Posts

How to listen to topical sermons

Instead of focusing on a specific Bible passage and drawing out the things it has to say, a topical sermon starts with an issue and tries to find out what the Bible says about it. For example, the sermon might deal with an issue in church life such as prayer, giving, worship or evangelism. A… Continue reading How to listen to topical sermons

Creation and Biblical Theology

The first few chapters of Genesis are setting up the rest of the book. So, just as a film or novel will return to key places and characters and just as a particularly melody will keep appearing in a musical, so too, we can look forward to the themes we discover in these first few… Continue reading Creation and Biblical Theology

No place for excuses or hypocrisy (Romans 2:1-11)

If COVID-19 has highlighted one thing, it is our ability to spot the wrong in others.  We read a newspaper report about crowds on a beach and we notice with disgust that someone has gone to that beach, expecting that they would get to be there and enjoy it for themselves, missing the irony that… Continue reading No place for excuses or hypocrisy (Romans 2:1-11)

How to listen to doctrinal sermons

Sometimes the aim of a sermon is to help us grasp a specific Biblical truth more clearly. This should not surprise us. We keep insisting that what we believe affects how we live.  We may use a one off sermon or even a short series of sermons to teach on a particular doctrine. For example,… Continue reading How to listen to doctrinal sermons

A post coronavirus church planting strategy

I’m continuing to try and encourage people to think about future church planting. I realise that after the pandemic a lot of us will be looking at the fragile state of churches and the temptation will be to go into maintenance mode.  I hope we won’t do that. There remains a great need out there.… Continue reading A post coronavirus church planting strategy

Are you ticking “not religious”?

Humanists UK are launching their every decade campaign for people to tick on the Census that they are  not religious. The argument is that people tick to say they are Christian or whatever because they associate it with a cultural identity or their parents.  The recognition that one is not born a Christian and cannot… Continue reading Are you ticking “not religious”?

Our attitude to mental health may indicate the extent to which we have dealt with the toxic problem of Prosperity Teaching

If I told you that you probably did not need to persist with the chemotherapy, or that you did not need to see a surgeon to get your broken bone reset, you just needed to pray and repent of your sin, how would you respond? Not only would you recognise this as ridiculously nuts but… Continue reading Our attitude to mental health may indicate the extent to which we have dealt with the toxic problem of Prosperity Teaching