Month: Apr 2014
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But we had hoped…
Regular bloggists among you will know that occasionally something strikes me while I am preparing for a sermon and I will share it here as a kind of sneak preview as God is shaping what I say. Today I want to go back to what I shared last Sunday morning. We were looking at the…
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making your mind up
It’s almost Eurovision Song Contest time again: the time of when (cynicism alert) songs from around ‘Europe’ are the subject of tactical voting so that the winner is not always the best song and where Britain enters a song that the rest of ‘Europe’ doesn’t like. It wasn’t always like that. On 3rd April 1976 Britain won…
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tickly coughs
I have a tickly cough. The back of my throat gets irritated/tickled and it causes a cough reflex to try to get rid of the sensation. It’s irritating. It’s not debilitating. It’s not desperately uncomfortable. It won’t require a trip to the hospital or even the doctor. And I have some medicine to soothe and…
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risk
Oooh, isn’t it interesting what ignites people’s interest? The mention of something topical and a bit controversial in the blog title yesterday caused a surge in views. The letter in the Daily Telegraph from 50 high profile people complaining about our Prime Minister describing the country as ‘Christian’ made headline news. (I was interested in the…
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Britain is not a Christian country
Over the weekend it seems that some people have got their undergarments tangled over whether or not Britain is a Christian country. I struggled for a while to work out why it made me feel uneasy and then I had a lightbulb moment: This is not a Christian country. My conclusion has nothing to do…
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the least I can do
Luke 23:44-56 Darkness fell. The sun stopped shining. Was it some sort of solar eclipse? Was it a heavy fog? It was as if the whole of creation was grieving at what was happening to the one through whom all things were made (John 1:3). The curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the…
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cross carrying
Luke 23:26-43 Jesus had encouraged his followers to “take up your cross and follow me” (Luke 9:23). He also said, “29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”…
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passing the buck
Luke 23:1-25 Jesus was kicked around like a football from Pilate to Herod to Pilate. He was kicked to Pilate who tried to avoid the situation by kicking him to Herod, who kicked him back to Pilate, who tried to kick him out but didn’t have the courage. Jesus presented the authorities with a problem:…
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justice?
Luke 22:63-71 It starts to get more brutal from now on. It begins with mockery and grows into beating, bullying and insults. A beaten and sleep-deprived Jesus is then brought before the Council again and questioned further. The religious leaders are looking for any hint of a reason to take him to the Romans: can…
nukelearfishing 