[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]
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 August 2025]
About two months ago[1] we considered the impact that the news of Israel’s defeat by the Philistines in 1070BC had had on Eli, the high priest at that time. Israel’s most important religious artefact had been captured and two of Eli’s sons had perished in the battle. Their deaths were a punishment for the disreputable way in which they had discharged their responsibilities as priests.
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[This reflection by Chris Ginter was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 17/Aug/2025]
Come To Jesus and Live!
When we attended the Baptist Church in Edenbridge there use to to be a gentleman who always said: “One touch from the King changes everything”.
In Luke 19: 1-10, Zacchaeus encountered Jesus, Jesus changed Zacchaeus’ life just by speaking with him, and taking notice of the condition of his heart.
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during August 2025]
Last week we took a brief look at the prophecy of Amos, one of the minor prophets whose accounts are included in the second half of the Old Testament. The term ‘minor’ relates to the lengths of the books that bear their names; it certainly does not signify that their messages were of any lesser importance.
Are we often tempted to dismiss these minor prophecies as being largely historical and not relevant to our time? A few of the stories, such as the scandal of Hosea’s wife or Jonah attempting to sail off into the sunset, may catch our attention but are we at risk of missing the messages that the rest of these texts may have for us?
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