One of the most common misunderstandings about grace is that it gives us permission to live however we want. If salvation is a gift of grace and not something we earn through keeping rules, does that...

Have you ever noticed how many times the word ‘therefore’ appears in the Bible? One rule of thumb that has been given to help understand a passage in scripture, is that when you see the word...

I had reached a London mainline railway station and was making my way across town to catch another train to the north. I had to take two different Underground lines to get to it. I had luggage with me...

Because we are God’s children, we are being transformed into the fullness of the stature of Christ. As such, we are becoming more Christlike. Our thinking will essentially be persuaded by Christ to...

Hagar felt she got a bum rap from Sarai after she had been given to Abram as an underling wife. She felt lost, without hope and invisible, so she headed out to the desert to die, but God found and...

I never really believed that I was an enemy of God. It is shocking to think that I was, that we all were. I did not intentionally go actively fighting against him in my mind. How about you? I did not...

Paul’s letter to the Romans is one of the clearest pictures of the transforming power of grace in the New Testament. At the beginning of Chapter six he asks a question that naturally arises whenever...

The phrase ‘dead to me’ has unknown origins but saying that someone is ‘dead to me’ communicates that you no longer want to speak or have any kind of contact with that person. This can be a...

The writer of the letter to the Hebrew Christians, in the well-known eleventh chapter, parades before us the Old Testament heroes of faith who performed such courageous and mighty acts  with...

Sometimes it seems as if the whole world is against us. There are days when nothing goes right and we’re almost convinced everyone is conspiring to make us miserable. If you read the whole chapter...

You can insert your name into verse 20 of our header scripture if you are a believer, and if not, God is inviting you as well. We are the ones God has called into his unity, into the oneness of God....

There are seasons in life when we feel drained. We may continue functioning outwardly by working, serving, and smiling, but inwardly we feel exhausted, uncertain, or spiritually dry. Sometimes the...

Have you ever had to call 9-1-1 (999 in the UK)? I hope not, but if you have, it was probably because you were in a serious situation that needed an immediate response. That’s why we call 9-1-1 here...

In the pages of the New Testament, the prophet Isaiah is the most often quoted Old Testament witness to the validity of the gospel message. Throughout his long prophecy, he speaks repeatedly of the...

Timing and recognition are central to the walk towards Emmaus. Christians often find themselves, like Cleopas and his companion, burdened by the ‘Friday mindset’ of loss, and unable to see the...

Our lives can turn on a dime – we can’t see the future and have no idea what will happen tomorrow. As soon as wisdom, power, riches, fame or youth disappears, and they will, we can feel as if the...

We can feel like orphans in many ways. When I was 11 my mother died suddenly. We were all in shock. My brothers and I felt lost and abandoned. It took years for me to come out of my depression, and I...

Abraham’s story is not one of a man who never faced doubt, delay, or disappointment. It is the story of a promise that seemed to move further away the longer time passed. God had said that Abraham...

Most people know what it feels like to wrestle with change. We recognise the gap between the life we hope for and the life we often experience. We try to do better, try to grow, try to move forward....

Our true identity is this: we are children of God. Identity comes from the combination of qualities, beliefs, personality, looks, and expressions that make a person – or a group – who they are....

Do we ever have doubts or uncertainties about our Christian faith? Times when we find it hard to trust God or discern his will in our lives? Even moments when we question what we believe and whether...

This verse reminded me of an ewe we gained as a helpless lamb. We had been visiting another sheep farm, and in a pen was an ewe with a deformed lamb. It would soon die, the owner said. My daughter...

Paul’s closing blessing of his second letter to the Corinthians is more than a final farewell, it is a window into the very life of God and our participation in it. Each phrase draws us into a...

Names matter. They carry meaning, identity, and story. To speak a name is to acknowledge who someone is and how we are related to them. When Scripture speaks of God’s name, it is never casual. It is...

John chapter 9 records an event which occurred in The Temple at Jerusalem, during the autumn festival of Sukkot, just 6 months before the crucifixion. Earlier, during a heated exchange with the Jewish...

We don’t hear about wisdom much anymore. Even older people, who used to be considered wise, are often seen as out of touch, old fashioned and unfortunately, narrow-minded. It’s still a much-needed...

We are told that Jesus had done many miracles during the Passover celebration, and that because of this, many people had begun to trust in him and began to believe that God had sent him. Jesus was...

‘I’m not up to the challenge.’ ‘I’m not ready.’ If you are like me, these are some of the thoughts that pop into your head at the thought of sharing your faith with others. I want to see...

In the header scripture, Jesus presents a striking image: not a still pond, not a small stream, but a river that moves, that carries life and refreshes everything in its path. But perhaps, if we are...

There are moments in the life of God’s people when something long promised suddenly becomes present. What was once hoped for becomes tangible. What was once spoken about becomes lived out. Pentecost...

The question that was surely in the minds of the disciples in those final hours before the Lord’s departure was: ‘How will it be possible for the gospel work to continue without the physical...

I recently read an article that articulated the concerns many mental health professionals have over A1 chatbots acting as companions to people who are relating to them as friends. It’s a bit...

Fear can keep us from doing many things we would otherwise like to do, including simple things like talk to people or try new foods. It can keep us from fulfilling our dreams of writing that book or...