To be with Jesus. That’s the whole ball game, isn’t it? It’s what God made us for, it’s what was disrupted by the Fall (‘where are you?’), it’s what the prophets looked forward to (‘I myself will tend my sheep’), it’s what Jesus put at the heart of his relationship with his early followers: ‘that … Read more
Many years ago I lived in a small town, which was blessed with numerous churches. In particular, there were three of the same denomination along the main street: one as you entered the town, one in the middle and one half a mile further along at the far end. It looked like effective mission had … Read more
In the world, but not of it. That brief summary – taken directly from vvv15-16 in today’s passage – is a great way to understand our lives as followers of Jesus. We do not withdraw from society – we live out our faith where we are, among the people God has brought us alongside. At … Read more
Letter writing is increasingly a lost art. In our modern world of phones and computers, we use texts and emails, or don’t use words at all, substituting them for pictures and emojis. Those of us old enough to remember the days when the letter formed a major part of our communication would have learned a … Read more
To read John 17 is to stand on holy ground. All scripture is God-breathed, of course, but when we read this chapter, we get a glimpse into the heavenly throne room, as the divine Son shares intimately with the heavenly Father. Imagine being John, listening to Jesus offering this remarkable prayer. No wonders he remembers … Read more
And so this special conversation between Jesus and his disciples comes full circle. We began at the start of chapter 13, as the Passover Meal commenced: ‘Jesus knew that the hour had come…’ It is fitting that he concludes this conversation by repeating this phrase: ‘The hour is coming…’ (v25, v32) It’s often translated time, … Read more
Lent is traditionally a season of self-denial. Many millions of Christians every year give things up, or make extra sacrifices. Why? Sadly, there is much misunderstanding of Lent’s true purpose. It’s not to earn brownie points with God – as if that would ever work! It is certainly to identify with Christ, in some very … Read more
When I first came to Christ in 1982, I didn’t know very much at all. I wasn’t quite ten years old. I had attended church every Sunday (not very enthusiastically, as I admitted yesterday), and all I really knew was that Jesus loved me and died for me. As I write this reflection more than … Read more
July 25th 1982. Just a normal Sunday. I went to church with my family, to (what we then called) the Family Service. My Dad was giving the talk, about Jesus meeting Nicodemus in John chapter 3. It was the days of Overhead Projectors (OHPs – remember them?!), and he showed this acetate of a wooden … Read more
‘Crucify, torture, condemn, crush us. For the proof of our innocence is found in your injustice. It is on this account that God suffers us to suffer this… Yet no cruelty of yours, though each were to exceed the last in its exquisite refinement, profits you in the least; but forms rather an attraction to … Read more