Three weeks ago I wrote about Advent Qualities and referred to the tins / plastic tubs of Quality Street piled high for sale at this time of year.  But what about the tins / tubs of Celebrations I hear you cry?  You can’t have enough chocolate for Christmas can you – and, in any event, as some say, “the trouble with Christmas…

According to a recent survey, nearly one in five people (19%) rarely bother to read the manual after unwrapping a new gadget at Christmas.  I am actually surprised that this percentage is so low, although this survey was commissioned by the Civil Aviation Authority and seems particularly to focus on those receiving drones as a present (something yet to be experienced by…

Is Advent just the ‘pre-Christmas period’, far too busy and noisy?  Or is it a real opportunity to reflect on the stupendous miracle of the incarnation and the glorious fact that “when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”…

I’m writing this article on so-called Black Friday itself, although many of the day’s ‘offers’ seem to stretch well beyond 24 hours.  You may know that Black Friday is an informal name for the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, which is always celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November.  Black Friday has been regarded as the beginning of America’s…

This morning, at 11am, is an historic moment.  We mark exactly 100 years from when the ‘guns fell silent’ on the Western Front, following the Armistice agreement that ended fighting in World War l.  Over 886,000 UK troops were killed in that awful war out of a total military death toll of some 9.7 million, aside from some 10 million civilian deaths. …

I was particularly struck by the following words of Jeff Lucas in his latest article in Christianity magazine: “in the here and now, our understanding of [God] is but a teaspoon of water out of the vastness of the Pacific.”  What a stunning comparison – indeed the reality of the difference is even greater, because how can the finite be compared with…

I wrote this article on Friday 19 October, 162 years to the day when someone yelled “Fire!” as a prank whilst Charles Spurgeon, then aged 22, was preaching to thousands in the Surrey Garden Music Hall.  Although Spurgeon tried to calm the panic, 7 people were trampled to death and 28 severely injured.  This tragic event had a profound effect on him…

Two weeks ago, at our evening service, I felt led to speak on identity and who we are in Christ. I believe this is a fundamental issue for us all to grapple with and so have summarised some of the talk below. I pray that it is of real comfort and encouragement to you. We live in a world dominated and yet…

This morning we will be studying Matthew’s account of the transfiguration of Jesus (17v1-13).  This was truly an awesome experience for Peter, James and John as they glimpsed something of the glory of the Lord.  Let me highlight two, perhaps subsidiary, aspects to this remarkable event: Jesus’ temptation – John Stott has pointed out that, if Jesus’ transfigured body was effectively His…