On this Remembrance Sunday we reflect on the scars of Christ, inspired by Edward Shillito’s poem Jesus of the Scars

If we have never sought, we seek Thee now;
Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;
We must have sight of thorn-pricks on Thy brow,
We must have Thee, O Jesus of the Scars.

The heavens frighten us; they are too calm;
In all the universe we have no place.
Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?
Lord Jesus, by Thy Scars, we claim Thy grace.

If, when the doors are shut, Thou drawest near,
Only reveal those hands, that side of Thine;
We know to-day what wounds are, have no fear,
Show us Thy Scars, we know the countersign.

The other gods were strong; but Thou wast weak;
They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;
But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak,
And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.

On our college Sunday we are joined by third year student Andrew Gray

On our college Sunday we have New Testament tutor, Peter Firth

In Romans 2 Paul turns from the condition of all humanity, to the specific dangers that those who have been forgiven are prone to.

In Romans 1:18-32 we find the first elements of Paul’s argument for salvation by faith alone. But he begins in a very shocking and disturbing way, he begins with wrath. Before the gospel can be about demonstrating God’s love it must first be about God’s wrath – what to do with the furious, devastating, and entirely justified wrath of God?
That is the problem to which the gospel is the only possible answer.

Paul has many important, and weighty, things to say to the believers in Rome, but before he says any of them he has something that he needs to say first

Before delving into the glorious detail of Paul’s letters to the Romans it’s important to take our bearings and consider:

• What Paul wrote? That Justification is by Faith alone
• Why Paul wrote that? Because their unity was in danger and justification by faith is what makes us one

Our Lifegroups begin again at the end of the month and so this morning we are addressing why we have them, and what we hope to achieve from them.

Proverbs begins and ends with a woman. The first is the personification of Wisdom, the last is the Perfect Wife, who is more than simply a domestic figure, but a way of showing us what every wife is supposed to be a picture of – the True Wife, the Bride of Christ.