Cross Encounters

We all tell them and they shape our life but they do not necessarily define reality. For the Christian, defining reality and truth comes from God’s Word which impacts the stories we tell ourselves.

Whether it is the right place at the right time or the wrong place at the wrong time, we live in specific places all the time - and Jesus is with his people wherever they are because he is united with them in Baptism - and so wherever we are, we are not alone.

Will I test the new fuses in the house? If I remember and follow the electrician’s instructions. Will I live as a person who is saved? That will depend upon whose words take hold of me even when my following them is all over the place.

Cross Encounters - #376

Learning the full story is important. When it comes to salvation, then the full story must include Jesus and his cross and empty tomb.

We live with the expected and the unexpected and Jesus helps us with both.

Reflections on the birth of a granddaughter.

We listen to so much! And those voices - in the room, online, live or recorded - shape us. Making sure we hear theological truth for our context is important in forming us - growing us - in Christ. What a blessing it is to have Lutheran Radio UK.

The opening ceremony of the 2022 Commonwealth Games can remind us that the past is always a mixture of ’good’ and ’bad’. Whether personally or socially, only Jesus is best placed to help us with our history and our tomorrows.

With age comes perspective – especially in the Faith.

Following Jesus in this world means knowing truth and seeking to serve everyone – friends and enemies, supporters and opponents – and society benefits.

Identity is big at the moment but who determines it?

We wear our clothes for all sorts of reasons - functional and festive, to be seen by others and just for being at home - and they say something about us. Through Baptism people ’put on Christ’. Returning to our Baptism each day is like putting on another layer of clothes - the outer layer - to help us live and remember who we are.

I once heard the statement "there is no bad weather, only poor clothing" which, whatever we think of its veracity, reminds us that what we bring to situations - particularly our attitudes and insights as guided by God’s Word - affects how we get through and shape the day no matter whether we face sunshine or storms.

The Triune God is a mystery to us but that doesn’t make God unknowable.

The question to ask when we are reading that Bible is not whether it is God’s Word – it is – and that answer is definitive, static. The question to ask when reading the Bible is ’How is what I am reading God’s Word for me?’. That answer is dynamic, living!

We want people to be technically competent and good at what they do but also their character is not unimportant. We are returning to this truth in today’s world more and more.

If Pentecost is not about Jesus, then what’s the point of it?!

We are either growing or declining; getting healthy or unwell, living is about movement. Since faith is living, we can always do things to help or hinder it. It is important to remember that God is faithful and Jesus doesn’t change.

No matter how much people insist that God doesn’t exist, it doesn’t make him go away! That is true as a thought exercise and in reality. The resurrection of Jesus was unexpected and whether it is good news or bad news really does depend when its reality comes home!

How do people relate to God? Often people think about spiritual relationships in terms of monarch and subject or all-powerful and not-powerful or master and servant or owner and pet or mystery and student but to think in terms of friends needs more thinking! How can this be? Listening and learning from Jesus is the answer.

How we live is very much shaped by what we think dying and death are all about. No wonder then that what Jesus has done changes everything!

The right rant at the right time to the right people just may get heard. Christ is risen! Our deaf world needs to hear this!

’Long grief’ is being discussed because of the COVID-19 context. All who grieve are in pain - and yes, it is long-term. Even longer, though, is the comfort and hope that Jesus brings since he is with people for the ’long haul’ - which is even longer than death!

Perspective isn’t everything but it is very import, especially when it includes Jesus’ resurrection.