Tag: Isaiah

Isaiah spoke a word of hope and joy that was out of place with the rest of the narrative. A word that wouldn’t wait until things improved.

God asks us not to count the rings of the dead wood of the past – but to look for small signs of growth, the green seedlings of the future.

At some stage, God’s plans will intersect with our own sense of being and purpose. We need to listen and hear and respond. To say: “send me”.

Compassion sees broken bodies & broken souls and then does something about it. Because God is not interested in religion but in human beings.

God sustained us in the past and will take us through the present and into the future too. But, but, he may do it in a completely new way.

In the year that King Uzziah died. Or in the year that George VI died. Or JFK. Or Diana. Or in the year that someone you loved died. 

Today is Bible Sunday. There are 39 books in the OT, and 27 in the NT. Appropriately our reading today is from Isaiah, which has 66 chapters.

Did the Ethiopian eunuch see himself as the Suffering Servant. Did he see a link between the words that he read and his own experience?

The first step onto the moon was a watershed in history. Our perspective could never be the same. Our Gospel is another ‘before’ and ‘after’.

Where are you from? What are the places, the people, the experiences that formed your path? How does it help you understand who you are?

What if you received an e-mail from ‘God’? Would you open it? Would it make a difference if ‘God’ was offering you a free gift but you had to press on a link?

Our next Sunday@Seven service will be on July 26th 2020. Our theme this time will be ‘Come to the waters’. Water plays a big part in the Bible. There’s often too much of it or too little of it!

The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. The Lord will guide… but often he’ll do that through you and me. We’re the ones who act as signposts for others.

It’s often said that history is written by the victors. But what must it feel like to be defeated in war? Ashamed, frightened, disorientated, demoralized, physically hurt, mentally traumatized, angry at those who promised that you would be victorious, relieved the fighting is over, struggling to survive, cold, hungry…??

As the Word made flesh and dwelling among us, Jesus physically demonstrated the continuity of God, his unchanging love and mercy that we can always count upon. But he also showed us the God of surprises too. He changed what we thought about God and challenged the pre-conceived ideas that he came across. In physical, bodily form – as the body language of God – Jesus re-imagined God for us.