Author: John Rowland

Read John 7:40-53 v 50   Then Nicodemus, the leader who had met with Jesus earlier, spoke up.  The Jewish leaders obviously expected Jesus to turn up for the Festival and so they were on the lookout for him. Plans were

Read John 3:1-15 v 3   Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” This is one of the most intriguing conversations recorded in the Bible – with only two people present

Read Luke 5:27-32 vv 31-32  Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.  I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.” How have you

Read Matthew 23:25-39 v 28  Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness. You may well have met people who hide their real circumstances of sadness, stress or genuine poverty behind a

Read Matthew 23:12-24 v 23   What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice,

Read Matthew 23:1-12 v 5   Everything they do is for show. We all love it when people think well of us!  And we get pretty despondent when we are out of favour and our efforts and opinions go unrecognised. A

Read Matthew 15:1-16 v 14  They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch. As a student, and then in my early days of working, I often helped

Read Matthew 5:38-48 The baggage of sticking to the same social circle – people like us. v 47.  If you are kind only to your friends how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. During the Nineteenth

Read Matthew 5:38-48 The baggage of an unforgiving spirit v 44   But I say, love your enemies!  Pray for those who persecute you!  I’ve been reading the correspondence in a Christian magazine recently around the idea that God’s forgiveness of

Read Matthew 5:38-48 The baggage of only looking after Number One. v 42  Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow. Pleasing oneself – or always looking after Number One – is the

Read Matthew 5:38-48 The baggage of having to do what everybody else does. v 41   If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. You know the story, I’m sure. The Roman soldiers

I make no apologies for setting the same reading for every day of this week! One eminent Bishop of the Victorian era (J C Ryle) says of these verses: ‘Here we have our Lord Jesus Christ’s rules for our conduct

Please find attached the daily Notes for a August. You may need to save the page as it lists the readings for the next 5 weeks. — august-2022-online.docx

Read Philemon vv 10-12     I appeal to you to show kindness to my child, Onesimus. I became his father in the faith while here in prison.  Onesimus hasn’t been of much use to you in the past, but now he is

Read Titus 3 vv 4-7     When God our Saviour revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth

Read Titus 2 v 15    You must teach these things and encourage the believers to do them. You have the authority to correct them when necessary, so don’t let anyone disregard what you say. Titus served God in Crete (1:5)

Read Titus 1 v 16   Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live.  Speaking up and claiming to know and follow Jesus is not the only test of a genuine faith. Titus was

Running, fighting and holding tight   We complete our readings in 1 Timothy and take the opportunity of reading Paul’s brief letters to Titus and Philemon.   These letters of Paul touch on a number of real issues of relationships

Read Luke 3:7-18 v 14     “What should we do?” asked some soldiers. John replied, “Don’t extort money or make false accusations. And be content with your pay.” Here were some soldiers, living and working as an unwelcome occupying force, and

Read Joshua 7:1-9 v 7     If only we had been content to stay on the other side! The Israelites had miraculously crossed the Jordan, and captured Jericho without a real battle. But now things had gone wrong; the little town

Read Philippians 4:10-23 vv 11-12    I have learned how to be content with whatever I have.  I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with

Read 1 Timothy 6:6-10 vv 6-8  Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.  After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it.  So if we

Godliness with contentment.   Some tough subjects this week again! And no apologies for perhaps treading on one or two feet. The fact is that the Christian life can be mighty uncomfortable when it comes into conflict with any personal

Read 1 Timothy 5:21-6:2 6:1    All slaves should show full respect for their masters so they will not bring shame on the name of God and his teaching.  I’ve known people to struggle with this verse! They feel that it

Read 1 Timothy 5:17-20 v 17   Elders who do their work well should be respected and paid well especially those who work hard at both preaching and teaching.  Here is another area in which honour needs to be afforded –

Read 1 Timothy 5:8-16 v 8    But those who won’t care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers. Honouring others certainly encompasses the life of our own

Read 1 Timothy 5:3-7 v 3   Take care of any widow who has no one else to care for her. The early Christian congregations knew nothing about social care provided by the State, but Jewish congregations, such as the local

Living lives that honour others   What a week we have in store! Our readings raise all kinds of relationship issues from what to do to help my ageing parents, to should I obey my boss, how can I relate

Read Acts 26:19-32 v 28   Agrippa interrupted him. “Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly? Paul was on trial in front of both Jewish and Roman authorities, and yet he still challenged them about

Read 2 Samuel 12:1-25 v 13   Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin. The whole sorry tale of David’s adultery with Bathsheba is

Read Genesis 37:18-36 vv 21-22.   But when Reuben heard of their scheme, he came to Joseph’s rescue. “Let’s not kill him,” he said. Why should we shed any blood? Let’s just throw him into this empty cistern here in the

Read 1 Timothy 4:6-16 v 16    Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you. You may feel that this kind of sentiment hardly needs to be expressed,

How to avoid a dead conscience!   I have heard it said of a person ‘He has got absolutely no conscience about what he did.’ The implication was that the person committed some terrible sin and had no regrets or

Read Romans 1:1-7 vv 3-4   The Good News is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead

Read 1 Corinthians 2:1-16 v 2   For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. Paul defines the message of Christianity, the essential core of the Faith, as

Read 1 Timothy 3:16 v 16   Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith. Christ was revealed in a human body  and vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was

Read Acts 6:1-7 vv 2-4  So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, “We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. And so, brothers, select seven men who are

The With-God Life: 1 Timothy 3:14-16 Major on the majors   This week we are going to read about things that really matter. A quick read through Church history reveals the fact that Christians have frequently been divided over things

Read 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 v 23   Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. Right at the

Read 1 Corinthians 12:27 – 13:7 v 31   So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all. The Christians in Corinth felt rather precious about

Read Hebrews 13:7-17 It has often been said about schools that long after the lessons have been forgotten the teachers are remembered. I regarded it as almost axiomatic that just about the most important thing I did as a Headmaster

Read 1 Timothy 3:8-13 v 8   In the same way, deacons must be well respected and have integrity. They must not be heavy drinkers or dishonest with money. Paul mentions here a further level of local church organisation. It is

Character still counts   What is more important? The person you are, or the things you do? Or are these two things inseparable? This week we are going to think about Character – the kind of people we are and

Read Galatians 6:1-18 vv 9-10   So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do

Read Galatians 5:16-26  v 17    The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two

Read Galatians 5:1-15 v 13   For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.  Freedom is

Read 1 Timothy 2:9-15 v 10   For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do. Sex sells stuff say the advertisers; and our highly sexualised society inevitably responds. Heads turn

1 Timothy 2:1-15 Men, women and freedom   After our brief excursion into Paul’s second letter to Timothy, we now return to the first of his letters to him. Like his other letters, this one is immensely practical, dealing with

Read 2 Timothy 4:19-22 v 19   Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila and those living in the household of Onesiphorus. I find these little snatches of information at the end of Paul’s letters utterly fascinating. It seems that he

Read 2 Timothy 4:9-18 v 17   But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And he rescued me from certain death.