I’ve been reflecting on sin recently. A number of things have made me ponder the subject: 1. Preparing for last Sunday with Jesus’ diagnosis of the world as evil. 2. Writing up my notes on Paul Tripp’s book A Dangerous Calling. This is his book on the nature of pastoral ministry and it is painfully […]
On Sunday morning we faced up to a painful diagnosis- Jesus says that what the world does is evil (John 7:7). You can listen to the sermon here. It is not something that he says just once. I noted Graham Beynon’s comment based on Matthew 7:11- “We think of ourselves as basically good people who […]
Last weekend saw our first services as a church back in St.Edward’s School Chapel and Summertown Hall in order to create space for our building project. I missed them as I was having a thoroughly enjoyable time with Magdalen Road Church on their weekend away. It was lovely to see the south coast again (although […]
This week is a mixture of sabbatical plus involvement in the Kidlington Holiday Club (plus the ongoing filling of boxes in preparation for the arrival of the electrician!) The Holiday Club has been a real encouragement with a number of youngsters coming who have had little contact with the Bible before. Tempting as it is […]
I’m just back from my first week away as part of my sabbatical. I’m really thankful to people for their prayers- I’ve had a deeply refreshing week in the Brecon Beacons. As you know, it has been a baking hot week. I spent early mornings and late evenings in the spot above with books in […]
Last week we had one of the most encouraging evenings I can remember in the church. I probably can’t put the full details online- suffice it to say that we had the opportunity to celebrate the completion of a translation project that has been ongoing for around 25 years. There have been many ups and […]
The first thing I should admit is that this conference was two months ago- I’ve not been good at writing recently! However, I was reflecting recently that I needed to revisit some of the lessons from it so have decided to write it up. The Pastoral Refreshment Conference is organized by Living Leadership. The aim […]
Somewhat belatedly here is the last post considering Romans 8:18-27. So far we have seen that the Christian should expect suffering but that this is achieving a glory- one second of which will extinguish a lifetime of suffering. So, for the moment, everybody is groaning. Why? Because glory will be so good. Paul says that […]
So why be a Christian when to be one brings a guarantee of suffering? Here is how Paul goes on: I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. It is easy to read a verse like that and assume Paul is playing down our […]
Apologies that the next three posts won’t have a Christmas feel. With three Christmas sermons to preach any inspiring (or mundane!) thoughts on Christmas are going to land in those! I’ve just finished preaching through Romans 5-8. However, the sermon on Romans 8:18-27 didn’t record properly. One or two people have asked me about it […]