Posts Tagged: ‘1 John’

The Bread, the Stone and the Nails

[A devotional reflection originally prepared for the congregation of Horley Baptist Church during September 2024]

Recently I overheard a telephone conversation between a young boy, who was on holiday, with his father who was at work. The conversation, more accurately the monologue, consisted entirely of a list of the things he wanted when he got home: a long ladder with a slide, a tree-house and, for Christmas, a present “costing 300 pounds”. (more…)

Contributor: Steve Humphreys

The Maleficent Seven

[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…)

Contributor: Steve Humphreys

When Love Died

[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during March 2024]

In 1952 the Eurasian author Han Suyin published her semi-autobiographical novel “A Many Splendored Thing”. It describes a romance between two people of different cultures, both of whom had experienced the loss of their previous relationships. The principal male character is separated from his wife, the principal female character is a widow. Although those circumstances are very different, they are both examples of ways in which love has, in practical terms, died.
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Contributor: Steve Humphreys