Oct2017
Only Jesus
Then a cloud appeared and covered them with its shadow and a voice came from the cloud, ‘This is my own dear Son – listen to him!’ They took a quick look around but did not see anyone else; only Jesus was with them. As they came down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, ‘Don’t tell anyone… Read more
Oct2017
Losing my life?
‘For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for me and for the gospel, you will save it. Do you gain anything if you win the whole world but lose your life? Of course not! There is nothing you can give to regain your… Read more
Oct2017
Touch can heal
They came to Bethsaida, where some people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged him to touch him. Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. After spitting on the man’s eyes, Jesus placed his hands on him and asked him, ‘Can you see anything?’ The man… Read more
Oct2017
A balanced diet
‘How much bread have you got?’ Jesus asked ‘Seven loaves’, they answered. He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, gave thanks to God broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the crowd; and the disciples did so. They also had a few… Read more
Oct2017
Contented puppies
A woman, whose daughter had an evil spirit in her, heard about Jesus and came to him at once and fell at his feet. The woman was a Gentile, born in the region of Phoenicia in Syria. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. But Jesus answered, ‘Let us first feed… Read more
Oct2017
God never gives up
‘Last of all he sent his son to them. “Surely they will respect my son,” he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, “This is the owner’s son. Come on, let’s kill him, and we will get his property!” So they grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and… Read more
Oct2017
God of the past
You brought a grapevine out of Egypt; you drove out other nations and planted it in their land. You cleared a place for it to grow; its roots went deep, and it spread out over the whole land. (verses 8,9) Read Psalm 80:7-15 In my student days I studied history at university. I… Read more
Oct2017
Travelling lightly
So the Pharisees and teachers of the Law asked Jesus, ‘Why is it that your disciples do not follow the teaching handed down by our ancestors, but instead eat with ritually unclean hands?’ Jesus answered them, ‘How right Isaiah was when he prophesied about you! You are hypocrites, just as he wrote: “These people,… Read more
Oct2017
A popular Jesus
They crossed the lake and came to land at Gennesaret, where they tied up the boat. As they left the boat, people recognised Jesus at once. So they ran throughout the whole region; and wherever they heard he was, they brought to him sick people lying on their mats. And everywhere Jesus went, to villages,… Read more
Oct2017
A character test
He said to them, ‘Let us go off by ourselves to some place where we will be alone and you can rest a while’. So they started out in a boat by themselves for a lonely place. Many people, however, saw them leave and knew at once who they were; so they went from all… Read more