Tag: faith

Rescuing Lot

Lot has headed off to live near Sodom and Gomorrah.  He quickly becomes entwined in the life and politics of Sodom and when an enemy raiding party attack the city, he is caught up with the captives (Genesis 14:1-12).  This is reported back to Abram  and I guess it would have been easy for him… Continue reading Rescuing Lot

Does God sometimes reward sin?

When Abraham goes to Egypt because of a famine in the land of Cannan and  attempts to pass off Sarai his wife as being just his sister, the consequences for Pharoah are serious. God strikes Egypt with plagues.  However, Abraham, himself appears to do well out of it. First, we are told that “when Pharaoh’s… Continue reading Does God sometimes reward sin?

Did God speak to Terah in the same way that he did to Abraham?

In Genesis 11:27-32, Terah, the father of Abraham (still known as Abram at this point) and grandfather of Lot takes his family from Ur in Mesopotamia towards Canaan.  He doesn’t get as far as the intended destination but settles at a place called Haran to the north of modern-day Israel.  There the family remain until… Continue reading Did God speak to Terah in the same way that he did to Abraham?

Journey interrupted

We usually leap into the story of Abram in Genesis 12, however, he’s introduced in Genesis 11:27-32.  There, at the end of the list of descendants of Shem, following the scattering at Babel, we are introduced to Terah, the almost Patriarch. Terah has three children, Abram, Nahor and Haran, mirroring Noah’s three sons and Cain,… Continue reading Journey interrupted

Why study the life of Abraham?

In the Spring, our church did a series on Galatians.  Later in the Autumn, we will be working through the book of James. It’s important to read something like James alongside Galatians to help us deepen our understanding of what true faith looks like.  Galatians shows us that we are not saved by works, it’s… Continue reading Why study the life of Abraham?

A receiving church (1 Corinthians 12:4-11)

Having discerned that it is God’s Holy Spirit at work and not an evil Spirit, we can move to see what the Spirit is doing and saying.  One of the key things that the Holy Spirit does is to give gifts to the Church. Prioritise the giver (v4-6) We can become focused on the gifts… Continue reading A receiving church (1 Corinthians 12:4-11)

What is Birmingham’s bankruptcy saying to us?

Yesterday I wrote about our city going bankrupt and what that might mean for us.  As I explained in the article, there’s actually a lot of uncertainty and the honest answer to “what does this mean?” Is that we really don’t know yet.  It is entirely possible that for most of us we’ll see very… Continue reading What is Birmingham’s bankruptcy saying to us?