David Robinson, a former police officer serving with SO14, the Royal Protection Command, spoke at Christ Church, Virginia Water, recently. David spent 31 years with the Metropolitan Police, 20 of them as a Royal Protection Officer, He shared how he became a Christian and also gave some insights into the challenges of protecting members of the Royal Family.
Category Archives: Bible
Sermons by Richard Bewes
Repentance (Mark 1:14-20)
Wearing our the Saints (Nehemiah 6) Continue reading
Professor John Lennox on Daniel in Babylon
A presentation by Professor John Lennox on Daniel in Babylon delivered at Rothschild Bank in London.
John Lennox is Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University and Fellow in Mathematics and Philosophy of Science at Green Templeton College
See John Lennox’s book, Against the Flow: The Inspiration of Daniel in an Age of Relativism
Bishop Andrew Watson on Regeneration
View photos of Bishop Andrew’s visit here
The Parables of Jesus: Stephen Cave
Stephen Cave is the Senior VP of Biblica Global Ministries. He preached this sermon at Christ Church, Virginia Water on 26 April 2015.
The Enigma of Jesus (Mark 4:1-20)
Today marks the final day of the Royal Horticultural Society’s, National Gardening Week. It is a celebration of all things green. The aim of National Gardening Week is to encourage people to help keep their neighbourhoods, environments and shared spaces beautiful through gardening. The tagline is ‘Start Something Beautiful.’
My father was a gardener, although his would never have featured in National Gardening Week. Although he did grow flowers for the table, his was primarily a vegetable garden. Through the winter, autumn, spring and summer I would watch him patiently turn over the soil with his fork, manure it, weed it, water it and lovingly nurture seeds and seedlings into organic potatoes, shallots, carrots, parsnips, swedes, peas, runner beans, broad beans, onions, tomatoes, cabbages, cauliflowers, rhubarb, black currents and fat, juicy, strawberries.
When We Think About Money (2 Corinthians 8:1-15)
“Look at your hands. When you were just an infant, you came out with your hands closed. And every time somebody put their little finger in yours, you would wrap your hand around it, hold on tight, and not let go. As a toddler, you started grabbing rattles and little toys. When another child came in your direction and wanted to take one away from you, you said, “Mine,” and held on tight.
When you were in junior school, you hung on tightly to bicycle handlebars and pencils and other things. In senior school you hung on to the hand of Sarah Jane, and you were not about to let that go. In college you hung on to a lot of different stuff—maybe some stuff we don’t even want to talk about here—but when you left, you were clutching a certificate with two hands.
How to Persevere Through the Trials of Life (2 Corinthians 4)
“We do not lose heart!… Therefore we do not lose heart.” (2 Corinthians 4:1, 16). Why does Paul repeat himself in the opening and end of this chapter? Because Paul had plenty of reasons for being discouraged, but he was not about to quit and he encourages the believers in Corinth to persevere also. What was it that kept Paul from quitting? What stopped him from giving up, or giving in? Paul rejoiced in knowing Jesus. And whatever your week as been like, you can too. Please turn with me to 2 Corinthians 4. Lets see what we have in Christ.
- We Have a Glorious Ministry
“Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry” (2 Corinthians 4:1). What kind of ministry? The kind described in the previous chapter:
“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)
The Call of Jesus (Mark 2:13-28)
On BBC Radio 4’s “Thought for the Day” recently, Ann Atkin’s described what happened after a family funeral. She said,
“I found myself rather pompously planning my own. I wanted to lighten de. Shakespeare’s, “No longer mourn for me…” Or Rosetti’s, “Better by far you should forget and smile…” Best of all, Donne’s, “Death be not proud”. But Shaun, my husband, preferred Dylan Thomas: “Do not go gentle into that good night; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
She conceded in her reflection that death is indeed an outrage. That is because we were not made to die. God didn’t create us to suffer such pain, to go to work one morning never to return, to kiss our children goodbye lightly, but forever because of we happened to be driving on a particular road at the wrong time or because we caught a particular flight, or we had an undiagnosed condition.
Yes, it happens all the time. Accidents happen. Tragedies strike. But it is monstrous that it should happen. We cry out, “Why”? Why her, why them, why now?
The Divinity of Jesus (Mark 2:1-12)
The song popularized by Louis Armstrong ‘What a Wonderful World’ is a beautiful song that celebrates nature: Trees of green, red roses too, they bloom for me and you; Skies of blue, clouds of white, bright blessed day and dark sacred nights. “And I think to myself, ‘What a wonderful world’”. I’m sure you have felt the same gazing over a beautiful sunrise or sunset.
It’s a song that also celebrates friendship, and above all it celebrates relationships: “Friends shake hands saying, ‘How do you do?’ What they are really saying is, ‘I love you.’” It’s a lovely song about the gifts of life: creation; friendship; falling in love. But as we saw from the pictures, there is something wrong with our world.