Praise the LORD

Sunday 15th October 2023 Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love towards us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures for ever. Praise the LORD. Psalm 117 (NIV) Dear Brothers and Sisters, Praise the LORD “This tiny psalm is great in faith, and its reach is enormous”

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Love your Church

Sunday 8th October 2023 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
 Matthew 5:3 (NIV) Dear Brothers and Sisters, Love your Church
 As a staff team we have just started reading our church’s ‘book of the term’, Love Your Church by Tony Merida.  We were struck (at least I was!) by Ray...

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Lord of All

Sunday 1st October 2023 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. Hebrews 1:3 (NIV) Dear Brothers and Sisters, Lord of All I do not recall when or where I first heard it, but I do remember someone saying that, “Either

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The end is still to come

24th September 2023 When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed.  Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.  Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines.  These are the beginning of birth-pains.  Mark 13:7-8 (NIV) Dear

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Rightly ordered love

17th September 2023 Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”  This is the first and greatest commandment’ (Matthew 22:37-38, NIV) Dear Brothers and Sisters, Rightly ordered love You may be familiar with the idea that idolatry is not only loving the wrong...

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‘Jesus Christ’ or ‘Christ Jesus’?

Sunday 10thSeptember 2023 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Saviour and of Christ Jesus our hope, To Timothy my true son in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.  1 Timothy 1:1-2 (NIV) Dear Brothers and Sisters, ‘Jesus Christ’ or ‘Christ

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True Forgiveness

Sunday 20th August 2023 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors (Matthew 6:12, NIV). Forgive as the Lord forgave you (Colossians 3:13, NIV) Dear Brothers and Sisters, True Forgiveness In August 2016 a news story began trending in the United States under the heading: ‘A Blind Eye to Sex Abuse:

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‘Church Family’

Sunday 6th August 2023 Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father.  Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity. 1 Timothy 5:1-2 (NIV) Dear Brothers and Sisters, ‘Church Family’ We talk much about being a ‘church...

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Talking about death

30th July 2023 Dear Brothers and Sisters, … people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.  Hebrews 9:27 (NIV) Talking about Death There are many fine moments in the new Barbie film.  Perhaps the most striking is when Barbie is chattering away and asks her friends (also called Barbie), “Have you

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Become a Psalmist

23rd July 2023 Dear Brothers and Sisters, Become a Psalmist In a recent blog from CCEF, Ed Welch describes listening to a friend speaking of the pain he is experiencing, the fears he faces and the regrets he has, and yet somehow he always returns to speaking of God’s faithfulness.  He comments that ,”I was

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