Much of Jesus’ teaching was prompted by problems posed by his friends or his enemies.
Here’s a list, drawn from Mark’s Gospel:-
Mk 2:7 – Who can forgive sins?
Mk 2:16 – Why does Jesus associate with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?
Mk 2:18 – Why don’t the disciples fast?
Mk 2:24 – Why are his disciples doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?
Mk 3:22 – How does Jesus cast out demons?
Mk 6:2f – What is the source of Jesus’ power?…
It is a well-worn cliche to attempt to separate the sin from the sinner, and to say that God hates the former, but loves the latter.
As with most cliches, there is an important measure of truth here. We can certainly say that God hates the sin, and yet loves them in the sense that he reaches out to the worst of sinners with the offer of grace and forgiveness.
But the cliche is still only a half-truth. …
Jesus is rightly regarded as a master-teacher. But what would it mean for preachers today to follow his example?
1. Tell stories
Jesus told stories based on everyday life, often in the form of parables. Stories not only make teaching more memorable, but also enable the truth to penetrate further into the hearers’ minds and hearts.
Jesus could have simply said: “God loves you so much that He will welcome you back to Him no matter how far you have wandered away.” …
In a book first published in 1920, Herman Harrell Horne writes: ‘It is essential in all effective teaching that points of contact be established between teacher and taught.’ In John 1:35-51, Horne notes that:-
1. Jesus walked where his presence could be noted by the Baptist.
2. He used his eyes. He “observed” Andrew and John coming after him, he “gazed” at Simon, he “saw” Nathanael approaching, and had previously “seen” under that fig tree in meditation, like Buddha under the Bo tree.…
[This is a repost of something I wrote in February 2008. It kept attracting spam comments, so let’s see if re-locating it throws the spammers off the trail.]
Many psychologists emphasise the healing power of forgiveness. Professor Aaron Lazare, Dean of the University of Massachusetts medical school, however, has written a book called On Apology. As reported at the time in The Independent, 28/12/04, Lazare says that saying sorry has the power ‘to heal humiliations, free the mind from deep-seated guilt, remove the desire for vengeance, and restore broken relationships.…
[Notes of a sermon originally preached in 2003]
Text: Exodus 8:20-9:35, esp. 9:13-35.
We read it in the Bible, we recite it in our creed, we sing it in our songs and hymns, we say it in our prayers. But do we really believe it? Is God really powerful?
‘Allies meet for crisis summit’ – The leaders of the US, UK and Spain hold an emergency summit on Iraq as final preparations are made for war.…
Why, and how, did God strike down all the firstborn in Egypt? Why, and how, did he spare the Israelites? Do you think that today we should still regard God as both a Judge and a Liberator?
In what ways do you think that the Passover gives us a picture of how God saves us through Jesus?
According to Exodus 12:14, ‘remembering’ is very important. In what ways do we, and could we, commemorate what God has done in the past?…
How should the Greek word makarios be translated in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3ff)? It is tempting to use the more contemporary word ‘happy’. But (writes Scott McKnight), this is problematic:-
…“Happiness” is about inner contentedness and material flourishing. That is, many today think it is a right not only to have life but to have a good life. Here are several suggestions now about what happiness means.
1. Primarily happiness is understood as a subjective “feeling good about oneself and one’s life and one’s situation.”
I’m been giving some thought to the subject of ‘undesigned coincidences’ in the Bible. One of the pioneers of this field of exploration was J.J. Blunt, in his book Undesigned Coincidences in the Writings both of the Old and New Testaments. (published 1847; enlarged edition 1869)
Blunt presented evidence that suggested to him the possibility of a gathered people of God before the time of Moses.
Calum Miller summarises:-
Suggestion that there was an early proto-church [Blunt calls it a ‘Patriarchal church’] despite this never being mentioned:
a.…
(a) Many of us tend to view our own conversion to Christ in contrast to Paul’s: ‘Of course,’ we say, ‘I never had a Damascus Road experience.’ What aspects of Paul’s experience as recorded here are unusual, and what aspects would be true of any genuine conversion to Christ?
(b) In the light of what you know about Paul generally from the New Testament, what would you say he was converted from, and converted to? And what would you say about yourself in this regard?…
