Something to think about

With Patrick Boyns. Recorded on location at former RAF Douglaswood in Scotland.It’s hard to believe that once this place was such a strategic part of our national defence. Of course, much has changed over the years, but the need for defence has always been a part of the story of human survival.When this site in which I’m standing was operational as a means of frontline defence, it was able to see the unseen enemy. Within a range of about eighty miles, it could detect enemy aircraft that might pose a threat to national security, long before they could be seen by the naked eye, or even heard from below.To see the enemy before the enemy can be seen is to gain a significant advantage, and can provide much needed time to be better prepared for the battle. So Peter warned his readers to “Be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” So we are to keep a watchful eye and not be caught unawares. We are to be watchful … as a watchman who looks out for the dangers of an approaching army.Broadcast on 21st August 2022Scriptures referred to: 1 Peter 5John 8, 12Ephesians 1, 2, 3, 6

With Jon Galloway. Broadcast on 14th August 2022This talk is based on Ecclesiastes 3

With Mark Hill. Broadcast on 7th August 2022

With Jack Paton.Psalm 138 is classified as a psalm of thanksgiving, sung in the voice of an individual person. It is well established that such individual psalms can also reflect and express the experiences of a community.There are plenty of opportunities for us, as congregations, to reflect on what is happening when we hear and read these words.Broadcast on 31st July 2022This talk is based on Psalm 138

With Steve Whitehead. Our tongue is in many ways what reveals our hearts to the rest of the world. People will judge us by what we say and how we say it. I'm not talking about accents here, whether regional or class. How we say something can mean different things depending on tone of voice.I like the figures of speech that James employs in his description of how dangerous the tongue can be. They tell us much about the world in which James lived and by and large they communicate clearly to us today.None of us truly controls our tongue. Admitting the fact is a start. With God's spirit to guide us, we can aim to do better. And when we fail, as we surely will, we can respond like David in godly sorrow and genuine remorse and be confident that in God our Father, we have forgiveness through his Son, our Saviour, Jesus.Broadcast on 24th July 2022This talk is based on James 3.

With Patrick Boyns. Prayer had never been heard this way before. But such was the experience of God as Father that dominated the public life of Jesus – from the Jordan River to the cross on which he died. So when it came to Jesus teaching his disciples to pray, not only does he address God as his Father, but he teaches them to do the same!There is a very real sense of familiarity in addressing God as our Father, and it is a familiarity that lies at the very heart of the message of Jesus, who died that we might live, and that we might live having been born of God.This ‘Father-child relationship’ into which we have been called in Christ is, by definition, a most intimate relationship. It lies at the heart of God’s purpose for humanity. So let us pray, not as those who find comfort in their rituals of religion, but as those who find strength and blessing in our loving, intimate relationship with the Father.Broadcast on 17th July 2022Scriptures referred to: Jeremiah 31:9Isaiah 63:16Luke 10; 23John 1; 11; 12; 17Ephesians 1Quote by: Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz