Luke 18:9-14 Some years ago I arrived at the airport gate for a long-haul flight only to be turned away and unable to board. Turned out my passport wasn’t valid…The beginning of a new year is a good time to check our spiritual passport and make sure everything is in order. This story Jesus told helps us do that by taking us back to the big issue of how we get right with God.
Micah 5:3-5 We long to get home for Christmas. But all too often, when we do get there, the experience doesn’t quite live up to expectation. That is because this longing is actually the echo of a deeper spiritual longing – a longing to come home to God. It is a longing which can be fulfilled because of Christmas.
Micah 5:1-2 As we look back on a year of international crisis, political instability, economic worries, and climate anxiety, we could all do with a bit of ‘good news of great joy’. Where do we find it? In a surprising place. In the little town of Bethlehem. So said an ancient prophecy from the 8th century BC.
Job 4-5 It can be hard to know what to say when someone is suffering. But we want to get better at bringing true comfort, and being good friends. The book of Job teaches us how – and, in particular, how not to do it.
Job 2:11-3:26 There is a shallow, superficial type of Christianity which makes out that if we are true believers we should always be smiling, laughing, and overflowing with happiness. This passage says otherwise. A true godly believer may go through times of deep darkness. It’s important we recognize this – so we are prepared, should we experience it ourselves; and so we can help others who are suffering.
Job 1:13-2:10 Job was a model believer, but he suffered terribly. Why? Why would God allow one of his faithful followers to suffer like that? It’s important we understand, so we’re ready for when disaster comes knocking at our door.
Job 1:1-12 Are you a fair-weather believer or a genuine one? One test will be, as for Job, how you respond when the storm clouds gather and the darkness closes in.
Revelation 20:11-21:4 Just a few months ago we were in the house of feasting, celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Today we find ourselves in the house of mourning, preparing for a state funeral. As well as a time to give thanks, it is a time to reflect on our own mortality and on what lies beyond.
2 Timothy 4:9-22 The cost of living has been on everyone’s minds in recent months. This passage is about the cost of living as a disciple of Christ, and how to respond to it. The apostle Paul was imprisoned, opposed, deserted – but he responded in a godly way. We are to learn from his example.
2 Timothy 4:1-8 On 9/11 in 2001, within 10 minutes of the first plane hitting the tower, over 1000 phone calls were made from people in the buildings or on the other planes. And they all said the same three words – ‘I love you’. What would your last words be to your loved ones? Here we have the apostle Paul’s final message, which he sums up in another three words: preach the Word.
