Luke begins his Gospel be telling Theophilus that his purpose is “So that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught” What does he do next? Well, in our contemporary context, we would expect someone with that intent to begin to teach Theophilus some apologetics, to help him think systematically through… Continue reading Take them to Jesus and tell them stories
Tag: Jesus and the Gospels
How do we help people bring their lives into the light?
I’ve been reflecting a little more on the topic of brining our lives out into the open and into the light. Luke 8:16-18 says: 16 “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in… Continue reading How do we help people bring their lives into the light?
How do we let the preaching of God’s Word do its job?
I recently preached on Luke 8 which includes the parable of the Sower and Jesus’ follow on explanation about how parables work. The surprising thing is that when the disciples come to Jesus and ask him what the parable means, he doesn’t say something to the effect that parables are earthly stories with heavenly meaning… Continue reading How do we let the preaching of God’s Word do its job?
Jerusalem
I’m dropped off on Sunbridge Road, a little walk away from my destination. As I start walking, I see others who have parked their cars on one of the side streets. More join our procession as we get closer. Then we get onto Manningham Lane to be met by a much larger crowd still. It’s… Continue reading Jerusalem
Letting God’s Word do its work in the light
The other Sunday at church, I was preaching on Luke 8. We went for it and covered the whole chapter with its big stories and its big signs. We might wonder what those miracles in the second part of the chapter have to do with the parables at the start. Well, it struck me that… Continue reading Letting God’s Word do its work in the light
The parable of The Sower with wide angled lens on
My dad used to have an SLR camera. It was novel in those days to have a camera where the view finder looked directly down the main camera lens. It also mean that he could switch between lenses. A telescopic lens enabled him to focus in on detail in the distance, a wide angled lens… Continue reading The parable of The Sower with wide angled lens on
Are Christians meant to keep the Sabbath?
This question has divided opinion even amongst reformed evangelicals and the differences go back to the early days of the Reformation. Whilst there seems to have been a particularly “pro-Sabbatarian amongst the Puritans, reflected in the Westminster Confession, a more continental approach tended towards the view that the Sabbath pointed forwards to our eternal rest… Continue reading Are Christians meant to keep the Sabbath?
More Faith
We are focusing more and more on the final journey into Jerusalem. Jesus will have joined the pilgrimage with those going up to the festival. This gave further opportunity for miracles, teazching and of course engagement with enquirers and opponents. 26.1 Read Luke 18:1-8 Jesus tells another parable. Helpfully, Luke signposts at the start its… Continue reading More Faith
The Sabbath and us
*These are some further reflections on Luke 5:33-61-11 which I’ve added into my work on Jesus and the Gospels. Once we have talked about Jesus and the Sabbath, this raises questions about how we are meant to view the Sabbath. It is worth noting that there are disagreements within reformed and evangelical thinking over this. … Continue reading The Sabbath and us
Mustard (Faithroots on YouTube)
The latest in our “Jesus and the Gospels” series looks at Luke 17. We see links with James’ letter as we look at the danger not just of being tempted but tempting others. We see that faith is not about who has the faith or how much faith they have We discover that faith helps… Continue reading Mustard (Faithroots on YouTube)
Faithroots 