Gospels-Acts
John 6:22-71
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Jesus The Bread of Life audio (4MB)
John 6:22-71
You may have noticed that there’s been a significant revival of Atheism over the past few years. More and more people have begun to question the validity of the claims of religions, particularly Christianity, of a supernatural power being at work in the world. It’s like carbon in the atmosphere. If you can’t see it, it can’t be there. Or so they say. Certainly the claims of Christianity that Jesus was God’s own son, born in human flesh; that Jesus died then came back to life; that he could walk through locked doors; they must surely be the inventions of his followers after the fact.
Yet we Christians firmly believe that what we read in God’s word is true. We have a deep inner conviction that the Christian message is the truth. So why is that? Are we so simple that we’ll believe anything? Well no, most Christians are reasonably intelligent, rational, thinking people.
So why is it that some people believe and some don’?
I think that’s a question that Jesus addresses here in John chapter 6.
John 7:1-52
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
The Feast of Tabernacles No audio available this week
John 7:1-52
You probably won’t be surprised to discover that there’s a link between this chapter and the previous one. Last week we saw how some people find it hard to believe in Jesus, because faith is a spiritual activity and they’re basically materialists, or because they don’t accept the possibility of supernatural forces in our world, or because the idea of Jesus the Son of God dying on our behalf is too hard to believe.
Well this week we continue to think about the question of belief or unbelief.
Here we find a series of people who observe Jesus’ behaviour, who speak with him or listen to him and who apply their own standards of judgement to him and get differing answers to the question “who is Jesus?”.
John 8:12-59 Who's Your Father?
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- Written by: George Hemmings
Who's Your Father? audio (5MB)
John 8:12-59
Meet Peter. He’s an average, Aussie bloke. Not long after he got married, he left a career in Sydney to move to the country and raised a family. Nearly twenty years in, his marriage fell apart. After a few dark years and some soul searching, Peter emerged more compassionate, more caring, more sympathetic. You might even say wiser! He’s worked hard all his life, as you might be able to tell from his face. He’s either out on the farm, or in his farm supply store. He goes out of his way to ensure his customers are looked after. In fact many of them, and the people he’s worked with over the years would think of him as a friend. Peter's an average Aussie bloke. You're unlikely to ever see him in the news, or read about him in the paper. But if you met him, you might think you knew him. Because Peter's my father. There's a lot of him in me. There's a lot that he's said, and done, that's shaped who I am. I see aspects of him in a lot of what I do, what I say, how I react. I wonder what your Father’s like? How do your parents define you?
John 9:1-41
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
A Man Born Blind audio
John 9:1-41
Blindness is a terrible thing. Our sight is central to so much that we enjoy in the world. Whether it’s the beauty of nature, or the smile on a other person’s face when they see you coming; whether it’s the control it gives you over the world around you, or the freedom that it allows you; or simply the awareness of what’s going on around you, your sight is vital to you. So when someone loses their sight, it requires a lot of adjustment. They have to rely on other senses. They have to depend on others for things like simply getting around that the rest of us take for granted. If you know someone with failing eyesight you’ll know what a loss it is, how many restrictions it puts on their life.
But you know, there are different forms of blindness. There’s physical blindness, but there’s also spiritual blindness. In the story we’re looking at today, we see Jesus healing a man’s physical blindness, and in the process we discover the spiritual blindness of some of those looking on.
Light vs darkness is one of those themes that runs through John’s gospel and linked with that theme is that of judgement.
John 9:1-46
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
A Man Born Blind audio (5MB)
Blindness is a terrible thing isn’t it? We rely on our eyes so much for experiencing the world, for enjoying life, for perceiving reality. If your eyes are failing or you know someone with poor eyesight you’ll know what a loss it is, how many restrictions it puts on your life.
But you know, there are different forms of blindness. There’s physical blindness, and there’s spiritual blindness. In the story we’re looking at today, we see Jesus healing a man’s physical blindness, and in the process we discover the spiritual blindness of some of those looking on.
