[This reflection by Dazz Jones was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 23/Mar/2025]
We must’ve heard it a thousand times: “Treat others as you would have them treat you.” It’s been on posters, coffee mugs, and social media captions. But when Jesus originally talked about loving others, He wasn’t just throwing us a cute moral slogan—He was flipping the entire religious system of the day on its head.
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[This reflection by Helen Ruffhead was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 16/Mar/2025]
Many people will be surprised to learn how much the Bible talks about money. There are numerous verses in the Old and New Testament about caring for the poor. Jesus himself said: “You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6 v24) and told parables about the dangers of greed. 1 Timothy 6 v10 says: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil”.
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[This reflection by Michael Goble was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 09/Mar/2025]
During recent Thursday group meetings we have been taking an overall look at each book of the Wisdom Literature in the Bible – Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and lastly, The Song of Solomon. That sounds pretty daunting, but each week we have heard things that gave us guidance and wisdom about living our everyday lives, how to cope with our experiences in life, what we need to understand about Who God is and our relationship with Him.
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[This reflection by David Makanjuola was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 02/Mar/2025]
Jesus, in the gospel of Luke, told a parable as follows:
Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
Luke 15 v4-7 [NIVUK]
[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during February 2025]
Speak, Lord, in the stillness whilst I wait on Thee;
hushed my heart to listen in expectancy.
Emily May Crawford, (1920)[1]
How often do we get to experience stillness? In our age of perpetual motion, can our hearts really be hushed? Are stillness, quiet and silence all the same state? More importantly, are those conditions prerequisites for us to hear the Lord speaking?
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[This reflection by Martin Shorey was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 23/Feb/2025]
Battleship Faith: Holding On When Prayers Go Unanswered
In the past week, the question of suffering and unanswered prayer has arisen a number of times. How do we feel and respond when God doesn’t seem to answer prayer? Why does the Bible encourage us to “present our requests to God”[1] only for us to sometimes feel as though our prayers are ignored or unanswered?
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