Tag: Peter

No U-Turn

In the musical, The Phantom of the Opera, towards the end, the Phantom makes his move to bring Christine fully under his power. He commits murders and then she removes his mask on stage exposing him.  He sings “Past the point of no return” arguing that there is now no going back, they are fully… Continue reading No U-Turn

Face to face

Would you draw a connection between who you had round for dinner and whether or not you really believed the Gospel?  Paul did. A look at the text: Read Galatians 2:11-14 When Paul had visited Jerusalem, he had found himself in agreement with Peter but at a later date, Peter had reason to visit the… Continue reading Face to face

Not me

I mentioned the other Sunday when talking about the response of the crowd at Pentecost, that we like to think, with the benefit of hindsight that we would be among the believing faithful. However, I suspect that most of us fear that if we had been there, that we’d actually be among those confused, bewildered… Continue reading Not me

Get behind me (Mark 8:27-38)

Strong and shocking words from Jesus “Get behind me Satan”.  Why does he use such strong language? It’s because he recognises in Peter’s response to his teaching that he must suffer and die one of the devil’s big temptations. Earlier we saw how the Pharisee’s demand for a sign echoed Satan’s encouragement that Jesus should… Continue reading Get behind me (Mark 8:27-38)

The call of the kingdom (Mark 1:14-20)

We now begin to see what it means for Jesus to preach about the Kingdom and call people to repentance with a series of examples. – It means calling people to follow him and leave behind other priorities (1:16-20 and 2:13-17) – It means calling evil spirits out of people. Captives are set free (1:21-28)… Continue reading The call of the kingdom (Mark 1:14-20)

I believe in childhood conversion

I saw this tweet the other day from someone saying that they don’t believe in small children around about the age of 5 converting through asking Jesus into their lives. It was an interesting statement for me to read because I still clearly remember that day, it was the 20th April 1980, sat on an… Continue reading I believe in childhood conversion

Cornerstone: From rejected to chosen (1 Peter 2:4-10)

Here’s the outline for my sermon at West Smethwick Congregational Church last Sunday Introduction Our context   Pandemic Increasing hostility to the Gospel local church feeling small and fragile Personal challenges  Big Picture … an Exodus/exile people (1:1)  But chosen and called by God to be different and distinct from the world around them. It was… Continue reading Cornerstone: From rejected to chosen (1 Peter 2:4-10)

Christians don’t (shouldn’t) bear grudges

One of the saddest things in Christian life is when you meet or hear about people, sometimes within the same church who have not spoken for years. Similarly you can even discover churches where there has been rivalry going on since a split decades ago.  Sometimes Christians will disagree sharply. The Apostle Paul disagreed with… Continue reading Christians don’t (shouldn’t) bear grudges

A last meal with Jesus

#TheDailyDose John 21 The problem of incompleteness A couple of things we’ve picked up on Jesus deals with sin and guilt  -I sort of get that and the objective guilt bit is easy enough but the shame less easy –how do I get on with things when people are still mocking or disowning me.  Okay… Continue reading A last meal with Jesus