Jesus Our Living Hope

‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade…’ (1 Peter 1:4) In her...

Reflections from 1 Peter 4:12-19

Suffering as a Christian: Why it Matters Most of us don’t like the word suffering. We avoid it, pray against it, and often assume something has gone wrong when hardship comes. But Peter writes to believers facing real pressure—misunderstanding, exclusion, even...

There, but for the grace of God go I

Recently, Scripture Union’s Daily Bread has been studying the book of Exodus. As we looked at Chapter 40 (the construction of the Tabernacle), I noticed something very special. The Tabernacle was a portable structure that held the official items of worship. God had...

When God Calls You To Walk Through Suffering’s Door

(Condensed article by Glena Marshall) I was 34 when I used the word ‘chronic’ in front of the word ‘pain’ for the first time. I said it in a small voice, wondering if five years of suffering was long enough to merit the phrase. When this door of suffering opened...

The ‘S’ word

I was intrigued initially when I saw Ian’s sermon title for this Sunday, ‘The S word’. What could it stand for? Didn’t take long to find out. The passage he will be unpacking from 1 Peter 3:1-7 is all about ‘submission’ in the context of marriage. In Australia, one in...

“Give thanks with a grateful heart”

With our ‘Thanksgiving’ month concluding on Sunday, I thought I’d offer a final reflection on thanksgiving. I suspect that many of us would not think of ourselves as ungrateful but you might want to think again because ingratitude shows up in our lives in a variety of...