How do we engage people and offer them help as they live and work in different areas. Their frontline, the point at which they interact with their neighbours, work colleagues, friends, even relatives and family will be different for each person; and in some cases different each day. We are not trying to apply biblical texts to the lives that people are experiencing, but we are trying to offer them access to the world of the Bible – not so much the ancient world of dusty roads and the rest, but the wild biblical world where God is at work and His people are willing to live faithfully for Him. But for all of us there is a sense that for us to live with this big picture feeding our imagination, we need to offer our lives so that we live worthily of the calling – the calling that is embraced by the Lordship of Jesus over every area of creation, the Lordship that redeems, renews, recreates and reconciles.
2 Sam. 12:1-13. Speaking out about truth and justice needs wisdom and a right motivation. It’s easy simply to speak out of anger or resentment or self-interest. In most contexts, to speak up is potentially costly because you are calling someone on their actions. This is what being ‘a mouthpiece for truth and justice’ means […]
Matthew 5: 13-16. The call to the Old Testament people of God had always been that they were to be those who would represent God’s plan for the whole world. They would be different not for the sake of difference, but that they might reveal God’s plan for the whole world. It’s no surprise that […]
Genesis 1-2, Col 3.22-4.1. Working is part of being created, it’s part of why we are as we are, and that although we live in a frustrated and fallen world that affects everything we are involved in, we still can work in a way that brings glory to God. We were created to work – […]
Luke 10:25-37. In a context of being asked what God demands of us, Jesus points to the central action of lives that are shaped by acts of love – love towards God and love towards the people around us, our neighbours. ‘Go and do likewise’ presumably means go and show the same mercy to those […]
Galatians 5: 13-26. Paul’s concern for the Galatians is that they don’t allow themselves to get side-tracked from their faith in Jesus. They were in danger of listening to those who suggested that Jesus was great and His death and resurrection were important – if only they stuck with the Jewish practice of the law […]
Genesis 1:24-31, Colossians 1:1-20. This passage is such a highpoint of Paul’s writing. It has a majestic view of Jesus, the church and God’s plans for the whole world. It is a definite mountain top moment in the letter. Paul begins by reminding them that they have been brought out of one way of life […]