Death separates us from one another, that is why funerals are so painful as we are forced to face up to that reality. But the Easter truth that I love to proclaim at the funerals is that death can never separate a child of God from the love of God. In 1 Corinthians 15:20-22 Paul goes on to say, “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” Through his death and resurrection Jesus has broken the strangle hold of death over all who are “in him”.   Read More

As those of you who know me know, I love Christmas. I love celebrating the birth of Jesus. I love all the biblical truth that we read and sing in that season. I love our family and church traditions that have built up over the years. But – Christmas would be irrelevant if it wasn’t for this week – if it wasn’t for the cross and the death of Jesus. We celebrate birthdays, we generally do not establish festivals around deaths. But we do with Jesus.  Read More

We’re now on week 5 of our walk through the book of Exodus, the 2nd book in the Bible. And I want to share some thoughts to help you to pick up a specific theme that reoccurs throughout chapters 5-11 in particular. We’re considering this week the concept that someone can have a hardened heart towards God; as demonstrated over and over again by Pharaoh (King of Egypt). Other parts of the Bible refer to people also having a calloused heart or a darkened heart. (Matthew 13:15; Psalm 17:10; Ephesians 4:18; Romans 2: 5)  Read More

Exodus chapters 7 to 10 lead us through Moses’ confrontations with Pharaoh, with, as David Pawson says, words followed by works, discourse followed by destruction. The plagues reveal both God’s justice and mercy - his grace in giving warning before final judgement and his power and sovereignty over the Egyptian gods and Pharaoh. But most of all a demonstration to both the Israelites, Egyptians and us, that God is God alone. In our response to this God entreats us not to harden our hearts, for now is the time of salvation. Moses brought word from God to Pharaoh ‘Let my people go that they may worship me’ (Exodus 7:16, NIV). We are set free to follow, to serve, to worship. God calls us to worship with everything we are and everything we have.  Read More

Moses is without doubt one of the heroes of scripture. A leader who managed to lead 2 million people right to the edge of the Promised Land. A leader who took up leadership at 80 years of age and led for 40 years. A man who suffered abuse, grumbling, open revolt, great victories and tragic disappointments. It would be easy to view him as a superhuman. A man totally different to you and me. However, as we read through Exodus we discover that in many ways he was just like us. This is never more apparent than in his interaction with God when he is being called to leadership. Moses is presented with an incredible call and commission – lead the people of God out of captivity to the superpower of his day. His response – send someone else.  Read More

God says, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” As well as saying this to simply differentiate himself from the many other gods worshipped at the time, I also find this name deeply reassuring. It starts, “I am the God of your father…” Moses probably didn’t know his biological parents, Amran and Jochebed, very well, if at all, as he grew up in the palace. They had been given some precious time with Moses as a baby, at least until he was weaned, but may not have seen much of him since.  Read More