[A devotional reflection originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during June 2024]
Picture the scene – you are calming playing your favourite musical instrument to an appreciative audience when suddenly a spear embeds itself in the wall beside you. Clearly, someone does not like your choice of music and a hasty change to the evening’s programme is in order. (more…)
[This reflection by Chris Ginter was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 23/Jun/2024]
Do you ever remember going to a favourite place when you were a child and when you had left there you couldn’t wait to go back again? I used to love going to my granny and grandad’s house in Cheshire. The thing about it was that you were always accepted, you could do just what you wanted. You were always loved, you could sing, talk as much as you liked you were always hugged and you could eat as much as you wanted. (more…)
[A devotional reflection originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during June 2024]
“Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you”
But my words, like silent raindrops, fell
And echoed in the well of silence [1]
[This reflection by Helen Ruffhead was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 16/Jun/2024]
When I started my journey to adoption, over 30 years ago, the magazine for prospective adopters was full of profiles of children needing new homes. Since most adopters want babies or very young children, most of the children still waiting for homes were older, or had disabilities. I particularly remember the description of one 12-year-old girl, who it said: “wore her carers out with continual demands for new possessions.” It also said: “X has been described as having a huge hole inside her which she desperately tries to fill, but nothing satisfies.” Clearly this girl was crying out for the love which she had never experienced, but was trying to fill the void with possessions. (more…)
[This reflection by Dazz Jones was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 02/Jun/2024]
Our Role in God’s Divine Plan
Prayer can be such a mysterious thing to take part in. We can often treat it like a request list, or perhaps sometimes even give it a little bit of a superstitious edge, for example, we could be guilty of using prayer as a way to start and finish our get-togethers or meals out of some feeling of necessity or formulaic duty above the reason of just wanting to include God in what we’re doing and remember his goodness. If it becomes more ritual than relationship, how is it any different to a sports player simply touching a picture of Jesus before they run out onto the pitch and expecting God to bless them? Prayer is all about intention and relationship, we hope it becomes habitual and reflexive, yes, but it cannot become robotic. (more…)
[A devotional reflection originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during June 2024]
The Israelites of Old Testament times placed a great deal of importance on family heritage. A person’s lineage established who he was and what society expected of him, and was closely tied to land holding entitlements. We can see an example of this in the account of Ruth and Boaz. When Naomi returned from Moab she was able to reclaim some land which had belonged to her late husband.[1]
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