[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during October 2025]
In this world you will have trouble. [1]
These words come from the final discourse that Jesus had with his disciples shortly before his betrayal and arrest in the garden of Gethsemane, as recorded in John’s gospel.
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during October 2025]
“A tax is the best means of defence”. So said Frank Wiesel, the political adviser to the right honourable Jim Hacker, the Minister for Administrative Affairs in the TV series ‘Yes, Minister’.
We live at a time when taxes and tariffs figure as prominently in our daily news reports as they do in our everyday transactions. Indeed, the idiom that ‘the only two certainties in life are death and taxes’ is often quoted when the topic comes up in conversation. The phrase itself is usually attributed to US statesman Benjamin Franklin in 1789 but the sentiment had several earlier incarnations.
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during September 2025]
It happened in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came with all his army against Jerusalem, and laid siege to it.
Jeremiah 52 v4 [NIVUK]
Have you ever wondered why our tenth month is called October when ‘octo’ is a prefix that is usually associated with the number eight? A similar question could be asked about Septem(7)ber, Novem(9)ber and Decem(10)ber.
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during September 2025]
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Jeremiah 29 v11 [NIV]
Last week’s reflection included mention of procrastination and also our inability to foretell what the future may bring. They are perhaps two of the principal reasons why our plans are upset and things do not turn out as we expect.
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during September 2025]
Time, like an ever-rolling stream, Bears all its sons away.[1]
Do you know what time it is? A seemingly straightforward question for which a glance at a nearby screen or timepiece should provide a simple answer. However, as our opening quotation might suggest, there is more to it than that.
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during September 2025]
Just as in the murky emptiness of pre-creation, there was nothing there, no concept, no discernable form, a vacant void. A blank screen waited in vain for some signal from the keyboard that would trigger a message to be shared. Then, in the silence of the night, God spoke:
‘Nothing!’