By Not Known Perhaps you know this experience. You start doing an act of kindness for some people. At first they thank you. But after a time it all becomes routine and they cease to say ‘thanks’. You feel taken for granted and maybe even resentful. Do we take God’s grace for granted? God has…

By Not Known How many emails do you get? Many email in-boxes are packed night and day. (You may be surprised at how much church business is done by email in the ‘wee hours’!) Many check work email from holiday destinations because otherwise it’s an electronic tsunami when they return. Email is a wonderful tool,…

By Not Known The opening words of the Lord’s Prayer have been on our minds this month as we considered the Biblical base behind the new Ministry Plan for our congregation After the very important title of address, Our Father who is in heaven, the prayer starts with a focus on God. (That is an…

By Not Known ‘Kingdom’ Is a big Bible theme from Genesis to Revelation. Put simply, God’s kingdom is God’s rule over God’s people in God’s place. The kingdom pattern was established in Eden. Adam and Eve lived as God directed in the place that God provided. However, this did not last, for they sinfully tried…

By Not Known The Lord’s Prayer includes the puzzling line: hallowed be your name. What does this mean? Perhaps it means that God’s name should not be said aloud at all, or, always pronounced in pious tones. On this basis, the Jewish community developed ingenious way of talking about God without using his name, lest…

By Not Known It’s easy to talk about God. His name slips off our lips as we casually chat about him in Bible study or invoke his help in our prayers. But God is not as familiar to us as the location of our favourite restaurant. As Isaiah reminds us, he is beyond our understanding…

By Not Known What food do people eat? How is it served? How is it eaten? Who eats first? These and thousands of other things reveal the patterns of relationships and behaviour that add up to our culture. Culture can be as broad as a nation or race, or as small as the culture of…

By Not Known if a scholar wrote an ‘A’ grade book on the doctrine of God while spending much of his time debating and tearing down other scholars, does he really know Jesus? If a devout leader who has spearheaded many key ministries went around stepping on people by his tactless actions and insensitive words,…

By Not Known Some time ago, a church gave this name to its Youth Ministy, the Joshua Generation. Joshua represents the second generation and encourages every second-generation leader. He was not the one who gathered the nation of Israel. Moses did. Joshua only succeeded Moses upon his death. Joshua finished the work that Moses started.…

By Not Known A good friend of mine once shared with me that a true Christian is much like a good institution in that it has to have 2 primary ingredients: character and competence. A study of institutions that endured the test of time may confirm this assertion. At the time when a commercial airliner…