Dave Faulkner. Musings of an evangelical Methodist minister.
So this week we get to Mount Sinai and God gives the Ten Commandments. Find the reading at Exodus 20:1-20.
But how do we regard these laws in a post-Christian society? And how should Christians approach ancient Jewish laws from the perspective of the Gospel? How should we live in the light of them today?
These are the questions behind this week’s talk. I hope you find it helpful.
Continuing this week with those pesky Israelites. In Exodus 17:1-7 they’re still moaning about God. Except they’ve upped the ante. Now it’s a full-blown quarrel.
It’s one thing bringing our pain to God, it’s quite another to quarrel with him. How do we avoid the spiritual danger of hardening our hearts against God? Here are my thoughts.
I mention a song during the talk – ‘Land of the Living’ by Bryn Haworth. You can listen to it below and you can buy it here.
This week, I reflect on the story of God providing manna in the wilderness for the Israelites in Exodus 16:1-15. Given that human nature hasn’t changed over three thousand years, I look at how the ways God cured their moaning can be effective when we become religious whingers today.
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This week and next week my two churches celebrate Harvest Festival. One will be supporting the Whitechapel Mission, the other Woking Foodbank.
In the video, I explore 2 Corinthians 9:6-15, where Paul is appealing to his readers to support a collection for famine-hit Jerusalem Christians, to see what best motivates Christians to give, especially to the poor.
This week’s video is based on Exodus 12:1-14, where God institutes the Passover as he prepares to liberate the Israelites from slavery and a genocidal Pharaoh in Egypt.
I’m giving this talk live in our first service back at Knaphill Methodist Church on Sunday 6th September, but attendance is only by pre-booking due to social distancing limitations and all spaces are taken.
The prayers here are different from those I’m using in the Knaphill service, because the latter is a communion service and I’m not allowed by the Methodist Church to lead communion online.
Here’s this week’s video. I discuss the famous story of Moses and the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-15) and explore what God reveals about himself when he answers Moses’ request to disclose his name.
And here’s the second video I forgot to publish. This is me from last week on how the Israelites demonstrate the power of remembering (unlike Pharaoh and Egypt) as seen in Exodus 1:8-2:10
Oh dear, it seems I’ve missed posting some recent videos. Sorry.
First up: here is guest presenter Jean Shepherd from two weeks ago, talking about how we can be co-workers with God (1 Corinthians 3:1-15):
My friend and this week’s ‘guest presenter’ Allan Taylor muses on Irene, a character in one of Alan Bennett’s plays, and the need to accept difficult people.
When I was growing up, my grandmother lived with us. The only time she watched anything that could loosely be called sport was on a Saturday afternoon at 4 pm. That was when ITV’s World Of Sport showed wrestling. Never mind the fact that the bouts were blatantly staged and fixed, Nanna (and Mum) used to enjoy shouting at Mick McManus and Jackie Pallo when they got up to their devious tricks.
Jacob’s wrestling bout with the mysterious stranger at Peniel in Genesis 32:22-32 is very different. This isn’t cheap entertainment. This is a new revelation of God to Jacob, every bit as significant as the encounter he had at Bethel with the dream of the staircase to heaven.
Here are my thoughts on the passage.
Big Circumstance 