Category: Essential Jesus

We’re now halfway through our Essential Jesus Challenge!

Our next five readings cover perhaps the greatest theme that emerges from Jesus’ parables:  The Kingdom of God.  They also cover some of the ‘I am…’ statements of Jesus:  … the Good Shepherd, the Vine, and so on.

Jesus spoke to a wide variety of people.  Some of His listeners were devoted followers, some were arch enemies, some were confused onlookers, some were hurting souls and some, like us, would only read His words centuries later. But all of them could relate to a good story. This week we are going to explore the parables of Jesus, the world’s greatest storyteller.

This Sunday Roy and Pat introduced the coming week’s Essential Jesus Bible readings on The Sermons of Jesus. I’ve listened to a thousand sermons in my lifetime, but to my shame I don’t remember or apply much of them.  The Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, the Seven Woes, boldly predicting the end of the religious establishment of His day, this week we’re going to listen to the words of the World’s Greatest Preacher!

In the next five readings we’ll be examining a transitional period in Jesus’ life where He goes from being an unknown carpenter from Nazareth to a popular preacher and healer who attracted big crowds.  There is vivid detail captured in the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ early ministry.

God had given many clues that he was going to send a Saviour to the world, previews, trailers, types, prophecies;  we’ve been studying them.

The good news was that the time had finally come.  No more previews, it was time for the main event.  God entered the world in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Explore this week was led by James Meeke, teacher and Chaplin at Exeter Cathedral School.

We are a quarter of the way through our 100 Bible reading challenge.

The five readings this week are all taken from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah.  Isaiah is the most quoted prophetic book in the New Testament.  The most significant thing about Isaiah is that his prophecy gives us the most information about the coming Messiah.

Are you enjoying following the blog?  Click the ‘Comments’ button above or below to read what others thought about each of the passages this week.  Add a thought of your own and start a conversation.

We are four weeks into our twenty week challenge.

Whatever you think about prophecy, it’s important to understand that the Bible takes it very seriously and contains lots of it. There are hundreds of specific predictions in the Old Testament about the coming of a Messiah who would bring God’s salvation to Earth.  Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled every one of them.

Click the ‘Comments’ button above or below to read what others thought about each of the passages this week.  Add a thought of your own and start a conversation.

Jesus often quoted from the Psalms.  It is obvious that He studied and memorised the Scriptures.

From today will read five Psalms (there are many more we could have chosen)  that give a graphic picture of what would happen to Jesus.

At the cinema, you get trailers of forthcoming films, a quick taste of their most exciting parts.

Although Jesus is only born at the beginning of the New Testament of the Bible, there are many ‘trailers’ of Jesus in the Old Testament.  Jesus himself said that the Old Testament spoke about Him.  In many ways, all of the Bible is about Jesus.

In each of our five readings this week, we’ll consider an Old Testament ‘type’ of Jesus that is specifically referenced in the New Testament.  Each of these ‘types’ gives us a unique picture of the Saviour who would appear hundreds of years later.

Week 2

The Bible calls Jesus the ‘Saviour’ of the world.  But that raises an obvious question:  Why do we need to be saved?  What problem could be so great that God Himself had to come to earth to solve it?

The need for a Saviour is the theme of the five Bible readings this week.

The readings are:

Genesis 3:1-24
Exodus 32:1 – 33:6
Psalm 14:1-7
Isaiah 59:1-21
Amos 5:1-27

Share what strikes you this week through this blog.  Just click on the Comments link to ‘reply’ to any post.