[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during February 2025]
Last week saw the start of the lunar new year, an event commonly known as the Chinese New Year. According to the Chinese calendar, the New Year is triggered by the closest new moon to the beginning of Spring. This year the corresponding date on the Gregorian calendar is 29th January; the next New Year will be 17th February 2026.
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge‘ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during January 2025]
As 2024 disappears into the dusty archives of time and last week’s resolutions are rapidly following the same fate, what can we do to usefully fill the next 11 months before Christmas comes around again? It is said that idle hands do the devil’s work so how can we work for God instead? The apostle Paul shared some ideas:
And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers
Ephesians 4 v11 [NKJV]
As a young Christian, I found these words written by the apostle Paul to be somewhat unsettling. I wanted to serve God but none of these callings matched my personal ambitions or what I considered to be my skill-set. (more…)
[A ‘Tuesday Challenge’ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during December 2024]
The Last Post – what do those words conjure up in your mind?
The Last Post: I suppose that if you were a fencing contractor then this might mean that your day’s work was complete or that you had reached the end of the line. Fences need to be firmly grounded and regularly maintained, otherwise they soon become useless.
Do you ever feel like a broken fence? You try to hold a line but people can trample all over you. The Psalmist identified with that feeling:
I feel like a shaky fence or a sagging wall. How long will all of you attack and assault me?
Psalm 62 v3 [CEV]
[This reflection by Michael Goble was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 02/Jun/2024]
Martin’s article last week reminded me that the previous week had been about the Jewish Feast or Festival of Pentecost. I had been ill that day and not been at church to be reminded of that. That also made me think of an excellent article by Helen Ruffhead in which she told how a number of Jewish Festivals related to our Christian faith. At Pentecost when the Jews celebrated the revelation of God’s word to Moses, God revealed His Holy Spirit and the Christian church was born. So how do all these Jewish Feasts or Festivals have meaning for us as Christians? (more…)
[This reflection by Michael Goble was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 07/Apr/2024]
The granddaughter of our next door neighbours is a trainee film director and she arranged to make a film at her grandparent’s home just before Easter. As that would be the film set, we were happy to agree to her request for two days to use two rooms in our house, the conservatory and the dining room. It was a surprise when we discovered how much was involved. (more…)
[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during April 2024]
When we look back at the events of Easter we can picture the central characters of the story: Pilate, Herod, the chief priests, the indifferent soldiers, the frightened disciples, the manipulated mob and, of course, Jesus himself. However, as Dazz reminded us,[1] there are many characters whose role seems secondary but yet without whom the story would be incomplete. (more…)