The Pharisees were looking for a reason to condemn Jesus and the teachers of the Law chose to believe the Holy Spirit was evil. We are challenged to look for a reason to believe and to truth in the Spirit’s work. Will you stretch out your hand if Jesus calls you to?
Healing, forgiveness and the Lordship of Jesus over institutions and rules. Chapter 2 is the next exciting instalment in the epic drama of Jesus’ life.
Mark is the shortest gospel. It is constantly aware of the coming conclusion of Jesus’ ministry at the cross. It is one of the earliest attempts to report and begin to make sense of Jesus’ ministry, death and resurrection. We jump straight in to the beginning of Jesus public ministry skipping the birth narrative and the book will close 16 breathless chapters later with the women fleeing for Jesus empty tomb trembling and afraid. We will be reading a chapter each week and asking what God is saying to us through His word.
We look back over the summer and think about what we have learnt about God and our walk of faith.
Life is not always easy. Actually, mostly it can be tough going! What might help to keep us going and growing in our faith?
We are invited to become part of God’s team, receiving from Him and passing on the blessings we receive but will we drop the baton?
This week we look at the illustration of Dressage. Dressage means training. Jesus calls us to be disciples – learners. So, every believer is being trained. This training involves cooperation with Jesus – He does not force us to obey Him but we learn to listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Chris seeks to apply this and outline practical ways to walk in step with the Spirit.
How do we know what God is really like? Chris highlights three ways to discover who God is: Creation, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We are invited to move forward in faith based on the evidence of these revelations of God’s character and His promises.
Today we look ahead to the ultimate completion of God’s dwelling place plan. We seek to understand how we should live now in the light of that coming Kingdom. To what extent does what we do now matter?
We are the next decisive and shocking step in God’s dwelling place plan. All the fullness of God dwelt in Jesus and through His finished work that Fullness comes to dwell those who accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour. We are being built into a temple of the Spirit – individually and corporately. We can therefore seek God’s manifest presence in our gatherings and in our hearts.