[This reflection by Dennis Ginter was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 24/Aug/2025]
I’ve had this on my mind for several weeks. Reading some of the 19th century ‘Unspoken Sermons’ of George McDonald (not light reading!), I was convinced perhaps, of his most important principle: to PUT OFF obeying the Father’s instruction is the same as DISOBEYING it.
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during August 2025]
About two months ago[1] we considered the impact that the news of Israel’s defeat by the Philistines in 1070BC had had on Eli, the high priest at that time. Israel’s most important religious artefact had been captured and two of Eli’s sons had perished in the battle. Their deaths were a punishment for the disreputable way in which they had discharged their responsibilities as priests.
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[This reflection by Chris Ginter was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 17/Aug/2025]
Come To Jesus and Live!
When we attended the Baptist Church in Edenbridge there use to to be a gentleman who always said: “One touch from the King changes everything”.
In Luke 19: 1-10, Zacchaeus encountered Jesus, Jesus changed Zacchaeus’ life just by speaking with him, and taking notice of the condition of his heart.
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during August 2025]
The people that do know their God shall be strong.
Daniel 11 v32 [KJV]
When we think of the book of Daniel it is likely that we think of lions who lost their appetite, three fire-resistant fellows or a statue with fractured feet. Indeed, even people with little or no knowledge of the Bible will probably recognise those events, but what of the rest of the book? How many of us who claim to be familiar with the Old Testament know much about the content of chapters 7 to 12?
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[This reflection by Helen Ruffhead was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 10/Aug/2025]
Happy are those who know that they are spiritually poor; the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
Matthew 5 v3 [Good News Bible]
These are the opening words of the famous Sermon on the Mount. We are so familiar with the teachings of Jesus that it is hard for us to understand how radical they were. The people of that day would naturally have expected the kingdom of heaven (God’s kingdom) to belong to those who most closely obeyed the laws of Moses, like the Pharisees, not to those who struggled and often failed to follow these laws.
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during August 2025]
Last week we took a brief look at the prophecy of Amos, one of the minor prophets whose accounts are included in the second half of the Old Testament. The term ‘minor’ relates to the lengths of the books that bear their names; it certainly does not signify that their messages were of any lesser importance.
Are we often tempted to dismiss these minor prophecies as being largely historical and not relevant to our time? A few of the stories, such as the scandal of Hosea’s wife or Jonah attempting to sail off into the sunset, may catch our attention but are we at risk of missing the messages that the rest of these texts may have for us?
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