マリヤの受胎告知やベツレヘムへの旅のシーンからではなく、世界が造られたところから描いたクリスマス。なぜクリスチャンはクリスマスをお祝いするのか、クリスマスとイエスはどんなつながりがあるのかを、読み手が理解できるように描かれています。神の大きなストーリーを知ることで、クリスマスの本当の意味が分かってきます。

The news of a Saviour was announced to the shepherds and there was an outburst of praise: “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:13–14). But there’s a problem. The ‘peace’ the angels sing about, is only available to those ‘with whom God is pleased’.

Could you imagine covering yourself up in wrapping paper and giving yourself to someone as a gift? “Here’s your present—it’s me! I’ve searched the shops for the perfect gift—and I’ve concluded the perfect gift is me!” This is exactly what God did.

Some books begin by making the content sound like the single most important topic of all time. This book begins with a refreshing sense of perspective: ”there is no specific command in the bible to discover one’s calling.” But if we do have a ‘unique’ calling, it would make sense that we grow in our understanding of that calling. That is the beauty of this book.

There is a difference between religious and gospel-motivated repentance, and if you are struggling to experience increasing sweetness in your walk with Jesus search your motives.

This is Jesus’ second sign in Cana. His first sign was turning water into wine. We are told the Galilean's welcomed Jesus because they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem. In other words, news was spreading and people were talking about Jesus. This man had heard stories, and decided to ask Jesus to heal his son.

Drawing from his own personal experience, Spurgeon brings a sense of order to the chaos so often surrounding depression. Undergirded by his longevity in ministry, he speaks into those moments when ministers are most vulnerable to bouts of melancholy.

When we talk about preaching to the heart, we are talking about knowing the forms of love which dwell in the hearts of our listeners—and how these ‘loves’ influence their actions.

Heart is one of those words which is used so often we assume everyone in the room shares a similar understanding.

This is an encounter between Jesus and a woman from Samaria. Women usually collected water early in the day, before the sun rose, in order to avoid the heat. Despite this woman being an outcast, Jesus steps over racial, gender and moral barriers in order to engage her in a conversation.

This is an encounter between Jesus and a Pharisee, named Nicodemus. The trouble with this encounter is that Nicodemus doesn’t fit the usual stereotypes associated with religious people. He is a member of the Sanhedrin; a disciplined, wealthy, and powerful man. He is a man who respectfully addressed Jesus as ‘Rabbi,’ despite Jesus being an outsider.

Many believers speak catchphrases without knowing how the gospel applies to the everyday stuff of life. They know Jesus is the answer to eternity, but have little idea of how Jesus is the answer to what they do in this life.

In 1998, I was sent to Okinawa as a domestic missionary of the Evangelical Free Church. Back then, the Evangelical Free Church was one of the most developed denominations in Japan.

When my husband and I entered into church planting, we were too excited to consider any negative emotions or possible hardship. We wanted to see every sickness healed and every sin defeated but failed to see God’s bigger story.

I was one of those ‘enthusiastic Christians’ that Dan McCartney refers to. The kind of person who passionately wanted to see every sickness and sin defeated in this life, but who failed to see God’s sovereignty in his own suffering.

Towards the end of the first chapter, John identified Jesus as ‘the Lamb of God’ (v.36), ‘the Messiah’ (v.41), ‘the Son of God’ and ‘the King of Israel’ (v.49). In the second chapter John continues to point us towards Jesus’ messianic character through a series of ‘signs.’ Rather than simply being a display of power, these signs identify who Jesus is and what he came to do.

Information on how to use the C.O.M.A. (Context, Observation, Meaning, Application) method to work through a biblical text.

As a pastor, I have been led to think about the prophet Elijah in recent weeks – exhausted after his confrontation with the prophets of Baal. Running for his life, he sits and asks God to take his life away.