In his final prayer with his disciples, Jesus Christ prays for the mutual glorification of the Father and the Son. In John’s Gospel, Jesus is glorified when he is lifted up on the cross at his crucifixion. John employs a double meaning of lifted up throughout the Gospel, demonstrating that the crucifixion is also the exaltation of Jesus.
Jesus’ message/John’s purpose in the Samaritan Woman story (John 4:1-42)
In this pericope from John’s Gospel Jesus meets a Samaritan woman, the traditional enemy of the Jews and a social outcast, at the OT setting for a matrimonial encounter. This dialogue reveals the truth of Jesus’ identity as Messiah and leads to the Samaritans’ confession that Jesus is the Saviour of the world. After discussing the historical, canonical and theological background I will present an exegesis of the story, describing Jesus’ actions and finish by providing some of the ways John intended the passage to be used and how it may be applied by the reader today.
Threads of Love – Rivers in the Bible
There are many themes or threads that run through the Bible. In this post we are going to think about the theme of rivers. We are going to look at seven rivers in the Bible. 1) Rivers as a place of creation: Genesis 2:10-14 Genesis 2:10-14 Gardens need water. Eden may mean “well-watered place”. The Tigris […]
Describe the Key Features of the Early Christian Mission According to Acts. In what ways, if any, does the nature of mission in Acts challenge normal missionary or evangelistic activity in the Western Church today?
Jesus thus commissioned his disciples to take the good news of all that he had done throughout the world. This mission was undertaken by the early church and its nature is recorded in Acts.
Home Groups #1 – What is a home group?
To start the series it will be a good idea to define what we mean by the term ‘home group’.
The first time I was involved with this type of group was at university. There was a Christian Union meeting in my Halls of Residence. Every week we would gather as a whole body for an hour or so corporate worship before breaking up into small groups to study the Bible and pray. We met in the group leader’s room, so the term home group wasn’t really appropriate, but it still contained many of the elements that we will look at over this series.
Home Groups and How to Run Them
Home groups, house groups, small groups, cell groups, clusters. They are known by a variety of names, but most churches have them and they can be a tremedous help for Christians wanting to study the Bible together and build community. Leading a home group can seem like a daunting task, but it need not be. […]