‘Speak, for your servant is listening.’ 1 Samuel 3:10 (NIVUK)
Do you ever feel that God couldn’t work with you because you’re too old or too young? Maybe there are things in your past that you think disqualify you from participating with God in accomplishing his purposes. Perhaps you feel inadequate to join with him in what he is doing. If that’s you, then take a look at some of the people God worked with in the opening chapters of 1 Samuel.

There was a news report out this week titled ‘Adapt or die’. It was about environmental change, but it could easily have been about the Christian church. Another news item that caught my eye was about St Michael’s church in Bournemouth that is changing its name to St Mike’s.

Then God said, ‘Take your son, your only son, whom you love – Isaac – and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain that I will show you.’ Genesis 22:2 (NIVUK)
Of all the incidents in Abraham’s life taking his son Isaac to be sacrificed on Mount Moriah is probably the most famous; it is the climax of his life. The narrative is intriguing, riveting, and puzzling all at the same time. As a result, it has been a source of debate for centuries as many have tried to uncover the various nuances of the story.

Is football finally coming home for England after 55 years of hurt? With England through to Sunday’s Euro 2020 final their supporters won’t have long to find out.

Last week I had the opportunity to spend some time in St. Ives, Cornwall, enjoying the good weather and the picturesque scenery. This week the area of St. Ives will host some far more prestigious visitors as the G7 Summit is held at the Carbis Bay hotel.

…God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ Galatians 4:6 (NIVUK)

…no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit. …no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:3 (NIVUK)

When you think of the gifts of the Holy Spirit what usually comes to mind? Are they the powerfully obvious ones such as healing, miracles, or speaking in tongues? (1 Corinthians 12:9-10). Or are they the ones connected with disseminating the gospel message like teaching and evangelism? (Ephesians 4:11). Maybe it’s the relational gifts like encouraging, being hospitable (Romans 12:8, 13) or simply helping one another (1 Corinthians 12:28). Each one of us is an individual in God’s sight and he has equipped us differently according to who we are, what he purposes for us, and what the needs are within our local community of faith.

Have you ever looked forward to something with great anticipation only to find that when it arrives it’s a bit disappointing? I’ve been watching Line of Duty, a TV programme about rooting out corruption in the police force, since series one. Last Sunday was the final episode of series six in which a corrupt officer, […]

‘…We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved…’ Acts 15:11 (NIVUK)
The Jerusalem Council recorded in Acts 15 is widely recognised as a watershed moment standing at the centre of the book of Acts theologically. Finally the issue of Gentile inclusion into the purposes of God is addressed and resolved.

Did you read in the news this week of an attempted robbery that took place in Augusta, Georgia? At around 4am one morning a hooded man smashed his way into Diablo’s Southwest Grill, grabbed the till, which was empty, and fled.

When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him… Luke 23:33 (NIVUK)
The evening was getting worse. Jesus was betrayed. One by one he was abandoned by his disciples and left to face a sham trial alone. He was beaten. Mocked. Ferried between Herod, Pilate and the Sanhedrin. Bound as a common criminal, he was treated no better than an animal. Exhausted, wounded, and humiliated, the Son of God was crucified. He died an agonising, slow and public death, surrounded by mocking enemies, a heartbroken family and a few disciples watching from the edge of the crowd.

‘There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.’ Luke 16:19-21(NIVUK)

The parable of ‘Lazarus and the Rich Man’ is unique because it is the only parable in which Jesus names one of the characters. This has led many Bible commentators to conclude that this isn’t a parable at all but rather a true story about the nature of the afterlife. But I would suggest that this interpretation of Jesus’s story entirely misses the point. The parables of Jesus frequently used Second Temple Jewish beliefs to challenge his hearers, and this parable is no different.

This week’s celebration of Commonwealth Day included a speech by The Prince of Wales, in which he said,
The essence of the Commonwealth is its remarkable diversity; a family of some 2.4 billion people from 54 nations across 6 continents, whose traditions, knowledge, and talents offer an incomparable richness of ideas and perspectives on the world we share.

As [Jesus]was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning. Luke 9:29 (NIVUK)
I like watching films that have some twists and turns in them and it can be annoying when someone spoils the dramatic conclusion. So, spoiler alert: can you imagine if we saw Bruce Willis’s widow standing by his graveside at the beginning of the film The Sixth Sense? Or 15 minutes into Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi told Luke Skywalker that his father is Darth Vader? Not a good ploy for filmmakers…

Marcel Marceau was a French mime artist most famous for his portrayal of ‘Bip the Clown’ in what he described as the ‘art of silence.’ I had watched him perform on television on many occasions, but it was only last week when I watched the film Resistance, a biographical drama about Marceau, that I learned about his time in the French Resistance during the Second World War.

So the king gave the order, and they brought Daniel and threw him into the lions’ den… Daniel 6:16 (NIVUK)
No, the title isn’t a misprint. Daniel in the lions’ den is a well-known and loved story that is included in many children’s books. But what is not well-known and is rarely identified is that Daniel’s encounter with the lions isn’t just a scary incident in Daniel’s life but is a story that prefigures the rejection, trial, crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus, as well as the spread of the gospel message. Here are some comparisons to think about:

He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him…All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. Luke 4:15, […]

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Matthew 28:20 (NIVUK)

‘Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.’
Hebrews 13:5 (NIVUK)

I’m a fan of 1960s’ pop music so it was sad this week to hear of the death of Gerry Marsden, the lead singer of the Merseybeat band Gerry and the Pacemakers. They had many hits including ‘Ferry ’cross the Mersey’ and ‘I like it’, but perhaps their most famous song was ‘You’ll never walk alone’.

There is a song sung on New Year’s Eve around the world which you may well have joined in with or at least heard and yet few people know what it means. Its title is Auld Lang Syne which sounds as if it’s in a foreign language and for all intents and purposes it is since it’s a phrase in the Scots language of the 18th century. The title means ‘old long since’, or as we might say today ‘in days gone by’, or ‘a long time ago’.