Faithroots

Death and Resurrection

Here’s the Faithroots Easter Podcast Audio Video

Were the Palm Sunday and Good Friday crowds completely different?

One of the questions thrown up by the Easter week narrative is how could the crowds so quickly have turned on Jesus? How is it possible that those who on the previous Sunday were shouting “hosanna” were by Friday shouting “crucify”? One possibly, strongly favoured by commentators is that there were two different crowds. Those… Continue reading Were the Palm Sunday and Good Friday crowds completely different?

It’s not the opponents of the refugee scheme that are howling

I was not going to add anything new here on the UK government’s announcement on Thursday regarding asylum seekers. I’ve already written before about offshore processing, why it’s a bad idea and why it doesn’t deal with the crisis. However, today has been a day for the tabloid press to lower its game even further… Continue reading It’s not the opponents of the refugee scheme that are howling

Crucified (Matthew 27:32-66)

For Starters How do you react if/when people mock you/are mean to you? A Look at the Text Read v 32-44. Can you identify 5 different types of person in this section and how they each respond to Jesus? What happens when Jesus cries out/shouts (v45-56) How is Jesus buried? (v57-61) What do the priests… Continue reading Crucified (Matthew 27:32-66)

Gethsemane

For Good Friday, here’s a little Bible study, formally used at our old Sunday Night Church. I thought this might be a useful thing for people wanting something to work through reflectively. I’ll also be sharing a study on the crucifixion For Starters Have you ever made a New Year’s Resolution or similar commitment/promise? What… Continue reading Gethsemane

To see the King of Heaven Fall… (Gethsemane)

Here’s a beautiful reflective hymn that takes us to the point of trial in the Garden of Gethsemane before Christ’s betrayal

Why you shouldn’t get upset when the celebrity professor tweets

I’m going to make a prediction. At some point over this weekend a minor celebrity secularist, probably someone holding a professorship in the public communication of science or suchlike will tweet something mildly offensive and ignorant about Christians and the Gospel’s claims about Jesus’ death and resurrection. This will be followed by several responses from… Continue reading Why you shouldn’t get upset when the celebrity professor tweets

Cross focused praise

Early this week I shared my “Easter Sunday” playlist. Here’s a selection of songs I’ve used in Maunday Thursday and Good Friday worship over the years. I hope this will be helpful to anyone looking for something reflective over the next few days. Once again there’s a mix of traditional and contemporary songs. Please let… Continue reading Cross focused praise

Were the Sunaks’ tax arrangements that big a deal?

The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, has been under pressure because it recently emerged that his wife holds “non-dom” status and so has not been paying tax here on her income in India and elsewhere. The normal expectation is that you do have to pay tax here in the UK even from overseas. … Continue reading Were the Sunaks’ tax arrangements that big a deal?

Don’t let your church try to rebuild Babel

I’ve shared a couple of articles over the past few days about giving space to grow and permission to grow to a church. However, I want to spend a bit of time here focusing on one of the downsides and risks with a focus on growing one single congregation. In Genesis 11, the descendants of… Continue reading Don’t let your church try to rebuild Babel