The fruit of the Spirit: a teaching on Galatians 5:22-23
In Galatians 5, Paul contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance.…
Category
Teachings
Biblical insights, sermons, and thought-provoking articles from a Christian perspective.
The parable of the unforgiving servant: Matthew 18 and the debt we cannot repay
When Peter asked how many times he should forgive, Jesus told the story of a servant forgiven a huge debt who refused to forgive a small…
Isaiah 53: the suffering servant and why Christians read it as a picture of the cross
Isaiah 53 describes a servant who is despised, wounded for others' sins and silent before his accusers. Written centuries before Jesus, it is one of the…
Mary’s song: the Magnificat in Luke 1 and a God who lifts the humble
In Luke 1, the young Mary, pregnant with Jesus, visits her relative Elizabeth and bursts into a song of praise known as the Magnificat. It celebrates…
The Tower of Babel: pride, language and scattering in Genesis 11
In Genesis 11, people settle in Shinar and build a city with a tower reaching to the heavens to make a name for themselves. God confuses…
Blind Bartimaeus: the beggar who would not be silenced in Mark 10
In Mark 10, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus sits by the road outside Jericho. When he hears that Jesus is passing, he shouts for mercy. The…
Ananias and Sapphira: honesty, generosity and the early church in Acts 5
In Acts 5, a couple named Ananias and Sapphira sell land and give part of the money to the apostles while pretending to give it all.…
Philemon and Onesimus: Paul’s shortest letter and a runaway slave sent home as a brother
Paul's letter to Philemon, the shortest of his letters, asks a Christian slave owner to welcome back Onesimus, a runaway slave who had become a believer,…
Rahab and the scarlet cord: faith in an unlikely place in Joshua 2
In Joshua 2, Rahab, a woman of Jericho, hides two Israelite spies and asks for mercy for her family. A scarlet cord in her window marks…
The Shunammite woman: hospitality, a promised son and faith in 2 Kings 4
In 2 Kings 4, a wealthy woman of Shunem builds a room for the prophet Elisha. He promises her a son, and when the boy later…