Author: John Rowland

Read 2 Kings 24:1-17 v 1  During Jehoiakim’s reign, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded the land of Judah. Jehoiakim surrendered and paid him tribute for three years but then rebelled. This was the first invasion of Judah by the Babylonians.

Read Daniel 9 v 18    “O my God, lean down and listen to me. Open your eyes and see our despair. See how your city—the city that bears your name—lies in ruins. We make this plea, not because we deserve

Read Jeremiah 20:7-18 V 18      Why was I ever born? My entire life has been filled with trouble, sorrow, and shame. This passage in my Bible is headed ‘Jeremiah’s Complaint’. It is an outpouring of honest feelings about how God

Read Jeremiah 19:14–20:6. v 6   And you, Pashhur, and all who live in your house will go into exile to Babylon. There you will die and be buried, you and all your friends to whom you have prophesied lies. Jeremiah paid a

Read Jeremiah 1:1-19 v 15  Listen! I am calling the armies of the kingdoms of the north to come to Jerusalem. I, the Lord, have spoken! Jeremiah had not been born when the events surrounding the earlier siege of Jerusalem took

Read 2 Kings 17:19-23  v 23.    So the people of Israel were taken from their homeland into exile in Assyria, and they are still there. This section of the story simply records in stark, simple, detail the collapse of the northern kingdom

Read 2 Kings 17:5-18 v 18   Because the Lord was very angry with Israel, he swept them away from his presence. Only the tribe of Judah remained in the land.  This is the point in history when the nation of Israel ceased

Read Daniel 8 v 27  Then I, Daniel, was overcome and lay sick for several days. Afterward I got up and performed my duties for the king, but I was greatly troubled by the vision and could not understand it.

Read 2 Chronicles 32:1-23 vv 20-21   Then King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to God in heaven. And the Lord sent an angel who destroyed the Assyrian army with all its commanders and officers. So Sennacherib

Read Isaiah 37:1-14 v 7   Listen! I myself will move against him and the king will receive a message that he is needed at home. So he will return to his land, where I will have him killed with a sword.’”

Read Isaiah 36:1-22 v 20   What god of any nation has ever been able to save its people from my power? So what makes you think that the Lord can rescue Jerusalem from me?” The Assyrian leaders, now at the very gates

Read Isaiah 30:8-17 v 15   This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength.  But you would have none of

Read Isaiah 10:24-34 v 33    But look! The Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, will chop down the mighty tree of Assyria with great power! He will cut down the proud. That lofty tree will be brought down. We read last week of

Read Daniel 7 vv 13-14  As my vision continued that night, I saw someone like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient One and was led into his presence. He was given authority, honour,

Read Isaiah 7:1-9 v 2.  The news had come to the royal court of Judah: “Syria is allied with Israel against us!” So the hearts of the king and his people trembled with fear, like trees shaking in a storm.

Read Psalm 91 v 2   This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. There are all sorts of special groups to which I belong – or have

Read Isaiah 3:1-15 v 13  The Lord takes his place in court and presents his case against his people. Isaiah imagines a court case being set up. The nation is on trial and the Lord presents the case for the prosecution. And what

Read John 8:21-41 vv 31-32     Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.  And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” You can

Read Romans 11:25-36 v 25    I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. One of the more insidious claims made by many shades of religious opinion in the

Read Isaiah 1:10-20 v 13.  Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts; the incense of your offerings disgusts me! As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath and your special days for fasting— they are all sinful and

Our readings for Lent begin tomorrow, Wednesday 2nd March and continue right round to Easter. Our theme surrounds the time of EXILE when the Jews were transported by the Assyrians and Babylonians from the land God had given them. Keep

Read 1 Corinthians 2:1-12 v 4  And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. v 12    And we have received God’s Spirit

    Mystery   Please forgive a slightly longer introduction than normal! In the early days of the Christian Faith, say around the years 50 – 100 AD there were many smaller religious groups, often referred to as ‘The Mystery

Read Psalm 148 vv7-12  Praise the Lord from the earth, you creatures of the ocean depths, fire and hail, snow and clouds wind and weather that obey him, mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars,  wild animals and all livestock, small scurrying animals

Read Romans 8:18-27 vv 22-23  For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as

Read Psalm 89:1-18  v 9  You rule the oceans. You subdue their storm-tossed waves You crushed the great sea monster. You scattered your enemies with your mighty arm. The heavens are .yours, and the earth is yours; everything in the world

Read Psalm 8 vv 5-6  Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honour,  putting all things under their authority The Psalmist is clear; humanity has a special place in God’s Creation. Humans are

In step with Creation   What a wonderful world we live in! I’m sure you have been aware of the increasing number of TV programmes exploring the many and varied sides of creation. Whether you watch the extraordinary wildlife films

Read 1 Peter 1:13-25 v 13  So prepare your minds for action…. I love an old translation of this verse which puts it this way: “ Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, “ Get ready for some serious thought

Read Romans 1:18-23 v 21  Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became

Read Romans 8:1-8 v 6   letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.  It seems that God has given us the power (ability) to make decisions

Read Matthew 22:34-40 v 37  Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ My guess is that you have a pretty good idea of what it means to love the Lord

With all our mind   What are you? Can we imagine dividing our humanity into Body, Soul, and Spirit for example? Or are we ‘Heart, Soul, and Mind.’ as Tuesday’s reading suggests? I’m not even going to begin to answer

Read Philippians 4:4-9 v 8  And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of

Read Psalm 1 v 3  They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. It is December, and in the last few days the trees have been

Read Proverbs 31:10-31 v 30  Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last;     but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised. You can only say ‘WOW’ when you reach the end of this reading! It describes a multi-tasking, multi-skilled,

Read 1 Peter 3:1-7 v 4    You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.  How incredibly difficult it is to describe

Beauty – the beautiful life   I’m not sure what comes into your mind when you think of a beautiful person. Perhaps some shapely celebrity, or hunky footballer, leaps into your mind. For some people the whole notion of sex

Read Hebrews 10:23-25 v 25.  And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. You get the impression that even in the

Read Hebrews 12:12-17 v 13. Mark out a straight path for your feet so that those who are weak and lame will not fall but become strong. Here is part of the reason for doing things together. Some of us

Read Colossians 3:12-17 v 16.  Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 

Read Psalm 134 v 1.  Oh, praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,     you who serve at night in the house of the Lord. It may be hard for us to get our minds round the Hebrew notion that the day

Psalms 133 and 134  We’re in this together!   Whilst faith is a personal matter of commitment it carries with it a community dimension. Through the Old Testament the Jews as a nation stuck together – they were committed to

Read Psalm 48 v 9  O God, we meditate on your unfailing love as we worship in your Temple. For so many of us, worshipping together is either listening to a leader or participating in singing. There are other Christian traditions

Read Exodus 14:1-14 Vv 13-14  But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” You’ve seen

Read Psalm 1 v 2  But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. This is a Psalm of contrasts – and what a huge contrast between the people described in verse 1 and those in

Read Psalm 46 v 10   “Be still, and know that I am God!     I will be honoured by every nation.     I will be honoured throughout the world.” It is quite possible to be silent but not still! Our addiction to

Psalm 62                   Silence   Silence is golden – or is it simply embarrassing? I’m sure you have experienced that awkward moment in a conversation when everybody falls silent. There is a kind of ‘Where do we go from here?’ silence

Read Mark 13:1-11 v 1   As Jesus was leaving the Temple that day, one of his disciples said, “Teacher, look at these magnificent buildings! Look at the impressive stones in the walls.” You can almost hear the childish delight of

Read 2 Chronicles 7:1-10 v 6   The priests took their assigned positions, and so did the Levites who were singing, “His faithful love endures forever!” They accompanied the singing with music from the instruments King David had made for praising