Use today to catch up on any readings you might have missed in our month-long series. We begin a new series in Hosea on Monday. If you’re up-to-date, have a think about what our month-long series has meant for how we might understand the gospel. So what is The Gospel? As we’ve seen, the gospel… Continue reading Catch-up Friday

(If you’re just joining us, you’ll need to start with Part One for the series to make sense. Or wait until Monday, when we begin a new series!) Today, we wrap up our sixteen-part series on Why Jesus? (don’t worry, I’m exhausted, too!), and look – very briefly – at how the next chapter of Israel’s story… Continue reading Why Jesus? – Part Sixteen

(If you’re just joining us, you’ll need to start with Part One for the series to make sense.) Closing in on the end of our series, yesterday we reviewed the historical reasons that led to Jesus’ death. Basically, his telling of Israel’s story (and his outline of the next chapter he was writing) clashed with… Continue reading Why Jesus? – Part Fifteen

(If you’re just joining us, you’ll need to start with Part One for the series to make sense.) OK, we’re in the home stretch – just the rest of this week to go. So far, we’ve seen how Jesus sent the message (in words, in miracles, in parables) that God was about to enact the next… Continue reading Why Jesus? – Part Fourteen

(If you’re just joining us, you’ll need to start with Part One for the series to make sense.) In the first two weeks of this series, we looked at Israel’s defining story, and their hope of a true return from exile when God’s promises to his people would finally be fulfilled. Last week, we saw how Jesus presented himself… Continue reading Why Jesus? – Part Thirteen

This is our third “catch-up Friday.” Use today and the weekend to get back on schedule, if you’ve fallen a bit behind. But if you’re up-to-date, here’s something that’s not part of our “Why Jesus?” series, but touches on yesterday’s parable – which I find interesting. Intercultural readings Yesterday we looked at the parable of… Continue reading Catch-up Friday

(If you’re just joining us, you’ll need to start with Part One for the series to make sense. In fact, today’s post is really part two of yesterday’s, so make sure that’s fresh in your mind.) Yesterday we looked at how one of Jesus’ parables (the Wicked Tenants) challenged and subverted Israel’s defining story. Today,… Continue reading Why Jesus? – Part Twelve

(If you’re just joining us, you’ll need to start with Part One for the series to make sense.) Last week we looked at Israel’s defining story, and their hope of a true return from exile when God’s promises to his people would finally be fulfilled. This week, we’ve seen how Jesus presents himself as the fulfilment of… Continue reading Why Jesus? – Part Eleven

(If you’re just joining us, you’ll need to start with Part One for the series to make sense.) Over the last two weeks we worked our way through Israel’s defining story, seeing their hope for a true return from exile in which all of God’s promises would be fulfilled, and they would experience God’s righteous rule.… Continue reading Why Jesus? – Part Ten