Talks, Sermons and Reflections

2 Timothy 3.10-4.5 The second declaration on our vision statement is that we seek to teach the Bible in a way that is relevant to everyday life. I would like to look at the passage that we have had read from 2 Timothy. It is a letter written by Paul, an experienced minister of the gospel, to Timothy, a younger man who is pastor of a church in Ephesus. And our verses today tell us why the Bible, why Scripture, is so important. Of course, we must remember that when Paul speaks to Timothy about ‘Holy Scripture’, he is primarily speaking of what we know as the Old Testament, the first two thirds of our Bible. However, some of the earliest writings of the first apostles had also come to be recognised as ‘Scripture’. So, for instance, Peter writes to a congregation about Paul’s writings. He says, ‘His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures ’ (1 Peter 3.16).  And very quickly the ...

Acts 8:26-40 The Ethiopian eunuch is travelling from Jerusalem to the ancient kingdom of Ethiopia. He was a wealthy man. He held a senior post. He was the chancellor of the exchequer of the Queen of Ethiopia. We are told that he is a eunuch, but by this time the word Eunuch could simply mean ‘senior official’. He has his own chariot and he is able to read. He was also a religious man. He had travelled to Jerusalem to worship. Possibly he was a Gentile convert to Judaism, although he might have been a Jew. I doubt that he would have made the journey many times and this may have been a once in a lifetime opportunity. And he was now on his journey home. But he is on another journey. He is on a journey to God. 1. He begins with a hunger for God We know that this Ethiopian had a hunger for God because was reading Isaiah. It might have been a passage that they had read in Jerusalem and he wanted to have a look at it again. (It is a great encouragement when ...

Psalm 119:9-16 Today is known as Bible Sunday, and we are looking at some verses from Psalm 119, the longest Psalm. Psalm 119 is written by a person who is passionately devoted to the bible as the Word of God. It is interesting that as you look through these 8 verses, the word 'your' is used 10 times: 'Your word, your commands, your word, your decrees, laws that come from your mouth, your statutes, your precepts, your ways, your decrees, your word' I say that he is passionately devoted to the bible as the Word of God, but that is  not strictly true. For the Psalmist, the word of God was what we know now as the first 5 books of the bible. These are the laws and commands and decrees and statutes and precepts about which he writes.  For Jews who lived later, the word of God came to include all of what we call the Old Testament; and for Christians, the word of God comes to include what we know as the New Testament, the writings of the apostles and those who were with...