[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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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during February 2025]
Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
Luke 11 v2 [NKJV]
This extract from the template prayer that Jesus taught his disciples is ingrained in the minds of many people, not just in what we might call Christendom but also in its Jewish and Islamic equivalents. The prayer itself is often recited verbatim in the churches of many denominations but in essence it is an example of how our prayers should be constructed.
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during February 2025]
Our contemporary practice of referring to the days of the week by unique names is thought to date from the Sumerian period, around the fifth millennium BC. The practice was adopted and refined during the days of the Babylonian empire. Names were often associated with the deities of the times, themselves often associated with astronomical entities (eg Sun-day, the day of the sun god).
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during February 2025]
Last week saw the start of the lunar new year, an event commonly known as the Chinese New Year. According to the Chinese calendar, the New Year is triggered by the closest new moon to the beginning of Spring. This year the corresponding date on the Gregorian calendar is 29th January; the next New Year will be 17th February 2026.
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during January 2025]
Is not your fear of God your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope?
Job 4 v6 [ESVUK]
Each Sunday, at the end of the sermon, the congregation at HBC is presented with a number of questions related to the content of the sermon. The questions are intended to encourage further thought about what has been said. Last Sunday David concluded his talk about the bereaved sisters, Martha and Mary, with several questions. (more…)
[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during January 2025]
Our title comes from the words of Jesus as recorded by the gospel-writer Luke. At the end of his last supper together with his disciples, Jesus spoke to them about the difficulties ahead. In particular, he addressed Simon Peter.
Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.
Luke 22 v31-32 [NIVUK]