Everyone wants to express their opinion. Everyone wants to get their views across. We want to be heard and valued and noticed. All of this is perfectly natural. What has become less natural is to listen. To really listen. It is incredibly difficult to listen well to someone else. There are two broad reasons why …
The Bible has a storyline to it. It is not like a news website where you choose the articles you want to read and the order doesn’t matter. The order of the Bible does matter. It is more like a novel than a dictionary, a building storyline of God with his people that develops over …
The Jewish people have always valued the law of Moses very highly. It is seen as eternal and perfect, the guide for how we are to honour God. This appreciation for the law can logically lead people to think that simply having the rules will make us better people. After all, if we have God’s …
Easter time is often a full time for people, whether you are Christian or not. In Australia, it is the only four-day weekend on the annual calendar. It often falls near school holidays as well so those with children have a change of pace. Many have family gatherings or a weekend away, and Christian people …
There was a major public disagreement in the church in Antioch in Galatians 2. Peter, who had previously eaten meals with the Christian Gentiles in the church, withdrew because of the opinions of a part of the Jewish church community. Paul confronted him publicly about this because it was splitting the church and not showing …
Paul often refers to the Old Testament in his letters, and he uses a key verse from Genesis at key points in his argument in both Romans and Galatians. It is Genesis 15:6. Let’s have a look at this verse in its original context: After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram …
I have heard people say that they don’t feel that they feel connected to the local church family that they go to because there is no-one there who is like them. Perhaps this could be said by a young person in a church mainly populated by middle-aged or older believers. Perhaps this could be said …
If you asked someone who was not a Christian to describe what Christians are like to you, you would get a range of answers. On the negative side, some might say that we are hypocrites or bigots or judgemental. On the more positive side, others might say that Christians tend to nice or friendly or …
All Christians and churches are keen to see people become Christians. We plan and pray for evangelism. We get trained in basic gospel outlines to help people understand who Jesus is and why they should care. And we celebrate when someone professes faith or is baptised. That’s all great! Yet let’s think about the next …
The instruction in Colossians 3:5 is a quite unusual one to our ears. We are to put what is earthly to death. When those words turn up in other places in the Bible, they usually mean what they literally say, to kill something or someone. But here the idea is not literal but is just …