The Power of the Passover (Sermon and Prayers)

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.

September 6, 2020 0

Moses, the Burning Bush, and the Name of God

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.

August 30, 2020 0

Exodus and the Power of Remembering

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

August 29, 2020 0

Guest Post: Jean Shepherd on working With God

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):

August 29, 2020 0

Allan Taylor: Accepting Difficult People

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.

August 9, 2020 0

A Second Conversion: Jacob’s Wrestling Match At Peniel

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.

August 2, 2020 0

Jacob’s Marriage and Laban’s Deception – A Bigger God Story

This week’s reflection seeks to get beyond the ‘Jacob got a dose of his own medicine’ and ‘romantic love story’ tropes to seeing Genesis 29:14b-28 in the perspective of God’s Big Story. When we do that, we find a lot of Gospel here.

July 26, 2020 0

Jacob at Bethel: Finding God In Unexpected Places

This week we continue the story of God making a people of blessing through imperfect people. In this week’s episode, Jacob meets God in an unexpected place. The reading is Genesis 28:10-22.

July 19, 2020 0

How can god be in charge when … ?

This week, I explore Genesis 25:19-34 which tells the story of Isaac and Rebekah’s long wait for children. Then, when Esau and Jacob arrive, they prove in their characters to be great disappointments. How can we believe that God is in charge of our lives when things like this happen?

July 12, 2020 0

Some Reflections on Marriage and Relationship from the Story of Isaac Meeting Rebekah

I forgot to schedule this post for this morning – oh dear.

Anyway, here are this week’s devotional thoughts, based on Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67. As I say in the video, I hope these observations help you whether you are in a relationship, waiting for one, or coping with the end of one.

And this week, it’s filmed for the first time on my new Nikon Z 6 camera. It was recorded in 4K, but that made for a massive file, so I converted it to HD before uploading.

July 5, 2020 2

Big Circumstance