The Journey Begins
Welcome to the Great 50 Days, a daily devotional that runs from Easter through to Pentecost. On here you will find the daily reflections, and resources for small groups, enabling…
Welcome to the Great 50 Days 2018
Over the next 50 days we are invited to read and reflect on scripture, to spend time in silence and prayer, to be with God, to walk with Jesus and…
Day 1 – John 20: 11-18 and Mark 16: 1-8
When asked to write a reflection for 50 Days and found that the theme was ‘a life of mission’, I thought I needed to find out a bit more about…
Day 2 – Mark 1: 16-20
By the busy shore of Lake Galilee, Jesus calls two fishermen in the middle of their daily work. He doesn’t wait until later when they have time to consider things,…
Day 3 – John 1: 43-51
As Jews, Phillip and Nathanial learnt of the one who Moses and the prophets wrote about in scripture. When Jesus invited Philip to follow Him on a journey, Philip had…
Day 4 – Luke 5: 27-32
Luke suggests that Jesus speaks with Levi after He has just healed the paralysed man: there were so many people gathered in that place that the man’s friend had to…
Day 5 – Luke 9: 1-6
In the last few days, we have been looking at the calling of the disciples when they left everything behind and followed Jesus. Today, Jesus has called them again and…
Day 6 – John 15: 1-17
We would love the mission of the Church today to be effective and successful, to be able to ‘catch’ people for Jesus as easily as an angler can catch a…
Day 7 – Acts 4: 32-35
The passage begins by telling us that the believers were of one heart and mind. They had contentment because they had faith in the Lord. The Apostles were still telling…
Day 8 – 1 John 1:1 – 2:2
Have you ever been thrown in at the deep end? Have you ever been in a situation where you have been asked to say something about your faith and how…
Day 9 – John 3: 1-21
Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. As a leading Pharisee, he wouldn’t want anyone to know that he was associating with the controversial travelling preacher and so he brought his…
Day 10 – Luke 4: 14-21
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me” (v18). As a new steward in my home church, I waited anxiously for the appointed preacher to…
Day 11 – Matthew 6: 9-14
For me, The Lord’s Prayer is something that I call upon constantly in my life as it reminds me to stay true to my beliefs and to live my life…
Day 12 – Matthew 5: 13
When I was advised to omit salt from cooking it took a while to get accustomed to but it was only when someone else, months later, cooked for me that…
Day 13 – Mark 4: 1-20
We live in an age where efficiency and productiveness are pursued with vigour. It’s right, of course, that we should not want to be wasteful with our precious resources. But…
Day 14 – Acts 3: 12-19
In verse 12 of Acts 3, we find Peter addressing some onlookers. These people have just seen Peter and John healing a lame man at the temple gate and people…
Day 15 – 1 John 3: 1-7
The writer sets the context for our passage at the end of the previous chapter when He says that we need to be ready at all times doing the things…
Day 16 – John 7: 14-18
Who do you speak for? As we live out our lives, talk to others, act in our communities, our lives speak loudly to those we meet. We are a species…
Day 17 – Matthew 13: 44-46
Our passage today is a familiar one that reminds us of our search for the pearl of great price who is Jesus. Or, for some, the treasure was stumbled upon…
Day 18 – John 8: 31-36; Galatians 5: 1
Truth can often be a hotly contested concept. Closely related to the idea of trust, it can easily assume a fundamental significance in how we view another person. We are…
Day 19 – Genesis 12: 1-3
Genesis tells the story of God’s mission to steer humans, with whom He had shared His world into being the sort of people He wanted them to be. But having…
Day 20 – Exodus 3: 1-6
Are you a person who lives for adventure, do you need to see what is around the next bend on a mountain walk despite the gradient? Well, join Moses, who…
Day 21 – Esther 4: 6-16
At Guide camp, my patrol leader asked me to go and invite one of the leaders – our favourite one! – to come to our midnight feast. To me this…
Day 22 – Acts 4: 5-26
“I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light.” John…
Day 23 – Jonah 1: 1-3
Some time ago a much respected minister led a weekend workshop at our church based on the Holy Spirit. On the Saturday evening he said to me, “Steve, I think…
Day 24 – Micah 6: 6-8
Have you heard the old story of the two shoe salesmen, sent by their company to Africa to set up new outlets? Forgive me if you have! One salesman sent…
Day 25 – Psalm 98
I am a Christian from Pakistan. I never knew that God will use me as an ordained minister in the Church of England. God chose people from all over the…
Day 26 – Malachi 1: 1-11
The people of Israel had been chosen as a source of blessing for the whole world, and in the opening verses of today’s reading God reminds His people of this…
Day 27 – 1 Samuel 3: 8-10
Reflecting on the bible passage 1 Samuel 3:8-10: It is the calling of the Lord. To first understand what God has to say to us we need to believe by…
Day 28 – 1 John 4: 7-12
God is Love The whole of humanity is longing and searching for love. Everyone desires to be loved and to have someone to love in return. Often the ‘love’ people…
Week 5 – How Does My Faith Show In My Everyday Life?
An Invitation to stillness “Let Your good Spirit lead me” (Psalm 143: 10) We are the people of God We are called to be his disciples We are…
Day 29 – Acts 8: 26-40
Elizabeth Alexander’s poem “I Believe” ends with the words “and are we not of interest to each other?” This has been a source of much reflection over the last months…
Day 30 – Luke 11: 33-36
‘To know Christ and make Him known.’ That’s the aim of the World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women. For something like twenty-five years I’ve had close involvement with,…
Day 31 – Matthew 7: 24-29
I can struggle with this passage, especially in terms of mission…because very often faith and mission, are tentative, easily shaken, tiny like a spark, sometimes not even that, but a…
Day 32 – John 4: 28-30; 39-42
Much has been written about the woman at the well; mainly speculation, as we know very little fact. She is often presented as a woman shunned by her community because…
Day 33 – John 21: 15-19
Jesus asks us to follow Him. He asks us to go somewhere new, maybe somewhere challenging. But before we set off on that journey, He asks us: “Do you love…
Week 5 – A Story Worth Sharing…
“Would you lead Bible Study on Friday at 5pm?” I was asked at short notice near the end of a busy week of preparing courses, writing devotional material and teaching…
Day 34 – Romans 10: 5-15
‘Would you like to join us for a coffee, it’s really cold out today?’ I asked the men from one of the motorcycle groups who meet down by the harbour.…
Day 35 – John 15: 9-17
“Fruit that will last”: what a strange picture. In itself fruit doesn’t last: producing more of the species involves the death in some way of the fruit itself: rotting away,…
Week 6 – Why Do I Share My Faith?
An Invitation to stillness “How Precious to Me Are Your Thoughts O God” (Psalm 139: 17) The invitation is given to every human being To enter into the…
Day 36 – Acts 10: 44-48
The calling to a specific mission is very personal, that nudge and word from God comes when least expected but requires an immediate response. A time of prayer and planning,…
Day 37 – 1 Corinthians 1: 26-31
We have a tendency, as human beings, to not like certain things and one of them is someone who boasts about being good at something. We prefer to see a…
Day 38 – 2 Corinthians 4: 1-7
In a world that focuses so much on the I or we it can be tempting in our mission to start with I or we, today’s reading reminds us that…
Day 39 – 2 Corinthians 5: 14-21
Aged about nine I would be sent by my mother the half-mile into town to shop. I would receive a clear list of instructions as to which shops to go…
Day 40 Ascension Day – Luke 24: 44-53
The risen Jesus was teaching His disciples. He wanted them to be ready for the next part of the adventure of faith. And what an adventure it was to be! …
Day 41 – 1 Peter 3: 8-16
Peter’s letters were written to young Christians who were exploring their new-found faith. How should they live now? What changes were expected of a follower of Christ? These were critical…
Day 42 – Mark 5: 18-20
St. Mark records for us that Jesus was leaving (v18). The man, no longer ‘legion’, understandably has had his life transformed by his encounter with Jesus and naturally wants to…
Day 43 – John 17: 6-19
As we look now towards the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, we read about Jesus praying as He prepares for the end of His earthly ministry and for…
Day 44 – Acts 21:40 – 22:21
I must admit when I saw the passage I had been asked to reflect on, the conversion of Paul from Acts, my heart sank! I am sure there is many…
Day 46 – Acts 18: 24-28
One of the amazing things about the Bible is the amount that we can learn from just a few words. Today’s reading is fairly short but we can find out…