John 3 For God so loved…
Nicodemus was a powerful, intelligent and religious man. He came to talk with Jesus. Jesus tells him immediately that he had to be born again. This was almost too much for Nicodemus. He couldn’t get his head around the idea of becoming a baby again. But Jesus was talking about spiritual birth. When you start again with a new life. When you wake up and see that Jesus is your Lord and Saviour. Jesus goes on to say that he is going to be crucified so that this new life can begin. The reason God is doing this is simple and profound. In one of the most famous verses in the Bible...
Read MoreJohn 2:12-25 Who do you think you are?
Some people when they hear the things Christians claim, respond by asking “who do you think you are?” Do Christians have the right to make statements about what is, what should be and what will be? It’s a question of authority, and in the end it’s a question of the authority of the leader of Christianity – Jesus Christ. Does he have the right to say how things are, how they should be and how they will be? In this text the Jews were indignant when Jesus threw all the traders out of the temple. They demanded that he did a miracle to prove he had the...
Read MoreJohn 2:1-11 First Sign
John, the gospel writer carefully selects 7 signs to tell us about in his book. What we might call 7 miracles. The first sign was Jesus turning water into wine. Although of course it shows us that Jesus has the power of God, there is more to it than that. It is a signpost about his mission. The wine he creates is a sign a sign of the change to a new order – from religion, from legalism to trust in the transforming power of Jesus. We need the Power of Jesus. He has the power to transform lives just as he can transform water to wine. Jesus can replace religion that could never really make us...
Read MoreIsaiah – feel the words
We are studying Isaiah 40 to 60. You could say it’s the easy bit, with lots of references to the perfect servant Jesus, but it’s still pretty demanding: Long readings, emotionally demanding. Repetition. Isaiah is written in poetic style. It is full of grand sweeping dialogue and descriptions. It’s meant to make us feel something. We feel the grace and feel the disgrace. God is great and He hasn’t given up on His people. His people are forgetful and ungrateful. And by the way idols are nothing. Idols can’t do anything. God can do anything. So what are your...
Read MoreFascinating interview with Russell Brand
Definitely worth watching especially from about the 15 minute mark
Read MoreFascinating interview with Russell Brand
Definitely worth watching especially from about the 15 minute mark
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