Are all age services any use?

The All Age Family service is sometimes treated with a bit of suspicion, tolerated at best.  I’ve heard two objections to them. The first is that All Age worship excludes single people and those without children.  The second is that they prevent you engaging deeply with God’s Word.  Now, both of those things can be… Continue reading Are all age services any use?

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints

Today we lay to rest my mother’s body. It’s part of the process of saying goodbye.  We as a family had the opportunity to say our goodbyes to mum in those last few days and hours.  Mum is already present with Jesus, which means in the words of Scripture that she is “absent from the… Continue reading Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints

Walking with God

Genesis 5 opens with the second occurrence of the statement “These are the generations…”  We are now opening up a new section, act 2 if you like, in Genesis.  We begin to trace “what became of Adam and his family?” Notice that, Cain’s line has been dealt with separately in the previous chapter. So, Adam’s… Continue reading Walking with God

Grace

Despite the judgement on Cain, once again, God is not done with mankind.  Cain and his wife have children and they in turn have children. Read Genesis 4:17-26 Common Grace First, we see through Cain’s line how God blesses humanity as promised, enabling and equipping them to carry out the work of filling and subduing. … Continue reading Grace

Bloodshed

How do you respond when others seem to be favoured over and above you?  Are you happy for them? Does it spur you on to do better or does it cause resentment and jealousy? God has accepted Abel’s sacrifice, the younger brother preferred to the older being a theme that will develop throughout the Old… Continue reading Bloodshed

“Place me like a seal over your heart”

Our engagement with Scripture includes both taking in and understanding significant sections of Scripture and focusing on the small details.  It’s about studying God’s Word and thinking it through but it is also about applying it practically. A crucial part of this is meditation.  Christian meditation is not about emptying your mind or even focusing… Continue reading “Place me like a seal over your heart”