Hebrews 9
The Bible is all about Jesus – The Old Testament points to our need of Jesus. The gospels shows us how Jesus sorted our greatest need. The epistles show us how to live in the good of Christ’s first coming as we await His second. Hebrews 9 shows how the Old Testament sacrificial system, Tabernacle […]
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Heb 8
The old and new covenant. Today, I am looking into a bit of history to remind us of what the ‘old covenant’ and the ‘new covenant’ are all about. Pre-biblical times, there was long history concerning covenants. They generally came in two guises: conditional and unconditional. Conditional covenants came from a law background and were […]
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Hebrews 4
In v11 the writer to the Hebrews urges us to “strive to enter rest”. So the concept of entering the rest that this passage is about cannot be about gaining salvation. We know we are not saved by works, but by the free gift of grace through faith. We don’t have to strive to be […]
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Hebrews 2
Hebrews was first written for Jews who had come to faith in Jesus as the Messiah to help them understand why Jesus is the fulfilment of the Old Testament promise and to help them not fall back to law keeping Judaism. The first chapter establishes Jesus’ superiority over the previous Old Testament revelation and this […]
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Philemon
Plea for a Slave – Philemon When I was young I read a book called Twice Freed. It was written by well know children’s author Patricia St John. It is a story based on the events written in this letter by Paul. Patricia has taken the Biblical facts, and woven a story around them, as […]
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Titus 3
Titus 3 Things to remember, things to avoid Most of us are quite good at forgetting things. Sometimes it really doesn’t matter too much, but at other times it can matter a great deal (appointments, anniversaries etc.). Paul tells Titus to remind the people of various things, because we so readily forgot them. v1-2 Remember […]
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Titus 2
Titus 2 Taught by Grace What does ‘sound doctrine’ look like in practice? Imagine Titus asking, ‘OK, Paul. I understand the importance of sticking to sound, healthy doctrine. But how does that work out in the lives of the different age-groups in the church here in Crete? What should I teach the older people, the […]
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Titus 1
Considering it’s such a short letter (just 3 chapters), Titus has a long introduction (v1-4). It follows the usual pattern (Paul …, to …, grace and peace …) but expands wonderfully on the focus of Paul’s ministry as an apostle. His focus is to enable God’s chosen people to grow in faith and knowledge of […]
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2 Tim 4
Preach It! – 2 Timothy Chapter 4 I wonder what I would say to my children if I knew it was the last time I would have that opportunity. What would I consider to be the most important issues to confront? What would help them and encourage them to blossom in their environment, and to […]
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