This week, we turn towards a conversation between Jesus and Pontius Pilate (once you say it you can't un-say it). Ever the cynic, Pilate is in no mood for the Jewish leaders' games. So he has what ends up being quite a profound conversation with Jesus about the nature of truth—funly enough, asking the famous 'what is truth' question after Jesus already gave the answer...

This week's 'Conversation with Jesus' is a high-emotion situation. Jesus arrives in Bethany after learning of the death of his close friend Lazarus. As he interacts with Lazarus' sisters, Mary and Martha, we see a masterclass in how to stand with those whoe grieve. Perhaps even more profound, we see Jesus — the living embodiment of God — himself grieve deeply.

What's confusing though, is that Jesus obviously knew he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. Why grieve, rather than enter triumphantly? The answer, we discover, is because of an art that's lost to us in the present day.

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The NT Wright article Chris reads from is here:

https://time.com/5808495/coronavirus-christianity/

And the piece we listened to at the end is called 'The Death of Lazarus' by John and Valerie Guerra, from the album 'Jesus' (which comes highly commended).

In another 'crowd' themed instalment of our John series, Laura tackles the famous scene where the Pharisees and teachers of the law try and trick Jesus by presenting him a woman caught in adultery (never mind the man...). Jesus response is legendary—but what do we actually take away from it? How do we see ourselves in the different groups of people in the story? And how do we avoid the moral absolutes that church and society so often try and force us into?

This week's Jesus conversation is an interesting one, because it's not with a person but with a crowd.

At the beginning of John 6, Jesus' ministry is going superbly by our standards. He's got a crowd who are willing to lay down their lives for him. He's performed a spectacular miracle, walked across water, and (in John's rendering) seems to be the new Moses. Yet by the start of John 7, the crowds have deserted and only a handful are left.

What on earth happend in John 6? How could Jesus be so careless as to lose his popular appeal? And what do we, as a church, learn from his claim that he's the 'bread of life'?

This week, we turn to John chapter 4, where Jesus has a famous encounter with a Samaritan woman. The conversation is full of insight and layered meaning—but one of the most remarkable things is that it happened at all. Who exactly was this Samaritan woman, and why was it so scandalous for Jesus to speak with her? What did she understand that the disciples missed? And was she really the morally suspect figure that church history has made her out to be?

This week, we plumb the depths of one of John's most theologically rich dialogues — the one between Jesus and Nicodemus. The latter — a well respected lawmaker and leader — speaks to the former under the cover of darkness. Their conversation can be hard to follow for modern readers, so Chris takes us through the passage not one, but three times. Each time we take a different perspective. What emerges is that being 'born again' is not so much a one time thing as it is a heart posture, which requires us to become a beginner again for the sake of Christ...

Our non-series series has come to and end and this week we step into an actual series... looking at the Gospel of John!

This new series, Conversations with Jesus, dives into the moments where Jesus really gets personal — meeting people with honesty, curiosity, and grace that transforms them. As we listen in on these encounters from John’s Gospel, we’re learning not just what Jesus taught, but how he related — so we can grow to love and live like him too.

Chris opens with five fun facts about John's gospel, and a cursory look at the first conversation — where Jesus calls his first followers.

What if lasting, real change in your life isn't about trying harder? It turns out the key to change isn't effort, but creating the right conditions for fruitfulness. This week Chris explores what that actually means in practice, and how to create a concrete plan for growing into the likeness of Jesus...

Is your life better than it was 12 months ago? If you're following Jesus, you should expect to see year-on-year growth, development, and maturity in your inner life. Yet for so long, in the church we have settled for a skin-deep discipleship that settles for just believing the right ideas.

Drawing from Jesus' words on the mount (Matthew 5), Chris explores a biblical vision for a deeply transformed life, and hints at how we can begin to see the fruit of that develop.

This week Mandy turns our attention towards the scriptures (as a whole... we do normally pay attention to the scriptures!) and asks: how do we read the bible? After sharing 7 key truths about the bible, she explores the difference between reading for information versus formation... and how we need both.