Having heard the basics of the gospel, we need to move on to maturity, not relying on milk but on solid food. It is a sign a spiritual maturity that we know the truth, that we are convinced of it, and are able to teach others.

God has put us in our various communities in order to bless the nations, whether they come to us or whether we go to them. God is calling us to be a church which is ethnically and culturally diverse, which is led by the Holy Spirit and which goes on global mission - both where we are and overseas.

Like Daniel, we live in turbulent times, so how do we respond? The world empires signified by the beasts in Daniel's dream are given authority for a time, but their authority will eventually be taken from them. God does not just pronounce judgement and deal with tyrants, but he is also setting up his own kingdom. So let's not give in to a climate of fear in turbulent times.

Jesus reformulates the people of God into a group centred on himself, yet models humility for us and introduces a topsy-turvy value system in his kingdom, where gentleness is celebrated. We welcome God by welcoming Jesus, and we welcome Jesus by welcoming those that society considers the lowest.

The apostle Peter encourages Christians facing trials that they are chosen and have a living hope through Christ's resurrection. They should set their hope on the salvation God has laid up for them in heaven, being aware of the attacks that will come and not conforming but being set apart as obedient children.

Learning from the story of Gideon how believing God's word takes us from weak, fearful people to those who can do all things through Christ.

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What we believe about Jesus puts us in one of two groups - those who are redeemed and those who are going to spend eternity without God. Jesus gathers his sheep by laying down his life and taking it up again, and we can respond either like the Pharisees who criticised him or the blind man whom Jesus healed in the previous chapter, who worshipped him.

The disciples had successes but, like us, they had failures too, and Jesus helps them to handle this. The boy's father recognised that he had a mixture of belief and unbelief, and asked Jesus to take him as he was, and Jesus helps him to battle his unbelief. He also helps the disciples to learn to pray.

The disciples saw Jesus in his glory on a mountain top, and wanted to preserve the moment. But our "mountain top" experiences where we have a special glimpse of God's glory are not meant to be preserved, but are meant to encourage us in our everyday life experiences.

The Jewish High Priest was appointed by God to be a representative of men to God. Similarly, Jesus was appointed by God to be High Priest for ever, to represent us to God. Jesus knows what real life is like - he is one of us.