The First Day
By Not Known Mark mentions that the resurrection of Jesus Christ happened on the ‘first day of the week‘ (16:2). This is significant as it forges a link between the 2 creations of God. His first creation was to make the world. His second creation is the new creation in the crucified and risen Christ The parallels are remarkable: The first creation was physical…
The Sign
By Not Known Imagine you met someone standing under a street sign pointing to their favourite restaurant. A kind response would be to urge them to follow the sign, go to the restaurant and enjoy a meal. The purpose of the sing is to point away from itself to something else. It is quite like that with the Lord’s Supper. The Protestand reformers were fond of calling…
Sleepless in Singapore
By Not Known What happens when you are ready to sleep at night? Some people drop off to sleep in an instand and wake up many hours later feeling ready to go. For these people, bedtime is a time of rest and re-creation in the deepest sense. For others, it is different. They lie on the bed and start thinking about life’s troubles. The hurts and problems of the day…
Youth Sunday
By Not Known It is a joy to have the youth lead the services today. We thank God for the way in which he has revitalised our ministry to youth in recent years. He has provided us with a good cohort of committed youth leaders as well as a pastoral staff to support this ministry. Most of our youth come from Christian homes. That is a wonderful start to their life with the…
Grace and Gratitude
By Not Known Perhaps you know this experience. You start doing an act of kindness for some people. At first they thank you. But after a time it all becomes routine and they cease to say ‘thanks’. You feel taken for granted and maybe even resentful. Do we take God’s grace for granted? God has done us a huge favour through Jesus. He has sought us out with…
You’ve Got Mail – But Look Who it’s From
By Not Known How many emails do you get? Many email in-boxes are packed night and day. (You may be surprised at how much church business is done by email in the ‘wee hours’!) Many check work email from holiday destinations because otherwise it’s an electronic tsunami when they…
God’s Name, Kingdom and Will
By Not Known The opening words of the Lord’s Prayer have been on our minds this month as we considered the Biblical base behind the new Ministry Plan for our congregation After the very important title of address, Our Father who is in heaven, the prayer starts with a focus on God. (That is an important lesson for the order and emphasis of our won prayers.) The focus…
Your Kingdom Come
By Not Known ‘Kingdom’ Is a big Bible theme from Genesis to Revelation. Put simply, God’s kingdom is God’s rule over God’s people in God’s place. The kingdom pattern was established in Eden. Adam and Eve lived as God directed in the place that God provided. However, this did not last, for they sinfully tried to live in God’s place…
The Honours of His Name
By Not Known The Lord’s Prayer includes the puzzling line: hallowed be your name. What does this mean? Perhaps it means that God’s name should not be said aloud at all, or, always pronounced in pious tones. On this basis, the Jewish community developed ingenious way of talking about God without using his name, lest they be accidentally disrespectful. We should…
God Talk
By Not Known It’s easy to talk about God. His name slips off our lips as we casually chat about him in Bible study or invoke his help in our prayers. But God is not as familiar to us as the location of our favourite restaurant. As Isaiah reminds us, he is beyond our understanding and counsel (Is 40:13-14). Or as Job points out, none of us has a claim on him that he…