This week we read Daniel 1 & 2 and learned from the life and story of Daniel how to trust God in the mundane, and the subtle ways that the enemy tries to change who God made us to be. We also discovered how to trust God for the miraculous, so that we might see Him do what the world says is not possible.

This week we looked at a really well known verse from Jeremiah and discovered that this verse has more context than maybe we realise. But as we see the context into which God spoke these words we find that this verse actually encourages us to trust the God who is faithful, the God who is love, the God who is peace even when times are hard and the world around us is challenging.

God gave Jeremiah words about water, about the lack of water in the lives of the people of Judah at that time. Today Matt shared about how water in the bible is symbolic of the Spirit of God, and how the Spirit helps us to cling to God and to shape our lives around Him discovering His goodness in our lives. But so often we look to other sources of water that ultimately do not provide. God calls us again and again to come to Him the Living Water. All we need to do is ask the Father who willingly gives us His Spirit.

This morning Andy helped us look at the opening chapters of Jeremiah, and felt the weight of the prophet's words as God proclaims judgement over Israel due to their persistent idolatry. In contrast to this, we looked at God's promise to raise up a righteous remnant of ordinary people that would ultimately bring forth His Kingdom. We rejoice again that we have a God who speaks life into our mess and cares enough to bring about redemption.

You can jump through to the questions and answers at these points:

(00:55) Micah 6:6-8

Does this passage mean that the sacrifices laid out in the law could not save them, but that salvation comes through deeds of justice, mercy and humility?

(06:57) Isaiah 14

Is this passage about Babylon or Satan?

(15:13) Isaiah 45:1-4

Why did God anoint Cyrus, bestowing on him a title of honour even though Cyrus didn't acknowledge God?

(26:22) Isaiah 45:17

Will all Israel be saved?

(1:08:45) Isaiah 61:1-7

Why, amidst all the hopeful promises of God in these verses is it "the day of vengeance of our God" in verse 2?

(1:12:44) Isaiah 65:20

The NT seems to imply that in the new heavens and earth there will be no more death, but this verse in Isaiah seems to say that there will be. Which is it?

(1:30:00) 2 Chronicles 29:1-2

If Hezekiah's father was Ahaz why does it say that he did right in the eyes of the LORD like his father David?

Today we learned from the story of Hezekiah that there is a Babylon, an enemy, who wants to rob us of our treasure (our hope, peace and joy). But saw how that enemy works, and we discovered that there is a solution for us in Jesus if we would just run to Him.

This week we looked at Isaiah 53-66 and discovered that Jesus claimed that this prophecy was all about Him. Matt unpacked why Jesus came to be this guy that Isaiah talks about, and we saw that He came to be this guy because He loves us, and we need Him to be that guy, so that we can find life, hope, peace and joy again, which is His heart for us.

This week Matt shared from our weekly readings (Isaiah 45-52 and 2 Kings 19). We saw how when you read the prophesies of Isaiah in the context of the dates in which they were written you discover that God spoke of things hundreds of years before they happened, and then history reveals that what God said was right. When we read the bible chronologically we discover that there is even more weight and power to Gods word that brings us even more life, hope, joy and strength.

This week Matt Holman reflected on our "bible in two years" readings from Isaiah 34-44 and drew out that in the prophecies about Jesus we find a God who calls us to Himself and breaks down the barriers that stop us from experiencing Him and the life He longs to give us.

As we wrap up 2024 Matt gave us an overview of the Old Testament story that we have read so far this year. We saw that the story of the OT is much like our story, it's one of a people who struggled, messed up, felt pain and experienced darkness. But we also saw that it is the story of a God who never fails, never changes and never ceases to love us.