[This reflection by Helen Ruffhead was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 29/Mar/2026]
‘Connect in Faith’ has recently been looking at the names or titles of Jesus and I have been struck by how often these names were given to him by people outside the Jewish faith. It was astrologers from the East who first called him a king (Matthew 2:2) and a Roman centurion who called him Lord (Matthew 8:6).
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during March 2026]
And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
John 9 v2 [ESVUK]
The disciples were expressing a sentiment that was common in their society – that prosperity was a sign of God’s blessing and misfortune was in some way connected to disobedience of God’s laws. It is interesting that they did not stop to think about how a man might have sinned before being born.
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during March 2026]
The path of trouble is the way home.
CH Spurgeon [1]
Is there a modern relevance to these words, written by a prominent preacher in 1865? Or are they now just an outdated expression of a sentiment that was prevalent in non-conformist denominations at a time very different from our contemporary experience?
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[This reflection by Dennis Ginter was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 01/Mar/2026]
It’s amazing how often when reading Scripture we come across things we’ve never seen before – even if we’ve read a passage many times. Just the other day, the Holy Spirit took me to John’s gospel, chapter 4.
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during February 2026]
your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
Joel 2 v28
What images do these words evoke?
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[A miscellaneous reflection originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during December 2025]
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 3 v16 [ESVUK]
To my Father, who is in heaven, epitome of holiness, worthy of all glory and respect, by whose word heaven and earth were created and are maintained; the very essence of love, patience and justice; you are unwilling for anyone to perish and so you sent your Son to provide a way back to you;
I give you thanks.
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