In lots of ways we have had a really encouraging couple of years as a church. We have had more baptisms in the past two years than any of us can remember and we have grown in our membership and congregation on a Sunday. Particularly on a Sunday morning in school term time there is […]
At our Carol Service this year I reflected on those end of year montages that you often see on TV programmes at this time of year. I am a bit of a sucker for them and I particularly enjoyed those on the Sports Personality of the Year programme that I caught up with subsequent to […]
I am back at work now and looking forward to meeting people again at our prayer meeting tomorrow evening and church services on Sunday. I am very thankful to those who have been praying for me- I am coming back well rested and refreshed. We’ll see how long that lasts! One of the joys of […]
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 […]
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 […]
There are certain sermons that you know are going to produce questions. I very much had a sense of that when I preached on Sunday from Romans 9. Essentially it covers the doctrine of election- that God in His sovereignty has called and chosen His people. There are various reasons why I think this is […]
I enjoy preaching and leading services at Woody Road- but I am always thrilled when I simply get to listen to God’s Word and the wisdom of God’s people without having to think about how to introduce the next song! I’ve had two opportunities to do this recently- at the FIEC Leaders’ Conference and the […]
To think in a right way about the Christian life involves changing the way we look at things normally. Our culture relies on people getting what they deserve in their wages so it is hard to get our heads round the fact that God works on the basis if grace in giving us what we […]