Author: John Rowland

Read Acts 9:36-41 v 39  So Peter returned with them; and as soon as he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. The room was filled with widows who were weeping and showing him the coats and other clothes

Read Exodus 31:1-11 vv 1-3  Then the Lord said to Moses,  “Look, I have specifically chosen Bezalel son of Uri, grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.  I have filled him with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise

Psalm 27                   Beauty   I find myself unable to define beauty! I tried on my laptop, ‘Ask Cortana’ and wrote ‘What is beauty?’ The answer:  You might have to try asking me that question again. So to Wikipedia: ‘Beauty is

Read Revelation 7:9-17 v 17  For the Lamb on the throne will be their Shepherd. He will lead them to springs of life-giving water.     And God will wipe every tear from their eyes. How often we have shed tears because

Read Revelation 5:11-14 v 13   And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang: “Blessing and honour and glory and power  belong to the one sitting on the

Read Romans 11:33-36 v 36   For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen. This is a wonderful burst of praise as Paul reaches this point in

Read 1 Chronicles 16:23-36 v 26  The gods of other nations are mere idols, but the Lord made the heavens! What a simple contrast – people make idols, but the Lord God made us and every created thing! One theme that should

Psalm 96   Sing a new song   Singing has always been an element of Christian Worship. Paul encouraged the Christians in Ephesus to commit themselves to worship together in this way. ‘Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin

Read Matthew 7:1-5 v 4.   How can you think of saying to your friend  ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? So here we

Read Micah 6:6-16 And this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, (v 8) Of course, you know this bit, but have you read on in the chapter? v 12.  The rich among you have become wealthy through

Read Isaiah 3:8-15 v 9.  The very look on their faces gives them away. They display their sin like the people of Sodom and don’t even try to hide it. You may think that so far this week we have been considering

Read Psalm 58 v 8.  May they be like snails that dissolve into slime, Not a pretty picture – and maybe it sounds vindictive to us – but the writer felt mighty strongly about injustice in his surrounding society! I

The Way of Justice   The way of justice is so much more than keeping the law! It is not so much ‘Don’t do that’ but rather the totally positive outlook that wants to do the right thing to be

Hello Readers all! We are taking a break from the Daily Notes over the Christmas period, so the next set  should appear in your Inbox on Monday 3rd January when a new series will begin. Peter will be telling you

Read Luke 2:21-35 V 32.  He is a light to reveal God to the nations, and he is the glory of your people Israel!” What a wonderfully expansive statement! It covers with unique simplicity the needs of both Jews and

Read Luke 2:1-20 vv 13-14.  Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” There was

Read Luke 1:67-80 v 69.  He has sent us a mighty Saviour from the royal line of his servant David, So we come to another song that has found its way into the prayer books of today where it is called

Read Luke 1:46-56 vv 46, 47. Mary responded, “Oh, how my soul praises the Lord.  How my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour! So begins Mary’s song of praise which is generally called the Magnificat. This was not an immediate response

Of all the Gospel writers, Luke devotes more space to the Birth narrative of Jesus than any other. Matthew plunges straight in with Jesus’ genealogy (vital for Jews to know), and then recounts the story of the Wise Men from

Morning:        Psalms 50, 51 and 52 Evening:         Psalms 53, 54 and 55   Psalm 55:16.   But I will call on God, and the Lord will rescue me. Another turning point for sure!  Especially after the very modern sounding complaint of verse 11,

Morning:        Psalms 44, 45 and 46 Evening:         Psalms 47, 48 and 49   Psalm 44:9      But now you have tossed us aside in dishonour.                         You no longer lead our armies to battle.   A totally different turning point

Morning:        Psalms 38, 39 and 40 Evening:         Psalms 41, 42 and 43   Psalm 39:7 And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?   My only hope is in you. Another look at life around – and just how short

Morning:        Psalms 35 and 36. Evening:         Psalm 37   Psalm 36: 5-6 Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens;     your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,     your justice like the ocean

In the Prayer Book of the Church of England the appointed readings for each day include various Psalms both morning and evening. In the course of each month a diligent reader would go through all 150 Psalms. For each day

Read Ephesians 1:15-23 Think carefully about the content of your prayer. Read this prayer of Paul and write down, in your own words, what seem to be his central requests.   Dear Jesus, help me spread your fragrance everywhere I

Read Acts 2:42-47 While prayer is a personal discipline, and is often done alone, there is a place for praying together. We join in united prayer in a Sunday Service perhaps, but many of us have been blessed as we

Read Matthew 6:7-15 Don’t be afraid to be brief as you pray; long prayers are not necessarily a sign of spiritual maturity. You may well have heard some folk praying at considerable length, praying for all kinds of things (and

Read Matthew 6:5-6 Prayer is often practiced in a private place, unseen. We do not pray to impress others, but to be in touch with God. Prayer is a two-way business. We talk to God, expressing thanks and praise as

Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.   Luke 11:1   I note four things from this introductory sentence. First, many people genuinely want to communicate with God in prayer but really don’t know how to go

Read 2 Peter 3:1-18 v 9.  The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

Read 2 Peter 2:1-22 v 19.  They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you.  If you go back to John 8:31-34 you find Jesus teaching just the

Read 2 Peter 1:1-21 v 5.  Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and

Read John 21:15-25 v 17.  A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love

So we come to the end of our readings from John’s Gospel and go on to read right through Peter’s brief second letter for a few days. Do you sometimes wonder if the early Apostles, Peter for example, really listened

Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 V 6.  After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. There is no record of this event in the

Read John 20:19-31 v 29. Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” How often we have heard it said – ‘Seeing is believing’ ! I must confess, I have

Read John 20:1-18 v 10.  Then they went home. Nearly everything in this passage shouts at me at the disciples hadn’t really latched on to what Jesus had told them about His resurrection. The only person who seems to have

Read John 19:17-42 vv 38-39. Afterward Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus (because he feared the Jewish leaders), asked Pilate for permission to take down Jesus’ body. When Pilate gave permission, Joseph came and took

Well done if you have been following the readings up to this point! This week’s readings take us through to the resurrection of Jesus and His meeting up with some of the disciples. There is only one more chapter to

John 18:25-40 v 36.  Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. History is full of events when genuinely sincere Christians have tried to shape politics to reflect the power and values of the Kingdom of God. A few have

Read John 18:1-24 v 18.   Peter stood with them, warming himself. How easy it must have been for Peter to simply to simply slip into the warm circle and then deny that he ever knew Jesus! Much easier to identify

Read John 17:13-26 v 21.   I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world

Read John 17:1-12 v 3. And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. One of the great Evangelists of the 20th century was Billy

The Gospel story is rapidly moving to a climax. Chapters 17 and 18 move us from the intimacy of Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane through to His arrest and trial before Pilate. There is breath-taking speed and unimaginable

Read 1 John 4:1-21 v 10.  This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Reflect today on the words of this old hymn,

Read 1 John 2:28 – 3;10 3 v 1  See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!  For many of us, family is significant. Whether it is parents

Read 1 John 2:15-27 v 15  Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. Love, this deeply felt affection, can

Read 1 John 2:1-14 v 7   Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you

The Apostle John wrote not only a Gospel but also three letters and the Book of Revelations which are there for us to read at the end of the New Testament. This week we are going to read the first

Read 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 V 17. But in the following instructions, I cannot praise you. For it sounds as if more harm than good is done when you meet together. What a disaster! How come that what we call ‘Communion’,