Category: Bible Study

Why attempting to control COVID is not an idolatrous attempt to conquer death

A narrative is emerging from some quarters of the church that measures to deal with the pandemic represent state and societal hubris, a humanistic confidence in our ability to defeat death. If this was the case, then we would be dealing with idolatry. Of course, as Christians we should not be surprised to see evidence… Continue reading Why attempting to control COVID is not an idolatrous attempt to conquer death

Forgiven (Matthew 9:1-13)

It’s one of the most wonderful words you can hear isn’t it? You’ve well and truly messed up this time.  You’ve allowed something to catch fire in the microwave and whilst attending to that, you’ve allowed the sink upstairs to overflow so that water has rained through the ceiling into your front room. Then in… Continue reading Forgiven (Matthew 9:1-13)

Demons

Last Sunday, I preached on Jesus casting out demons. I highlighted three points in reference to this. Demon possession is possible today though I suspect rarer than in Jesus’ day Christians cannot be demon possessed because we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit The demon exorcisms in the Gospel help us to understand the wider… Continue reading Demons

Is it hubris to believe we can control a virus?

Glen Scrivener thinks it is.  So today I am going to do the risky thing and attempt to disagree with a brilliant mind!  First of all, we need to distinguish between “Can we potentially control a virus.” And “have we been able to control this one” or “will we definitely be able to control it.”… Continue reading Is it hubris to believe we can control a virus?

Isolated (Proverbs 18)

“Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire;    he breaks out against all sound judgment.”[1] These are probably not helpful words for a Government attempting to encouraging COVID-19 patients to self-isolate. Yet, our experience of having to socially isolate over these past 7 months have been a crash course in the cost of such isolation. When we… Continue reading Isolated (Proverbs 18)

Facing your fears

In Sunday’s sermon I said that having peace with God means that we can face our fears.  In this article, I want to talk through the practicalities of doing that.  The first step of course is to recognise exactly what it is that we are afraid of.  This also helps us to properly assess the… Continue reading Facing your fears

Peace (Matthew 8:23-33)

“I just wish things could get back to normal.” Have you heard other people saying that? Have you found yourself saying it too?  If I were to take you back to February and March, how did you feel then? Perhaps you were anxious but there was also the adrenalin of being in this together too… Continue reading Peace (Matthew 8:23-33)