“They are grieving as if they have no God!”
These were the words of a pastor, describing the reaction of Christians soon after a hotel fire had killed over seventy people – mostly pastors and lay workers – in Manila.
A wife, standing at the graveside of her recently-deceased husband, is commended for ‘being strong’, because she is not weeping.
A Christian asked for prayer for success in an examination which would qualify her for a certain job. …
Transgender people believe that their gender identity does not match their biological sex. The spotlight is now very much on the extension of human rights to this group of people. Recently, the debate in the US has been around whether people be allowed to use the public bathroom of their choice.
As Trevin Wax observes:- ‘the unmooring of “gender identity” from “biological sex” leads to a number of unresolved questions, as well as troubling inconsistencies among advocates of transgender rights.’…
What the Exodus story means for us will depend to a large extent on our own point of view. John Goldingay discusses a number of ‘lenses’ through which Exodus has been, and continues to be, seen.
1. Pietism. The pietist ‘lens’ is concern with my personal relationship with God. Biblical stories then become ‘lessons’ or templates for how God deals with us today. In typical Goldingay fashion, however, there is a reluctance to affirm that the story of Moses and exodus prefigure God’s saving work in Christ. …
Romans 13:1-7
I wonder how many of us muttered, ‘Thanks be to God’ through gritted teeth after this passage was read? Thanks be to God for politicians and taxes? You must be joking!
1. Which is more important: physical healing, or the forgiveness of sins? Why? And why do you think the two are linked together on this occasion?
2. Surely, healing and forgiveness are good things? So why do you think the Jewish authorities we so resentful of what Jesus did?
3. In what ways can we follow in Jesus’ footsteps by bringing God’s healing and forgiveness to others?…
(a) Jesus’ miracles are often referred to in John’s Gospel as ‘signs’. Why do you think this might be? If this miracle is a ‘sign’, then what does it point to?
(b) Jesus transforms something ordinary (water) into something special (good wine). In what ways have you seen, or would you like to see, Jesus’ transforming power in your own life and relationships?
…
The Triumphal Entry
(a) Looking back over Mark’s Gospel, what evidence can you see that Jesus has been expecting for a long time to end up in Jerusalem?
(b) There is something distinctly kingly about our Lord’s ‘triumphal entry’ into Jerusalem. But in what ways is this entry different from what would have been expected of an earthly ruler?
(c) On Palm Sunday, the crowd sang “Hosanna!” Just a few days later, they shouted “Crucify him!”…
1. In Luke 2:19 we read that ‘Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.’ How do you think Luke knew that?
2. What, in particular in this passage, do you think that Mary would have really ‘treasured’ and ‘pondered’?
3. Which aspects of the story of Jesus’ birth are most likely to be neglected in the way that Christmas is celebrated today?
God might have been expected to announce the birth of his Son with a flourish: but he choose otherwise.…
1. What hints are there in this passage of what Paul’s feelings were at the time that he wrote this? What feelings do these truths arouse in you?
2. Paul regards himself as a ‘prisoner of Christ Jesus’ for the sake of others (verse 1). What would we be willing to do, or to give up, for the sake of those we seek to serve?
3. Why did Paul regard himself as ‘less than the least of all God’s people’ (verse 8)?…
