We continue our journey through Luke this week and look at the last piece of preparation before Jesus begins his major ministry starting in the Galilee. Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit after his baptism, is lead into the desert for forty days fasting, and then temptation by Satan. There are several themes to this passage. Jesus is the absolutely obedient Son of God. He succeeds in completely deflecting Satan’s temptations where others like Adam and the nation of Israel have failed. He rebuts three devious but severe attacks from Satan by staying faithful and using scriptures from Deuteronomy. Jesus gives us an example to live by today. He shows that by having an insightful knowledge of scripture, obeying God, in submission to the Holy Spirit, Satan can be resisted.

Last week we saw God making promises to Abram. Promises that will shape the rest of the Bible all the way to Jesus, the one through whom God would bless the whole world. They must have seemed distant promises, for Abram and his wife Sarai had no children and they were asked to leave their homes and travel to a land that they didn't know. Abram has believed God so far, but how will he go when famine hits the land? This week we see faith tested, God's gracious restoration of His chosen servant and look at the glorious reality of God that we can cling to when our own faith is tested.

Bible Passage: Genesis 12:10-20

As we continue our journey through Luke this week we come to the somewhat odd occurrence of Jesus' baptism. Why, after all, would Jesus need to undergo a 'baptism of repentance?' Luke follows Jesus' baptism with a genealogy that traces his lineage all the way back to Adam, and God. We are also told that this was the beginning of Jesus' ministry. As Luke puts all of these details together, he is preparing us for his description of that ministry. A ministry that is not that of a mere human, but mysteriously nor is it God walking the earth. This God and humanity in one. A difficult concept, but one that is essential to understanding the gospel and the glory of our saviour.

The focus of Genesis now shifts from the whole human race to a single man, Abram. The rest of the OT is about Abram and his descendants. Rather than wiping out the world again, as he did in the days of Noah, God makes a promise in the face of the world’s sinfulness to bless it. God makes a promise that he will act for the world’s sake through this man named Abram, giving seven great promises of the things he would do. Though God picks a childless couple, a hopeless family, to further his wonderful plans, they must believe that he will do as he said. Abram’s God is our God too, and God also makes promises to us too; promises fulfilled in Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

In these verses from Luke we meet John the Baptist as he comes out of the desert and begins preaching his message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. John was not a smooth, smiling preacher who gave a soft message. He was a blunt and confrontational preacher who pulled no punches as he brought a message of coming wrath. Today, that kind of preaching about sin and wrath would anger many today. John warned people not to rely on their spiritual descent as the chosen people. John attacks this idea and demands repentance matched by moral reform. It was an uncomfortable message demanding that people face their guilt, but people flocked to hear this message. Yet this condemning message was really one of hope. It is when we face our guilt that we can seek forgiveness and find new life in the Jesus that John preached.

In our journey through Genesis, we come this week to the account of Babel. It is an event that helps us undertand our world with its myriad languages and cultures, but it does far more than that. It gives us insight into our human tendency to ‘make a name for ourselves’ often by rejecting what God has told us to do. The events at Babel highlight the futility of living life that way, but that is not the end of the story. As we look forward in the Bible to the day when God begins to undo what happened at Babel, we see how we can avoid the mistakes the people there made.

Bible Passage: Genesis 11:1-9

Pastor: Jono Deenick

In Luke 2:41-52 we have a segment of Jesus life that we don't see anywhere else. Matthew and Luke both report on what happened around Jesus' birth and, of course, all of the gospels tell us about Jesus ministry but this is the only place we read about Jesus as a boy. Here we get an insight into what it meant for Jesus to grow up. It's a somewhat odd thing to think about because He is also God and yet, it is helpful for us as we think about what it means to grow up in the faith as people who are also sons and daughters of God.

Bible Passage: Luke 2:41-52

Pastor: Jono Deenick

Coming out of the Ark, Noah worships God for his saving work. God then blesses this ‘new’ humanity, paralleling the original commissioning of Adam and Eve. The Lord then establishes a covenant with Noah and all living creatures for all times. This recreation is looking good...but...sin is still a reality. In spite of Noah being described as a righteous man in his generation we sense from Noah’s failure that sin is still very much alive. If God has promised to never again send a cleansing flood, what is the ultimate solution?

Bible Passage: Genesis 8:20-9:29

Pastor: Jim de Witte

The action in our text takes place at the Temple in Jerusalem. At the centre of the action is a child, the long-awaited Saviour of the world. Here we meet Simeon and Anna whose lives are marked by that of expectation, anticipation, and waiting. We all know what it’s like to wait – waiting for life to change, for the grief to go away, for a prayer to be answered, for forgiveness and reconciliation, for clarity about a decision, for meaning and purpose, for healing and new life. We wait and hope for all sorts of things. There is much we can learn from Simeon and Anna as they wait, and as they see the promises of God begin to unfold before them. Promises, hopes dreams and expectations found only in this child they meet in the temple, the saviour Jesus. He is the answer to all our hopes and dreams too. He is worth waiting for.

Bible Passage: Luke 2:22-40

Pastor: Jim de Witte

Last week we began looking at the account of Noah and asked, 'how such terrible destruction was justified?' We also learnt from Noah's example of faith. This week we will try to answer some of the difficult questions that the flood raises but, more importantly, we will also look at God renewing His creation. The flood was a bit like a 'reset' button. However, it doesn't resolve the problem of sin. It dealt with it, but only in a temporary way. This helps us to think about how we deal with sin, and encourages us with the better solution that God has now provided in Jesus.

Bible Passage: Genesis 7:6-8:19

Pastor: Jono Deenick