Jesus read the scriptures and delivered a sermon in his home synagogue in Nazareth. By this time he had already been on a preaching tour of Galilee and had established a reputation as an exciting new preacher and healer. His local community were bound to be eager to hear him and so the synagogue is likely to have been full. Surely Jesus could expect a warm and enthusiastic welcome...but no! Rather, what he said caused such offence that he was run out of town and nearly killed. Why? What can he have said that caused such fury?

Social media, exams, peer pressure. In this world crammed full of external voices, how do our young people connect with the church and God? During His time in the wilderness, Jesus was also subject to external voices. What can we learn from this, particularly how it relates to our young people and dealing with the pressures they are under?

God is always at work. So along with giving thanks for His faithfulness for things He has done for us in the past, it is also important to consider the new things He is doing. What new things is God revealing to you? How do you perceive the actions of God around you? Discover afresh the work of the Holy Spirit and look forward with an openness towards God's mighty, saving works. Works that bring about the possible where things may appear impossible.

You never hear much about Jesus’s life as a teenager, and there is good reason. It isn’t mentioned much in the Bible. But in Luke’s gospel chapter 2, we glimpse those teenage years. He went AWOL when his parents lost him in the big city of Jerusalem. Joseph and Mary searched for him, and it was a moment of great anxiety and tension. Jesus was eventually found, and we read he grew in character and reputation. What were your teenage years (or are) like? How might your life might relate to the teenage years of Jesus?

Who were you, crazy Anna? All that time that you waited, fasted and prayed in the temple. All day and all night. Waiting to see salvation. Who were you, crazy Anna? One of Luke’s lowly, marginalised outcasts. Shunned by all the wealthy and important people. Dismissed as a rambling widow who had strange visions. And yet you knew who was coming, didn’t you, Anna? And you got to see the face of salvation. After all that faithful waiting, you met the baby Jesus. And you knew. You knew! You weren’t crazy at all. So what can we learn from Anna to help us see the face of salvation?

Simeon - someone moved by the Spirit. And what a huge blessing he had as a result! As we delve into this passage, it becomes clear that the question we must ask ourselves is whether we recognise when the Holy Spirit is working in our lives. What do we potentially miss if we are not open to the work of the Holy Spirit each day?

What’s going to be the No.1 song this Christmas? Or, what has Spotify wrapped up for you? Music and Christmas go hand in hand. We love to sing at this time of year. The Christmas story in Luke’s gospel has two famous songs - the first by Jesus’ mother Mary and the second by Zechariah, the Father of John the Baptist. Zechariah sang his heart out. He was filled with the Spirit and praised God. What makes you sing out loud? For Zechariah, there were some amazing things! It was the plan of God to save and rescue the world. It was the miracle of the birth of his son, John, who was to prepare the way for Jesus’ arrival. It was the forgiveness of God, the tender mercy of God, the light of God and the peace that only God can bring. Wow! What brilliant lyrics! Come and join in the song of celebration this Christmas. Jesus saves!

Sometimes, we are so familiar with stories in the bible that we can skim over them and miss important truths. Gabriel’s visit to Mary to tell her she will give birth to a baby boy is one of those. But when we spend a little bit of time looking into the story, we can see that this birth was the coming to fruition of many prophecies in the Old Testament that refer to Jesus’s time on earth as a servant king and also looking forward to His second coming - when 'Seeing Salvation' will be revealed in all its glorious fullness.

We begin Advent focussing on the opening of Luke’s Gospel and the incredible moment that prepares the way for Jesus’ birth. We often jump straight into the nativity story but this year we’re slowing down to focus on what happened before Jesus came to earth. Before Jesus there was Theophilus, Zechariah & his wife Elizabeth, King Herod, the angel, John the Baptist and 18,000 priests! Weaving all these relationships together was the Holy Spirit, moving and acting in awesome ways. So how does the Holy Spirit work amongst our relationships within the church? That’s a question to ponder anew (what the almighty can do) throughout our ordinary, everyday lives.

Simon Harry from Bewdley Baptist Church shares his research on encouraging intergenerational connections in church life. Simon explores 1 Samuel 3 in the Old Testament and speaks about the challenge of how we can grow in getting to know one another better.