The old gospel song ‘O Happy Day’ has the line ‘He taught me how to watch and pray (watch and pra-ay)’; our verse of the year, Colossians 4:2 encourages us to ‘be devoted to prayer, being watchful and thankful’.   There are many examples of being ‘watchful’ in Scripture, and it’s a theme Jesus often […]

Liminal space can be unsettling.   Liminality is the in between, not quite one, not quite the other.  Teenagers are in liminal space; not a child, not yet an adult.  Someone engaged to be married is in liminal space; no longer single but not yet married.   Liminal space can be unsettling, it can be […]

On Sunday I referred to part of Hebrew 6 v 19, but would have loved to dig a little deeper into these wonderful words: “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure…”   The writer of Hebrews is talking about Jesus, our Great High Priest who, metaphorically speaking, went into […]

Seek ye first   There are some verses which I know off by heart from before I was a Christian! This verse is one of them. But how, I hear you ask. When I was in Primary School, we still had ‘hymn practice’ one afternoon a week, led by one of the teachers (who I […]

The late African-American Baptist preacher S.M. Lockridge once preached a sermon with a phrase later made famous in the 1980s by Tony Campolo: “it’s Friday… but Sunday’s coming’. The sentiment behind it is absolutely right – we remember the sacrificial death of our Lord Jesus Christ, the pain He suffered to buy our freedom in […]

Ephesians 3 v 12 “In Him and through faith in Him we may approach God with freedom and confidence”   During Holy Week, we remember the final week of Jesus’ earthly life before His death upon the Cross. The Cross, and subsequent resurrection of Jesus result in the gift of freedom in this life and […]

In the Old Testament, God’s covenant with His people was directly in relationship to the land, the place of Israel. God’s promise to the people was in the provision of the land, and when the people of Israel and Judah went against God’s heart, it was the land that was taken from them. The pain […]

John 4 v 42 “They said to the woman: “it is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world.”   Jesus had been speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well, something which broke many […]

Sent but Staying Put   The word ‘apostles’, (which in Greek is apostolos ) literally means ‘sent ones’. As followers of Jesus, we are both dicsiples (followers) and apostles (sent ones). We are called to follow Jesus, and we are sent by Him to make more followers. John 3 v 34 “For he whom God […]

As I sat at my kitchen table this morning, Bible open, hot drink in hand before anyone else was awake, I heard something louder than I’ve heard from our kitchen before. The birds singing. It’s not an uncommon thing, and it’s something I’m often aware of, but it seemed louder than usual because of one […]