Each topic is addressed either in single session or in a short series of talks. Some are accompanied by written notes and others with power point presentations. They highlight some important elements in the big story of the Bible that is presented in The Bible – from Creation to Re-creation.
Give me the mountains – Caleb
How would you feel if you were, entirely as a consequence of others people’s behaviour, cut off the destiny that God had promised you? That’s what happened to Caleb…
Psalm 89 – The Faithfulness of God
Are we not often conscious of a marked discrepancy between “how things are supposed to be” and how they actually are? We are supposed to be living in victory and seeing the Kingdom of God advancing but the reality does not live up to that ideal…
Unto us a child is born
The “child theme” is present on a number of occasions in the prophecy of Isaiah between the end of chapter 6 and the middle of chapter 11. Isaiah’s own sons become living parables within the prophetic word…
Spiritual Blindness
We see the world through many filters – family, culture, theological bias, personal preference, prejudice, and these determine what we see and how we interpret it. A complicating factor is that we are frequently unaware of the presence of the filter and believe that we have 20:20 vision…
Shabbat
Many Christians are confused about the Sabbath. Are we meant to keep it? Does the 4th commandment apply to us? These questions conceal more important issues. What is the true meaning of Sabbath?..
The Prayer of Jabez
Jabez only has two verses of Scripture to his name, 1 Chronicles 4:9–10, yet his predicament is shared by very many people. Trauma in early childhood left him emotionally scarred and constricted…
The Feasts of Israel
The major Feasts in Israel form a cycle. This makes sense in terms of annual reminder of their history and recognition of the way in which God has been faithful to sustain life by means of rain and the fertility of the land…
The God of the Nations (Habakkuk)
The idea that God directs the affairs of the nations is strange and bizarre to the modern mind, even to many within the church, but it is a truth that pervades the Bible from beginning to end…
A blind beggar and a rich rascal
The King of the World is on a journey. His mission is the most important event in world history, to be enacted at the His capital city, the place God chose long ago for that very purpose…
Baptised in the Holy Spirit
Baptism in the Spirit is not a thing to be received nor a sacrament of the church but rather a dynamic encounter with God the Holy Spirit. It is part of the covenant blessing promised through Abraham and now released to us through the cross of Jesus…
Lessons from the Rhino Park
This is a recording of a talk, given on the last Sunday of 2015, looking towards the New Year. It arose out of a close encounter with a large male rhino, travelling at speed…
Preparing for Easter
Christians have various ways of preparing for Easter, Lent or some other spiritual; study or exercise. This talk comes from a different direction – “How did God prepare for this crucial period in world and salvation history?”…
The Great War
As we remembered the beginning of the First World War (The Great War) we were reminded of a much greater conflict that has been raging from the beginning of time and which seems to be moving towards its climax…
Ruth
You may think of the book of Ruth as a beautiful romantic love story, which it is. But it is much more. These two sessions show how God combined three strands, each a distressed family, to bring about the birth of David the great king of Israel and ancestor of Jesus.
Session 1 – A critical choice
Session 2 – The Redeemer
So you want to be God’s friend
We often think of ourselves as friends of God, like Abraham. It is actually a rare privilege! These two sessions explore the conditions to be met…
Session 1
Session 2
The Journey
These sessions show the lives of people of faith as a journey and continue the story that began with Abraham. The talks, apart from Joseph, were given at a missionary retreat near Atlanta, Georgia. The talks on Joseph were added later so there is some difference in style and emphasis.
Session 1 – The Big Story
Session 2 – Isaac
Session 3 – Jacob
Session 4 – Joseph
A Trio of Messianic Psalms
David was a prophet as well as being a king. His experiences and his reflections on them were prophetic of his great descendent, Jesus. These three psalms reveal Him as the One who depended on his Father, as the suffering Servant, and as the glorified King…
Session 1 – Psalm 23 – Messiah as Sheep and Shepherd
Session 2 – Psalm 22 – Messiah as suffering Servant
Session 3 – Psalm 24 – Messiah as the ascended King of Glory
God of Fire
Fire in the Bible is characteristically a symbol of holiness (rather than love, as is commonly supposed). Holiness is not simply an attribute of God; it is the very essence of who He is. The central dilemma for the would-be worshipper is “How can we live in the presence of the Eternal Fire?”
Session 1 – Living with the God of Fire
Session 2 – The Incarnate Fire
Session 3 – Fire on the Mountains
I will give you rest
The promise of restored “Rest” pervades the whole of Scripture, bracketed by the Shalom and Shabbat of creation and the revelation of the New Jerusalem. The Bible is the story of God’s intervention to recover His broken creation…
Session 1 – What kind of rest?
Session 2 – Jesus The Incarnate Sabbath
Session 3 – The Open Invitation
Session 4 – Come walk with Jesus
Who am I? Why am I here?
These fundamental questions are often submerged beneath the surface of our busy lives and pursuits. We have been conditioned to believe that we create our identity and significance from the stuff of life, work and its associated status, material possessions, pleasurable activities and even celebrity for its own sake…
Session 1
Session 2
The servant songs
Who is the true servant? Israel was called to be God’s servant (Isaiah 41: 8–9), to reveal his character and his ways to the nations, as they lived under his rule. They were to be an object lesson, witnesses to the fact that He alone is God and that the idols of the nations are vanity…
Session 1 – The First Song : of the Servant – Isaiah 42:1–9
Session 2 – The second song : The Servant is prepared – Isaiah 49:1–13
Session 3 – The third song : The Servant’s Passion for God’s Purposes – Isaiah 50: 4–11
Session 4 – Fourth Song : The Servant Suffers and Triumphs – Isaiah 52:13 – 53: 12
Worshipper & Disciple
These two talks address twin aspects of our life in Christ. Worship begins with a vision of God that draws us to Him in adoration and praise. If it is true worship it overflows in obedient service. A single Hebrew word serves for both worship and service…
Session 1 – Worshipper
Session 2 – Disciple
The Times in which we live
These are dangerous and critical days for the world and, especially, for God’s people. Hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees are pouring into Europe as a consequence of poverty and war. In the Middle East hundreds of thousands of Christians have fled from Islamic persecution so that the ancient church in Syria/Iraq has been decimated and is threatened with extinction…
Session 1 – Discerning the times – Nehemiah 11
Session 2 – Living in Critical Times – Nehemiah 13
Do Gentiles have to keep the law?
These three sessions address an important but often confusing question that has very significant consequences for the way we understand the Bible and, therefore, the way in which we relate to God. The first session is more broadly based in Scripture, ending with critical passages in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. The other two sessions concentrate on Paul’s teaching in Galatians…
Session 1 – Is the Law Relevant
Session 2 – The Promise Through Abraham – Forgiveness
Session 3 – The Promise Through Abraham – The Spirit
How can I be a good person? (3 dimensions of the cross)
These three talks were given during successive morning prayers at Kiwoko Hospital in Uganda. The answer to the question is found at the cross. In Galatians Paul writes of how the cross sets us free from condemnation (justification), from the power of sin…
Session 1 – Crucified to the Law
Session 2 – Crucified to the Flesh
Session 3 – Crucified to the World
Excellent library available to us all.