29th May 2020 Did Dominic Cummings break lockdown rules when he went to stay in County Durham? What about driving to Barnard Castle to test his eyesight? You may have noticed, there are strong feelings on all sides. Was he doing what any father would have done? Should he resign, or be sacked? Is
Read more8th May 2020 This weekend we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of VE-Day (VE standing for ‘Victory in Europe’). You may be able to remember VE-Day itself. You may take part in some celebrations – at a suitable distance of course. 8 May 1945 was when the fighting in Europe finally came to a halt
Read more1st May 2020 If you’re a Christian, you cannot lose. The bad things in your life will turn out for good, the good things in your life cannot be lost, and the best things in your life are still to come. I think that’s how I heard Tim Keller summarise a sermon by the great
Read more23 March 2020 New situations require new words. And we’ve learned some new words these last few weeks, with the new situation we find ourselves in with coronavirus – phrases like “self-isolation” and “social distancing.” And we’re finding it hard. It’s not hard to learn the words, but it’s hard to do the isolating and
Read moreDear Friends, What would Jesus say about the coronavirus? It’s a good question to ask about anything, and a useful way of sharing the faith: “What would Jesus say?” It sounds like a tricky question to answer in this case. It’s not as if we can look up the word “coronavirus” in a concordance or
Read moreDear Friends, With coronavirus grabbing the headlines daily, we are forced to think about sickness more than we usually do. I have found myself turning to The Order for the Visitation of the Sick in The Book of Common Prayer. Dwelling on its words is like taking a walk in the mountains: it is a
Read moreDear Friends, Many of us have been following one of the ‘Six Steps’ courses in our Fellowship Groups, equipping us to serve others through prayerfully speaking God’s word to ourselves, to one another and to those who are not yet Christians. This is now the sixth ‘Thought for the Week’ on this theme of being
Read moreDear Friends, One specific way in which Christians are encouraged to be ‘equipped’, ’ready’ or ‘prepared’ is in explaining what we believe. Peter urges his readers, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15, NIV). I have often
Read moreDear Friends, We have been thinking about how God equips us to serve him in prayerfully speaking his word in different situations. Now, the idea of being equipped is closely related to the idea of being ready or prepared. When we’re equipped, prepared or ready we have everything we need and don’t need anything more.
Read moreDear Friends, In the last couple of these ‘Thoughts for the Week’ we have been thinking about being ‘Equipped to Serve’ in making disciples of Jesus by prayerfully speaking God’s word to ourselves, to one another and to those who don’t yet believe. So far we have seen that it is God himself who does
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