Saturated In Scripture

Apr 5, 2026

One of the things I find so encouraging in the Easter story is how God fulfilled His word through it. Just as with the Christmas story, we see Scripture fulfilled in the events at Easter time: Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday (Zech 9:9), Judas’s betrayal of Jesus for money (Zech 11:12-13), the scattering of the disciples (Zech 13:7), the fact that not a single bone of Jesus’s body was broken (Ps 34:20). Two of the seven ‘words of Jesus’ uttered on the cross refer directly to Scripture (Matt 27:46, quoting Ps 22:1 and Luke 23:46, quoting Ps 31:5). Even as He hung on the cross in agony, Jesus’s mind was so saturated in Scripture that His last words reflected His life’s focus.

I find the quotation from Ps 22;1 especially poignant. It is often called the cry of dereliction (‘My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?’) Yet as with so many psalms, the prophetic element means it does not remain in despair. This psalm, which also describes the crucifixion in vivid terms (Ps 22:12-18), ends with the powerful declaration, ‘Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim HIs righteousness, declaring “He has done it!”‘ (Ps 22:30-31)

We are part of that future generation foretold by David who can declare with confidence on this Easter Sunday ‘He has done it!’ Jesus has died for our sins and been raised to life; the shame and pain of the cross replaced by the exultant joy of the resurrection. God has done all He promised to do, and therefore we have hope because Jesus is alive forever more.

Easter is a vivid reminder that despair and defeat do not have the last word. Jesus’s cry of dereliction on the cross ends with the continuing declaration that the work of salvation is finished. He has done it! Because He lives, we can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because we know He holds the future, we can live with confidence and hope.

May we live with Scripture firmly embedded into our lives so we can be equipped to keep on proclaiming that there’s nothing left for us to do to be saved except to believe in our resurrected Saviour. He has risen; He is alive!

Easter Coffee Morning

Apr 5, 2026

Our thanks to all who came and to all who helped at our Easter coffee morning. In addition to home baking from Stacey, Julie, Bev, Beckie and Janet, we had a table top sale and tombola to raise funds for the Parent & Toddler Summer Trip to York Maze. The 53 people who attended raised a whopping £222! – thank you very much indeed.

We also gave out Easter leaflets and creme eggs:

And we took silly photos of us as Easter bunnies…

We Are Redeemed

Apr 5, 2026

On Good Friday we enjoyed a fellowship meal together before our service. During that service we looked at the fact that by His death on the cross, Jesus redeemed us from our sins – a fact prophesied before His birth! (see Luke 1:68) In Colossians, we read ‘For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.’ (Col 1:13-14) In Ephesians 1:7-8, Paul writes, ‘In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.’ (Eph 1:7-8) These verses remind us that part of our identity as God’s people is that we are redeemed.
‘Redeemed’ and ‘redemption’ are words we don’t us a lot nowadays, but this means to be bought back, rescued from the enemy’s ownership and restored to God. Paul tells us that ‘Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.’ (Gal 3:13-14) Good Friday sees Jesus paying the price for our sin and therefore we can enter into God’s blessings now.
Forgiveness of sins means the slate is wiped completely clean; we are now given a new legal status, that of justified people. The redemption Christ has purchased for us is eternal: ‘He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.’ (Heb 9:12) The Israelites were rescued from slavery and redeemed and led into a new country. (Deut 7:8) They knew freedom; they were God’s people. We too have been set free and redeemed, forgiven, justified and given a fresh start as God’s people, all because of Christ’s death for us.

Taught By God

Mar 29, 2026

Today we looked at our identity as people who are taught by God (see John 6:45, Isaiah 54:11-13). It’s a privilege to be called God’s people, and this gives us access to a personal relationship with God whereby we can learn directly from Him (see also Jeremiah 31:31-34).

To be taught by God is not to belittle human teachers (including our parents, family members, other believers, church pastors, apostles, prophets, evangelists and teachers, who can all have a massive influence on our lives.) It is, however, the privilege of all believers to be known personally by God and to be taught in ways that are meaningful to us (since there are so many different learning styles.) Jesus Himself (known as ‘Rabbi’ or teacher) taught in different ways:

  1. using stories or parables (Matthew 13, Mark 4:2)
  2. using illustrations or examples (Luke 7:31-32)
  3. by having them work alongside Him, watching Him and then doing what He did (Luke 9:1-6)
  4. by looking at current affairs and drawing spiritual lessons from these (Luke 13:4-5)
  5. through questions (Luke 18:8)
  6. through proverbs (Luke 7:45)
  7. through metaphors, particularly in John’s Gospel with the ‘I am’ statements, John 9:5, John 14:6)
  8. through sermons and lectures (e.g. the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5-7, Matthew 24)
  9. through provocative language (e.g. calling Herod ‘that fox’ in Luke 13:32)
  10. through one-to-one conversation (e.g. with Nicodemus in John 3 or the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4)

Generally speaking, now He teaches us through His word (Heb 4:12, 2 Tim 3:16-17), through life’s circumstances (which often seem so contrary to us!) and through His Spirit (1 Cor 2:10-14). There are many things He teaches us, but perhaps the most important lessons involve:

  1. loving God and other people (Matt 22:37-40)
  2. trusting Him (Prov 3:5)
  3. following Him (Matt 4:19)
  4. obeying Him (Matt 7:24-27)

God is that perfect parent and teacher and so we can learn vital lessons of love, trust and obedience as you follow Him and walk with Him every single day of your lives.

 

The Mission of the Church

Mar 22, 2026

This afternoon our Bible discussion focussed on the mission of the church. Archbishop William Temple said, ‘The church is the only organisation which exists for the benefit of non-members.’ Our focus must always be on those who do not know God, seeking to bring them closer to Him.
The proclamation of the good news of Jesus Christ is the mission of the church (as seen in Acts 2.) The church may well have events to reach out to the community, but individuals within any church must be prepared to share their testimonies and speak of what God has done for us. Our own experiences show that both events and personal witness were important in bringing us to Christ, and this remains true for others.
As a local church, we try to reach out with the good news through our coffee mornings, Parent & Toddler group, by singing at Parkside Care Home and through Mindful Moments. We will be giving out Easter eggs and booklets about the real meaning of Easter on Saturday 4 April outside Asda (from 10 a.m.) as another way of reaching out to others. Join us for this if you can!

Called To Pray

Mar 19, 2026

On Sunday we looked at our identity as people of prayer. God’s people, who are called by His name, are to live in a relationship which involves listening as well as talking. We looked at 2 Chronicles 7:13-15, where God highlights our part in the relationship as well as promising His response of blessing if we do these 4 things:

1. Humble ourselves
2. Pray
3. Seek His face
4. Turn from our wicked ways
Humility pleases God. We do well to follow the example of Jesus, who washed His disciples’ feet (John 13, Philippians 2:1-11). When we serve God in humility, realising that greatness comes through lowliness, we reflect God’s way of doing things.
To pray is at the heart of our relationship, and we have been looking at Matthew 6 recently to see the framework of prayer and how not to pray!
To seek God’s face means we prioritise Him above everything and everyone else. (Jer 29:13) David shows us a desperation in his prayers (e.g. Ps 27, Ps 63) which reflects our hunger and thirst for God. Sometimes it’s as if He tests us at times to see how earnestly we will seek Him.
When God highlights sin in our lives, we must turn from those things in order to follow His ways. In Revelation 2 and 3, Jesus speaks to churches, commending what is good but rebuking what is wrong (the Ephesians’ lack of love, for example.) The only way back in these circumstances is through repentance.
When we live out our identity as God’s people who humble ourselves, pray, seek His face and turn from sin, we will live in the favour of God.