God is my provider and protector. I never run short. His provision is inexhaustible and overflowing. He has brought me to a place of peace and plenty. He refreshes and renews me. I find strength in him alone. He leads down the exact path he planned and prepared for me All the glory goes to… Continue reading Psalm 23 -a reflective paraphrase
Category: Bible Study
If Sunday is a meal or feast then ….
On the night he was betrayed, Jesus sat down with his disciples to share the Passover meal. At that meal, he insisted not only that he was the host at the meal but that he was the meal itself. Jesus was the new Passover. This was significant for his hearers. It would have been obvious… Continue reading If Sunday is a meal or feast then ….
“This is my body” … what exactly do we eat at communion?
I want to return to something we looked at a bit earlier this week. What was it that Jesus said at the last supper and what does this mean for when we take communion today? Mark 14:22-25 reports: 22 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave… Continue reading “This is my body” … what exactly do we eat at communion?
What was Jesus guilty of?
When talking about Jesus’ trial, we often emphasise the kangaroo nature of the court that met at night and the inability of his accusers to agree as they brought their false accusations. However, there was an accusation that stuck and was actually true. Jesus was executed for a very specific thing and that charge was… Continue reading What was Jesus guilty of?
Not me
I mentioned the other Sunday when talking about the response of the crowd at Pentecost, that we like to think, with the benefit of hindsight that we would be among the believing faithful. However, I suspect that most of us fear that if we had been there, that we’d actually be among those confused, bewildered… Continue reading Not me
For me it was in the garden
You know that you are about to face the darkest hour of your life, you are about to be let down by friends and deserted. You know that one of them will even go so far as to turn against you even though you have persistently showed love to them. What are you doing? If… Continue reading For me it was in the garden
In his name
Quite a few worship songs talk about “the name of Jesus.” Classics include: “There is power in the name of Jesus” “There is a name, who reigns without contention …” “What a wonderful;/beautiful/powerful name it is.” “I speak Jesus” There is a risk with these kinds of song lyrics that they could be perceived superstitiously… Continue reading In his name
A meal with Jesus
Throughout the Gospels, some of the great encounters with Jesus happen at mealtime. We are coming to the close of Mark’s Gospel and the last meal in his account is no ordinary supper. Jesus and his disciples are in Jerusalem for the Passover. The Passover meal commemorated the night when the people of Israel prepared… Continue reading A meal with Jesus
Extravagent worship
The day of Jesus’ betrayal was getting closer and the Passover festival was only a couple of days away. We saw back in Mark 12 that Jesus’ opponents were becoming more and more agitated and yet they still did not know how to handle him. They continued to plot but they needed a pretext and… Continue reading Extravagent worship
Betrayed, Denied, Accused (Mark 14)
We are now reaching the culmination of the Gospel. Jesus is about to be betrayed and handed over to death. The leaders are hesitant, not wanting to cause a disturbance during the festival, and yet the focus on Passover is exactly the time when God has planned these events to come to pass (14:1-2) It… Continue reading Betrayed, Denied, Accused (Mark 14)
Faithroots 