On Monday, we began our Christmas week series through Revelation chapter 12. You need to start from the beginning of the week, or this won’t make sense. The unhappy dragon So far, we’ve seen the dragon (Satan) defeated in his attempts to kill the young hero born to a woman. What’s more, he’s been cast… Continue reading A Very Apocalyptic Christmas – Part Four
Category: Christmas
A Very Apocalyptic Christmas – Part Three
On Monday, we began our Christmas week series through Revelation chapter 12. You need to start from the beginning of the week, or this won’t make sense. So far, we’ve read Revelation 12 and identified the woman as “Mother Zion” – the true mother of the real saviour of the world (not Mother Rome and… Continue reading A Very Apocalyptic Christmas – Part Three
A Very Apocalyptic Christmas – Part Two
Yesterday, we began our Christmas week series through Revelation chapter 12. You need to start from yesterday, or this won’t make sense. To be honest, it might not make sense even if you do, but you want to give yourself the best chance… So we’ve read Revelation 12 and identified the woman as “Mother Zion”… Continue reading A Very Apocalyptic Christmas – Part Two
A Very Apocalyptic Christmas – Part One
To end our Revelation series – and to prepare for Christmas on the weekend – we’re going to be looking at everyone’s favourite Christmas-themed passage: Revelation chapter 12. (What could possibly go wrong?) But this is a very different telling of the Christmas story from the ones we’re most familiar with. It’s not the one from… Continue reading A Very Apocalyptic Christmas – Part One
White wine in the sun: an atheist’s Christmas carol
Coffee with the King is on a… coffee break, until January 5. To tide you over, here’s our Christmas special, where we look at Tim Minchin’s Christmas song, White Wine in the Sun. What might a Christian response be? Merry Christmas & have a great break!
Out of Egypt (Matt 2:13-16)
(Continuing in our pre-Christmas series through Matthew chapters 1 and 2, focusing on the Old Testament background.) Last week we saw one example of how Matthew takes time out from telling the story of Jesus to draw out parallels with events in the Old Testament. “That reminds me of the time when…” There’s often… Continue reading Out of Egypt (Matt 2:13-16)
We are the Magi (Matt 2:1-12)
(Continuing in our pre-Christmas series through Matthew chapters 1 and 2, focusing on the Old Testament background. Read Matt 2:1-12.) This is a very familiar story – the Magi coming to worship the infant Jesus, bringing their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. An overly familiar story. To the point where we often gloss over… Continue reading We are the Magi (Matt 2:1-12)
The Sign of Immanuel – Part 1 (Matt 1:18-25)
(Continuing in our pre-Christmas series through Matthew chapters 1 and 2, focusing on the Old Testament background. Read Matt 1:18-25.) It’s Christmas afternoon. Things are quietening down after lunch. Everyone’s well fed and starting to get that glazed look in their eye. It’s about time for a nap. And then, probably from one of the older… Continue reading The Sign of Immanuel – Part 1 (Matt 1:18-25)
A Very Matthean Christmas – Part 3 (Matt 1:1-17)
The final unexpected character in Jesus’ family tree (see the previous two days’ posts) isn’t even named. So far we’ve seen Tamar, involved in one of the earliest sex-scandals in Israel’s history. Then Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute. And Ruth, a Moabite woman. All giving us clues as to what Jesus was going to be about… Continue reading A Very Matthean Christmas – Part 3 (Matt 1:1-17)
A Very Matthean Christmas – Part 2 (Matt 1:1-17)
Yesterday we began looking at the genealogy (list of ancestors) in Matthew 1:1-17, and read the story of Tamar, who features in it. We saw that far from airbrushing the skeletons in Jesus’ family tree out of his presentation, Matthew draws attention to them. Yesterday, it was a sex-scandal. Today, we see two Gentiles (non-Israelites),… Continue reading A Very Matthean Christmas – Part 2 (Matt 1:1-17)
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