Book: Matthew

Jesus calls us to face hostility, not as doormats, but by boldly and creatively standing in our freedom and extending unexpected love and generosity.

The abusive use of anger to manipulate other people’s behaviour is, Jesus says, on the same spectrum as physical violence, and Jesus calls this preacher to repent of it.

Jesus reinvigorates the Covenant so that his Word of liberation and life is integrated into our lives, & we can live the Covenant in a new way in the world.

In the culture of Jesus, the very conditions that create discomfort, struggle, suffering and even scorn, paradoxically are transformed into the essential ingredients to inherit and inhabit the kingdom of God.

As Woody Allen said, 90% of success is just showing up, and in the resurrection, Jesus really shows up!

The COVID-19 scare can reinforce our Lenten call to prepare our hearts by facing up to our mortality and the real limits of our control over the world.

The forgiveness encountered in Jesus is extravagant and all-inclusive, but those who determinedly reject and demonise the Spirit’s winds of change can cut off their own access to it.

Our generation is very good at identifying evils and calling them out, but if our hearts are not occupied by God’s love and mercy, the results can be disastrous.

Jesus calls us to follow his lead in bringing healing, hope and positive leadership to others, and not to be too worried about anxious and vexatious criticism.

Jesus calls us to neither conservatism nor iconoclasm, but to a faithful reckoning with the gifts and the sins of the past as we welcome and adapt to the new.

Godly love and respect doesn’t prevent disagreements in the church community, but it should enable us to address them without having to call in the lawyers.

God’s people are called to generously share their gifts, but also to humbly receive the gifts that are offered to us from unexpected sources.