When we moved to a new area and found that we needed to find some tradespeople to do a number of jobs that we could not do ourselves, what did we do? We could have looked at Yellow Pages or some other directory, or Checkatrade which claims to have unbiased reports on local firms. However, […]
Devotions on 1, 2 and 3 John
Dear <<First Name>> I hope you found the series looking at the Lord’s prayer helpful – it’s always good to think about a prayer we use week after week, often day after day. We are grateful to Michael Hopkins for spending so much time in preparing that series. For the next few weeks a variety of […]
URC Daily Devotion 3rd June 2019
Sometimes in church, you may hear someone shout, or more often mutter, “Amen.” It means “so be it”, and it’s a Biblical way of saying, “This is true.” When we end the prayer with “Amen,” it’s not only a great moment when we signal our assent to the Lord’s Prayer, but it’s also a final […]
URC Daily Devotion 2nd June 2019
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, during his brief stint at Manchester United This is an enthronement Psalm, celebrating God as King (v1). The One who rules the world is none other than God! This is full-blown “shock and awe”: the proper response is to “tremble” (v1); “praise” (v3); “extol and worship” (vv 5,9). This is dangerous stuff for […]
URC Daily Devotion 1st June 2019
In John’s Gospel Jesus spoke about the hour of glory quite often, but plenty of people misunderstand that because Jesus was talking about the Cross. One way of thinking about the Cross is thinking that God was showing us how much God loved us. Some people manage to show quite a lot of that love […]
URC Daily Devotion 31st May 2019
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, […]
URC Daily Devotion 30th May 2019
And Mary said,‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.His mercy is for those who fear him from generation […]
URC Daily Devotion 29th May 2019
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic […]
URC Daily Devotion 28th May 2019
Save me means very different things at different times. I’m sure the people trapped in Grenfell Tower meant save me in the same way that the disciples on the boat asked Jesus to save them. Yet the language of saving, being saved, salvation, has wider contexts in church, where we link it to eternal life. […]
URC Daily Devotion 27th May 2019
The prayer also teaches us that if we’re to be forgiven, then we can be forgivers. The one who has experienced forgiveness is the one best able to forgive. Our forgiveness begins as a response to our being forgiven. It’s not so much an act of generosity towards whoever has hurt us, as an act […]