Jesus is God’s eternal Son (He 1:1-4). Yet his life on earth was slave-like (Ph 2:6-7), lived under the brutal authority of worldly powers and often utterly exhausting. Why? In order to save his people from sin (Ph 2:8; 1Jo
The church before the world
How did the first Christians see their relationship with the society around them? Here in Acts 24, we see three things in Paul’s words and actions which give a partial answer to that question Firstly, they saw themselves as witnesses
Final justice
God is triune, three who are one: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Hence, when God made man in his image, he made us not simply as solo creatures but for community. This means that others affect our behaviour. In our
Tertullus
Caesarea was a lavishly built port which King Herod developed on Judea’s coast. A very Gentile city, it was the main residence of the Roman governor of the land. At the time of Paul’s arrest this is Marcus Antonius Felix
Handle with care
Genesis describes the start of the world as good (Ge 1:31): a place where early humanity could live in innocence and peace (Ge 2:25). Society today is rather different! Sin has created division, disharmony and violence. The Lord has promised
Conspiracy!
In Jerusalem, Paul has testified to Jesus as the Messiah and been rejected. Now the Lord would have him move to Rome (v11) and so he arranges this in a quite unexpected way. Paul’s extraction will be triggered by a
Cat among the pigeons
The tower of Babel is the Bible’s true story of a very ancient and very arrogant human empire, which God pulled apart through a confusion of language (Ge 11:1-9). Later, the Bible records other sinful societies brought down by God,
Belt up!
Church leaders should be open to Christians raising concerns with them. Paul has shown himself to be like that on the way to Jerusalem (Ac 21:4). But if the leaders feel they must continue with a path despite advice, then
Igniting anger
Certain words, phrases or ideas can get us excited. Public speakers know this and make use of the trait. With a weak speaker that may be their way of masking the poverty of their words. The trait can also be
Have you washed?
Rituals are found in human societies across the world and often come with a strong pressure to conform. First century Judaism had quite a few, developed from the Old Testament (Mk 7:1-13). However, the reason for them is not always