It is a horrible thought to try to imagine life without someone you dearly love.
The disciples were having to get used to the prospect of life without Jesus.
There they are, sitting around the table sharing one last meal with Jesus. They listen with increasing alarm as he tells them that he must leave them. On top of that, he warns them that they can expect to be treated with terrible hostility after his departure.…
‘Daily life…is the painful reality of starvation, AIDS, and violence. There is no food on the shelves, there are no medicines in hospitals, and no one can afford to buy from the drugstores.
We have become a nation of beggars who spend more time looking for food than working. Most employees’ monthly wages would not be enough to meet their transportation budget to get to and from work.
State schools have lost almost all qualified teachers.…
Bringing good news of the redeeming Saviour, v9, the returning Lord, v8, the reigning King, v7.
The battle has been won, the long years of captivity are ended, the holy city and its temple will rise from the ruins, peace and joy and plenty will enjoyed across the land.
This was fulfilled following the decree of Cyrus in 539 BC. But how complete was that fulfilment?
Neh 9:36 tells us that the return of the exiles was not all they hoped it would be: “We are slaves today, slaves in the land you gave our forefathers.”…
On 6th June 1944 – ‘D Day’ – the Allied forces landed hundreds of thousands of troops in Normandy in France. More Allied troops had crossed from North Africa to southern Italy and were making their way northwards. At the same time the Russians were closing in on the eastern borders of Germany. The war in Europe was effectively decided. Hitler had lost too many men. He had run out of resources. There was no way he could win.…
It was the adventure of a life-time. Sure, by modern standards, Abraham’s journey from Ur of the Chaldees to Haran and on to the land of Canaan was a fairly modest undertaking. Many of us will have travelled further distances in taking our summer holidays this year. But then we have all the benefits of mechanised travel, of reliable maps, and of bridges and made-up roads. For Abraham this was a journey into the unknown, and was to turn out to be one of the most important journeys ever undertaken by anyone.…
Transition: chapter division.
Ch 1: 19f ‘His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms.’
Transformations. DIY SOS, Changing Rooms, What Not to Wear, Extreme Makeover, Life Laundry, How Clean Is Your House?, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Restoration, Trinny & Susannah Undress, Brat Camp, Ladette to Lady, Supernanny, Extreme Celebrity Detox
Home, body, diet, wardrobe, child, pet
1. Who is asking the questions?
Not the nations! – It’s God who is quizzing them, v1f.
God does allow his friends to question him (Abraham, v8, cf Gen 18; ‘Why?’, ‘How long’).
But he will not co-operate with questioning that is motivated by scepticism or idle curiosity. ‘Be silent’, v1. Cf Rom 3:19.
Apply this to apologetics (1 Pet 2:15), much of which is evidential:-
The gospel is not just a proposition to be debated
it is a summons to be believed
a command to be obeyed
The questions God asks of us are more important than the questions we might ask of God.…
V13 – ‘When they had gone’ – that same night?
Whatever happened to the gold, frankincense and myrrh?
Three places – three prophecies. Not always 1:1 prediction/fulfilment (cf. Mt 2:5/Mic 5:2); they are more like ‘patterns’.
Border about 75 miles away. Many Jews living there.
V15 – ‘And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”’ (Hos 11:1)
Hos 11:1 not a prediction, but a glance back to the Exodus.…
The church in Thessalonica – a model church in many ways, 1:3f.
There were some problems. See v11. Some of them ‘toadying up’ to the more well-to-do (Acts 17:5 hints at the cultural background).
Any vision for the church will need a way of dealing with problems like this:-
Paul had already offered a milder admonition, 1 Thess 4:11f.
‘Stepping out of line’ – military terminology.
Apostolic authority means ‘in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ’: that is, with his own authority.…
In South Africa, Nelson Mandela lies in hospital on life support. While he does so, his family are feuding over his legacy and his money.
In Egypt, just one year after that country’s first democratic elections, its prime minister is in detention. The country is in turmoil, its population sharply divided between supporters of the ex-prime minister and those who forced him from office.
In Syria, more than 90,000 people have died in 2 years of conflict.…
