Of all the things that God the Son could have done when he came to earth, he came preaching! Preaching isn't much respected by our world today - or even, sometimes, in the church, sadly - but it is God's chosen means to call sinners to repentance and life. Here we consider some aspects of the preaching of Jesus.

Proverbs is a "Wisdom Book". Like many of the great kings of history, King Solomon reflected on his life, the world and the way that it works, and wrote down his observations. But since we have them in the Scriptures, his Words of Wisdom come from God. This book describes the only two paths for us to follow: the way of wisdom - leading to life and blessing - or the way of folly - leading to death and curse. It all begins with the fear of God.

A daily reality for Christians is the opposition and temptation that we face from the world, our flesh and the devil. Temptation can be severe and discouraging. But the Lord Jesus Christ has faced it, too. Having been tempted in unique ways, he is uniquely able to sympathise with us in our temptations.

Jesus' baptism signalled the beginning of his public ministry. But why did the sinless Messiah need to receive a "baptism for repentance" in the first place? Here we consider the tremendous significance of this moment in the life of Jesus the Messiah.

Jesus once said that there was no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet John showed what true greatness is by pointing his listeners away from himself, and towards Jesus, the one "mightier" than him. We who are followers of Jesus today ought to do the same thing.

Several times in John 15 Jesus tells his disciples to "abide" in him. What does that mean? What will it look in the life of a Christian?

The last of Jesus' seven "I am" sayings in John's Gospel. Jesus' words are controversial, reassuring and decisive.

One of the most common descriptions of God's chosen people in the Old Testament is that they were like a vine cultivated by God - and yet they produced bad fruit. We, too, have failed to produce the good fruit - the righteousness - that we ought. In that context, what good news it is that Jesus declares, "I am the true vine"!

The wise men find the baby Jesus, then go home - and then the "Christmas story" is usually brought to an end. But what happened next? The story of Jesus' childhood is far from the idyllic scene pictured on the Christmas cards. This passage reminds us of the spiritual warfare that the Messiah came to engage in, right from his earliest days.

The story of the wise men visiting Jesus is a well-known one - but is it well-understood? And do we really "know" it as well as we think?!