Hearing the Holy Spirit

At our Life Group this week, we picked up on the theme of God sending the Holy Spirit from Sunday’s service.  We focused in on these words from Acts 2:17-18 where Peter quotes the prophet Joel:    ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.Your sons and daughters will prophesy.    Your young men will see visions,    and… Continue reading Hearing the Holy Spirit

Warning … Danger! What was going on with Ananias and Saphira?

It’s one of the most shocking and disturbing events in the New Testament. Ananias and Saphira, two early Christians turn up to make a donation to the Jerusalem church coffers, neither return home alive. They are struck dead by the Holy Spirit. What is going on there?  At one end of the spectrum are those… Continue reading Warning … Danger! What was going on with Ananias and Saphira?

When the Holy Spirit breaks in

In Acts 2, when is seeking to explain what has happened, he quotes from the prophet Joel: ‘In the last days,’ God says,    ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.Your sons and daughters will prophesy.    Your young men will see visions,    and your old men will dream dreams.18 In those days I will pour out my Spirit    even… Continue reading When the Holy Spirit breaks in

What do you do with difficult Bible passages?

Our church have been working through Mark’s Gospel both in our Sunday morning services and at our midweek life group.  Most of Mark feels like plain sailing (well, there is the occasional storm). However, there are a couple of more challenging texts. I suspect that the ones that stand out are Mark 10 which raises… Continue reading What do you do with difficult Bible passages?

Twenty-one

If you’ve been following along with Faithroots over the past few months, you’ll have got used to reading quite a few articles linked to Mark’s Gospel.  That’s because I’ve been linking in the day to day articles with the teaching programme that our church are currently following. However, once a month, we take a break… Continue reading Twenty-one

How do you respond when God shakes your world?

Today at church we were looking at “The Birthday of the Church.”  You might think we are a bit out of season for Pentecost but we’ve been working through the big story of the Bible at our monthly “all-age-services”.  As you may recall, there were different responses to the events as people heard God’s name… Continue reading How do you respond when God shakes your world?

Are you ready?

Mark 13 takes us to two questions. There’s the immediate question from the disciples is simple enough “when will the destruction of the Temple happen?” The second arises out of it and moves beyond one “mini-world-end” to the greater end of the world event when Jesus will return.  Jesus addresses this too. Read Mark 13:24-37… Continue reading Are you ready?

The Generation that will not pass away

Mark 13:30 has provoked plenty of debate. What does Jesus mean when he says that “This generation will not pass away?”  It appears at first sight that he has been asked about when the world will end and he’s answered that “this generation”, those standing in front of him will be alive to see the… Continue reading The Generation that will not pass away

What Was The Abomination of Desolation?

In Mark 13:14, Jesus warns his followers that when they see “the abomination of desolation” then they should get far away from Jerusalem.    They were to make a run for it.  What was that “abomination”.  The phrase conveys the idea of something or someone doing something that is so terrible, so appalling that it causes… Continue reading What Was The Abomination of Desolation?

Will all Israel be saved?

Romans 11:25-26 says: 25 I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters,[g] so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ. 26 And so all Israel will be saved.  What does it mean… Continue reading Will all Israel be saved?