Why bother with prayer? And how should it be done? Jesus' instruction is concise yet all-encompassing, embracing the eternal purposes of God, the daily needs of his wayward children and the reality of evil. It is an invitation to intimacy between the perfect father and the imperfect, but forgiven, child.

On several occasions in the gospels, Jesus restores sight to the blind. But in John's account of the healing of a man blind from birth, 41 verses are devoted to the story and the interactions within it. Here we find not only supernatural healing, but also spiritual darkness and naked hostility.

Paul evidently cherished the Philippian church, but all was not well there. What was wrong, and what remedies did Paul propose? Here, Dick examines the salient parts of the letter and shows that both the sicknesses and their cure are applicable to the church today.

In the Old Testament, Israel failed when put to the test in the desert. By contrast, Jesus withstood Satan's temptations. In this talk, Dick examines the strategies of the devil as he seeks to wrongfoot the Son of God. He demonstrates how those same devices are deployed today, to devastating effect.

What is the primary role of the Christian pastor? The question might yield a variety of different responses today. For the definitive answer, however, we need look no further than 2 Timothy. As Paul sends final instructions to his ‘child’, his own execution imminent, priorities are set forth with unequivocal lucidity.

Dick returns again and again to 1 Corinthians 13, and for two reasons. First, because the chapter is widely misunderstood; second, because its message is of timeless importance. It would have poured cold water on the enthusiasms of some Corinthian church members, and it challenges us to reassess our priorities now.

In this succinct review of Mark's gospel, Dick identifies two major themes. As he reflects on Jesus' earthly ministry, he goes on to outline how those themes are mirrored in the priorities Jesus assigns to different aspects of his work on earth. If these are Jesus' priorities, what should ours be?

There are many valuable lessons to be learned from the 'lost and found' parables of Luke 15. But what is the most important application of the sublime parable of the prodigal son? As he considers the protagonists in the unfolding drama, Dick warns of a final tragedy to be averted.

In this pithy analysis, Dick argues that the story of Ahab's disastrous campaign to retake Ramoth Gilead is not primarily about the obvious named protagonists, but rather about the army of nameless prophets that preached false good news. They were the establishment; they were the majority; and they were fatally wrong.