[A ‘Tuesday Challenge’ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during October 2024]
“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God.”
Isaiah 43 v12 [NIVUK]
The words above were part of a ‘Verse of the Day’ earlier this week.[1] What do they mean? What are the implications for us? (more…)
[This reflection by David Makanjuola was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 13/Oct/2024]
What does it mean to be a Christian? This is a rather probing question, for which the huge number of different Christian denominations is evidence that not everyone is fully agreed on the answer. Daniel Gbegbe from the organisation Compassion, spoke in Church last week and described it as a journey. The term Jesus follower is now becoming more commonly used, and I suppose an answer to the question I posed at the start is that a Christian is one who has chosen to follow Jesus on life’s journey. (more…)
[A ‘Tuesday Challenge’ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during October 2024]
During the past few weeks we have been encouraged to think of worship as more than just singing songs on a Sunday morning. We heard five sermons exploring the impacts of a wider concept of worship.[1] Worship should:
No doubt, when we heard those sermons we felt a desire to apply them but now, a few weeks later, has that resolution passed the same way as so many others? In short, do the words that we sing on Sunday still ring true on Tuesday morning? (more…)
[This reflection by Martin Shorey was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 06/Oct/2024]
This week I attended a get together of church leaders who are part of the Further Faster Network. Not only was it great to catch up with old friends and make new ones, but it was also a time of challenge and inspiration.
One particular speaker, Dr Gavin Adams, who spoke to us from Atlanta via zoom, shared a time when he was a church leader and everything seemed to be flourishing. The building was full on a Sunday morning, and the bank balance was healthy, and yet it became apparent that these easily celebrated wins hid the truth that as a church they weren’t really accomplishing their mission. (more…)
[A ‘Tuesday Challenge’ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during October 2024]
Last week we thought about the type of image that might come to mind when we hear mention of ‘God’. Starting in the 12th century, religious art shows a tendency to picture God in a dominant, authoritarian way and this often influences modern thought, but the apostle Paul saw things differently:
He is the exact living image [the essential manifestation] of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible], the firstborn [the preeminent one, the sovereign, and the originator] of all creation.
Colossians 1 v15 [AMP]
[This reflection by Dennis Ginter was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 29/Sep/2024]
Two weeks ago, Helen explained how the words we speak flow from our ‘hearts’. I’d like us to consider that a little more deeply.
In his ‘Renovation of the Heart’, Dallas Willard uses the words heart, spirit, soul, and subconscious interchangeably. The point he’s making is that in each of us there is a hidden, inner life which is fully accessible only to our Creator. It is out of that Dennis that my words and actions really come. (more…)