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Breaking Bread & Broken Blessing

Memorable Meals Who likes to eat? Nearly everyone! How many meals have you eaten in your life? Have you counted? 3 meals a day, A bit less if you miss some. Times 365 days makes roughly 1,000 meals a year. Times your age. So I have eaten over 50,000 meals. That’s a lot of food, and I’m still skinny! Of those thousands of meals, How many can you remember? Which was the most memorable – The most…

#bread #brokenness #community #feeding the 5000 #food #grace #Mark

Green Grace: Planting God’s Seeds for a Fruitful Harvest

The Parable of the Sower This year in Global we are reading the Bible book of Mark. Today we are in chapter 4. Jesus tells three parables about farming or gardening. Parables are short stories with a spiritual meaning. Jesus is at the Lake of Galilee, speaking to a crowd of people on the beach. (4:1) Up behind them are hills. Look! Up there – it’s a farmer in his field. (4:3-9) He’s sowing…

#fruit #gardening #grace #growth #Mark #seed #sower

Way in the Wilderness: Beginning the Gospel of Mark

New Zealand wilderness I used to love tramping, or hiking, before running hurt my knees. For years I bought New Zealand Wilderness, my favourite magazine. Are there any trampers here? Someone who’s not into it might ask: Why would you leave your comfortable home, carry a heavy pack for days, get scratched and bruised, sleep on hard ground, with no internet, no power, no shower? Why do people do…

#Exodus #John Muir #John the Baptist #Mark #Messiah #tramping #wilderness

Luke 1-2: Annunciation: Good News of Fearful Joy

Have you ever met an angel?Do you know anyone who has?[1]How would it feel?How might it change your life? Today, from the Gospel of Luke,we will see three annunciations,when angels announce God’s message.We’ll see how people reactedand then sang the first Christmas carols.[2]Let’s turn to our first annunciation in Luke chapter 1. Priestly Vision An old man stands in a gloomy room.The only…

#annunciation #art #Christmas #Luke #Magnificat #Mary #nativity

Ecclesiastes: Chasing Mist, Facing Death, Finding Joy

Solomon’s books What is the meaning of life? Why was I born? How can I be truly satisfied and happy? Do you ask those questions? The Bible discusses them in the wisdom books. In Jewish tradition, wise King Solomon wrote three of them. The Rabbis said he wrote Song of Songs, or Song of Solomon, as a young man falling in love. Then Solomon wrote Proverbs when he was mature, middle-aged. It’s full…

#death #doubt #Ecclesiastes #hebel #meaning #Solomon #wisdom

Proverbs: The Way of Wisdom and Wonder

What is wisdom? Where can we find it? How can I grow wise? We are exploring these questions in the Bible’s wisdom books. Next month we’ll meet Job and Ecclesiastes. Now we’re in Proverbs for three weeks.[1] The book of Proverbs has two main parts. The second, chapters 10-31, has hundreds of short sayings or proverbs.[2] A proverb is “a short sentence based on long experience”.[3] Many come from…

#awe #fear of the Lord #folly #Proverbs #two ways #wisdom #wonder

John 11: Weeping Resurrection

Introduction: Lenten colours This is the season of autumn. In my garden, the beans and tomato plants are dying. In countries like Japan, leaves are turning red and orange and gold before they fall. Autumn is a season of sadness and saying goodbye, but also of special beauty. [1] In the church year, We’re in the season of Lent. That’s the 40 days before Easter. [2] For many Christians, it’s a…

#Ash Wednesday #grief #hope #incarnation #John #Lazarus #Lent #Mary and Martha #resurrection

Luke 16: Smart Money - Master investing for lasting returns

This year we are learning how to follow Jesus from the book of Luke in the Bible. One of Luke’s special themes is economics or finance. Jesus tells parables or stories about relationships between rich and poor people, employers and their staff, creditors and debtors. He teaches about how we spend money And use our possessions. How to make smart investments. When I joined KiwiSaver, I had to…

#giving #investment #Luke #money #Rich Fool #Richard Foster #Shrewd Manager #Simplicity

Justifying Love: Morals of the Good Samaritan

What would you say is the most famous story Jesus told? It could be, and I think Google agrees, the Good Samaritan in the gospel of Luke.[1] They say Luke was a painter himself, and it could be Jesus’ most painted story, from Rembrandt to Van Gogh.[2] I coloured in the picture at Sunday school myself! It seems a simple story with a Sunday school moral: be kind to people in need. We’ll see there…

#eternal life #Good Samaritan #great command #love #Luke #Martin Luther #Martin Luther King

Crying Lament, Singing Praise

How do we pray when life is hard and God seems distant?That’s our theme this morning.Last week, Merv introduced praying with the Psalms.We are back in Psalms today.It’s the longest book in the Bible.The Greek word psalmos means “a song sung to harp music”,or the plucking of a string instrument.These are 150 songs and prayers used by Jews and Christians for 3000 years.[1]Here’s how some people…

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#doubt #grief #lament #praise #prayer #Psalms

Father of the Homeless: Four Stories of Desert Grace in Genesis

Have you ever had a near death experience? Have you met God in an unexpected place? Today we’ll see four stories from Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Four people who faced death in the desert, And found it was a place of God’s grace. How would you define grace? How about: An unearned and unexpected gift of life. That’s what these guys found. Cain’s Mark Our first story is in Genesis…

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#Cain #desert #Genesis #grace #Hagar #homeless #Jacob #Joseph

Lion or Lamb? The Conflict of Two Messiahs

Warrior Kings In three weeks, Christians will celebrate Easter And Jews will celebrate Passover. The first Passover was around 1500 BC. The people of Israel were slaves in Egypt. They suffered and cried out to God. Then Moses led them to freedom. The Red Sea opened, and they walked through. Then the waters came back And King Pharaoh’s army was drowned. the people sang: The Lord is a warrior. He…

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#Easter #Gethsemane #Judas #Matthew #Messiah #Palm Sunday #Passover #Peter #revolution

Regreening Graves: The Easter Pattern in Scripture and Life

As we face the biggest storm Auckland has seen in our lives, Our topic is Easter, the biggest spiritual storm in history. [1] How would you sum up the message of Easter in two words? Two words for Good Friday and Easter Sunday? How about crucifixion and resurrection? Or death and life. From destruction and death, To surprising new life that gives life to others. That’s the Easter pattern. It’s…

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#death and resurrection #Easter #Ezekiel #Genesis #Isaiah #Paul #prophets #Psalms

Rocky Rooster and Resurrecting Life

Rooster breakfast He thought about how much he hated roosters. He thought about how he’d like to break each one’s neck, Slit each raucous throat, Before it could open its beak and… it was really his own neck he wanted to break, he knew, But he didn’t have the guts. Unlike Judas. Fleeing his shame, he went fishing instead. The lake was awash with memories, a sea of stories, And no fish surfaced to…

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#Easter #forgiveness #Good Shepherd #John #Peter #resurrection #rooster

Unchaining the Future: Jesus’ Way of Forgiveness

The F-word Put up your hand if you’ve had this experience: Someone did something wrong to you, It hurts, and you can’t let it go.[1] Or, you did something stupid that hurt someone else; You wish you could take it back. I guess we all need the F-word: [2] Not food, though some of us use it to de-stress, But forgiveness.[3] How would you define forgiveness? [4] Here’s a poetic…

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#Coventry Cathedral #Desmond Tutu #forgiveness #Matthew #reconciliation

Kaleidoscope Mystery: Paul's Symphony of Unity in Christ

Kaleidoscope Mystery: Paul’s Symphony of Unity in Christ

Overture We’ve been reading Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Last month I gave a mountaintop overview of its big themes. We imagined five rooms in God’s palace. (Read here or watch here) This is a sequel in music and colour.[1] Music? Ephesians has been called “doctrine set to music” (John Mackay), “more sing-able than preach-able.”[2] Paul does mention, “singing and making melody to the Lord”…

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#colour #Ephesians #Gentiles #kaleidoscope #Mystery of Christ #Paul #reconciliation #symphony #unity

Exalted Vision: The Palace Plan of Ephesians

Introduction Today we are starting three months on Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Ephesus is in Western Turkey today. In Paul’s time, it was the capital of the Roman province of Asia. Maybe one quarter of a million people, the third biggest city in the Empire after Rome and Alexandria in Egypt. Paul spent over two years in Ephesus, talking about Jesus and starting a church – read the story in…

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#Ephesians #grace #Mystery of Christ #Paul #prayer #Trinity #unity

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