What is the most surprising thing? That Nineveh repented at Jonah’s message from God? Or, as we read in Jonah 4:1-4, that Jonah is angry that the message was heeded and God spared the people – after he was spared himself! Do we forget God’s promises? Are we surprised by God’s mercy? Do we doubt that God would forgive? No one is beyond the grace of God. We are astonished by God’s amazing grace.

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While Paul speaks about love being the mark of the Christian and his/her resp;onsibility to extend it to all men, he is also aware that there are times and circumstances that make ‘loving others’ difficult. In Romans 13;11-14, he outlines some of these difficulties while also calling believers to see ‘how’ love can flourish – irt’s by ‘putting on the Lord Jesus Christ’.

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• The tenth in this series
• Living a life of love…
• ‘To live below with saints we know…’
• See how Paul tells us that we are to live and love…

Augustine’s conversion
Delivered from the kingdom of darkness
Time is short!

In Romans 13:8-10, Paul spoeaks again about love, but this time in the context of the Law of God. The Old and New Testaments are not enemies but friends, and love is a dominant theme of both the Old and the New Testaments, even though some would say otherwise. In presenting this call to love to the beleievers at Rome, Paul actually tells them that by ‘loving’ they will fulfill the requirements of the Law! In this way, love and Law intersect and belong together.

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• The ninth in this series
• The overarching response of love…
• Is Law opposed to love?
• See how Paul tells us that …

Take a self-inventory!
Why love? Because we were loved first…!
The debt paid for us!

In Mark 1:21-45, we see Jesus demonstrate authority in teaching, over unclean spirits, and in healing the sick. As amazing as Jesus’ authority is (the spirits are terrified and fear Jesus destroying them) we also see what is important to Jesus and what he has come to do with this authority: He cares about relationship with God and proclaiming the good news of how to get right with God. Jesus is both willing, and able, to make the ‘unclean’ clean, including you and I. How will we respond to this Jesus?

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In Romans 13:1-7, Paul continues along in the same train of thought, but with a different application – that of how believers ought to relate to those who are in positions of authority over them. How should believers live as those wanting to give themselves as ‘living sacrifices’ to the God who showed us such great mercy and do this in relation to governments that do not believe in Him? They should be the best citizens they can be, by standing up for righteousness and by the way they pray for and submit to these governing authorities (with exceptions of course!)!

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• The eighth in this series
• Remembering our context…
• How to approach a text like this?
• See how Paul encourages us…

How did Jesus approach this?
Where all this is heading….!

In Romans 12;17-21, Paul sets out the way in which the believer should respond to those who hate and mistreat them. Jesus promised that His followers would face persecution for His sake and this is certainly borne out in practise. Believers all around the world are mistreated in major ways, but also, many of us face offences, insults and bullying even if these are not due to anything related to our faith. It’s a hard, evil world that we live in. How do we respond?

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• The seventh in this series
• Facing a danger…
• First being ‘in Christ’…. then living this life…
• See how Paul teaches us to be like Jesus and …

‘Be’ something’ before ‘do’ something
This world!
Different weapons for the war…

In Romans 12:14-16, Paul continues to explore the applications of what it means to be transformed from within by the Spirit of God. Having addressed the way we are to relate to each other within the body of Christ, his concern now is to apply some more principles in relating to others who are ‘outside’ of the people of God. A life lived in the way he teaches, does (not surprisingly!) remind us of the Lord Jesus, who was all that Paul taught!

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• The sixth in this series
• That ‘inside out’ transformation…
• Two sets of triplets
• See how Paul teaches us to be like Jesus in …

1 John 3:17
That pair of army boots
Like Jesus who was all these things…

In this message by Rev Peter Phillips on Jonah 3:3-10, we read how by repentance, Jonah was delivered from the sea and from the fish. By repentance, Jonah obeyed the Lord, went to Nineveh and proclaimed the judgment of God. By repentance, the people of Nineveh caused the Lord to relent so that he did not judge them as they deserved. By repentance, we too can receive forgiveness of sins.

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By repentance
Note…

What if the Ninevites had not believed and repented?
What if we don’t?
Jesus can give repentance and forgiveness of sins (Acts 5:31)

The story of the resurrection of Jesus isn’t just a made up story to make us feel good about death or to give Jesus some more status that wasn’t meant for him. In Matthew 28:1-10, the facts are laid out for all to see and they must be wrestled with! For, if God did really raised Jesus from the dead, then everything changes – nothing is the same! And, following on from that, the claims Jesus makes must be examined and either believed or rejected. There’s no middle ground.

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• House fires!
• Facts that demand action
• Crisis moments & the claim of the gospel writers…
• Note that Matthew tells us of…

The verdict of the gospel writers
The challenge for all people!

When the gospel writer, Matthew, recorded the fact that Mrs Pilate (Claudia Procla) told her husband, Pontius Pilate, about her dream and her ill-feeling towards the situation her husband would soon be in, sentencing the Lord Jesus, we could ask the question, why? Why did Matthew record that incident? There might well be some suggestions that aren’t quite right and some (or at least one) that probably is. On this Good Friday, listen on to see!

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• The text! Mrs Pilate’s cameo…
• Why did Matthew include it?
• What does it mean? What can we learn? Think on…

We

Not

The

“Innocent” and innocent
That goat!
The gospel: the innocent punished, the guilty go free!