The arranged marriage
The arranged marriage
by Rev. Margaret Roe
Rebekah – Genesis 24 The arranged marriage “Would I go with him?” I was asked. I was surprised to hear myself say yes so readily. I was also surprised that I had been consulted. Women did not usually get any say in who they married. And I did not even know the man I was to marry.…
Dealing with Failure
Dealing with Failure
by Roger Johnson
Evangelism Bulletin 267 – Dealing with Failure It was one of those days when my heart leapt with joy. I looked at the lectionary to see what reading was set for my Sunday service and it was one of my favourite passages. It was the encounter which Simon Peter and some of the other…
Meanderings
Meanderings
by Roger Johnson
Evangelism Bulletin 261 – Meanderings So, the Israelites escape from slavery in Egypt under the faltering leadership of Moses. Timidly he confronts Pharoah asking him to release the Israelites from slavery. At the God-ordained moment they make their hasty escape. Miraclulous even…
A Dead Sect
A Dead Sect
by Roger Johnson
Evangelism Bulletin 266 – A Dead Sect? John Wesley famously said, ‘I am not afraid that the people called Methodists should ever cease to exist… But I am afraid lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be…
Chasing your Passion
Chasing your Passion
by Roger Johnson
Evangelism Bulletin 270 – Chasing your Passion It's always good to travel over to Geneva to see my family members over there, and even more special now we have a grandson, Matthew who is nearly 5 months old. Although our son works in Geneva, his family live just over the border i…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Sunday
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Sunday
by SPCK - John Goldingay
Sunday Genesis 1:2-5 I have heard one or two people describe how they make records, and I have come to realize that there are two different approaches. Some people have worked it all out systematically before they go anywhere near a recording studio. They know how many songs they…
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Introduction
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Introduction
by SPCK - John Goldingay
INTRODUCTION As far as Jesus and the New Testament writers were concerned, the Jewish Scriptures that Christians call the “Old Testament” were the Scriptures. In saying that, I cut corners a bit, as the New Testament never gives us a list of these Scriptures, but the body of Scri…
With My WholeHeart - Postscript to the Psalms
With My WholeHeart - Postscript to the Psalms
by SPCK - James Jones
Postscript to the Psalms Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. This verse (Psalm 51.6 kjv) does not come with the word ‘heart’ in the psalm version of the Book of Common Prayer but for me it has been at the cent…
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 147:3
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 147:3
by SPCK - James Jones
Psalm 147:3 God’s healing is both spiritual and physical. We can pray for God to heal both the broken heart and the broken body. The health that comes to our broken bodies through modern medicine is by comparison with the age of the psalms and the time of Jesus nothing short of m…
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 149:4
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 149:4
by SPCK - James Jones
Psalm 149:4 What a glorious place to end! The thought that God takes pleasure in us supplants all those other false notions of God being rather fed up with us. The problem with low self-esteem, which afflicts so many of us, is that we project this on to how God must see us. When …
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Acknowledgments
Genesis for Everyone Part 1 - Acknowledgments
by SPCK - John Goldingay
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The translation at the beginning of each chapter is my own. I have tried to stick closer to the Hebrew than modern translations often do when they are designed for reading in church, so you can see more precisely what the text says. Although I prefer to use gender…
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 77:3, 6
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 77:3, 6
by SPCK - James Jones
Psalm 77:3, 6 The walk with God is seldom straight or level. There are dales and vales. The route through them is not always according to God’s mapping. We travel badly sometimes because of our poor sense of moral direction. These journeyings, occasionally with tears, are neverth…
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 39:1, 4, 5
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 39:1, 4, 5
by SPCK - James Jones
Psalm 39:1, 4, 5 The tongue and heart, two organs at the centre of life. As this psalm shows, what goes on in the metaphorical heart eventually comes out through the tongue literally. Bridling the tongue and muzzling the mouth especially when faced with those who have it in for y…
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 53:1, 3
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 53:1, 3
by SPCK - James Jones
Psalm 53:1, 3 The Bible offers no arguments for the existence of God. It doesn’t engage with the intellectual case for or against. It simply assumes God. It makes me think that the person this psalm has in mind is not the atheist or agnostic who wrestles with questions of faith b…
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 44:19-21
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 44:19-21
by SPCK - James Jones
Psalm 44:19-21 Nothing is hidden from God. To him we are an open book. He knows the biography of each of us. Such knowledge is both disturbing and reassuring. The heart is in a marketplace where different desirables compete for our attention. Even when we have made our choice we …
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 41:1, 6
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 41:1, 6
by SPCK - James Jones
Psalm 41:1, 6 The causes of poverty are the enemies of God. In a world of great complexity it is not always easy to identify them, nor is it simple to find the remedies. The causes range from trading tariffs to the changing climate, from war to corruption and exploitation. Those …
With My WholeHeart - Psalm 49:3-4