THE STORY OF JESUS: 1 Thessalonians 1-3 “For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you…” (1 Thessalonians 1:4-5) Two days ago we saw how we are chosen for a purpose, to be God’s missionaries. Here Paul affirms how he knows God has chosen the Thessalonians like this (1:4-10). He knows because of how…
Spread the good word!
THE STORY OF JESUS: Acts 13:49-52 “The word of the Lord spread through the whole region.” (Acts 13:49) How well do you know the word of the Lord? If you are like most christians, you think I mean the bible. But you can know the bible inside out, and not know the word of the Lord. For…
Chosen… for a purpose!
THE STORY OF JESUS: Acts 13:42-48 “All who were appointed for eternal life believed.” (Acts 13:48) In Romans 11 Paul explains how God uses Jewish unbelief to reach the Gentiles. He explains that it is because of their unbelief,not God’s rejection; and this can change. “Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! ……
Living with the hope of life!
THE STORY OF JESUS: Acts 13:32-41 “God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay.” (Acts 13:34) ‘Change and decay in all around I see’ (from the hymn, Abide With Me). This is why Paul sees the resurrection of Jesus as the good news. Humanity, and all creation, is under the…
To make us into little Christs!
“The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became Man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole…
Would I recognize Jesus?
THE STORY OF JESUS: Acts 13:26-31 “The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus…” (Acts 13:27) This ought to shock us, how could God’s people not recognize the messiah? The one that they had been waiting centuries for, waiting desperately. Their whole history was moving towards this great moment, and they didn’t see it….
The echo of His love!
THE STORY OF JESUS: Psalm 136 “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1) Repeat after me, ‘His love endures forever’. If the message doesn’t sink in the first time, how about 26 times? How does He love us, let us count the ways: 1,2,3… If we really understood how…
Taking down the walls!
THE STORY OF JESUS: Philemon 1 “No longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother…” (Philemon 1:16) Jesus changes the way we relate to each other. Our world likes to divide people into categories and statuses. Everyone has their place in the caste system (even if we deny there is one). You…
A passion for being and doing good!
THE STORY OF JESUS: Titus 1-3 “To purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” (Titus 2:14) We are not only saved FROM sin, we are saved FOR goodness. Paul is stressing to Titus that Jesus’s disciples are to be eager to do good. He is concerned about those…
Not the Saviour!
THE STORY OF JESUS: Acts 13:13-25 “I am not the one you are looking for.” (Acts 13:25) Paul is quoting John the Baptist, stressing that he is not the Messiah. He is preaching Jesus, he is not preaching himself. This is something that we all need to remember. Our job is to speak well about Jesus, to…