Author: Nick
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Advent 2020 – Day 6
Luke 1:8-10 ‘Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshippers were…
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Advent 2020 – Day 5
Luke 1:5 ‘In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also was a descendent of Aaron.’ All four gospel writers make the connection between Jesus and John the Baptist, so perhaps it should come as no surprise…
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Advent 2020 – Day 4
Luke 1:1-4 ‘Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eye-witnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also…
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Advent 2020 – Day 3
Matthew 1: 2-16 (an extra dimension?) Perez whose mother was Tamar … Boaz whose mother was Rahab … Obed whose mother was Ruth … Solomon whose mother had been Uriah’s wife. I imagine Matthew pondering his list of 42 names, not only discerning the big picture, the pattern of God’s unfolding plan, but dwelling on…
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Advent 2020 – Day 2
Matthew 1: 2-16 (summarised) Abraham – Isaac – Jacob – Judah – Perez – Hezron – Ram – Amminadab – Nahshon – Salmon – Boaz – Obed – Jesse – King David – Solomon – Rehoboam – Abijah – Asa – Jehoshaphat – Jehoram – Uzziah – Jotham – Ahaz – Hezekiah – Manesseh –…
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Advent 2020 – Day 1
Matthew 1: 1 This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham: Matthew 1:16-18 … and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah. Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David,…
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Advent 2020 – introduction
The season of Advent begins tomorrow, a season of preparation for Christmas when we will celebrate the birth of Jesus. As I have done for the last two years, I will be writing a series of daily “thoughts” for the season, which I will publish via this blog. For anyone who followed this series last…
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Lent 2020 – Day 40
Luke 23:56 Then [after seeing Jesus’s body placed in the tomb] they [the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee] went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. Waiting! Suddenly, but not for the first time, women take centre stage in Luke’s narrative. I…
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Lent 2020 – Day 39
Luke 23:44-46 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this,…
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Lent 2020 – Day 38
Luke 22:28 You are those who have stood by me in my trials. There are so many things that one could reflect on from the Last Supper: Jesus’s institution of the Lord’s supper, his treatment of Judas, his washing the disciples’ feet, his reference to conferring a Kingdom on them, his prayers for Simon Peter. …