Dear <<First Name>> I hope you’ve found our working through the Apostles’ Creed interesting and useful. Between now and early September we will be reading though the Epistle to the Ephesians. Until the late 18th Century this epistle was universally thought to have been written by the Apostle Paul. Opinion is now divided between those who believe […]
Daily Devotion 8th August
©W Hamond, UFS, with apologies to Eric Clapton (“Tears in Heaven”) Most of us actually believe in the immortality of the soul: when we die, our souls – the “real us” – live on in heaven with God. That’s not resurrection. It’s giving up on the world: God can’t save the world, so opts […]
Daily Devotion 7th August 2018
When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’ Reflection Broken hands on broken ploughs,Broken treaties, broken vows,Broken bodies, broken bones,Broken voices on broken phonesBroken words […]
Daily Devotion 6th August
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the […]
Daily Devotion 5th August 2018
1 You rulers, do you know what justice is?Among mankind do you judge uprightly?2 No, you devise injustice in your heartsAnd on the earth you mete out cruelty. 3 Even from birth the wicked go astrayAnd from the womb untruthfully they speak;Their wayward thoughts well up within their heartsAnd havoc with their lying words they […]
Daily Devotion 4th August
The United Reformed Church was created by three church unions in 1972, 1981 and 2000. That simple statement does not mention the earlier unions that had created the churches that eventually united to become the URC. This is a living demonstration of the way as members of the URC we do believe in “the holy […]
Daily Devotion 3rd August 2018
Jesus said: ‘When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf.” Reflection Recently we enjoyed an afternoon tea in the Blackpool Tower Ballroom. We watched couples of all shapes, sizes and ages glide around the ballroom […]
Daily Devotion 2nd August
‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the […]
Daily Devotion 1st August 2018
Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s […]
Daily Devotion 31st July 2018
While Jesus was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. Reflection In the Ascension Chapel at Walsingham, a sculpted cloud on the ceiling has two feet hanging from it. Two wounded feet are seen in frozen animation, held there in the sculpture while the rest of the body is hidden […]