In Matthew 9, Jesus decided to eat at a party with some less-than-respectable people, the friends of Matthew, who had become his disciple. An implication of this is that Christians should not restrict our meals and friendships to other Christians; we need to be prepared to spend time with people who are not believers. I …
It is Christmas. Again. There are some that love tradition, doing the same things in the same ways every year. Even if you don’t love this kind of thing, you cannot avoid it. The supermarkets are full of the same music, the decorations are dusted off and put up, and various meals are organised for …
There is a pattern that repeats in the lives of so many people once they become a Christian. Before someone comes to know Jesus, commonly their families are not Christian, and all of their friends are not Christian. Now, their lives have changed in many ways. They become passionate about the Bible and church and …
Demons can probably get a better score on a theology test compared to most Christians. That’s a scary thought, isn’t it? We see it in Matthew 8. When Jesus comes across a man afflicted by demons, the demons know who Jesus is, they recognise his authority over them, and they know what his mission is …
As we read the Old Testament, we see many descriptions of idolatry. Idolatry is when you worship something instead of God. The most common idols the Old Testament people of God worshipped were the gods of the Canaanites, Baal and Asherah, and the gods of surrounding nations like the stars from Babylon and Persia. We …
I serve a church that is made up, for the most part, from migrants. All Nations Presbyterian Church is a church consisting of a wide range of people, the majority of which grew up in another part of the world. This is a great blessing and gives our church a flavour, I like to think, …
Idolatry is a major theme in the Bible. To worship an idol means to have something other than the true God as the most important thing to you. We see warnings against it at the start of the 10 commandments in Exodus 20, we see Isaiah mocking the whole idea in Isaiah 44, and we …
By all accounts, Kanye West has become a Christian. It’s the main topic of Christian websites and blogs, and a great many sites that are not Christian. It’s a big story. One of the world’s most popular entertainers with a massive influence on culture just released an album entitled ‘Jesus is King’. He is happy …
In the ancient world, pagan worship meant lots of sacrifices to your favourite god. If you were going on a sea journey, you would pray and sacrifice to the god of the sea, and in return, you would hope that he would keep you safe. If you wanted a baby, you would pray to the …
In a recent sermon on Isaiah 33, the main point was that we should not put all our reliance on earthly solutions to earthly problems. Judah was facing a military problem, and they sought a military solution by calling on Egypt to help them. What they did not do is pray, seek the prophet, or …