Tag: jesus
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The Despised – Luke 19
‘At The Table With Jesus’Stories of encounters between Jesus and those considered ‘marginalised’. There are peoplewe would rather Jesus did not love. We know what they have doneThe harm they caused,the lives they broke,the trust they betrayed.We know where they belong.Outside. Justice matters.The wounded must be heard,the vulnerable protected.But what happenswhen the one who caused…
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Leave Room for Grace
What’s a personal mantra or philosophy you live by? “Leave room for grace” is one of the personal philosophies I try to live by. As the principal of a university college, I regularly find myself dealing with complicated situations. Young adults make mistakes. Sometimes those mistakes come from immaturity or naivety. Sometimes from irresponsibility. Sometimes…
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Jesus and Foreigners – Matthew 8:5-13
‘At The Table With Jesus’Stories of encounters between Jesus and those considered ‘marginalised’. We are always drawing lines.Who belongs.Who does not.Who was here first.Who speaks like us.Prays like us.Understands the way things are done. And then a foreignerwalks toward Jesus.A Roman centurion.A man wearingthe uniform of occupation.He comes with no claim to belonging.Only need.Lord,my servant…
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Meaning-Making
What are your favourite side-hustle ideas? A lot of people have a side hustle. Usually it means paid work done alongside your main job. Sometimes the reason is economic. A person’s main income may not be enough to cover housing, food, education, debt or family responsibilities. For others, a side hustle provides some extra money…
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Things We Forget – Exodus 17
There are thingswe forget by accident.And there are other thingswe forgetbecause fear has become louderthan memory. Israel is thirsty.It is a real thirst.Desert thirst.Three-days-and-you-die thirst.And suddenly Egyptlooks different in the rear-view mirror. The sea has been crossed.The chains are gone.Manna lies on the ground each morning.Cloud still moves before them by day,fire still burns by…
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Jesus & LGBTQI+
‘At The Table With Jesus’Stories of encounters between Jesus and those considered ‘marginalised’. Luke 7:36-39, Luke 19:1-10 I have been weepingmore than I expected.Not because the questions are new,but because the faces are not. Someone who stayed away from churchfor over thirty yearsbecause being gayand belonging to Jesusseemed impossible. Someone who lived in silencefor twenty…
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The Invisibles
‘At The Table With Jesus’Stories of encounters between Jesus and those considered ‘marginalised’. There are cruel waysto make a person disappear.A child learns it early:You’re not coming to my birthday.You’re not my friend.And perhaps cruellest of all—to look straight through someoneas though they were not there. We grow older,but we do not always grow out…
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The Women
‘At The Table With Jesus’Stories of encounters between Jesus and those considered ‘marginalised’. Luke 7:36-50She entered the roomalready carrying a reputation.Simon saw what kind of woman she was.Jesus saw more.She stood behind him weeping,washed his feet with her tears,dried them with her hair,poured out perfume. Simon thought:If he were a prophet,he would know.But Jesus did…
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The God Who Will Not Run Away – Jonah
Do you think God has a plan?We say we do.God knows what he is doing.God has this sorted. Then we look aroundat census numbers,churches rising and falling,Christians persecuted in Nigeria,the world refusing to behaveas we thought it shouldand wonder:Is this really going to plan? Jonah receives the word of the Lord.Go to Nineveh.He hears God…
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Act Justly, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly – Micah 6:1-8
Micah is the Batmanof the prophets.He walks into a citythat looks respectable from a distancebut is rotten underneath.The powerful protect themselves.Leaders have lost their way.The poor are trampled.Justice is for sale.Gotham with temples. And Micah comesnot from the palacebut from the country.A nobody from nowheresent by Godto stand beneath the city lightsand say,God sees you.He…
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Let Justice Roll – Amos 5:1-27, 9:11-15
The lion roars.Not because God delights in fire,but because the poor are being trampledinto the dust.The innocent sold for silver.The needy tradedfor the price of sandals.And the terrible thing is this:these are God’s people. The people called to bless the nationshave become like the nations.Those entrusted with justicehave learned the habits of injustice.Those meant to…
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The Smallest Book – Obadiah
ObadiahThe smallest bookin the Old Testament. A prophetwe know almost nothing about.Only his name:Servant of Yahweh. He speaks after Jerusalem has fallen,after Babylon,after exile,after people have lostalmost everythingexcept God. And the word comes:Edom will be judged.Edom—the children of Esau,brother of Jacob.Family. Yet when Judah fellthey stood aside.They watched.They despised.They looted.They blocked the escapeof those fleeing…
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What Am I Here For?
What’s a quote that perfectly describes your outlook on life? Abraham Joshua Heschel once wrote: “It is not enough for me to ask questions; I want to know how to answer the one question that seems to encompass everything I face: What am I here for?” Few questions have stayed with me as persistently as…
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Not Safe, But Good
What is your favourite quote? Yesterday’s sermon briefly mentioned one of my favourite passages from C. S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia. When Lucy hears about Aslan, the great lion who represents Christ, she asks Mr Beaver: “Is he safe?” “Safe?” said Mr Beaver. “Who said anything about safe? ’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s…
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Presence
Do you think everything happens for a reason? I have written before about Kate Bowler, the Duke University professor whose doctoral research examined the North American church’s obsession with wealth, health and success. Then, while still a young academic, she found herself living inside the questions she had studied. She was diagnosed with Stage 4…
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Rend Your Hearts – Joel 2:12-32
Return to mewith all your heart.Not with torn garments,careful wordsor borrowed sorrow.Rend your hearts. Israel had returned from exilebut had not returned to God.The old sins remained,deep in the soil,deep in the people,the ancient fracture of the gardenrunning through every kingdomwe build for ourselves. And still God lets them stand.Still he toleratesour empires,our violence,our hunger…
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The Same Storm, Different Trees
Do you think we’re shaped more by our experiences or by who we are? We are neither fixed selves untouched by life nor blank material shaped entirely by circumstance. We become who we are through the interaction of temperament, experience, relationships, choices and grace. Two people can endure the same event and be shaped in…
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At the Table with Jesus – John 5:1-15
I am a classically avoidant man.I delay,displace,compartmentalise,run until the problemseems further away. But distance spreads.Church becomes too hard,so we stop going.Friendships become complicated,so we let them fade.Family becomes stressful,so we stay home. Soon avoidance becomesa household,a church,a society saying,We do not want to deal with this.Send someone else.Send a link.We will contribute. But Jesus wentto…
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A Culture of Life – James 5:13-20
Is anyone among you in trouble?Then pray.Not because prayer is a leverand God is a machine,but because trouble reminds uswe are childrenturning againtoward the Father. Is anyone happy?Then sing.Praise is prayerwith its hands open,naming goodnesswhile it is still before us. Is anyone sick?Then call the elders.Let the community come close.Let oil be brought,medicine and sign,ordinary…
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One Small Act of Trust
What’s a time you followed your gut and it turned out to be exactly right? Sometimes you meet someone briefly and sense that they are trustworthy. I met him in Tanzania. I was there working on a project and he was assigned as my translator when I spoke at a church. We were together for…
