[Here are the notes of a short talk given at an informal breakfast ‘event’ hosted by Holy Trinity Church, Norwich.]
Consider the following sets of names:-
Ram – Nahshon – Akim Abraham – Isaac – David Tamar – Rahab – Ruth Rehoboam – Manasseh – AmonThey are all found in the list of 46 names, spanning 2,000 years, that we find in Matthew chapter 1. They include non-descripts, heroes, women (each with an interesting story to tell!)…
What a day this is turning out to be! That really was the mother of all storms, a hurricane from hell.
The sheer violence of that storm…the way the Master spoke to it…the fact that it completely subsided as soon he did so…It was almost as if something (or someone) didn’t want us to get to the other side of that lake.
Anyway, it’s over now. I just hope the Master lets us turn the boat around, sail back the way we came, and change into some fresh dry clothes.…
One of life’s minor frustrations is over-hearing other people’s phone conversations and trying to work out what is going on:
Hi Paul, how are you? Oh no, when did that happen? Oh you poor thing. So where is it now? About 1, you say. Ok, I’ll leave it under the rabbit hutch.Reading Paul’s 1st Letter to the Corinthians is a bit like listening to one side of a phone conversation. The apostle spends much of his time dealing with problems and answering questions that have been raised by the people at the other end of the line – the Christians in Corinth.…
Once a year, in late October or early November, a very British event takes place in London: the State Opening of Parliament. Her Majesty the Queen is taken by horse-drawn carriage from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster and into the House of Lords. There she delivers her speech from the throne, informing the great and the good of her plans for her government and for her people.
Looking at that scene, with all its pomp and circumstance, you should have no trouble working out who is in charge.…
Peter and John are under fire for two reasons: they have been speaking boldly for Jesus and they have been performing miracles in his name.
They’re thrown into jail, and the next day they are hauled in front of the Jerusalem authorities. Peter and John explain that the crippled man has been healed in the name of Jesus, and, since the man himself is standing there, the accusers are left speechless. Peter and John are released, but given a stern warning not to teach any more in the name of Jesus.…
[I have borrowed my title from a thought expressed by John Piper in one of his excellent messages on this passage]
God has no interest in anything I am about to say.
Nor does he much care whether you pay any attention or not.
If fact, God is not impressed by anything we have done our service this evening.
Or any other service, for that matter.
We might go to church twice every Sunday. We might listen to faithful sermons from which we take copious notes.…
We have plenty of water. It falls out of our sky, it runs along our rivers, it flows out of our taps. We take it for granted.
Things are different where Jesus came from. For much of the year, the sun blazes out of a cloudless sky, the river-beds are dry, and all the water you need for drinking, washing, cooking and cleaning has to be fetched up from the bottom of a well.
Jesus arrives at Jacob’s well. …
(This sermon was preached at an all-age service)
As Jesus approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her, which no-one has ever ridden. Untie them and bring them here. If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’…
(Because preached to an elderly congregation, the Authorised Version was used on this occasion)
1. “I am the bread of life”
The bread of life is not a thing, but a person. 1 Cor 10:16 ‘The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?’
V 33 – ‘The bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven.’
Jesus points to himself – what a claim!
“For him hath God the Father sealed.”…
[This short sermon was preached at a service of Holy Communion following the Book of Common Prayer. Hence the use of ‘traditional’ language]
Peter’s purpose in writing was to encourage persecuted Christians to stand firm in their faith, 1 Pet 5:12. Accordingly, he repeatedly reminds them of the blessings that belong to those who belong to Christ: so much so, that this letter has been called ‘the epistle of hope’. Moreover, he instructs them in the behaviour that Christians should exhibit in the midst of suffering: what kind of relationships they should have with the world in general (2:11f), with the state (2:13-17), within the home (2:18-3:7).…
