The early Church Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in the ministry of Christ Jesus. In fact, they once risked their lives for me. I am thankful to them, and so are all the Gentile churches. Also give my greetings to the church that meets in their home.   Romans 16:3-5  This final chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans contains greetings to a number of specific people. It gives us a fascinating window into the early Church. We find that the Roman church

Struggling Dear brothers and sisters, I urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to join in my struggle by praying to God for me. Do this because of your love for me, given to you by the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:30   It is an incredible privilege to belong to the Christian family. As soon as you become a Christian, you have brothers and sisters who are part of your new worldwide and eternal family. I treasure that moment recorded in Acts 9:17 when Ananias went to meet Saul

Life plans But now I have finished my work in these regions, and after all these long years of waiting, I am eager to visit you.  I am planning to go to Spain, and when I do, I will stop off in Rome. And after I have enjoyed your fellowship for a little while, you can provide for my journey. Romans 15:23-24   Paul’s love for the church in Rome is very clear, and he couldn’t wait to visit them. I love how he sets out his strategy so clearly. He was always looking to develop th

Hope I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13     Hope is a slippery word, so we need to be quite clear what Paul means by it. When we use the word ‘hope’, there is normally a ‘maybe’ in our voice – we are not confident. When I say “I hope it will be sunny tomorrow”, you know that I mean well and would love to think th

Differences Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. Romans 14:1     In every generation, there are issues on which Christians disagree. This will always be the case – the question is what to do with those disputes, particularly in relation to young Christians. Paul offers very strong and practical advice. He is desperately concerned that such issues shouldn’t be a stumbling block to those who are younger

God's calling You know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is almost gone; the day of salvation will soon be here. So remove your dark deeds like dirty clothes, and put on the shining armour of right living.    Romans 13:11-12  In this life, everything is limited by time. You might want to have another day to complete your revision, but when the examination day comes, there is no more time. You m

God's forgiveness O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help. Psalm 86:5     Sooner or later, everything breaks down. Whether you are thinking of your health, car, bicycle, microwave, computer, vacuum cleaner or heating system, all of them will, one day, encounter problems. In this psalm, David faces up to the fact that we all sin. It’s not pleasant to admit, but we would be crazy to suggest that it doesn’t affect us.

Calling out to God Bend down, O LORD, and hear my prayer; answer me, for I need your help. Psalm 86:1   Finding peace and purpose in our lives is something that we all want, and the first step to achieving it is recognising that we need God’s help. David, the author of this psalm, was Israel’s king in about 1000BC and had that experience time and again. This was clearly one of those times. He knew that although he was incredibly wealthy and powerful, he simply couldn’t manage

God’s voice I listen carefully to what God the LORD is saying, for he speaks peace to his faithful people. Psalm 85:8   Listening is crucial to every part of life, but that doesn’t mean it is a simple process. It requires a huge amount of thought and care, so it isn’t surprising that courses in listening are widely available these days. There are essentially five stages to the listening process: receiving, understanding, evaluating, remembering and responding. I am sure the p

Homesick A single day in your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the homes of the wicked. Psalm 84:10  I wonder if you’ve ever experienced homesickness. I certainly have. I loved the years I spent in India and my Indian friends couldn’t have been kinder or welcoming, but there was still a deep longing to see my family and friends and to experience cold weather! At the time, the phone

Justice Give justice to the poor and the orphan; uphold the rights of the oppressed and the destitute. Rescue the poor and helpless; deliver them from the grasp of evil people. Psalm 82:3-4   A friend of mine in his 20s, lived in an Indian village for a year. He had the incredible privilege of living with a family of Dalits, who have generally been known as untouchables. Dalits form about a quarter of the Indian population and have always been regarded as the lowest of the lo

Listen to God “For it was I, the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things. But no, my people wouldn’t listen. Israel did not want me around.”   Psalm 81:10-11     We probably all know the feeling when someone doesn’t want us around. It’s painful. For some reason, they don’t come out with it plainly and clearly, but we get the clear impression that we are not welcome. However, it is much more tragic when p

God smiles on you Turn us again to yourself, O LORD God of Heaven’s Armies. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved. Psalm 80:19     When someone looks at us with their full attention and warmth, it tells us everything we need to know – that we are welcome and that they are on our side. On three occasions in this psalm, Asaph expresses his longing that God’s face would shine upon the people. This psalm was probably written at the time of the fall of Sama

The Good News I will teach you hidden lessons from our past – stories we have heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us. We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders. Psalm 78:2-4   In a speech in the House of Commons in 1948, Winston Churchill paraphrased the philosopher Santayana when he said: “Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to

Amazing Grace Dear brothers and sisters, may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.   Galatians 6:18   The story of John Newton is well known. He first went to sea with his father when he was eleven years old and soon became deeply involved in working on slave ships. It was a terrible experience and, after falling out with the crew of the Pegasus in 1745, he even found himself in slavery. Three years later, he was rescued, and on his return home, he rea

A stunning new memorial dedicated to members of the LGBTQ+ Armed Forces community has been unveiled this week. Located at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, An Opened Letter commemorates the service of many sailors, soldiers and aviators from the LGBTQ+ community - many who were not able to be open about themselves during their time in the forces. The letter is a visible reminder of the discriminatory laws which restricted personnel to be openly homosexual, whi

Serving God I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus. Galatians 6:17   Alan Paton wrote a book called Cry ,  the Beloved Country  (Vintage) and was a fierce opponent of apartheid in South Africa. He once wrote about his death: “When I go up there, which is my intention, the Big Judge will say to me, Where are your wounds? and if I say I haven’t any, he will say, Was there nothing to fight for? I couldn’t face that question.” If we are willing to stand up for tr

Boasting As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians 6:14   There was clearly a lot of boasting going on among the Galatians! There were those who boasted of the fact that they continued to keep the Jewish law. They continued to practice circumcision and to stand by the Old Testament law. They were convinced that they were doing extremely well and looked down their noses at Paul, who was firmly opposed to circumcision for C

Hang in there Don’t be misled – you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. Galatians 6:7-8 The principle of ‘you reap what you sow’ is both obvious and profound. If you sow a field full of wheat, you would be crazy to expect a crop of potatoes. It’s s

Church leaders Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them. Galatians 6:6   It’s not surprising that Paul spoke so clearly about the need to care for teachers in the early Church. They had a crucial role, and if they were not supported by the financial gifts of the church members, they would starve. The Galatian Christians needed to be reminded of their responsibilities. When Paul wrote to his young colleague Timot