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 […]

Have you ever wondered why Abraham did not inherit the land while he was still alive? Or why did Jacob and his sons end up in Egypt, instead of staying in Canaan and becoming a great nation there? I don’t think there is a simple answer to either of those questions. The fact that Abraham […]

I want to look this morning at an incident from the life of David. Particularly in his early life, David was an immensely passionate man. Yes, he was deeply spiritual, but he also felt powerful emotion, perhaps even prone to over reacting on occasion. The particular incident I want to look at is in 1 […]

As I was preparing this exhortation, reading the three passages for today, There was one that jumped out at me, because it described this ecclesia, and it described it well. Romans 12, verses 4 to 10: For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, […]

The book of Jonah is very short. It is about Jonah, who was around at the time of King Jeroboam the second, fairly early on in the history of Israel. It tells the story of Jonah being sent to the people of Nineveh, but it isn’t really about the message Jonah gave. In fact, all […]