Brothers and Sisters Last week, I spoke a little about personal holiness, and today I thought I would write on corporate holiness. 1 Peter 2:9 tells us: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty arts of him who called … [Read more…]
Brothers and Sisters,I have, incredible though it seems, been writing these “thoughts for the week” for a year now and thought that I would do a short series on holiness. I will look at personal holiness this week, corporate holiness next week and social holiness the week after. (Then I’m going on leave for a … [Read more…]
I wonder how many of you remember the old hymn: When we walk with the Lord in the light of his WordWhat a glory is shed on our wayWhen we do his good will, he abides with us stillAnd with all who will trust and obey.Trust and obey, for there’s no other wayTo be happy … [Read more…]
When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see… In Exodus, we read of Moses and the burning bush. It is one of our seminal stories and we are very familiar with it. Moses sees a bush burning without being consumed by the fire and he wonders how that could be. So he … [Read more…]
My diary is full of extra visits and services for baptisms and funerals at the moment, and I am made freshly aware of the cyclical nature of life where we celebrate birth and death. In the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, in the order for the burial of the dead, we have these words: “Man … [Read more…]
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians: 4 – 16 Are you a glass half-empty or a glass half-full sort of person? Do you read this and think “Every day I become a day older” or do you think, … [Read more…]
Friends In Isaiah 40:30-31 we read this: Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. It is a reminder … [Read more…]
Friends, Well, the long-awaited moment has arrived and this Sunday we can sing again in church. Freedom though has come with more of a whimper than a bang and although we travel hopefully, we know that it’s not all over yet. I am telling my children to remember this because in fifty years’ time their … [Read more…]
Friends “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4. I wonder how many of you, like me, learned this in Sunday School and can still remember it, if not chapter and verse, then certainly remember the words. I wonder how many of you … [Read more…]
Friends, I don’t know if you have been watching the football, and I write this before Wednesday’s semi-final. Up to this point in the Euros I have got on with things downstairs in my office, confident that I will be able to follow the game based on the cheers and groans of the rest of … [Read more…]