Nehemiah 1–2:8 In the face of extreme bad news God sends Nehemiah to rebuild his people, this isn’t a dramatic sending, but one that is soaked in prayerful obedience. How do we react when we hear bad news? How do we follow God when life is hard?
Mark 1:40-2:17 At this time of global pandemic, everyone’s biggest problem is not the coronavirus but sin. And everyone’s biggest need is not a vaccine but the forgiveness of sins. So it’s the best news ever that Jesus has authority to forgive sins and has come for sinners!
Mark 1:16-39 What is the mission of the church? What is the church sent into the world to do? One book on the subject says this is the ‘most discussed and most potentially divisive issue in the evangelical church today’. This question of mission and priority was one Jesus had to confront right at the beginning of his ministry. We do well to learn from him.
Mark 1:1-15 ‘A frankly terrible year’. The New Zealand PM summed up 2020 pretty well. We long for good news. And that is why Mark is such a timely book for us to start going through – because it is about good news for us and our world.