God's Promises Reader: Jon Watson Date: 6th December 2022 Passage: 2 Corinthians 1:20 ------------------- We all make promises but sometimes we fail to carry them out. Perhaps that may be through no fault of our own or it may be because we just forget or find that we just don't want to keep the promises we made. In the language of the New Testament there are two words (a noun and a verb) that refer to promises and, except for two places, these words are always referring to the promises God...

Gratitude Reader: Jon Watson Date: 5th December 2022 Passage: Colossians 3:16 ------------------- One of the favourite hymns we sing in church begins with the words "My heart is filled with thankfulness to Him...". It is by Getty and Townend and in its three verses it shows the whole range of God's salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. The least we can do when we are Christians is to show thankfulness gratitude to God for all he has given to us. That is why Paul urged the colossian...

Must Haves Reader: Jon Watson Date: 4th December 2022 Passage: Matthew 6:8 ------------------- Long before the beginning of December the shops are full of Christmas goods. So often you notice things that the sellers say we "must have", making us feel we will be missing out on something very special if we don't get it. Very often of course, we don't need the shops to tell us what we 'must have'. We are good at deciding for ourselves — there are all sorts of things we think we must have. If we...

Joy Reader: Jon Watson Date: 3rd December 2022 Passage: Nehemiah 8:10 ------------------- Many people think that joy and Christianity don't often go together. Christians may be looked on as killjoys, austere, judgemental and unattractive characters. Maybe we have ourselves to blame for that. That however is not how it should be — it is not the Bible's portrait of a Christian. The Bible tells us that God is a God of joy (Psalm 104:31) and that there is joy in his presence (Psalm 16:11)....

Religion That God Our Father Accepts As Pure And Faultless (James 1:27, NIV) Reader: Jon Watson Date: 2nd December 2022 Passage: Micah 6:8 ------------------- God is the best judge of our religion. In the Old Testament book of Amos, the prophet described the people as being very religious and described all their religious actions. Yet God said about it all "I hate, I despise your religious feasts." (Amos 5:21) Why? Because their religion was a sham. The people were just one-day-a-week...

Renewable Energy Reader: Jon Watson Date: 30th November 2022 Passage: Hebrews 4:12 ------------------- Renewable energy is something that is often in the news. There is a whole industry built around harnessing the forces of nature that will give us power, light and comfort, without using fossil fuels that can run out and whose use leads to carbon emissions which pollute the atmosphere and hasten climate change. So wind and tides and the sun give us renewable energy. There is an interesting...

The Bringer Of Good News Reader: Jon Watson Date: 29th November 2022 Passage: Nahum 1:15 ------------------- This little book written by the prophet Nahum is no for the squeamish! "Horsemen charging, flashing sword and glittering spear, lots of slain, heaps of corpses, dead bodies without end..." (Nahum 3:3) It describes in vivid detail what was going to happen to the great Assyrian empire and its capital city of Nineveh. It all collapsed in the year 612 BC — the end of one of the most...

God's Trumpeters Reader: Jon Watson Date: 28th November 2022 Passage: 1 Thessalonians 1:8 ------------------- Trumpeters often have to play an important part on big occasions — maybe when the Queen appears in her state robes and with her crown. They also play an important role in the army when the soldiers are on parade and often when the troops went into battle. The Old Testament mentions trumpeters very often - they were the 'alarm bells' in cities if there was a threat from enemies. They...

Back-Room Staff Reader: Jon Watson Date: 27th November 2022 Passage: Judges 10:1-3 ------------------- Have you ever looked carefully at the list of people whose names are scrolled on our screens at the end of a TV programme or at the end of a film? Nearly always the list is long and we probably never bother to take more than a passing interest in it. Yet without all these people the film or the programme would not be made. The back-room staff may not be the 'stars' but there would be no...

What's Your Excuse? Reader: Jon Watson Date: 26th November 2022 Passage: Luke 14:14-18 ------------------- Excuses! Not many of us would pass up an invitation to a great banquet. Each year our Moderator is invited to a great banquet at the Palace of Holyrood House — and no one makes an excuse not to go. But many of the people mentioned in Jesus's story did make excuses not to attend the banquet — and some silly excuses they were. The story Jesus told was a parable and like all of his...

In Memoriam Reader: Jon Watson Date: 25th November 2022 Passage: Mark 14:8 ------------------- A few days ago we attended a thanksgiving service for an Indian lady whom we had only met a few times. She had lived in a sheltered-housing complex for elderly people who did not have money to own their own houses. The place where she lived had a 'Songs of Praise' service once a month and our congregation has become responsible for conducting these services, so it was there that we met this small...

Big Barns Reader: Jon Watson Date: 24th November 2022 Passage: Luke 12:16-18 ------------------- For some years, when she was no longer able to look after herself, my granny lived with one of her daughters, my step-aunt. Where they lived was in a gamekeeper's house near Dunrobin Castle and the place was called 'Big Barns'. I have no idea why it had that name — there were no barns there. Jesus told a parable about a farmer who had such a bumper harvest that the barn he had couldn't hold it. So...

Clap Your Hands Everyone! Reader: Jon Watson Date: 23rd November 2022 Passage: Psalm 47:1 ------------------- Just imagine if we really did what these words ask and we all clapped and shouted with joy in church when we sang this psalm! Some people would be horrified! When the psalm was written the people were celebrating a great victory. They were happy and they showed it. But the psalm was also looking forward to the time when our Lord Jesus ascended to heaven having finished his work of...

When We Pray Reader: Jon Watson Date: 22nd November 2022 Passage: Matthew 6:9 ------------------- I think prayer is one of the easiest things to speak or read about but one of the most difficult things to do faithfully and consistently. Do you find prayer difficult? Then if you do, you are in the company of Christians in every age who struggled with prayer and also who struggled in prayer. Prayer is actually a really precious gift which God has given to us. It is our opportunity to speak to...

Who'll Wash The Dishes? Reader: Jon Watson Date: 21st November 2022 Passage: Luke 10:40 ------------------- There are often arguments in a home over who will set the table, or wash the dishes... Often the excuse is made "I'm busy" - but does that excuse not giving help when a busy mum needs it? It's easy to be selfish. Martha, in the verse above, obviously thought her sister Mary was being selfish and she even brought Jesus into her criticism as if she was accusing Jesus of encouraging...

When It's Not Always Sweetness And Light Reader: Jon Watson Date: 20th November 2022 Passage: Acts 15:39 ------------------- One of our ministers used to have a saying, "The best of men are mere men at best." That is true of Christian men too! It's hard to think of two better men, better Christian men, than Barnabas and Paul, yet here we read that they had 'a sharp disagreement' - no doubt tempers flared. Why were they fighting? It was about a young man named John Mark. Mark had gone with...

Marriage As God Would Have It Reader: Jon Watson Date: 19th November 2022 Passage: Genesis 2:24 ------------------- Sometimes you feel as if the order of things has been turned upside down. The way 'things used to be' has changed in so many ways. One of these ways is how people think about marriage and the family. The Bible treats marriage between a man and woman as of the utmost importance. Jesus said: "(The Scriptures) record that from the beginning God made them male and female." And he...

This Is Why John Wrote His Gospel Reader: Jon Watson Date: 18th November 2022 Passage: John 20:30-31 ------------------- The author of Ecclesiastes says: "Of making many books there is no end." (Ecclesiastes 12:12) Perhaps I feel the truth of that when looking along my bookshelves and see several biographies of the same person, several books on the same subject — and ask myself, "Are they all really necessary?" and then here I am writing another one! The Apostle John had a very clear purpose...

A Life-Changing Question Reader: Jon Watson Date: 17th November 2022 Passage: Genesis 24:58 ------------------- I am sure that one of the most important questions any man can ask is when he says to a woman "Will you marry me?" And he feels really relieved when she says "Yes. I will!" The story we read in Genesis chapter 24 didn't quite follow that same practice. Abraham sent his servant to find a suitable wife for his son Isaac. And when, in answer to his prayers, the servant found a suitable...

I Hope So! Reader: Jon Watson Date: 15th November 2022 Passage: Romans 5:13 ------------------- I'm quite sure we have often said the words "I hope so" when speaking about something we would like to happen — good weather for a BBQ, a happy outcome for an operation and so on. It's easy to say "I hope so", even when we may doubt that the happy outcome will come to pass. Hope is one of the great 'Christian words'. In the world of the New Testament, it was a very common Greek word, but in its...

The Final Battle Reader: Jon Watson Date: 14th November 2022 Passage: Revelation 19:11 ------------------- The final pages of the book of Revelation are as dramatic as they are solemn. We are given a wonderful picture of the Lord Jesus coming from heaven like a mighty warrior. Jesus is described by words we come across in earlier chapters of the book — he is the only One who is rightly called King of Kings and Lord of Lords (v 16). There were two great reasons for Jesus Christ coming as he is...

The Reluctant Refugee Reader: Jon Watson Date: 13th November 2022 Passage: Luke 17:32 ------------------- We live in a time when there are, sadly, many thousands of refugees. People are having to flee for their lives, leaving all their possessions behind them. The world can be a desperately cruel place when wicked men are in control. Yesterday we read about Abraham pleading with the Lord to save his nephew Lot and his family when the wicked city of Sodom was to be destroyed. In his mercy, the...

Unexpected Visitors Reader: Jon Watson Date: 12th November 2022 Passage: Genesis 18:2 ------------------- Unexpected visitors can cause panic or joy according to who they are! Panic maybe because the catch you unprepared, joy when it is great friends whom you haven't see for ages. Abraham may well have been having a rest in the shade of his tent when he became aware of three visitors, one of whom he immediately understood was none other than the Lord himself — one of those rare appearances of...

Going From Bad To Worse Reader: Jon Watson Date: 11th November 2022 Passage: 1 Samuel 28:5-6 ------------------- There are many stories throughout history of great men who started off well but ended up in a mess. King Saul, who was Israel's first king, was one of those. For years he was a good leader, a religious man, and he led his nation in the ways of God. But then it all went pear-shaped; he refused to obey God and it all ended in his tragic death. The verses above tell of the last great...

Another Like Jesus Reader: Jon Watson Date: 10th November 2022 Passage: John 15:26 ------------------- You may remember (or not!) on the 29th of last month we thought briefly about the Trinity — the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit. Today let's think specially about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a real person, although we cannot see him with our eyes. He is equal in power and in glory with both God the Father and Jesus Christ who is God the Son. And the Holy Spirit has a very specific...