Church of Christ
Church of Christ
CUMBERNAULD
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In Luke 14:25-35, Jesus is travelling with a “great multitude”, v.25. This was not unusual, and it may be that He would draw from such crowds those to whom He may give a commission like the 70[1]. On this occasion, He turns to them and warns them that not to hate to family members will mean they cannot be His disciple.[2]
Read MoreDuring the temptations that Satan brought against Jesus in the wilderness, the second one was an attempt to seduce Jesus into worshipping Satan. To this end, Satan offered Jesus the rulership of the world in exchange for worshipping Satan[1]. Nolland points out that, “…Satan claims to see to the disposition of glory in the world.”[2] Earlier, in Lu...
Read MoreTexts to consider: Mark 1:43-44; 3:12; 5:43; 7:36; 8:26 On five occasions in this week’s readings, Jesus commands silence after performing miracles. Why? Given that miracles were a sign, why would Jesus want that sign to be inhibited in any way? Rather than deal with them in the sequence they are recorded in Mark’s gospel, they will be considered a...
Read MoreJesus prophesies that just as religious leaders had persecuted God’s messengers in the Tanakh (Matthew 23:31-32), the last generation – those who would witness the Messiah and the destruction of Jerusalem in their lifetimes (Matthew 23:36; cf. Matthew 24:34) - would do the same to Jesus and the first Christians (Matthew 27:25; Acts 7:57-58; 9:1; 1...
Read MoreVisits to America will typically be an encounter with someone telling me how many parts Scottish they are. It means little here, yet, in the Bible, to the Jew, genealogy was very important. However, if Jesus’ lineage is of little or no importance to those out-with Judaism, why would the reading of all these names matter to any Gentile?
Read MoreTake a moment to read Luke 24:13-35. We'll concentrate on Luke 24:30-31, 35. It is an interesting wee text for any reader and, as the text itself says, “…eyes were opened…”[1] by this week’s journaling exercise. Initially, my question was on Luke 24:35: Was there something about eating a meal together that made Jesus known to them? Perh...
Read MoreMartin Luther said, “Our Lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time.” God leaves us messages everywhere, not just the Bible. In Acts 14:15-17, Barnabas and Paul spoke of God as the Creator and the proof was in seeing the beauty of nature that He created.
Read MoreActs 2 contains one of the most famous sermons in history. Peter, who had once denied knowing Jesus at His trial, stood with the other disciples in the grandeur of the Temple and loudly and defiantly declared that Jesus was raised from the dead and the Saviour of all. Countess thousands heard the sermon, and 3,000 were baptised that day. From there...
Read MoreThe first indication of praying to God is in Genesis 4:26 and is ascribed to the family of Seth. Prayer is often implied in Genesis, but much of the teaching of prayer is found in the New Testament. Jesus needed to pray. He taught His disciples how to pray (Luke 11:1-4). He headed for the mountains to pray and prayed on His final night on this eart...
Read MoreIs the resurrection important? In 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, Paul speaks of the gospel as being the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. So, yes! the resurrection is important. Paul continues in that chapter to argue for the resurrection and the importance it is to Christians. The world may scoff, and the Athenians may have dismissed it, but be sur...
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