On sabbatical

“The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. Then Jesus said, ‘Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.’ He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat. So

No not Nineveh!

“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,  ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.’  But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of theLord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it,

The upside-down, inside-out effect of the gospel

“Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17 ESV). “Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God’” (John 3:3 ESV). “And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up

Who needs the gospel?

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,  and by which you are being saved” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2 ESV). “The gospel is not just the ABCs but the A to Z of the Christian life. It is inaccurate to think the gospel is what saves non-Christians, and then Christians

Two gospel thieves

“Just as Christ was crucified between two thieves,” so the gospel “is ever crucified between two opposite errors” (Tertullian, early church father). “If our gospel message even slightly resembles ‘you must believe and live right to be saved’ or ‘God loves and accepts everyone just as they are,’ we will find our communication is not

Evangelium: What the gospel is… and isn’t

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,  and by which you are being saved” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2 ESV). We’re starting a new 4-week sermon series this Easter weekend talking about the gospel. As the apostle Paul saw the need to remind the church at Corinth of the