Pastoral Message (Page 74)

By Not Known Have you ever been in a plane during a hard landing? It’s uncomfortable and even frightening. The end of a journey can be a time of fear and uncertainty as the era of the familiar yields to a new unknown. It was like that when Jesus came. Each Gospel makes that point rather forcibly in the introductory section. The coming of Jesus was a decisive end to…

By Not Known God’s will is sometimes clear. Thus, when Jesus was in his garden agony he knew full well that it was the father’s will that he go to the Cross (Lke 22:42). The only question was whether he would obey this revealed will. It’s the same when we have a temptation to sin. If we know our Bible, we know God’s will. The only question is…

By Not Known Where is our sense of belonging and who are our ‘kin’? Many of us will point to our earthly family or maybe to a tight-knit workplace, club or such like. For Christian people, that sense of belonging is expressed in a phrase ‘the communion of saints’. We affirm our belief in this every time we say the Apostles’ Creed. However,…

By Not Known There is an old saying that talks about having 20/20 vision with hindsight. That is when we look back at something after the event we can see and understand with greater clarity. This appears to be the case with Jesus. The four Gospels tell of Jesus’ followers stumbling and fumbling in the understanding and responses to Jesus. Yet, after the Easter…

By Not Known Consider the sounds of the Passion …. Glad shouts as the king came to his crowd’s acclaim Rustling as branches and cloaks were strewn Secretive mutterings as the conspiracy was tested and refined to evil’s perfection The breaking of bread and pouring of wine 30 clinks as silver poured to the betrayer’s hands Clash of swords as the…

By Not Known The champion is a popular theme in books and movies. A champion is someone who acts on behalf of a whole group of people to overcome opposition, to win the day and to bring peace. There’s a current movie example of this theme as Alice faces Jabberwocky in ‘Alice in Wonderland’. It is her unlikely and unwanted destiny to face the dreaded…

By Not Known The Lord’s Supper should be an occasion of spiritual delight and a rich reminder of the generous grace of God. It’s an occasion when we can all face our sinfulness with a sense of the burden that is lifted from us by the cross of Christ. However, the Lord’s Supper can be a perilous occasion. Thus Paul speaks of people falling ill and even…

By Not Known Love and truth seem to be like tea and coffee – you have one or the other, but not both. Let’s think about the possible combinations. Truth – love = insensitive  Perhaps you know someone who is free with their opinions but delivers them in an ugly way. They may well speak truth (and at lengthy detail) but they do it in a graceless way…

By Not Known Do you know this experience? You say or do something. Someone talks about your motives or purposes and you hear of their views. As you see it, they are wide of the mark, but then they and others go ahead to act and react on the basis of their mistaken ideas. Or, perhaps you are the one doing the talking about other’s motives and purposes. It’s…

By Not Known It is common for people to gamble and Singapore has plenty of opportunities. Offshore gambling cruises, Genting bus tours, card games, lucky draws, and now casinos are all available. The nation’s churches, with other local religious and community groups, have been vocal in opposing further gambling facilities. Why? After all gambling creates employment,…