Viewing all items in Resource Category: Looking at God

Jesus calls those who live for His kingdom to demonstrate His character: ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.’ (5:5). Meekness can come over as being ‘weak or feeble’, hence ‘Gentle Jesus, meek and mild.’ However, the Greek word means being tamed: ‘Blessed are those who are tamed, under control.’ The picture...

No doubt you are beginning to look forward to your summer holidays. Just think about it – sun, sea and sand, time to relax and unwind, no deadlines to meet, no responsibilities to shoulder . . . ah, bliss! We are fortunate to live at a time when workers are encouraged to take time off...

I have a great love for the Bible, especially the stories of men and women who lived their lives by faith. Not only did they display great trust in God, but also great resilience, often keeping going in the face of great adversity. Nehemiah is such a person. His great achievement was to take a...

The Truth of the Ascension From the Vicar The Beatitudes: ‘Blessed are those who mourn’ Exam time The call to maturity What’s in your name?  Looking up into Heaven The story behind the hymn: ‘Alleluia, Alleluia! Give Thanks to the Risen Lord’ ** Editor:  The Rev Paul Hardingham considers a much-neglected event… The Truth of...

‘While He was blessing them, Jesus left them and was taken up into heaven.’ (Luke 24:51). The Ascension is a hugely neglected festival, which deserves to have a bigger place in our church life. How do we understand it? The Ascension tells us that Jesus is in control: ‘Jesus has gone into heaven and is...

The Ascension is a hugely neglected festival, which deserves to have a bigger place in our church life. How do we understand it? The Ascension tells us that Jesus is in control: ‘Jesus has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand’ (1 Peter 3:22). Jesus occupies the top spot in the universe; the...

The Beatitudes, at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-12), present the values of the kingdom of God. In ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted’ (5:4), Jesus appears to be saying ‘Happy are the unhappy’!! It’s not wrong for Christians to be sad or grieve, as we can...

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test.  (2 Corinthians 13:5-6) For many children and young adults May is the time...

To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. Colossians 1:27-28 Paul was very clear...

This Spring, millions of people will be curious to know what Meghan and Prince Harry name their first baby.  Journalists will fill columns of newsprint, speculating on why they chose that name, how it will fit in with the rest of the royal names, and how ‘fashionable’ it may become. But we all have a...

The Church remembers the Ascension this month – when Jesus went back up into heaven. But where is heaven?  How will we experience it? The Bible is clear that Christians can expect a personal, conscious life after death. It is clear that heaven is NOT some wispy, anaemic realm with a few clouds floating around,...

Not many university students are able to write Christian songs which become worldwide hits, but Don Emry Fishel managed it with his Alleluia No. 1.  Nearly 50 years on, it is loved and sung by millions of Christians worldwide. Fishel wrote it in 1971, while he was a student at the University of Michigan and...