Today we welcome Dr Greg Clarke from the Bible Society as the speaker at our Annual Parish Lunch. I am looking forward to connecting with other members and friends of the parish over a lovely meal while receiving encouragement at what God is doing in his world. If you’re coming along, I hope you enjoy it.
For the next few months, our Old Testament readings will take us through the Abraham narrative from the book of Genesis. Abraham’s crucial importance lies in the fact that God made him a promise that the world would be blessed through his offspring (Gen. 22:18). So influential was this promise that by New Testament times, nearly 2000 years later, the Jews claimed God’s blessing on the basis of being Abraham’s children (Matt. 3:9).
Following Abraham’s life will connect nicely to our sermon series on the letter to the Galatians, which often refers back to Abraham. At issue with the Galatians was whether Christian people, in order to be true children of Abraham, were obliged to keep the covenant of circumcision that God made with Abraham. This might seem a finicky ceremonial issue, but often such issues are the tip of an iceberg, as was the case in Galatia.
I’d like to invite you to the Gospel Refresher course starting next Sunday at 4.30 pm. Please use the sign up sheet in the porch.