BCUC Sunday Sermons & More

Dear friends of BCUC,  The wisdom of ِEcclesiates says “There is a time for a war and a time for peace” On Tuesday 11th November people paused for a minutes silence to remember the time when the guns of World War 1 stopped firing over Europe after 4 years of conflict caused 40 million casualties. Revelation chapters 17-20 is about the final battle. It's a description of the final battles between the Messiah and Satan which even...

Cultures throughout the world have long traditions of some form of Harvest Thanksgiving festival from the Moon Festival in China, Chuseok in Korea, Pongal in South India, Thanksgiving in the US, and even Pentecost in Jesus time. There’s much celebration and grateful thanks when the first harvest comes in and then when the final fruits are brought into the storehouses to prepare for a long winter. It means survival, the hope of bein...

Again, we see a piece full of signs and symbols. There is a pregnant woman who is about to give birth to a child who will rule all the nations with an iron sceptre. That child is Jesus. The woman, however, rather than representing Mary represents the chosen people, the Church, from which the lineage of Jesus comes. The next image is Satan. In the Old Testament Satan is part of the complement of heaven. Satan means ‘adversary’ and f...

Dear friends of BCUC,Aside from trying to understand all the rich and, at times, overwhelming imagery and symbolism of the book of Revelation, I am discovering two key perspectives that help unlock its meaning. The first, which I have spoken about before, is that the opening sentence announces this as the revelation of Jesus Christ the King. The second is to see this message through the lens of the persecuted church. It’s only then...

Have you ever called a company or business or government agency and been put on hold for so long with a soothing repeat message saying “your call is important to us” interspersed with nondescript mind numbing music. Then 90 minutes later when the repetitive sequence of sounds change to something like “Hello, this is ____ how may I help you?”, you stumble around, a bit lost, quickly trying to gather your thoughts and remember why on...

Dear friends of BCUC,A very familiar quote from Jesus is from the end of chapter 3 of Revelation: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” This comes after a challenge to the churches to repent and turn to Jesus.I find this one of the great captivating pictures of the Christian life. The image of a door to our lives, Jesus sta...

This week we start a 7- part series on Revelation.John, banished to the Island of Patmos for preaching about Jesus, had revealed to him, by Jesus, God’s view of what must soon take place on earth and in heaven. The Jews referred to the present time where they were under Roman rule and had lost hope that mankind could change their fate.  Only God could intervene to establish His Kingdom. In a series of visions John is shown the apoc...

This Sunday we have the privilege of having YAV’s premier award winning female voice choir Aurora helping us with worship. It promises to be a time of musical beauty that will lift our hearts to God. We will sing songs that have been prayers of the church that God in his infinite grace keeps answering. We see answered prayers throughout the book of Acts also, all the way through to the last sentence. In the final chapter of Acts we...

Everyone has storms in their lives at some time or other.  It seems part of being human.  Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble.” Perhaps you feel like you’re in the middle of a storm right now.At first reading, Acts 27 looks like simply a factual account of getting Paul from A to B, and what happened along the way.  But if you dig a little deeper, you can find some clues as to what enabled Paul to survive through all th...

In the film Dead Poets Society, the teacher John Keating famously says: “Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary.” Today we might say “YOLO” or “live every day like it’s your last.” The phrase goes back to the Roman poet Horace: “Seize the day, put very little trust in tomorrow.”Some people live by this, but I prefer Jesus’ promise: “I came that you may have life, and have it abundantly.” Carpe diem can drift...

I’m sure we all know people who would put themselves in the category of “not Christian” or at least tick the “no religion” box on the census. I wonder—based on their relationship with you—how do you think they would describe the Christian faith? Maybe they would say something like being kind and loving to others; they might add forgiveness. Would they say something about the Bible being important, prayer, and being busy on lots of ...

We all love to make plans. We plan dinner. We plan holidays. We plan future career paths. We plan our future lives when we get married. Sometimes these plans don’t go where we expect. We burn our dinner, the weather isn’t right for our holiday, we don’t get on with our work mates. Let’s not even get started on things that can change when we get married and life together begins. Things always change and we always have to change our ...

Dear friends of BCUCI wonder when have you needed courage? Reflecting on this during the week I think there are two main reasons. One is courage to face something new in the future which right now seems big and scary. The other is to continue onwards when the current circumstances seem hopeless and fill you with despair. One is courage when in a place of comfort heading towards an unknown place of challenge, the other is courage th...

Dear friends of BCUC,Over the last decade, 'identity politics' has shaped how people see themselves and others. Some say the more marginalised the identity, the more weight it should have. Others fear it comes at the expense of more common identities.In Acts 22, while being arrested the apostle Paul shifts between multiple authentic identities - Jew, Roman, Pharisee, citizen of Tarsus - not to gain pity or power, but to con...

We continue following Paul’s journey. He has decided to return to Jerusalem despite the pleas of the local congregations and prophesies that he would be arrested and could be killed. Paul believed that he was preaching the word of Jesus and His will be done, so he set out, mainly by sea, to return to Jerusalem. Although the local Elders were pleased with how many people had been converted, they were concerned that the Asian Jews be...

Dear friends of BCUC,What do you think the parting words of a church’s founding minister might be to its eldership?  Would they be words of encouragement to continue building upon the great foundations that had already been laid - or a chance to say what they really think about the church? That’s what we find in Acts 20:17–38, as Paul speaks to the elders of the new church in Ephesus.As I read it, I noticed the repetition of three ...

Sometimes, I miss important things when I’m reading my Bible. In chapter 19 verse 20 we see Luke, the author of Acts, remind us that something really important is happening. But if you ‘blink’ you miss his reminder of his key theme: “So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.” Six times in his book (in 6:7; 9:31; 12:24; 16:5; 19:20, and 28:31), Luke tells us that the word of the Lord “continued to increase”...