God’s Preparation

Those of us of a certain age remember a phrase from the ‘Blue Peter’ programme with fondness: ‘Here’s one I prepared earlier!’ When demonstrating craft or baking activities, rather than being forced to wait for things to stick or cook,...

Basil The Branch

This week I had the privilege of telling the story of Basil The Branch at Goldthorpe Primary School. Basil the Branch is part of the vine… but makes a song and dance about growing grapes, believing that fruitfulness is all about self-effort… You can watch...

The Seven-Year Blessing

We talk about the ‘seven-year itch’ in a marriage, a period when doubt, disillusionment and decay can take hold of us and wreck our happiness. Yet in the Bible, we read of the opposite: seven-year-blessing. In Deut 15:1-11 we read how debts were to be...

Rites of Passage

I used to feel that proms were an American rite of passage unsuited to British culture. The idea that sixteen-year-olds needed a huge ball to celebrate leaving school struck me, an introvert who hates dancing, as futile, expensive and unnecessary. The form of proms...

Miracles & Prayers

Stephen spoke tonight on the feeding of the five thousand, one of the many miracles performed by Jesus when He was on earth. After a busy day of prayer and ministry, Jesus’s disciples were ready to send the crowds away to eat, but Jesus gave them the challenge,...