Be Still and Know

Acts 2:44-45 It’s fascinating to see the impact that the Holy Spirit had in the earliest days of the early Church. He transformed every part of their life. Yes, they were committed to teaching, fellowship and prayer but they also looked at th...

Acts 2:42 The first weeks of the early Church must have been amazing. The pouring out of the Holy Spirit totally transformed the situation. From a small group of disappointed and frightened believers, there was now a large number of people fi...

Acts 2:37-38 A sermon is worth nothing if it doesn’t lead to action. Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost powerfully described the reason for Jesus’ death. In words that would have shocked many in his audience, he pointed out that they had ...

Acts 2:16-17 When Peter spoke these words, he was addressing the huge crowds of Jews who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the festival known as Pentecost. On that day, the first fruits of the wheat harvest were offered to God. It was known ...

Luke 6:38 The metaphor used here would have been clear to Jesus’ listeners, but may mean little or nothing to us today. Let me explain: at the time, a person’s outer tunic had a large fold in it, which could be pulled out above the belt to ma...

Luke 6:27-28;32 I could be wrong, but I suspect that most of us will struggle to identify any enemies. But I suspect that most of us can readily come up with a list of people whom we find difficult or awkward. Jesus very strong command means ...

Luke 6:24-25 These words would have come as a huge surprise for Jesus’ hearers. They had been taught that being wealthy and well fed now were signs of God’s blessing. Jesus was seeking to wake his disciples up to the fact that you can’t have ...

Luke 6:22-23 These are amazing words and, once again, they turn our normal human thinking upside down. That’s what Jesus did all the time. The idea of being hated, excluded, mocked and cursed is a horrible one. We spend much of our lives deli...

Jesus turned to his disciples and said, “God blesses you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours.God blesses you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied. God blesses you who weep now, for in due time you will laugh.” These words are a...

Luke 6:12-13 This was a big moment in Jesus’ ministry. He didn’t come into this world to set up an organisation, but to share a message. And for that, he needed people who would work closely with him; people who would get to know him and his ...

Luke 5:37-39 Wine skins, usually made from goat hides, were the normal way of preserving wine in Jesus’ day. As we all know, skin dries out with time and so it would be absurd to put new wine into old wineskins. It would soon be completely lo...

Luke 5:29-30 Levi the tax collector is better known to us as Matthew. There were many kinds of tax at the time. There was a poll tax, which men aged 14 to 65 and women aged twelve to 65 had to pay. There was also a ground tax: one-tenth of al...

Luke 5:18-19 You can imagine the scene. Jesus had become an incredibly popular preacher and healer, and huge crowds were eager to meet him. At the same time, he was arousing the interest of the religious leaders who were anxious about his gro...

Luke 5:10-11 So far as we know, this is the first time that Jesus had ever met Simon. We have learnt that Jesus had borrowed his boat to use as a convenient pulpit, and then gave Simon orders to fish in a new area, which resulted in an enormous...

Luke 5:8-9 If you have ever talked to fishermen, you will know that they have a great sensitivity for their work. It is dangerous and demanding, and they are eager to be successful. They are often very good at anticipating where the fish are an...