Coach House Talks and Beacons

Frustrations… They can seem so insignificant at the time, but they can do you some real damage and not just you, but others too. But where do they come from?

Our Watches, our clocks - to the minute - time is all accountable - how long will the preach be, how long will we sing for, - how many of these precious minutes are we prepared to give to God this Sunday morning?

As far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. This was something that my dad repeated to my brother, sister and me often when we were kids. Life brings lots of opportunities to create enemies. Whether it be because someone has outright offended us or just because they have annoyed us in some way.

I was aware a short time later of the wind starting to be heard, but a cursory glance confirmed that the sun was still out and I kept me head down working. Then the house phone rang....

The rich who have all the money in the world - still don’t find happiness. Having riches just drives the desire for more. Those who like the latest electrical gadget are always enticed by the next generation and it becomes the must have. Whole company ethos’s are formed on ‘capturing this desire’ which is a peculiar drive entirely common only to mankind.

I have the privilege to restart this series and today’s beacon It’s called The Wall. In the bible walls are often use to protect and guard precious gardens and vineyards.

Why if we are looking at Ecclesiastes do we start with Jesus teaching? Because Jesus summarises much of what we will see in Ecclesiastes in this simple observable explanation of life and I believe it will help us get a handle on how to approach the book of Ecclesiastes, and how to value what it is saying to us.

And finally. Love. The major underpinning of everything we do. The glue that holds all things together.

In other words, even-though it is necessary that we walk through the valleys of life for a little while, we need to come to the clear understanding that these valleys are only a test—we are being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—and here is your shout, your faith is much more precious to God than gold

As for me and my house we will serve the Lord

There are plenty of people who will be making these same kind of life changing decisions on a daily basis, not necessarily from a sporting stand point, but it may be a career decision, an academic choice or even a life change due to changing health. It may even be in relation to 16 months of Covid and restrictions.

Faith, like a marriage, is a decision we have to make each and every day. There is a day that we make a commitment, but after that we have to keep stepping into it. It hasn’t always been easy, the devil is always looking for a way to take us off the right path, but it has been the best for me.

It is sometimes said that “All good things must come to an end” This thought seems to be rooted in our very British opinion that we don't deserve to have good things. We need to have something to moan about and that won't happen if things in our life are good. Well right now one good thing is coming to and end, and that is the beacons.

After living in Britain for over a decade I have noticed that British people love to talk about the weather. If it is hot- it’s too hot! If it is cold -It’s too cold! When it rains -it’s miserable. When it doesn’t rain-it’s too dry! Let me just ask this then “what would be the perfect weather for people around here?

Last weekend I went to my brother’s fiancé’s hen do. It was a really nice time celebrating the bride Aoife, and preparing for the wedding that will be in a few weeks time. This reminded me of the passage in Revelation where it talks about the bride of Christ being the Holy city of Jerusalem.

There are some bible passages that are just so uplifting and encouraging. One of these is Ephesians chapter 3. To put it in context: It is part of a letter written by the apostle Paul who had the dramatic encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus.

If I mentioned the name David Prowse, then many of the film buffs amongst us would immediately recall that he was the actor that played Darth Vader in the original Star Wars films. However, before the intergalactic imagery and ‘I am your Father’ lines, David Prowse was famous for an altogether different role.

“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.

Today I want to talk about wages and work. Now in the last few weeks Ive been offered a full-time job by a few companies that would like me to join their team. It’s been really nice to be thought of in that way.

I suffer from it from time to time, chronically, and you know, it never quite goes away. When it shows up I find my room a mess, leave my responsibilities behind, and put off my job list for another day. This beacon helps us see how God empowers us to grow in faith and progress.

It's been very warm recently. Warm weather seems to divide us into two camps, those who like it hot and those who don't. I have to say that I am in the latter group, hot weather slows me down and I can't get anything done. As I write this beacon it is 28 degrees in my house so it is a miracle that I am even writing at all.

However, at this end of the term I am very tired and that makes me more prone to forget things. I’ve forgotten to lock my car or what I’m doing when I get places. I have been forgetting to take medication and do things that are normally in my routine. I also begin do more things wrong, to sin. For example, recently I have been much quicker to get angry. I have been angry or more angry at things th...

Today, we look to the end of 2nd Peter, where we see Peter concluding his letter of warning to the Churches, particularly those of Asia Minor, or modern-day Turkey, at the time.

I find this a very difficult Beacon to write. It’s the morning after the Euros final – England against Italy. I’m in a strange emotional state, floating between the reality of a normal day and the despair of the emotional rollercoaster of the night before. I will suddenly feel myself getting quite depressed and have to shake myself from it. As I look down on the traffic from the church office wind...

Lots of people like to do puzzles. Maybe you enjoy solving a Sudoku number puzzle, putting together a jigsaw or planning moves in a game of chess. All of these keep your brain cells firing. It’s a way to challenge yourself and there is a sense of satisfaction when you complete the challenge. It’s about making decisions, selecting choices and planning a series of strategic moves.