
Harvest: God supplies in the mess
Harvest: God supplies in the mess Genesis 38: 8-19 & 20-30. 29/9/19 I am just going to put out the message right at the start. According to this passage, which is a harvest passage as far as I am concerned, this message is straight forward and brutal; we reap what we sow. About that time Judah left his brothers and went to stay with a man named Hirah, who was from Adullam. There Judah met a Canaanite girl whose father was named Shua. (Genesis 38: 1) To me, this piece of writi

God won’t give us more than HE can handle.
There are words and expressions that come up again and again in the Bible. Like ‘Do not be afraid’, for instance, it comes up in one form or another - ‘fear not,’ ‘have no fear’ – 365 times. One for every day of the year, I’m sure that’s not a coincidence. The most common word is ‘Lord’, which isn’t too unexpected. But I don’t have to consult my Bible commentaries to find out that one of the things said in our reading from 2 Kings earlier just appears once. ‘Get out of h

Jephthah, man of action.
Jephthah, man of action. Judges 11: 1-11 & 34-40. 15/9/19 We have been looking at the Book of Judges. We have not been reading these stories through romanticized eyes; seeing these leaders as heroes that come to the fore and rescue Israel, but as leaders who were very flawed; especially the men. And if that is true of well known judges like Samson and Gideon, how much more is it true of Jephthah. I think the lesson I would take most from this sad story is that life is messy.

Sunday 8th September Reading and Prayer
Gracious God, we ask that you will send your Spirit to help us to open our minds, so that when we read your word we can gain a better understand of your ways. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen. Our reading this morning is from the Book of Judges, Chapter 6 and verses 11 to 18. The Book of Judges tells about the life of Israel from the time of the death of Joshua up to the first of the kings. The Israelites had occupied the Promised Land, but once they were in Canaan they quic

Gideon, man of shadows.
Gideon, man of shadows. Judges 6:11-18. Morning Communion 8/9/19 We are looking at the judges of Israel just now. The judges of Israel guided the country before they had kings. What tended to happen was that Israel did its own thing and drift away from God. Then they would find themselves oppressed and decide they wanted God’s help. Then they would find someone who was already following God’s ways and ask them to help them. God would help them through the judge and then they

Deborah, warrior princess
Deborah, warrior princess Judges 4: 1-16. 1/9/19 The are looking at the judges of Israel just now. The judges of Israel guided the country before they had kings. What tended to happen was that Israel did its own thing and drifted away from God. Then they would find themselves oppressed and decided they wanted God’s help. Then they would find someone who was already following God’s ways and ask them to help them. God would help them through the judge and then they would find p