Ephesians 2:7

‘SHOW ME THE WAY, GOD’

(December 20, 2023) Robert McQuillan shares a Christmas/2024-centred encouragement.

It seems no time at all when back in July people were half-jokingly saying, ‘Gosh, how time flies, it’ll soon be Christmas!’

Suddenly it was late October and some folk were exclaiming, ‘Golly gosh, soon be Christmas! Where has the year gone?’ Then it was November and, as Alan Higgins mentions in his article, extremely early Christmas sales adverts and a mad ‘charging-about-like-eejits’ time unknown to the real Christmas story of Joseph and Mary (Joseph the Dreamer).

Perspective
And right now Christmas is really just round the corner… merely a few days away! And some people are talking about 2024! In fact we’ve just received an Easter article… already!

Responding to some people who have asked me about 2024, I felt led to share the perspective that I sense – that it will be a ‘venturous year for those wanting to follow the Lord.’

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THE SIGNIFICANCE OF A SIGN

(May 21, 2022) Dr Jim McClure, noted theologian, reminds us a great truth regarding our almighty God…

There are almost 40 miracles of Jesus recorded in the four gospels and John mentions seven of them. The miracle of the feeding of the 5000 is so significant that all four gospel writers mention it… but there are some notable differences between John’s account and that of the others.

What a crowd gathered on the hillside that day. In John 6:10 we read that there about 5000 men. In his account, Matthew’s adds that there were also women and children present (Matthew 14:21).

Jesus and His disciples had gone there initially to relax and enjoy some privacy. Can you imagine, therefore, the stress the disciples would have felt when this great crowd arrived? Despite this ‘inconvenience’, we are told by Luke that Jesus preached to the crowds and healed those who were sick (Luke 9:11).

That day an amazing thing happened. With five small loaves and two small fish Jesus fed the hungry crowd and when they had eaten their fill, there was a surplus of twelve baskets of pieces of the five loaves. John wrote, ‘The people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did’ (6:14).

When Matthew, Mark and Luke referred to  miracles, they used the Greek word dunamis whichrefers to an act of power and force and it is the root of our English word ‘dynamite.’  

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