[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!’
[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during July 2025]
The Wikipedia entry for today[1] attributes the destruction of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem to this date in 587BC. Solomon’s Temple was a magnificent structure, described in detail in the books of I Kings and II Chronicles. For several centuries it served as the focal point for the worship of God in Israel.
But the good times did not last. Moses instructed the Israelites to teach the laws of God to their children and their children’s children[2] but, as the years passed, the sincerity and enthusiasm of earlier generations gave way to formality, indifference and eventual neglect. Can we recognise a similar pattern in more modern times?
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during June 2025]
This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.
Lamentations 3 v21 [NKJV]
This snippet from Jeremiah’s lamentations represents a switch from a negative despondency to a positive appreciation of the blessings that the Lord had prepared for him.
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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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[This reflection by Dennis Ginter was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 17/Nov/2024]
Last Wednesday at 10:30 a.m., as we left the church building, this large bird was sitting on the roof of the house directly opposite the front door of the church. On Saturday, Martin photographed it at exactly the same spot. At first I thought it was a stork, but in Martin’s photo it’s facing front, and we decided it was more likely a rather bedraggled-looking heron with its long neck drawn in! (more…)
[This reflection by Helen Ruffhead was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 16/Jun/2024]
When I started my journey to adoption, over 30 years ago, the magazine for prospective adopters was full of profiles of children needing new homes. Since most adopters want babies or very young children, most of the children still waiting for homes were older, or had disabilities. I particularly remember the description of one 12-year-old girl, who it said: “wore her carers out with continual demands for new possessions.” It also said: “X has been described as having a huge hole inside her which she desperately tries to fill, but nothing satisfies.” Clearly this girl was crying out for the love which she had never experienced, but was trying to fill the void with possessions. (more…)