Posts from 2020 (Page 3)

Dear Congregation, I’ve just done the unthinkable – no, calm down, I am not talking about sin – I just added ‘covid’ to my computer dictionary. The spell checker keeps flagging it, and I have been matching that with the ignore option. In adding it in to the dictionary it seems like a tangible acknowledgement that this is not only an increasingly frequent word in our day…

Dear Congregation, On Friday towards the end of the memorial service for [one of our congregant’s] sister, we sang “Jesus loves me, this I know…” and you know how that incredible statement is supported. It is not supported by my ego, nor by the compassion of my friends who treat me kindly and warmly. Nor is it undermined by my failures or inconsistencies. It is a…

I’ve been staring at this spot for some time… What do I write? Earlier today I received the message that someone close to me was ‘POSITIVE’ – no, it was actually a total mistake. But it gave pause. How challenging that word ‘positive’ has suddenly become! None of us should think we are immune from the possibility, that one day… It is a sobering thought. It was a…

This morning we learnt of the death of Dr J I Packer, whose work is known to many of you and whose influence reaches many more. Having benefited greatly under the ministry of Dr Martyn Lloyd Jones he along with John Stott were key instruments used of God to bring about a resurgence of biblical and evangelical ministry in the Church of England in the latter half of the…

As I write I am also watching the uploaded streaming of Sarah and Robert’s wedding. What a blessing to be involved with them and to serve them in this way. I know you all join with me in prayer for the Lord’s blessing on their married life, their growth in the Lord’s grace together, their developing usefulness in serving the Lord together, as well as for their parents and…

How’s your sense of ‘community’? Carl Trueman, Professor of Biblical and Religious Studies at Grove City College in the USA, recently observed how swiftly things change in the sense of community – ‘Strange to tell, it was only a month ago that the nightly news was seasoned with inspiring stories of communities coming together in countless acts of kindness toward the…

This week we were considering God’s omniscience – that He is all knowing. This is an necessary reality if God is truly God, but it is also a staggering one. Listen to David in Psalm 139:1-5, 1     O Lord, You have searched me and known me.2     You know my sitting down and my rising up;You understand my thought afar…

How’s this week been for you, your family, your circle of Christian friends, or friends in general? It’s certainly been a tough one for the world, and that does not seem to be relenting any time soon. Maybe it has been a tough one for you. I know in many ways it has been a tough one for me personally. So where do we go, what do we do when as Christians are called to face…

As one reads the Psalms one knows they are songs, yet it is obvious they are prayers and we often use them in our prayers, as our prayers. And when we see or remember that, we are struck by how prayer (and praise) flows out of a wonderment with God as He has revealed Himself to us. And when we read the psalms, when we sing the Psalms, prayer seems to come naturally to us…

Ever had a ‘Stevie Wonder’-call? I hadn’t even heard of that before – till Alistair Begg spoke of it…