Jesus and the future of Israel

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Did Jesus predict the return of Israel to their own land?  R.T. France replies that when our Lord alluded to Old Testament predictions of such a return, he applies them not to the Jewish nation, but rather to the people of God gathered from all nations.

Matthew 8:11-12 uses the language of Ps 107:3; Isa 43:5-6; 49:12 (which speak of the return of the exiled Jews to their land) and applies it to the gathering of Gentiles into God’s kingdom, even declaring that the (Jewish) sons of the kingdom will be excluded.…

Reading Hosea 11 with Islam in mind

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Isa Glaser suggests that the book of Hosea is interesting to read with Islam in mind because of (a) its critique of idolatry, (b) its scandalous sexual imagery, and (c) its even more scandalous record of a prophet being called to marry a prostitute.

In Islamic teaching, a prophet is kept from major sin, and it would be shameful for a man to take back an adulterous wife.  Hosea 11 is about about the scandal of God taking back of adulterous Israel.…

To death…and beyond

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Commenting on Psalm 6:5, Derek Kidner provides an excellent summary of Old Testament teaching on ‘sheol’ (the grave; the abode of the dead) and what lies beyond:-

Sheol can be pictured in a number of ways: chiefly as a vast sepulchral cavern (cf. Ezek. 32:18–32) or stronghold (Pss 9:13; 107:18; Matt. 16:18); but also as a dark wasteland (Job 10:22) or as a beast of prey (e.g. Isa. 5:14; Jon. 2:2; Hab. 2:5). This is not definitive language, but poetic and evocative; and it is matched by various phrases that highlight the tragedy of death as that which silences a man’s worship (as here; cf 30:9; 88:10f.;

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50 politically incorrect thoughts for men – 2

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11. Male obligations have been re-branded as “privileges”.  The male obligation to provide for his wife and children is now regarded as a privilege.  No-one has bothered to ask men whether they would prefer to go out and work in an office, mine or factory, rather than spend more time with the family.  But if a woman thinks she would be more fulfilled by going out to work, rather than staying at home, she should have the choice.  …

50 politically incorrect thoughts for men – 1

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Eggs are Expensive, Sperm is Cheap, by Greg Krehbiel.  Crowhill Publishing, 2014.

Subtitled ’50 politically incorrect thoughts for men’, this little book aims to unsettle modern assumptions about women and men.  Krehbiel invites us to consider that the ‘traditional’ way of understanding the two sexes may not be as oppressive as we have been told it is, and that today’s ideology may actually be very harmful to us all.  He develops this in a disarming, amusing, and gently outrageous way.…

Delivery – 20 questions

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Peter Mead has posted a checklist of 20 questions (well, 88, actually, but they boil down to 20) about a preacher’s delivery.

I summarise:-

  1. What do your tone and manner communicate to your hearers?
  2. Does your speech flow smoothly?
  3. How is your eye contact?
  4. Are your notes working for you, or against you?
  5. Does your preaching furniture get in the way?
  6. What are your feet doing while you preach?
  7. Do your gestures complement what you are saying?
…

Mk 10:52 – “Your faith has healed you” – sermon notes

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Text: Mark 10:52

An effect: ‘healed’

‘Sozo’ = to save.

We tend to think of salvation as

  • accepting Jesus into our hearts
  • experiencing the love of God
  • going to heaven when we die

Clearly, salvation for Bartimaeus involved physical healing.  But there is a hint in the word itself that something more than physical healing is going on here: he received his sight; and he became a disciple (v52)

Mark 10 – ‘to inherit eternal life’ (v17), ‘to enter the kingdom of God’ (vv23-26), and ‘to be saved’ (v26) are used synonymously.…

Mark 10:46-52 – An unlikely candidate (sermon notes)

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Text: Mark 10:46-52

Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem.  There he would suffer many things.   He must be killed and after three days rise again.  But what of the people travelling with him, and those he meets on the way?

In 10:13-16 the disciples rebuked those who brought little children to Jesus, but he said, “Let them come to me, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

In 10:17-31 a wealthy young man asks Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” …

Psa 32 – Forgiven! – sermon notes

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Text: Psalm 32

Happiness is ‘…an unexpected piece of chocolate’, ‘…Friday’; ‘…being married to your best friend’.

Here is the biblical answer.

1. Problem confronted, 3-5

‘Don’t be negative’.  ‘I know I’m not perfect’.  ‘Don’t go to church to be told I’m a sinner, I go to to be comforted, to be uplifted’.

Synonyms: rebellion, wandering away, twistedness.

How ridiculous to think that we can hide our sin from the all-seeing eye of God.  Yet ever since the days of Adam and Eve people have been trying to do precisely that.…

Who is Christianity for?

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Christianity is not for the self-sufficient, but for those who know they are needy.  Jesus takes the poverty-stricken, and makes them rich.  He takes the foolish, and gives them wisdom.  He takes the weak, and gives them strength.  He takes mourners, and gives them comfort.  He takes nobodies, and makes them somebodies.  He looks for the lost, and finds them.  He takes those who have not, and gives them all they need.  He doesn’t call those who think they are good, but those who know that are bad.  …