Acts 2:42-47; 4:23-37; Isaiah 58:1-14. The place of generous giving in the early church is one that we focus on so readily! One preacher (Paul Scanlon) describes the first three words of Acts 2:42 as “the three most powerful words ever written about the early church; at the same time they are perhaps the 3 […]
Acts 5:12-39; Acts 8:1-8; Acts 17; Acts 25 We are called to be the presence of Jesus in the world around us, to serve the poor, the broken, the vulnerable and the lost (Acts 25). Whilst our Covid-19 lockdown has perhaps taught us new ways of staying connected with people, we also need to be […]
Acts 1:12-26. We can’t ignore or fail to notice the central place of prayer in the early church – it’s mentioned in almost all of the 28 chapters in Acts! Justin Welby once stated that “When we are retuned in prayer we are transformed so that we can transform the world”. That’s the purpose and […]
John 20: 19-31; Luke 24:13-49. Some of the disciples were quicker than others to believe and embrace the glory of Jesus’ resurrection. What made the difference was their personal encounters with their risen Lord and Saviour. Once they had experienced Jesus personally, faith was strengthened through the ways in which Jesus proved Himself to be […]
John 12: 12-19. As Jesus arrived in Jerusalem to begin His final journey to the cross, there were divided opinions in the crowd. These ranged from those who were genuinely welcoming their Messiah for who He truly was, to those who were anticipating more of a regular / earthly perspective of His kingship, and on […]
John 10: 14-18. We tend to be more willing to listen, and so will happily pay more attention, when we know that the voice we are hearing carries some level of authority. Not “authority” in terms of enforcing rules, so much as “authority” in terms of the voice of a person who we can easily […]
John 10: 11-13. For Jesus to say “I am the Good Shepherd” He was taking direct responsibility for the sheep as their owner – they belong to Him. He sets that alongside the example of the shepherd who was just hired to do a job – they may be known by the sheep who are […]
Obadiah. The central message of Obadiah is a warning against living for ourselves, caught up in our own self-style security and protection. The message is focused on Edom’s confidence in themselves and the strategic location of their territory. They felt good about themselves and looked down on everyone else. Their self-seeking ways gave no space […]
Matthew 6:5-8; Colossians 4:2; Ephesians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-17. As we look back on our teaching series, we need to remember that this isn’t a “pick and mix” list of different aspects of prayer, where we can just choose the things we like or find easiest, and ignore the ones that feel harder! For both […]
1 Kings 19: 1-18. A sign of humility is a willingness to listen. Elijah had essentially run away to hide, feeling somewhat disgruntled that he had been working zealously for the Lord, but was now feeling got at by those around him. The Lord sought him out and asked Elijah to ready himself for a […]