Gospels-Acts
O Little Town of Bethlehem
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- Written by: Bill Stewart
Micah 5:2-8 audio (3MB)
"O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight."
These words come from the popular Christmas carol called "O little town of Bethlehem." What are your "hopes and fears" this Christmas? Have you even had time to think about what your "hopes and fears" might be this year? To understand today's reading from the prophet Micah we need to understand the hopes and fears of the people living in Israel about 700 years before the birth of Jesus. What did they fear?
The Journey of the Wise Ones
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- Written by: Heather Cetrangelo
It’s a curious story.
About a king who isn’t really a king, and another king, who really is.
And a star and some gold, frankincense and myrrh.
What is myrrh anyway?
Jesus has already been born, in Bethlehem, during the reign of King Herod, who was typically, not a very nice king.
Enter stage left, some strange visitors from the East. Not any of God’s chosen people. Not Jews.
Not people who worshipped YHWH or studied his scriptures.
Wise people … advisors to kings from the east. These people were more ‘spiritual than religious’.
Their specialty was reading the stars and interpreting dreams. And though we don’t know much about them, we can’t help but suspect that whatever they’re into is not all that kosher.
Following a star doesn’t sound very Jewish. Seems a bit dodgy. Why would Matthew even mention such things, to a Jewish audience?
Surely he could have left that bit out of the gospel … and for that matter, the weird visitors from the East.
One can only assume, that such details were included …. because they actually happened.
The Message, The Man, The Miracle (Mark 2.1-12)
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- Written by: Adam
(Regrettably the podcast failed to record, text version below)
Today we continue our preaching series on miracles in the Gospel. And as we look at the passage about the Paralysed Man today – I want to suggest that the theme is NEWNESS … something new is going on. There are definitely recorded miracles in the Old Testament but in the Gospels there’s an explosion … seventy-six passages in Matthew, Mark and Luke alone. And in Mark’s Gospel which we are looking at today 209 out of 600 verses are about miracle stories (30% of the Gospel). Which suggests that this is an important area to reflect upon and learn about …
Today’s passage is in Chapter 2, and the whole Gospel of Mark moves at this very quick pace (a bit like the holiday I just had …). So in the space of one chapter, we begin with John the Baptist, Jesus is baptised by John in the Jordan, Jesus is then tested by Satan in the wilderness for forty days, Jesus returns preaching in Capernaum, he performs an exorcism, heals a man with a physical disability, great crowds gather around him and he performs many more miracles, Jesus then goes on a preaching tour around the neighbouring cities and then today’s passage begins with him re-entering Capernaum.
And the content of his preaching we find in Chapter 1, v 15:
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near;repent, and believe in the good news.”
The Rich Young Man
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- Written by: Heather Cetrangelo
The Rich Young Man audio (11MB)
For those who don’t know me, I’m the Children and Families Minister at St Thomas. I’ve been a part of this church for just over a year now and I really really love it (most of the time). Most of you know that, when I’m not here, teaching kids the actions to new songs, or getting glitter all over me, or debating theology with Chris, or causing a stir at staff meetings … I spend a day a week being a completely different version of me, as a volunteer lawyer at a Christian outreach centre.
When people first come to see a lawyer, especially at the place where I work, things in their life are usually pretty complicated. Because lawyers are a bit like pest controllers .. in that, you really never want to call one until you absolutely have to. And people will often put off getting legal advice until the issue that they’re faced with has become so catastrophic that they actually have no choice.
So usually when people first walk in, emotions are high. People are often quite anxious about seeing me and when they first start talking it’s like they’re just vomiting all over the office.
I work with a lawyer called Mike and he’s excellent and very experienced. And the first thing he always says to clients when they walk in …. As they’re just about to open their mouths … he says, “just one moment … what I’d like you to do as best you can, is to tell me in ten words or less, what the problem is …”
That can actually be really hard to do. Especially when a problem is years in the making … when relationships breakdown, the issues can be hard to identify.
I mean, imagine that I’m not a Christian and I don’t understand what the word ‘sin’ means, because I’ve never heard of that concept before … or even if I have, it’s never been explained to me … could you in ten words or less, explain to me why Jesus came into the world … I mean, in ten words or less, what’s the problem that makes him so important?
What’s the problem?
