Posts Tagged: ‘Proverbs’

To Sleep or not to Sleep?

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

Why sleep ye? rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.
Luke 22 v46 [NIVUK]

The change of the clocks at the end of last month gave many people in the northern hemisphere an extra hour overnight. Anecdotally, it seems that this is often used as an excuse for an additional hour’s sleep, but that may not be the best use of the time.
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Contributor: Steve Humphreys

When My Heart Changed Before My Circumstances Did

[This reflection by Becca Day was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 18/Oct/2026]

We’ve been talking a lot in church lately about trusting God. This is something I think every believer will struggle with at one point or another, especially when things don’t seem to be going to ‘our plan’. I find, in moments like this, it’s helpful to look back on the times you know God has been faithful and lean on those memories of His goodness.
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Contributor: Becca Day

And The Rest

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

All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest.
Ecclesiastes 2 v23 [NIVUK]

We have all, at some time or another, had the experience of lying awake when we want to be in the land of Nod. Sleep eludes us, to be replaced by persistent worries or mental gymnastics beyond our daytime capabilities; our only consolation is that we are not sharing the experiences described by the Lord Chancellor in ‘Iolanthe’.[1] Even Job started to lose his patience:

I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.
Job 3 v26 [NIVUK]

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Contributor: Steve Humphreys

Do You Have Difficulty Hearing?

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

There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Jesus to place his hand on him.
Mark 7 v32 [NIVUK]

Being hard of hearing is not a pleasant experience. For those whose affliction is temporary the impediment to social interaction comes as an unexpected challenge. Conversation becomes difficult and we soon begin to feel that we are missing out on what is going on around us. Image, then, how disadvantaged the man brought to Jesus would have felt without the modern aids to hearing.
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Contributor: Steve Humphreys

A Hot Topic

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

And when the south wind blows, you say, “It’s going to be hot,” and it is.
Luke 12 v55 [NIVUK]

In the northern hemisphere the longest daily period of daylight hours has passed and, although we may not notice it yet, the evenings are starting their slow transition to winter darkness.
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Contributor: Steve Humphreys

The Hand That Wasn’t There

[This reflection by Martin Shorey was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 07/Jun/2026]

Some of you may have seen a recent video from the United States in which a police officer pulls over a female driver whom he suspects of driving without due care and attention. He asks her to wind down her window and tells her that he saw her holding a mobile phone in her right hand.
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Contributor: Martin Shorey