| By Andy Moyle | 2 mins 57 secs | 0 Comments
The new covenant explained with bread Following on from yesterday’s reading we get an amusing series of anecdotes of the disciples not understanding, then Peter getting it, then Peter not getting it again. The “it” being who Jesus is and the new covenant He is bringing into play. The disciples realise they have forgotten to […]
| By Andy Moyle | 2 mins 28 secs | 0 Comments
Healing and feeding Jesus has come from a big confrontation with the Jewish religious leaders to heal a Gentile woman’s daughter. He is such a radical, because He now goes further into Gentile territory to the region of Decapolis to heal a deaf and mute man and feed 4,000 people before yet another confrontation with […]
| By Andy Moyle | 5 mins 51 secs | 0 Comments
Clean hands or clean heart One Sunday a man sat through a church service (clearly not one of ours!!!) and then on the way home he fussed about the sermon, he griped about the traffic, he complained about the cold and rain, and he made a big fuss about how late lunch was served. Then […]
| By Andy Moyle | 4 mins 36 secs | 0 Comments
Show and tell Some people tackle novels by reading the last page first. It’s a plan of attack I wouldn’t normally subscribe to! However, I do feel compelled to start today’s reading by looking at the last verse first: “And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the market-places and […]
| By Andy Moyle | 4 mins 3 secs | 0 Comments
The state of your heart In 1650 a Christian businessman travelled from London to Scotland. When he got home his friends at church asked him what news he had brought them. “Good news,” he said, “for when I went to St Andrews I heard a sweet, majestic-looking man, and he showed me the majesty of […]
| By Andy Moyle | 4 mins 1 sec | 0 Comments
Faith – violent and powerful Today’s reading contains some very well known stories, and yet there are some important points here to learn. The central theme of the passage is about faith, about the violent and powerful force it can be, the lack that appears because of its absence, as well as the devastating effects […]
| By Andy Moyle | 2 mins 47 secs | 0 Comments
Storms A couple of weeks ago, Ellie (my 5-year-old daughter) drew me this picture: Ellie tells me that the face just left of centre is mine. I’m in the middle of a storm, and I’m smiling. The face in the top right hand corner is God’s, who is also smiling. Of course, I’d love to […]
| By Andy Moyle | 3 mins 1 sec | 0 Comments
Increase In today’s reading Jesus is teaching his disciples about the kingdom. There are really two things he teaches us. At the end of chapter 3 Jesus’ family comes to ‘see’ him, and at first it seems like Jesus’ reaction is unnecessarily rude. However if you put this in the context of verse 21 – […]
| By Andy Moyle | 3 mins 26 secs | 0 Comments
Escalating conflict and the unforgivable sin Mark gets straight down to business. In 16 chapters, he doesn’t have a lot of column inches to build the tension! To the Pharisees and even John’s disciples, following Jesus looked like an easier deal. The Pharisees had added to the once a year prescribed fast during the day […]