Luke 1:57-80, 1 Peter 3:15-16. When Elizabeth first stated that her child would be called John, it wasn’t expected because it broke with the traditions and customs of the time. Those who had gathered at the naming ceremony turned to John who had been unable to speak since the angel of the Lord had met with […]
Luke 1:1-25, 1 Peter 1:10-12. We often start thinking about our Advent journey with the angel appearing to Mary, but there is so much that happened before that! In 1 Peter 1:10 we noticed the comments about “the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come”. Peter did that to enable his readers to […]
1 Peter 2:11 to 3:7. Peter is very focused in this section on outwardly visible and transforming glory. That begins with the call for us to live “good lives”, especially when we are with unbelievers so that they will be drawn to faith by the ways that they can see God’s people living. He then […]
1 Peter 1: 1-12 Very quickly in 1 Peter hope bursts into view! It’s described as “living hope” (1 Peter 1:3) and is set into the reality of life as something that, because of Jesus, will never fade. Peter reminds us that we are “shielded by God’s power” and because of that we can “greatly […]
1 Peter 1:1–2. The church is a body of people gathering together and scattering out into the world. Despite being few, Christians can make a difference wherever they are, whatever they do, whoever they are. We are the church on mission – gathered and scattered – and we make all the difference in the world.
Acts 14: 23 – Acts 15: 29. Jerusalem has long been a key location in the life of the Hebrew faith, since David took it to be his capital city and the temple was built (and destroyed and built again). In the life of Jesus and the early church Jerusalem was very much the “power […]
Acts 1:8, Acts 9:1-31; 1 Corinthians 12. We describe our purpose as Bromsgrove Baptist Church like this: “Offering the transforming love of Jesus Christ in the realities of life”. For that to be possible, we ourselves first need to be renewed and transformed, and then as we come together in unity we can live out […]
Acts 2:42-47; 4:23-37; Isaiah 58:1-14. The place of generous giving in the early church is one that we focus on so readily! One preacher (Paul Scanlon) describes the first three words of Acts 2:42 as “the three most powerful words ever written about the early church; at the same time they are perhaps the 3 […]
Acts 5:12-39; Acts 8:1-8; Acts 17; Acts 25 We are called to be the presence of Jesus in the world around us, to serve the poor, the broken, the vulnerable and the lost (Acts 25). Whilst our Covid-19 lockdown has perhaps taught us new ways of staying connected with people, we also need to be […]
Acts 1:12-26. We can’t ignore or fail to notice the central place of prayer in the early church – it’s mentioned in almost all of the 28 chapters in Acts! Justin Welby once stated that “When we are retuned in prayer we are transformed so that we can transform the world”. That’s the purpose and […]