South Featherstone Gospel Hall

  I’m sure we all believe that justice is a good principle. For people to be treated fairly and equally regardless of status, race, sex, beliefs and financial circumstances. Up until 1215AD in England, justice could be very arbitrary and depended upon what the local lord of the area decided, so the Magna Carta was written and became the basis of our legislation system. Our system of laws may not be absolutely perfect because people will always look for and find loopholes because that is our nature, but generally justice comes out of our legislative and judiciary system. We may believe strongly in justice within our earthly society, but we could never want justice spiritually, to have to answer to a perfectly righteous and holy God, because our sinful nature would condemn us completely to eternal separation from God and eternal punishment. This is where God stepped in and provided His own plan to give us hope. Back in the book of Jeremiah, God says, “I am merciful”. But it is imposs...

  When we read Paul’s letters to the churches, they all have a similar format, which varies in sequence depending upon the message Paul actually wants to deliver to each church. But there is always an introduction which is well worth looking at and meditating on, as the first few verses of each letter. The letter to the church in Galatia was one of the early letters and it was written because false teachers were propagating doctrines which were corrupting the church and Paul reiterates the message that faith in Jesus Christ is all that is needed for salvation. And right at the beginning, in the introduction, he reminds the church about why faith in Jesus was all that was needed. “Our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins.” Here he uses the full title of our Saviour which defines all His character, mission and status. Paul then confirms that He was willing to surrender His majesty, His dignity, even His eternal relationship with His Father for those 3 hours of darkness on...

  When Leaders Love Darkness – Micah 3 Dear Friends, Micah 3 is a hard chapter. It is addressed first to the heads of Jacob and the rulers of the house of Israel — those who should have known justice. Instead the prophet asks a piercing question: “Is it not for you to know justice?” Then he describes what they actually do: they hate the good and love the evil. They tear the skin from the people and break their bones, as if they were butchers preparing a meal. The priests and prophets are no better. They cry “Peace” when they have something to eat, but declare war against anyone who does not put food in their mouths. They claim the Lord’s presence — “Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us” — while they take bribes, give oracles for money, and build Zion with blood. The result is devastating. Because of this, Micah says, Zion shall be ploughed as a field, Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height. More immediatel...

  When Jesus came to earth and was born as a baby, there would have been barely a ripple in the local news. Yes, there were occasions when His parents realised He was what God had promised to His people through the prophets, but they could never foresee the actual mission He was going to fulfil. Even after His mission started, they of all people could never have foreseen its outcome, otherwise they, as loving parents, would surely have sought to prevent it happening.  When His mission started people must have seen a superb preacher and a healer and a worker of miracles. And His fame quickly spread and also the animosity at the radical nature of His message, which we now look back on and admire and seek to follow His teaching as being totally good for the whole nature of mankind. But there were also deep challenges in His teaching, which we believe absolutely, but find so hard to put into consistent practice. The one which I have read so many times but suddenly hit me with ev...

  Do you remember the days when if we wanted to know how someone was or just to talk to them, we walked or got on a bus, or a bike, if we were young, and went to see them, instead of now texting or sending a Facebook message? It was pot luck whether they were in or not, but apart from work and maybe going out socialising once a week, normally weekends, people were generally at home. But we visited, we knocked on the door and hoped. Many times, because people needed to be less security conscious in those days, you might knock and then try the door and if it was open, just shout to them to tell them you were there. But the initial step when you got there was to knock on the door. In the book of Revelation, there is a verse which has also been the subject of a famous picture, which I believe hangs in one of the cathedrals of this country. The verse is “Behold, I stand at the door and knock”. The context of the verse is Jesus comment on one of the messages to the seven churches. But th...

  Running from the Presence of the Lord – Jonah 1 Dear Friends, Jonah 1 opens with a clear word from the Lord: “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it.” Yet the very next verse shows Jonah doing the opposite. He rises, but only to flee. He boards a ship bound for Tarshish, “away from the presence of the Lord.” What follows is a vivid picture of divine pursuit. The Lord hurls a great wind upon the sea. The ship threatens to break up. Pagan sailors cry out to their gods and lighten the vessel while Jonah sleeps below deck. When the lot falls on him, he confesses the truth: “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” Still he chooses the sea over obedience. Thrown overboard, he is swallowed by a great fish prepared by the Lord. The chapter is full of downward movement — down to Joppa, down into the ship, down into the hold, down into the sea, and finally down into the belly of the fish. Every step is an attempt to...

  This morning, as on most Sunday mornings, we will be gathering to remember the life, death, resurrection, and glorification of Jesus Christ our Saviour. Unlike most meetings at church, there is no speaker because we rely on the Holy Spirit to move in our gathering. Some people, as moved by Him, will contribute verbally and worship in prayer, give out a song or read, and perhaps comment, on God’s Word. If that is ALL we experience and listen to then we have seriously failed the purpose of our gathering together! The speaking etc. should be like the tip of an iceberg, the only part that is visible, but the vast majority is unseen. Each one of us should come prepared to GIVE and not just to receive. And to give, we must also be prepared. Our hearts and minds should be cleared before we come of all that would concern us on and everyday basis. Our hearts should not just be cleared but also be tuned and have an appreciation of Jesus by at least spending some time with Him before we com...

I am not good at DIY. Many DIY jobs require a destructive phase, where the preparation and cleaning work is done, to make ready for the constructive phase and I am OK at that, for example stripping wallpaper or sanding some woodwork. But ask me to build something from a flatpack of pieces and it would probably end up with 3 legs instead of 4 or be lopsided and unstable. I have little intuition as how a collection of pieces should be assembled. Though some people can clearly see the construction route because they are intuitive. So, I have to resort to the assembly instruction manual, which I have to read through at least twice to have any idea of where to start. Sadly, many of these manuals have been written by people who are either foreign, and translated roughly into English, or actually do have intuition, or frequently both. This for me makes a 15 minute task stretch into hours.  We have no such difficulty if we want to be successful spiritually, because we have God’s Word, the ...

  If you have ever been walking on the moors or in rough country, you literally don’t see much of the scenery, unless you stop. You would think that being surrounded by beautiful but wild countryside would be impossible to miss. So why is it that a walker in this type of country does not see the scenery around him/her? Well, the answer is simple: you have to concentrate on where your feet are going, otherwise you will definitely trip up or worse, get stuck in a bog! Only when you come to a halt can you safely look around you and admire God’s creation. The writer of the book of Proverbs probably had this physical experience and restriction in mind when he wrote, “Ponder the path of your feet and let your ways be established”. However, as we should be fully aware, Proverbs is largely about practical spiritual life not just physical actions and he uses physical similes to express spiritual truths, a bit like parables in the New Testament. In general, our feet and other physical movem...

  Ananias, Sapphira and the Fatal Flaw of Pretend Piety Based on an article by Chase Krug, published on the Logos blog (13 August 2026) In the early chapters of Acts, Luke paints a remarkable picture of the young Jerusalem church. Awe rested on every soul. Believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. They shared their possessions freely so that no one among them was in need, and the Lord added daily to their number those who were being saved (Acts 2:42–47; 4:32–37). By any ordinary measure the church was healthy, vibrant and growing. Yet right in the middle of this encouraging account Luke records a shocking episode of sin and sudden judgement. Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold a piece of property, brought a portion of the proceeds to the apostles and presented it as if it were the full amount. They kept back some of the money for themselves while claiming total generosity. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, expose...

  We are officially in a drought situation and as yet there is no sign of significant rain. Even deep-rooted trees are either dying or shutting down and shedding leaves. More than ever, we are realising that water sustains life and that we can no longer take rain and moisture for granted. Today is scheduled to be hotter than yesterday, which means there will be even more precious moisture sucked up into the atmosphere, effectively to disappear. In the Bible, the significance of water has been well-recognised and used in many parables and other teaching scenarios which are always associated with life, and frequently, spiritual life, a refreshing relationship with God, starting with that initial step of faith as we come to Jesus in our sin and receive His forgiveness. What a refreshment that was to our souls! Can you recall the sheer joy of knowing we are part of God’s family? Never let that feeling go, keep thinking back to the time when Jesus became your Saviour. But God never inte...

  Eyes That Do Not See – Ezekiel 12:1-12 Dear Friends, in Ezekiel 12 the Lord speaks again to His prophet about a people who have eyes but do not see and ears but do not hear. They are a rebellious house. So the Lord gives Ezekiel a living message — not just words, but an acted sign that the people cannot ignore. Ezekiel is told to pack his bags as if for exile, dig through the wall of his house in full view of everyone, and carry his baggage out at dusk with his face covered so that he cannot see the land. This strange behaviour is a sign. It points to the prince in Jerusalem and to all the people still living there. They too will go into exile. The prince will dig through the wall, leave under cover of darkness with his face covered, and be taken to Babylon — yet he will not see the land (a detail later fulfilled when King Zedekiah’s eyes are put out). The passage is both warning and explanation. The people have refused to see what God is doing and refused to hear what God is say...

  The prime attitude I notice in our society is largely self-satisfaction, even if that means at the expense of others. This is also backed up by the thought that ‘might is right’. We have stopped being a caring society because caring is now seen as weakness. Even in places where care for others should be paramount, there is frequently an attitude that there are self-imposed limits on how far that should extend and it frequently falls short of the level of need. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek”. But meekness also is seen as weakness. Practical caring to the level of need we see, can sometimes be very draining, both mentally and physically and if we are following Jesus, we can even feel spiritually drained at times. But sometimes in stressful situations, instead of relying more on God’s guidance we switch back to trying to solve things in our own strength. But God has a word for us in Isaiah 40, “God gives power to the faint; and to them which have no m...

  Of the Old Testament saints, 2 names stand out as being so faithful to God as to have no negative traits written about them. They are Joseph and Daniel, who lived many years apart, but whom God used mightily to preserve and bless His people. The book of Daniel, towards the end, becomes difficult to fully interpret BUT, one verse in Daniel 10 stands out as a guide for us today. “And when he had spoken to me, I was strengthened” This refers to the archangel Michael who was sent by God to speak to Daniel and give him a message, which blessed Daniel and gave him the strength he needed to continue to serve God. And this is exactly what happens when we read prayerfully God’s Word. God rarely uses angels to speak to us but like the psalmist wrote, “Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path”. I specifically mention the word ‘prayerfully’ because we should never approach the Bible as we would any conventional book. God’s Word is packed with spiritual blessings for us, but ...

  Back in the book of Isaiah, in chapter 63, towards the end of the book, Isaiah refers to the Jewish nation, and the work God had done for them and says, “In His love and in His pity He redeemed them”. The act of ‘redemption’ essentially means buying back and buying involves some form of price that needs to be paid by the redeemer. What happened to the Children of Israel in the Old Testament, was a foreshadow of a greater redemption and a greater redemption price that was going to be paid that we have recorded in the New Testament that would redeem not just an earthly nation but would redeem a people from the whole world, over all time. And it needed the sacrifice of God’s one and only Son on the cross. And that sacrifice and the very person who made that sacrifice is the One we remember this morning and every Sunday morning or whenever we meet to break the bread and drink the wine. And we remember that it is God’s love that set this whole act in motion and the obedience of Jesus ...

  A Remnant Left Behind – Jeremiah 40 Dear Friends, Jeremiah 40 opens in the aftermath of Jerusalem’s fall. The city has been burned, the king taken away in chains, and most of the people carried into exile. Yet even in this dark hour the Lord has not forgotten His prophet. Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, finds Jeremiah still in chains at Ramah and releases him. He acknowledges that the Lord has brought this disaster upon the city just as Jeremiah had said, and then offers the prophet a free choice: come to Babylon under his protection, or stay in the land wherever he wishes. Jeremiah chooses to remain. He goes to Gedaliah son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon has appointed governor over the poorest of the land who have been left behind. Gedaliah settles at Mizpah and encourages the remnant to serve the Chaldeans, gather the harvest, and live in the land. Slowly, scattered Jews who had fled to neighbouring countries begin to return when they hear that a governor has been a...

  Sacrifices in the Bible: The Strange World of Old Testament Worship Based on the article by Wyatt Graham, published on the Logos Blog, 6 August 2026 Old Testament sacrifices can seem strange and even repulsive to modern readers — the death of animals, blood sprinkled on altars, ritual purity laws, and the language of covenant salt. Yet these offerings form a vital part of the Bible’s story. They reveal how a holy God made a way for His people to draw near to Him, and they ultimately point forward to the finished work of Jesus Christ. What Are Sacrifices? Sacrifice stood near the centre of Israel’s worship. While God always desired obedience and faithfulness more than ritual alone (1 Samuel 15:22; Hosea 6:6), the sacrificial system provided a God-given pathway for His people to know and enjoy Him. Sacrifice itself was not unique to Israel; it was common in the ancient world. What set Israel’s system apart was that it was divinely revealed and directed toward personal and community...

  The Fall of Jerusalem – Jeremiah 39 Dear Friends, Jeremiah 39 records one of the darkest days in the history of Judah. After years of patient warning through the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the Lord finally comes to pass. In the eleventh year of King Zedekiah the city of Jerusalem is breached by the Babylonian army. The king flees by night but is overtaken near Jericho. His sons are killed before his eyes, his own eyes are put out, and he is led away in chains to Babylon. The city is burned, the walls are broken down, and most of the people are taken into exile. It is a scene of total national collapse. Yet even in the midst of judgement the Lord shows Himself faithful. Nebuchadnezzar gives specific orders concerning Jeremiah: he is to be looked after and not harmed. The prophet who had been rejected, imprisoned and thrown into a cistern is now protected by the very nation that is destroying Jerusalem. God keeps His servant safe when everything else is falling apart. There is a...

  We are above all a Bible-believing church and we seek to base our whole lives on what God reveals to us through His Word.  As we go about our daily lives, we don’t really think about what is happening outside of our living area, much less about what is happening in our solar system, and unless we are engaged in astronomy, we give virtually no thought at all as what is happening in the universe as a whole. We sometimes marvel at pictures relayed to us from high resolution cameras of things which have happened thousands of light-years ago in our vast and complicated universe and we cannot scientifically comprehend how it all came into being, But in Genesis 1 and 2 we have the words and commands given by God which brought all these marvels into being and we acknowledge God as the creator of all things. Compared to the vastness and age of the universe, our tiny planet and the time man has spent on it is infinitely small and though so insignificant the amount of time and effort G...

  The Day of Pentecost – Acts 2:1-21 Dear Friends, Acts 2 opens with one of the most significant moments in the history of the church. The disciples are all together in one place when suddenly there comes from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind that fills the whole house. Tongues as of fire appear and rest on each of them, and they are all filled with the Holy Spirit and begin to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enables them. The noise draws a crowd of devout Jews from every nation under heaven who are living in Jerusalem. They are amazed because each one hears the disciples declaring the mighty works of God in his own language. Some are bewildered; others mock and say the men are filled with new wine. Then Peter stands up with the eleven and addresses the crowd. He explains that what they are witnessing is not drunkenness but the fulfilment of the prophecy spoken by the prophet Joel: “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all ...

  A Covenant of Friendship – 1 Samuel 20:1-17 Dear Friends, in 1 Samuel 20 we are given one of the most moving pictures of true friendship in the whole of Scripture. David is in real danger. Saul is determined to kill him, and David turns to the one person he believes he can still trust — Jonathan, Saul’s own son. David pours out his fear and confusion: “What have I done? What is my guilt? And what is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life?” Jonathan at first finds it hard to believe that his father would act so secretly against David. Yet David knows the danger is real. Together they form a careful plan so that Jonathan can discover Saul’s true intentions during the coming new moon feast. What follows is extraordinary. Jonathan does not defend his father or protect his own position as the king’s son. Instead he binds himself to David with a solemn covenant. He asks David to show “the steadfast love of the Lord” to him while he lives, and after his death to show the same ...

  I love Paul’s letter to the Colossians, it starts off with the exaltation of our Lord Jesus, which sets the tone for the whole letter. There is teaching galore for us, and we wonder how much effect it had on the local church or churches in that region. One verse particularly sums up what our ambition as Christians should be. We all have earthly ambitions for our personal, work or social life and, provided these ambitions are lawful and not extreme, it is natural for them to motivate us in whatever area we have them. However, all such ambitions must be viewed in the light of Colossians 3 and verse 1, “If you are then risen with Christ, seek those things that are above”.  What this is clearly saying, that for a successful Christian life, bringing honour and glory to God, which is why God saved us in the first place, we must view all our earthly ambitions and desires in the light of what God would want and prioritise His service above all else. This does not mean we must all be...

  I just want to sign off on our brief look at Moses’ blessing to the Children of Israel in Numbers 6. The words must have encouraged those who heard them and they would continue to look for God’s blessing as they went onwards in their lives in the Promised Land. But that blessing was conditional on them following God’s commandments and as we read onwards through the Old Testament, we see them time and time again turning away from God and God having to judge them in righteousness. But as we turn to the New Testament, and particularly our own situation, Paul says to us that we have, (past tense), been blessed with all spiritual blessings, and the key words are “In Christ”!!! If we re-read the words that Moses spoke to those travelling tribes, we can now see that ALL of them have been fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ and our new relationship with Him! We have been blessed and there are more blessings on the shelf waiting to be claimed as we seek to follow our Saviour. The differenc...

  True and False Prophets – Jeremiah 28 Dear Friends, in Jeremiah 28 we are given a vivid and sobering picture of the difference between a true prophet and a false one. The setting is the temple in Jerusalem, early in the reign of Zedekiah. The nation is under the growing pressure of Babylon, and the people are desperate for a word of hope. Into this situation steps Hananiah the prophet. In front of the priests and all the people he boldly declares that the Lord has broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years, he says, the temple vessels taken to Babylon will be returned, and Jeconiah and all the exiles will come home. It is a message of rapid deliverance and national restoration — exactly what the people wanted to hear. Jeremiah is also present. He responds carefully at first, saying that he hopes the word may come true, but then he adds a searching test: the prophet who prophesies peace can only be known as truly sent by the Lord when his word comes to pass. Later th...

  Contend, O Lord – Psalm 35 Dear Friends, there are times when opposition comes not because we have done wrong, but because we have sought to do what is right. Psalm 35 is David’s cry in just such a situation. He is surrounded by those who hate him without cause, who repay him evil for good, and who seek his ruin. In response, he turns to the only One who can truly defend him. The psalm opens with a bold request: “Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me!” (Psalm 35:1 ESV). David does not take vengeance into his own hands. Instead, he asks the Lord to take up his case. He calls on God to be his shield and buckler, to draw the spear and javelin against his pursuers, and to say to his soul, “I am your salvation!” David describes the malice of his enemies in vivid terms. They dig a pit for him, spread a net, and rejoice when he stumbles. Yet he has treated them with kindness. When they were sick, he prayed for them and mourned as thoug...

  Atonement Theories & 4 Aspects of Christ’s Work Based On An Article By Glenn Butner Even the youngest Christians usually know that Jesus was born to save us, lived a holy life, died on the cross for our sins, and rose again from the dead. Yet many struggle to explain why these events save us. The doctrine of the atonement provides that explanation for the purposes of evangelism, apologetics, and instruction in the faith. The English word “atonement” was coined by combining “at” and “one-ment,” an older way of speaking of reconciliation. The theology of atonement explores how “God was reconciling the world to himself through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Traditionally, discussions of the atonement have focused on different “models” or “theories” that explain what Christ’s death accomplishes and how. No ecumenical council ever defined a single official explanation for the whole church. Modern theology therefore often speaks of atonement models as either competing or complement...