Sing to the Lord, and listen to His voice.

"Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!" (Psalm 95:1) - what a great call to worship! "Today, if you hear his voice, 8 do not harden your hearts" (Psalm 95:7-8) - a much-needed word of warning! We're called to worship, but, sometimes, our hearts are far from …

The “Mutch” theology – think “much” of the blood.

"In Him (Christ) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:7). When I was in my early twenties, I worked alongside a man called John Mutch. I had known John before I worked with him - but I got to know him better when we …

A prayer for God’s mercy

"Almighty Lord, please forgive us!" (Amos 7:2) - This is the prayer that the Lord is waiting to hear and answer. "Almighty Lord, please stop!" (Amos 7:5) - This is a prayer for God's mercy. We come to Him, deeply aware of our sin and His judgment. We cry to Him for mercy. Why should …

When trouble comes our way, may we catch a glimpse of God’s eternal Kingdom.

Genesis 2:4-3:15 Do what God tells us to do. This leads to blessing. Do what God tells us not to do. This leads to trouble. It’s been trouble ever since. Here, on earth, things can be turned around. We can be set in the right direction. We are not yet at our final destination, but …

The Word of God – Christ, Scripture, Preaching

If I were to go around the congregation and ask you, "Why have you come to this church service?", I'm sure I would get quite a variety of different answers. Some of you, if you were being perfectly honest, might have to say, "I came because I've got into a routine of coming to church …

Strong In The Lord

"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1). Our strength comes from the Lord. In ourselves, we are weak. In Him, we are strong.

Every day – let us rejoice in the Lord.

"This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24). We will rejoice and be glad in it (the day). We will rejoice and be glad in him (the Lord). We rejoice in the day because we rejoice in the Lord. Every day is given to us by the Lord. Let …

Deliver us, Lord, from thinking that we’re smart.

‘Wise people are put to shame, confused, trapped. They have rejected the Word of the Lord. They don’t really have any wisdom’ (Jeremiah 8:9). Deliver us, Lord, from thinking that we’re smart. Keep us from becoming wise in their own eyes. Deliver us from the ‘know it all’ attitude. May we not have an answer for everything – except the …

Less concerned with our own name – and more committed to exalting the name of Christ

Genesis 11:1-9 "Come - let us ... Come - let us build ourselves ... Come - let us make a name for ourselves" (3-4). This is all about us - not God. This is the way of man-centred pride - not the way of God's salvation. We do not begin with what we have ("bricks") …

When, Lord, we have big problems, help us to remember that You are bigger than all of our problems.

When we have big problems, help us to remember that You are bigger than all of our problems. Where do our problems come from? They come from our sin. That’s our biggest problem. That’s no problem to You, Lord – “Christ has put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:26). Thank You, Lord, …

Some thoughts on preaching

“The bigger the truth we try to speak the smaller the words we should use, and the shorter the sentences” (Ian Pitt-Watson). Good preaching does its hearers good. Our concern is not to impress people with our eloquence. Our goal is to direct attention away from ourselves to the Saviour. We should aim to be …

Lord, we thank You that Your Son, Jesus, comes to us as more than our personal Saviour.

Lord, we thank You that Your Son, Jesus, comes to us as more than our personal Saviour. He comes to us as the "commander of the army of the Lord" (Joshua 5:14). We thank You that "Christ, the Royal Master, leads against the foe." We thank You that He leads us "on to victory." Help …