[This reflection by Helen Ruffhead was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 16/Mar/2025]
Many people will be surprised to learn how much the Bible talks about money. There are numerous verses in the Old and New Testament about caring for the poor. Jesus himself said: “You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6 v24) and told parables about the dangers of greed. 1 Timothy 6 v10 says: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil”.
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[A ‘Tuesday Challenge’ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during November 2024]
In many parts of the USA the Friday after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday. The official date for Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November, which means that, in theory, Black Friday 2024 is 29th November but the particular activities that gave the day its fame are rarely confined to just that date. (more…)
[This reflection by David Makanjuola was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 13/Oct/2024]
What does it mean to be a Christian? This is a rather probing question, for which the huge number of different Christian denominations is evidence that not everyone is fully agreed on the answer. Daniel Gbegbe from the organisation Compassion, spoke in Church last week and described it as a journey. The term Jesus follower is now becoming more commonly used, and I suppose an answer to the question I posed at the start is that a Christian is one who has chosen to follow Jesus on life’s journey. (more…)
[A ‘Tuesday Challenge’ originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during September 2024]
You must not misuse the name of the LORD your God. The LORD will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.
Deuteronomy 5 v11 [NLT]
How do you react when someone mentions God in your presence? Do you ignore it, dismissing it as blasphemy or ignorance, or does some sort of image come to mind? Perhaps you recall that mankind was made in the image of God but, as we look around at the various shapes and sizes of people, we feel inclined to be somewhat selective in trying to reimagine God. (more…)
[A devotional reflection originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during September 2024]
A recent comment on one of our earlier reflections posed a question: I was interested to know how you center yourself and clear your mind before writing? I’ve had a hard time clearing my mind in getting my ideas out. I do enjoy writing however it just seems like the first 10 to 15 minutes tend to be wasted. Perhaps this is an appropriate time to revisit the purpose for these reflections and explain how they come into reality.[1] (more…)
[A devotional reflection originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during May 2024]
During the past eight weeks our Sunday morning preachers have been deeply into sin. Pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth have all found their way into the centre of the church’s life but it should be added by way of clarification that the preachers have been researching these sins rather than indulging in them. We now know much more about sin after hearing what they had to say. (more…)