The Discipleship Blog
by Steve Green
13th Sunday after Pentecost
Do we know what true discipleship means? In the Bible passage assigned for this week, Jesus urges his followers to count the cost. Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem and to the horrors of the cross, and yet the people around him think he is going to become an emperor. Jesus is keen to dispel this...
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Why is humility important? The Gospel passage this week underlines the importance of humility in the Christian life. Jesus builds on Jewish thought, expressed for example in Proverbs, that an individual should start at a feast by sitting at the foot of the table. If you arrive at a feast and...
read more11th Sunday after Pentecost
Should we sometimes put systems before people or, at least, get people to fit in with the systems we have carefully devised? In the Gospel passage for this week, the answer Jesus gives is no! A crippled woman comes for healing on the Sabbath. Jesus proceeds to heal her of her crippling...
read more10th Sunday after Pentecost
Should we always put our families first? In the Bible passage assigned to this week, Jesus talks about fire, baptism and family division, amongst other things. Jesus said: “I have come to bring fire on the earth..” To the Jewish mind, fire was associated with judgement. The Jews believed that,...
read more9th Sunday after Pentecost
Following on from the Bible passage for last week, Jesus is once again talking about money. This is what Jesus says: “Sell your possessions and give to the poor…….. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” It is a political and economic manifesto which is diametrically opposed...
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What should we do with our money? Throughout the Gospels, Jesus seems to talk about money more than almost any other single thing. Why? The answer perhaps is that money is one of the biggest blockages to a deepening relationship with God. The temptation is to believe that we have earned it by...
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