Matthew 28:16-20, Luke 15:1-7 We all talk about the things that motivate and inspire us, drive and energise us. Nothing will stop us or put us off talking about those things. In this week’s film one person says: “When I talk about Jesus, I feel like I’m involved with something weighty, something that really matters”. […]
Mark 8: 27-30; Luke 9:18-27. So often we assume which people we know will want to talk about Jesus, and which ones won’t. But how can we know that? Our own assumptions can come out of our pre-conceived ideas, judgements, and prejudices, but when it comes to talking about Jesus, most of the time our […]
Matthew 5:1-12; 25:31-46. We do not need to set about replicating the exact examples of missional action in our communities that we heard about last week, unless God calls us into those kinds of things. God calls, empowers, and equips each church, each group of followers of Jesus, to build His kingdom in the ways […]
Revelation 4 and 5. “What more can we see about Jesus that will help us to live [steadfastly and resolutely] and why do we even need to bother at all? Surely by now we know how to answer that question! Revelation chapters 4 and 5 carefully set out a description of heaven that John saw […]
1 Thessalonians 4:13 – 5:24. The Thessalonian church had the reputation of having sat down waiting for Christ’s imminent return, thinking that they had nothing more to do. They really could have done with the encouragement of Hebrews 12 and 13, especially Hebrews 12:2, to keep focused on all that Jesus had given to them, […]
Luke 24: 13 – 35. The phrase, “You had to be there” is informative – it flags up that if only we had been present at the time, then we would be able to fully appreciate what happened. At the same time, that’s frustrating – maybe if we’d stayed around for a bit longer then […]
Matthew 27:1-66, 28:1-20. The darkness of the crucifixion of Jesus (Matthew 27), and the discovery of the empty tomb on that first Easter Sunday (Matthew 28), call into question why the writer of the letter to the Hebrews claimed that through Jesus we are “heirs of what was promised” and so “have this hope as […]
Matthew 21:1-11; 24 & 25. All of the gospel writers (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John) record their accounts of Jesus coming into Jerusalem in ways that have led biblical translators and scholars to use the heading “The Triumphal Entry” (NIV). That is a very celebratory statement, and Hebrews has certainly shown us that there is […]
Hebrews 13: 1-25. The final chapter of Hebrews is very practical and everything that is to be perused in life flows out of this starting point: “Keep on loving each other” (13:1). When we are able to do that, having responded to Christ’s love for us, we will be welcoming to all, compassionate towards those […]
Hebrews 10:19 to 11:40. We are now just over two thirds of the way through the letter to the Hebrews, and so far, all of the attention has rightly been on Jesus. Now, as the letter begins to come to a close, the attention turns to the response that the Hebrews need to make, and […]