Consider the following words: Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, abusers of themselves with mankind, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, extortioners, uncleanness, lasciviousness, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, whoremongers. How many of you can honestly say that you understand every one of those terms? What is ‘uncleanness’ for a follower of […]

And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him. And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with […]

This morning I want to consider two parables: the parable of the Good Samaritan, and the parable of the Sheep and the Goats. Normally it can be a dangerous thing to draw too much from parables. They are stories that illustrate a point, rather than being literal events. An incautious reading of the parable of […]

For I say unto you, [said Christ in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:20] That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Harsh words, if you were a first century scribe or Pharisee. But woe unto you, scribes […]

There are a couple of points in 2nd Corinthians that I thought I’d mention this morning. The first comes from chapter one, verses 3 to 7: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, […]

This morning I want to look at a story of salvation. I want to consider an imperfect man, Lot, and how his faith saved him, and contrast that with a faithless woman, his wife, whose faith failed her. Luke 17, verses 26 to 35: And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall […]

An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to their tenth generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the LORD for ever: Because they met you not with bread and with water in the way, when ye came forth out of Egypt; and because they hired against […]

There is an often misunderstood phrase that I want to consider today. It is a phrase used only by Christ, and he uses it in an immensely comforting sense. It is “ye of little faith”. It is first used in Matthew chapter 6, verses 25 to 33: Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought […]

This morning I want to draw your attention to something that is perhaps slightly subtle in the New Testament. It’s a subtle connection between a handful of people we meet, who all have the same job. They are all Roman Centurions. The Romans were not noted for being particularly compassionate. We are all familiar with […]