The story so far …  We often use “Blessings” to describe external states or end results (of wealth, happiness, prosperity etc.), but it must refer to internal states as the source of those externals, the Lord is working with the path that takes us there. To be “poor in spirit”, I realise I am without […]

Isaiah chapter 40 begins with familiar words, used by Handel in his oratorio, Messiah, and often associated with the Christmas story: “Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” But if anything, the words that end the chapter, in verse 31, are even more well-known: “But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall […]

The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche … was a famous critic of Christianity, and thought that it needed to be transcended by modern men and women. But at the same time, he granted that there were some “advantages” to the Christian understanding of morality – advantages that were no longer operative in a more relativistic, nihilist, […]

The Commands of Jesus: Forgive. Continuing the journey, we look at Matthew 18:15-35, and John 8:1-11. Recorded on Sunday 16th August 2020. Watch on YouTube: An article from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-blame-game/201510/forgive-me-forgive-me-not Martin Luther King’s sermon on Forgiveness: https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/draft-chapter-iv-love-action Swedenborg’s discussion of forgiveness, reading from here and continuing to paragraph 9454: https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/exposition/translation/arcana-coelestia-elliott/ex-25/94430?translation=arcana-coelestia-elliott&fromSection=0&section=9443 Rev Howard Thompson’s series […]

Is it more important to make a public confession of faith and to take a firm stand for the truth, or to live a private religion? Continuing our series on the Commands of Jesus. Recorded on Sunday 2 August 2020. “when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites […]

Loving your enemies is one of the most challenging of commands ever given. But this has hidden benefits. Today, we read from Matthew chapter 5 and unpack everything that Jesus means when he teaches the true nature of love. Recorded on Sunday 5th July 2020. Matthew 5:43-48 [NKJV] “You have heard that it was said, […]

Jesus appears inconsistent in his demands for us to follow the commandments and his breaking the Sabbath laws of his time. Will a closer examination of the issues involved reconcile this dilemma and offer us greater clarity on the commandments? Recorded on Sunday 1st March 2020. Readings: Matthew 5:7-20, Luke 14:1-6 FOLLOW THE COMMANDMENTS 16 […]

How do you create a community? Does the Bible say anything useful? Recorded on Sunday 16th February 2020. 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we […]