The Nature of God’s Love

As we read through the book of Romans there seems to be some common themes that we see over and over again. The common topics are: The Law, Sin and Grace. And in case you are thinking those are probably common themes throughout the Bible, or the New Testament or even Paul's letters, they are,…

The Nature of our Nature

Wow that was depressing. I would have expected more from Paul, but this just sounds like whining. I half expected him to check himself into a rehab centre by the time I got to the end of this section. But at some time in our Christian life most of us could probably identify with what…

The Nature of Grace

 It seemed to make perfect sense: If the "Grace of God" was a good thing, and if the "Grace of God" was demonstrated through the forgiveness of sin, then the more we sinned than the more the Grace of God would be demonstrated. It seems to make perfect sense but it didn't. It was an…

The Nature of Character

Having Mother's Day fall during Discover the Word can be a challenge because it is really expected that on Mother's Day you will speak to Mothers. But when you are focusing on a specific book it can sometimes be hard to find the hook to work with a specific topic. If you were here a…

The Nature of Sin

The night air was as thick and as silent as velvet. When suddenly the stillness was broken by the soft flapping of leathery wings. Out of the gloom came anger, his already contorted features twisted as he saw the man. Anger's cohorts were already there, perched on one shoulder was despondency while alcohol clung to…

The Main Thing

It's almost over, can you feel it in the air? Almost an electricity as people wait expectantly for April to be over. They don't care what Denn will be preaching next week or the week after that they just know it won't be about Money. By the way next week I will be preaching on…

The Big Things

Last week I spoke about the little things, the minutia, the details. In that case it was the details that would have been involved in supporting Jesus and his disciples. And I looked at Luke 8:1-3. In particular the verse that said Luke 8:2-3 Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out…

The Little Things

When you stop and think about it, it's the little things the minutiae. I can get my head around the miracles in the New Testament, miracles are by definition miracles. You either believe them or you don't. So I don't struggle with how Jesus fed the five thousand that was a God thing, a miracle…

A Tale of Two Jesus’ Part 2

And so this is how it would end, it wasn't what he expected at all. On Friday he had watched as they crucified the carpenter and he walked free. And that is how it should have ended, a happy ending for him, a not so happy ending for Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter who almost…

A tale of two Jesus’

So this is where it would end, in front of a hostile crowd, nailed to a cross. He had of hoped for better and I'm sure his family had hoped for better. I don't know what his mother had envisioned for the little boy who played at her feet but I'm betting it wasn't this.…