanced biblical sense on it. His book on self-esteem, Mirror Mirror, is excellent and three years ago he wrote on the subject of Emotions. I read the book earlier this year and thought I […]
Last week I wrote about my plans for the homegroups that I was due to lead on Wednesday and Thursday. Following the old pattern of Lloyd-Jones my intention was to see whether people in the group had a question for us to discuss and to spend around an hour or so trying to come up […]
A couple of years ago I did some work on the life of Martyn Lloyd-Jones to be presented to the Oxford Training Partnership. At some point I may write it up in a series of posts. But, for the moment, I want to reflect on one aspect of his life that intrigued me. It comes […]
This blog is rapidly becoming an attempt to preach my sermons again with additional things which I wish I had said- see this on Romans 9 for instance. So to continue the theme I have recently been reflecting back on my sermons on Psalm 27 and pondering how I might have preached them differently. During […]
I was grateful that many people in the church were praying for David, Janet and me as we attended the Pastoral Refreshment Conference last week. Several asked me on Sunday whether I was, indeed, refreshed! The answer was yes! Let me explain why. By far the most helpful thing about PRC is that it treats […]
A couple of weeks ago I preached a sermon on election that provoked a fair number of questions. However, last Sunday evening’s sermon produced questions of a different sort. I included a long piece in it talking about the blessings that are ours in Christ. A few people asked me why I did that and […]
Our Relationships Series has come to an end. On this blog over the last few weeks my main focus has been on the subject of homosexuality. However, I think our time considering friendship was as important. I am convinced (and I made this point again on Sunday morning) that close relationships, where anxieties, temptations and […]
I mentioned in an earlier post that I am not particularly keen on political campaigning on this issue. There is a reason for that- in 1 Corinthians 5:12, the apostle Paul asks this question- “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?” I don’t particularly want to preach to the non-Christian […]
Each year at the church we have a vision verse. It is an opportunity to focus our minds on one specific aspect of living as a Christian and we tend to explore it through a number of sermons across the year. Last year our focus was 1 Corinthians 10:31- “Whatever you do, do it all […]