Category: ‘Tuesday Challenge’

Postcards from the Wilderness

[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during June 2026]

Here are the stages in the journey of the Israelites when they came out of Egypt by divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. At the Lord’s command Moses recorded the stages in their journey.
Numbers 33 v1-2 [NIVUK]

The 33rd chapter of the book of Numbers is, at first glance, one of those passages where we might wonder why it is included in the Bible. Of the 56 verses in the chapter no less than 41 are simply statements describing the Israelites leaving one place and arriving in another. So what can we learn from a travelogue from the 14th century BC?
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Contributor: Steve Humphreys
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Essential Service

[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during June 2026]

That day he made the Gibeonites woodcutters and water-carriers for the assembly, to provide for the needs of the altar of the Lord at the place the Lord would choose.
Joshua 9 v27 [NIVUK]

Last week we considered the implications of making promises from the perspective of the promise maker; our case study was based on the incidents recorded in the book of Joshua, chapters 9 and 10. However, the relationship between the Israelites and the Gibeonites did not end with the former rescuing the latter in a memorable and miraculous battle.
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Contributor: Steve Humphreys
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Promises, Promises

[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during June 2026]

After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua took them by surprise.
Joshua 10 v9 [NIVUK]

In 1405BC, the route from Gilgal (near Jericho in the Jordan River valley) to Gibeon (in the central Judean highlands) was a gruelling, uphill march of approximately 15 to 20 miles. So why did Joshua do it? And who are ‘them’?
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Contributor: Steve Humphreys
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Speak, Lord, in the Stillness

[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during May 2026]

Sages, leave your contemplations [1]

During the current sermon series on Sunday mornings the congregation at HBC has been considering various types of prayer, including prayers of adoration, petition, intercession and, more recently, contemplation. The latter may be the remit of sages and hermits but, for us, pausing for contemplation brings its own challenges.
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Contributor: Steve Humphreys
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Aspects of Prayer

[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during May 2026]

So their entreaty ascended fervently to heaven.
3 Maccabees 5:9 [NRSVA]

It is perhaps unusual for us to quote from the books of the Apocrypha but those words give us an appropriate context for our thoughts this week as we consider prayers of supplication.
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Contributor: Steve Humphreys
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Life on the Ocean Wave

[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during May 2026]

Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; they saw the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in the deep.
Psalm 107 v23-24 [ESVUK]

Perhaps it seemed like a really cool idea, the reward for a lifetime of work and saving for a great adventure. What better than a cruise to the south Atlantic, to see the marvels of creation in their purest forms? However, the God who generated glaciers and propagated penguins was also responsible for rats.
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Contributor: Steve Humphreys
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