How many times did Jesus visit Jerusalem?

One of the obvious differences in chronology between John’s gospel and the ‘Synoptics’ (Matthew, Mark and Luke) is that John gives an account of Jesus in Jerusalem on five different occasions, two during a Passover (John 2.13, 12.12), one during an unnamed festival (John 5.1), once for Succoth (Booths) from John 7 to John 10, …

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Effective communication in online preaching

Earlier this week, I had a fantastically stimulating discussion with Bryan Wolfmeuller, Pastor of St Paul Lutheran Church, Austin Text, and Jesus Deaf Lutheran Church, about the challenges and opportunities of online communication. I previously linked some of his material, including his instructional video on tips for pastors when preaching online, in an earlier post. …

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Jesus’ farewell discourse in John 14

The Sunday lectionary gospel reading for Easter 5 in Year A is John 14.1–14. When I read this text, I cannot help but feel it has a slightly strange, dream-like quality to it, and I think that is for several reasons. The whole discourse (which begins at John 13.31 and continues to the end of …

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Does God (mostly) meet us in particular places?

One of the impacts of the lockdown in response to the coronavirus has been the abandonment of church buildings, and the move to broadcast services from the homes of clergy and other lay leaders involved in leading worship. The strong guidance from the Archbishops on this has been hotly debated, and the question raised as …

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Where is God in a Coronavirus World?

Savvas Costi writes: The coronavirus has destabilised the world we all knew. In these uncertain times, John Lennox has delivered an engaging and accessible little book, Where Is God in a Coronavirus World?, designed to be read within a couple of hours (I did it in two sittings). It’s not meant to be a treatise on the …

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