Good Friday

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Good Friday wasn’t good for the disciples and followers of Jesus. It was a date they would remember. We all have a special day we remember, whether for good or bad reasons. Mine is 17th April when my father had a serious car accident which changed my life for ever. The disciples would possibly have named this day, Black Friday., but then by the Sunday it would have reverted to Good Friday. Without their Black Friday there could have been no Easter Sunday.

Whenever we read the Bible we are reading it in hindsight. Adam and Eve wouldn’t have known how their time in the Garden of Eden would finish. We do. Moses would never have known that he wouldn’t have reached the Promised Land. We do. Similarly the disciples of Jesus would have known nothing of Easter Sunday or Pentecost or the coming of the Holy Spirit. All thanks for the Bible that tells us all these things.

Living He Loved Me

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No wonder that Jesus is regarded by some as the greatest prophet who has ever lived. He attained a perfect life, committing no sin, performing many miracles and was an outstanding teacher. There has never been anyone like Him. But He didn’t come to this world to to be perfect, be sinless, perform miracles, or teach.

He came to die. Not a powerless, defeated death but a triumphant sacrificing one. Why? As Christians we know the answer: He died to carry our sins far away.. But it didn’t stop there, it gets better. We are justified and our sins wiped out for ever. By His sacrifice we are free. The coming of the Holy Spirit is also for us. As if all that is not enough, one day He’s coming back. As the chorus says, ‘Oh glorious day.’

Repent

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This is the central message of the Easter story, Repent. At the beginning of the ministry of Jesus, John was preaching in the wilderness and baptising those who repented. ‘Make straight the way for the Lord,’ He cried. John 1:23′ You need to repent of your sins. Many followed and obeyed his command. Jesus taught the same message . We need to repent of our wrong doings and follow the Lord. This is an unpopular message these days, but we need to turn to Him.

Over the centuries the message has not changed. I was reminded the other day when Billy Graham came to London in 1954 I was an impressionable 17 year old and joined the large army of volunteers helping with the correspondence. I didn’t meet Billy Graham, but I did meet Jesus, far more important.

The cry to repent will continue until the world ceases. ‘Repent of your sins, there is absolutely no other way to get ourselves right with God but through Jesus. We pray that the world will hear the message.

A New Thing

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At this time of year I’m always anxious to see a change in my garden. The snowdrops and daffodils have faded and then everything seems to stand still. My mind is still full of winter but I want to see signs of spring. But God is always moving things on in His creation, nothing stands still. He is always surprising us with new things in creation and in our own lives..

Just imagine how the disciples and followers of Jesus must have felt. Jesus was dead. In their minds everything and all events had stopped. We know now that Easter Sunday is coming but they didn’t or actually they had been told but they couldn’t visualize it. They even went back to their day job.

In our dark days we tend to forget what God has told us in the Bible through His promises. Page after page there are words of encouragement. Many offers of hope can be found. There is no need to despair. Easter Sunday is coming, after all these centuries we know it to be true. In my garden a lot is happening, although I can’t see much. The worms are working hard, roots are extending and becoming established. The soil is warming up ready to feed the plants. My garden will have it’s Easter morning. Christ will rise again, hope will be realised.

Waiting

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Patience is a much needed fruit of the Spirit. We human beings don’t like waiting, we live in an instant world that we have formed apart from God. We are impatient in small things – we like instant coffee, we get cross if our phones or computers are too slow. We dislike waiting at a queue at the supermarket. We moan and need to get on to the next thing. So many things are designed to stop us waiting.

Neither do we have patience with the larger things, medical results, exam results. We are impatient for the babies to be born and the winter to pass and spring to come. As a gardener I’m anxious for the last frost to pass so I can sow my seeds. God is in control of time, life needs to happen at His speed. Our growth as a Christian will need to be slow, steady and sure. It will take years of living to become mature Christians. Although reading the Bible in a year can be helpful, it can be just reading on the surface. The Bible needs years and years of study with each reading teaching us something new.

The art of praying also takes a long time. Arrow prayers can be sent straight after conversion, but regular deep prayer also needs to be worked on. To become a prayer warrior takes much kneeling and submitting.

‘Those that WAIT on the Lord will renew their strength. Isaiah 40:31

War and Earthquakes

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‘Nation will fight against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.’ Matthew 24:7-8

Was this something I just read in the national newspaper in April 2025? No, this was reported less than 100 years after the death of Jesus. I’m not sure if the world is now in a worse position than it was then. Only historians and statistics could tell us but if we stop to look at the world today, we are not in a good place.

‘Nation will rise against nation,’ just think of the many countries who are at war at the present time, imagine the vast numbers of refugees and war casualties. There are no winners in war, just ask those who lived in Britain in the 1940’s. This was a war which they won! ‘Man at war with man hears not the message which they bring bring…………’Oh hear the angles sing.’ Edmund Sears

Famine in this world is epidemic; millions of children go to bed hungry. God has given enough food for everyone but greed has robbed the poor. Even the earth is groaning. Frequent earthquakes through resultant instability are occurring. The very earth we stand on is not safe. How far we are from the Garden of Eden! Through the earthquakes and fire Elijah heard the still, small voice. of God. Oh, may we hear that same voice today…….

You Will Never See Them Again

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Every morning under the intense Egyptian sun they would wake up and see the same cruel faces. They would see the hands that would whip and beat them if they didn’t produce enough bricks. The previous days bruises would still be black and blue. The monotony of the daily cruelty would be as relentless as the searing sun.

Now they were free, fleeing from their oppressors, ahead of them the water, behind the Egyptians chasing them in their chariots and on horseback. They didn’t stand a chance as they accused Moses of leading them to their death. ‘Were there not enough graves in Egypt that you brought us out here to be killed.’ Exodus 14:11.

Again in14:13 Moses said ‘These Egyptians you see here, you will never see again.’ What never see the Egyptian’s eyes full of hate or feel the lash of the whip!? Never have to make another brick out of the straw we’ve collected ourselves!

The words of Moses ‘Do not be afraid,’ apply to us today. Our burden is not building bricks but other circumstances equally frightening. Different circumstances, same God. How often do we read in the scriptures, ‘the God of Abraham, of Isaac and Israel? Now we can add, ‘God of you and you and me.’

Storms

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I stood by the side of the lake, the sandy beach, gritty beneath my toes. The surrounding hills basking in the eastern shores were lush and green. All was calm. The next day I was in the boat bobbing along on the same stretch of water. The sun on my back made me nostalgic. This was my first time by this lake, but Jesus had visited many times. He had been on the same shore and cooked a beautiful breakfast for His disciples.. How delicious that fish must have tasted! His sailing time were not always as calm as mine, just ask Peter! I could see by the position of the hills that it was possible for there to be sudden squalls. I wondered how many fishermen had lost their lives on this otherwise peaceful water.

My life and hopefully yours is relatively peaceful. But it is not always so. Without warning and unexpectedly, storms arise. It could be a struggle with money, a family death or illness of family or friend. When the sailing in our small world become uneasy and our lives are in turmoil, the question is who do we have in our boat. Jesus wants to be by our side. We only have to ask.

If I Can Help Somebody

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This gospel anthem was written by Alma Bazel Androzzo . She was a missionary working in Pittsburgh during the final years of the depression in America Her life would have been surrounded by people needing help.

‘If I can help somebody with a word or song, If I can show somebody they are travelling wrong, then my living has not been in vai’n.’

The song was a favourite of Rev Martin King Junior, who admired it so much that, at his request, it was played at his funeral. It was a sentiment that he adhered to all his life. It was also sung extensively by Harry Secombe.

If I can do my duty as a Christian ought, If I can bring back beauty to a world up-wrought

If I can speak love’s message that the Master taught. Then my living has not been in vain.

” If I can help somebody as I travel along, If I can help somebody with a word or song

If I can help somebody from doing wrong, Then my living shall not be in vain.

I think our world is very ‘up-wrought’ at the moment!

The Psalms

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Can one imagine our Bible being comprised of only sixty-five books, and having no Psalms included? What would our spiritual journey be like if we didn’t have those 150 songs of yearning, enjoyment and praise? If there was no 23rd psalmu our lives would be much the poorer.

These outpourings of the soul written mainly by the shepherd and then king David have lifted many a soul from despair and guided many a weary traveller. Psalms are read at funerals, sung or said every week in some churches and devoured at many a sickbed. Their popularity could be because of the raw emotion they display.. They fit into our worrying moods and how often do we say ‘ That was written just for me.’

We don’t have to be a shepherd, king of even a murderer to appreciate the relativity to our own lives. Even those of the world who never have heard of the psalms, may unwittingly be found quoting them.