Trusting God when things look bleak (2 Chr 28; 2 Kings 17; Ps 66; 1 Cor 7)
What do you do when you have lost everything? How about when it’s your fault that you have lost everything? The Northern kingdom (Israel) had become just like the nations around them, God warned them time and again but they refused to change and so God handed them over to the Assyrians (2 Kings 17).…
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Renewal (Isa 33-35; 1 Cor 6)
Writing from Donegal in the Emerald Isle, it’s hard to imagine the dry land and desert that Isaiah speaks of! This year, parts of the country have experienced dry weather and seen the grass go brown. Most of the time we take our lush green land for granted, we grumble about the rain, but think…
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This church is worse than the world (Isa 30-32; 1 Cor 5)
The church is meant to be like salt and light to the world, showing the world the blessing of going God’s way, but the church in Corinth was so bad that even the world outside could look at it and say “that’s not right!” In 1 Corinthians 5 we discover that a man was sleeping…
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The joy of creation (Isa 26-29; Psalm 65; 1 Cor 4)
Psalm 65 celebrates God’s goodness in harvest. It feels like creation is performing as creation should, and how good it is! It is right to praise God. The psalmist begins by praising God that He hears prayer (v2). What an incredible thing, to think that the Almighty God, who made and cares for the world,…
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Death swallowed up (Isaiah 23-25; 1 Corinthians 3)
Death is the shadow that hangs over all of us. Isaiah describes it as “the covering that is cast over all peoples” (Isaiah 25:7). Sometimes it feels closer than others, but there it hangs. How wonderful then to read that the LORD will one day swallow it up forever! And that He will wipe away…
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The glorious gospel comes through weak messengers (Isaiah 20-22; 1 Corinthians 2)
We like impressive people, we follow influencers, perhaps we may find ourselves thinking, if only ‘they’ became a Christian they could have a massive influence! Our celebrity culture is not too different from the culture in first Century Corinth, they loved public speakers. Such speakers drew followers, crowds and introduced new ideas. The church was…
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What do you smell of?! (Isa 17-19; Ps 62; 1 Corinthians 1)
Before the smoking ban came into place in pubs, you would notice the smell of smoke when you went in, but sit there for a while and you would stop noticing it. It’s only if you went outside and came back in that you’d notice it. And as you sat there, you would take on…
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How does Jesus respond to failures? (Isa 14-16; Matt 28)
How do you think Jesus feels when you let Him down? Do you think you have to earn your way back into His good books? In Matthew 28 we see the risen Jesus speaking to men who had totally let Him down, they had abandoned Him when He needed them most, Peter had denied even…
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Wow, what a Psalm! (Isaiah 11-13; Ps 118; Matt 27)
Psalm 118 was the last in a group of Psalms (113-118) traditionally sung at Passover time. As you read Psalm 118, consider what it must have meant for Jesus as He sang it on the night before He would lay down His life for us. Jesus began encouraging his disciples to help Him remember the…
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Hope for those in the darkness (Isaiah 7-10; Psalm 22; Matt 26)
We talk about going through a dark time. You probably know what that feels like. Sometimes it may feel hopeless. When Isaiah was writing, things looked bleak for God’s people, they faced losing everything they had worked for, their homes, their livelihoods. They were facing being taken far from home into a foreign land. They…
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Milford RPC 