Ray Bell

Can I encourage you to come this week, ‘guarding your steps’ and being ‘ready to listen’, as the Preacher of Ecclesiastes takes a break from his commentary on life under the sun, and for the first time in the book, admonishes his readers directly. In fact, in Ecclesiastes 5:1-7 he instructs us on how life…

This week James Krieg will be bringing the message from Ecclesiastes 3. He writes: “In Ecclesiastes chapter three the Teacher calls us to wrestle with one of the Big issues – the seeming inevitability of all that happens under the sun. ‘For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.’…

In the second chapter of Ecclesiastes, Koheleth, the Preacher looks at three particular aspects of life in his quest for meaning and gain: he ‘tests’ himself with pleasure; considers wisdom; and then reflects upon all his toil. He found that none of these could satisfy, nor could they offer any lasting substance or meaning to…

Grant will conclude our current section of Luke’s gospel this Sunday with a message entitled, ‘Grace’s Grateful Slaves’ from Luke 19:11-27. He writes, “The desire for things to be fixed quickly is always with us, and Jesus must temper this desire in his own disciples as they head for Jerusalem. We will always be working…

John is preaching from Luke 18:35-19:10 under the title, ‘He Turned Not From Us’. He writes, “The healing of a blind beggar and the saving of a rich tax collector speak profoundly of how Jesus does not allow the world’s mood and judgments to determine what he should be about and who he should associate…

As Jesus nears his destination of Jerusalem and his goal of the cross in Luke 18:15-34, despite what the disciples might think, he is not too busy, proud or important to spend time blessing the children who are brought to him. In fact he says, ‘to such belong the kingdom of God’. On the other…

John will bring us the Word, continuing through our series on Luke’s gospel from Luke 18:9-14. He writes, “The story of the Pharisee and the tax collector going up to the temple to pray is a timeless message to us all.  The former – confident of a legal righteousness that he felt he had achieved – was…