[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during November 2025]
November starts with a period of remembrance – first we remember a guy who efforts came to naught and then we remember those whose efforts were instrumental in protecting and maintaining the freedoms that our society values.
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during July 2025]
Thanksgiving is not simply an event; it is a lifestyle of returning, rejoicing and remembering the goodness of God.
Rev Alfred Kaire [1]
As Christians we live with an anticipation of God’s blessings but how often do we thank him in advance? With the exception of the traditional mealtime grace – “For what are about to receive …” – we are usually content to look back and give thanks for the blessings that we have received but neglect to to thank him for those blessings that we are yet to recognise.
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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 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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[This reflection was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 14/Jan/2018]
Some 40+ years ago I had a Saturday job in a vehicle dismantler’s yard – 3 acres stacked with derelict vehicles which had reached their last rusting place. Many of those vehicles would be considered classics in their own right now but you cannot keep them all and most served as an economic resource for keeping others of their ilk on the road. Every one of those vehicles had been somebody’s pride and joy at some time, but now they just lay abandoned and forgotten.
Abandoned and forgotten – does that describe your New Year’s resolutions? Two weeks into January, have they gone the way of most of their predecessors? What happened to the idea of tackling a habit of procrastination? (maybe later) Or getting up 15 minutes earlier in order to have a quiet time? (I’ll sleep on that one.) Beginning a new year is like starting a new exercise book at school – the first page is fine copper-plate script but a few pages later it looks like a doctor has used a remote-control spider with dirty feet.
Do you feel abandoned and forgotten in the post New Year anticlimax? Perhaps a person whom you thought of as special no longer reflects that sentiment about you; or maybe a less-competent colleague received the recognition that you deserved. Do you spend your time sitting at home gazing at the world outside – the kettle is at the ready but nobody calls?
Despite its commercialism and distractions, this season does offer some hope for those who look beyond the glitter. That special birthday that millions celebrate but few recognise reminds us of the arrival on earth of Immanuel, God with us. It is no longer your resolutions that count but His. Let us heed David’s advice to Solomon, “Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be dismayed, for the Lord God will be with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you” (1Chr 28).
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