Posts from 2020

Dear Congregation,  Waiting for Zacharias In Luke 1 we are told of a double waiting for Zacharias. They were waiting for Zacharias to come out from the presence of God in the Temple (v.21) … and then for Zacharias to speak but he could not (v.22). We are told the reason related to his being met by the angel Gabriel while in the Temple as he burned incense to…

Dear Congregation and friends, Tomorrow is Christmas – let us worship the Lord! Christmas means lots of different things to different people – and not all religious. For many it means family, getting together with family and friends, reminding themselves of the priority of relationships and the priority of love, care and generosity within relationships, celebrating and…

Dear Congregation,  God has given us His Call to Worship in which He also assured the worshipper that they may come. To the Call to Worship there must be a proper response of pure worship. As we have seen, we respond in prayer of adoration and confession, being encouraged by an assurance of His grace. But this naturally overflows in song – and song is seen to be a…

Dear Congregation,  In the Call to Worship we are informed that we have come into the majestic presence of the exalted and enthroned Lord of Glory. God has called us to come and worship Him. The way is opened. He has assured the worshipper that they may come. To the Call to Worship there must be a proper response of pure worship. We respond in prayer, and encouraged…

Dear Congregation,  In coming into the church building we should be conscious that we are coming into a place of prayer – as God in Isa 56:7a assures those whom He saves, and which Jesus takes up in Matt 21:13 “Even them I will bring to My holy mountain,And make them joyful in My house of prayer.”  We do not come into church as an audience gathering for an event as…

Dear Congregation, As we enter the church, we come with anticipation that is marked by joy but also by the seriousness of the occasion. We quietly greet one another, thankful for the encouragement of seeing other believers and the renewal of fellowship experiences that the public gathering of God’s people on the Lord’s day brings. But then we settle in to further prepare…

Dear Congregation, Once again we find ourselves travelling along the road to public gathering for worship as the people of God, with up to 16 people able to join those who have been managing the livestream broadcast services. The DHHS has set in place procedures that must be followed in terms of social distancing, wearing of masks, and registration as per the PCV approved…

Dear Congregation, Much of what the Reformation was about, and which distinguish historic Protestantism from other expressions of the Christian faith is defined in five short statements which we have been considering: sola scriptura, sola fide, solus Christus, sola gratia, and now fifthly, soli Deo gloria –  ‘the glory of God alone.’  This one sums up the point…

Dear Congregation, Today is Reformation Day – the 31st October or ‘All Saints Eve’ as it was known, the day that Martin Luther woke the world from its darkness by holding up the light of Christ in the Gospel – in which he was joined by many others rejoicing in and making known the wonders of God’s grace in Jesus Christ which had all but been lost and…

Dear Congregation, We have seen that the heart of the Reformation can be captured in the watchword phrases – Sola Scripture – Sola Fide which means according to Scripture alone, by Faith alone. But to say that requires us to say more. The Scriptures reveal that we are sinners under condemnation through the original sin of Adam in which we share by…