On this happy day that Emma Gordon is being baptised, this passage is a dark one. But it is important to recognise that Jesus experienced the Cross in order that our sins could be washed away. In this passage, we witness Jesus experiencing the dereliction of God, ie God has left Him alone. We ask […]
We are acting out what we believe on the stage of life. Jesus helps us recognise where this stage is located, laid out before heaven.
In this passage, the Gibeonites play an unsophisticated ruse on the Israelites. We can learn lessons from what happened: The need for discernment – an open door is not always the right one. The Israelites made a a mistake – they did not pray to God before making their alliances Guard against complacency in life […]
It’s a minister’s privilege to be at someone’s deathbed when they have trust in God. In this passage we start a series in looking at Jesus’ last words at his crucifixion.
Chris Evans and Vassos on their Radio 2 programme this week were discussing the World Cup and England’s chance of winning. They said, ‘Please God let this happen, praying is okay at this moment’. People are praying. Their purpose is ‘let my team win’. We look at Paul’s plan and purpose in this passage and […]
How important do you think unity is? In any group, there are people we might not get on with. We see examples of disunity in the news, in the EU, the Cabinet. Jesus said unity was essential. It is a witness to the world that the gospel is true.
As Christians, we are to be different from other people. If we stop listening to Jesus, we won’t be different. He is the Son of God, He speaks with authority. We are not to be slaves to money or worry but slaves to God.
Small problems can cause massive damage. Paul talks about the issue in this passage. People from Jewish and Gentile backgrounds with a debit of love to each other. Then they come across a roadblock that affects their unity, over meat, the religious calendar and whether it was acceptable for them to drink wine.
Imagine a situation where if you share the message of Jesus, you will be put to death. Paul says ‘submit to the governing authorities’ and ‘overcome evil with good’. How do we do this? He also says ‘let no debt be outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another’.
We may look round and see signs of a society hostile to Christianity and Christians. The bible tells us it was the same in Jesus’ day. We are still called to love deeply and radically in an unloving world even when there is a temptation to pay back evil for evil. Love hates what is […]