Why think about 1 John?
John gives three reasons for writing his letter to the churches: to complete our joy (1:4), to promote holiness (2:1) and to build up confidence in the truths of Christianity (5:13). He writes against, false … Read more
Category: Sin
Isaiah 53. Who has believed our message? (Good Friday)
Contrary to what the political classes and newsfeeds wants us to believe are our essential problems, Isaiah tells us our deepest problem is a lack of righteousness. For a man who has been praying that God would tear open the … Read more
Matthew 18.1-20. Church discipline
According to Jesus, God is angry and severe with those who cause his dependent people to stumble in wrong or to give up trust in him. God is gentle beyond reason with those who know they need his help. There … Read more
Is change possible? How God confronts our sense of worthlessness. 1 John.
After a recent service a man came to speak to me; he said that godliness was out of reach for him, it was too high a standard, but what he wanted to know was whether or not he had made … Read more
Genesis 6:9-9:29. Survivor
How can we be resilient in the face of great trouble? How can we survive the justice of God? None of us are perfect or deserve any special protection and yet in the story of Noah, God chooses imperfect people … Read more
Genesis 5:1-6:8. Crime and punishment
Genesis 5 was written in another time and sets itself against the origin stories that justified those times. Yet, it still warns us of the combined traps of technological advancement married to moral decay seen in mixing of boundaries (especially … Read more
Genesis 4. Conflict
Genesis 4 describes the depth of Eve’s pain in childbearing as well as the symptoms of a culture in decline over generations. The culture is full of technological and political advances but violence increases with each gain in brilliance. Am … Read more