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This week we will begin an (intermittent) series on Jesus’ “I am” statements in the gospel of John – statements which reveal his glory, grace and identity, showing us that Jesus himself is everything we could possibly hope for and need. We start this Sunday with Jesus’ claim to be the Bread of Life, where he shows us how the life and sustenance of our daily food is really only a pointer to him, the Living Bread, which gives eternal life and satisfaction.

The encouragement to 'stand firm', to 'keep your chin up', or to 'keep calm and carry on' is by no means exclusive to Christians. To a certain extent, it's built into all human beings, to press on in the face of hardship and stay strong in a crisis. The difference is in what keeps us going. What we hold on to: We look to the Word of Salvation from the God of steadfast love.

The joy and confidence of the morning of Easter Sunday, can quickly vaporise: in the face of Satan’s taunts as to our sinful guilt; our focus on personal weaknesses that hinder our personal witness; the challenges that face us in the natural world (coronavirus) as well as the hostile world that rejects God and His Christ and therefore persecutes His Church. To allow these to overwhelm us is to live with an occupied tomb. The REALITY is that CHRIST IS RISEN and the TOMB is EMPTY!

It's easy to mistake Jesus for a victim of circumstance – to see him as an unfortunate man carried along to an unfortunate death. But, as we considered two weeks ago, Jesus never lost control and always chose his path. His arrest and execution point to a much deeper reality: his will to surrender and sacrifice himself; his choice to be captured and killed so that we could be set free. Jesus went to the cross paradoxically so that we could be released from the prison of sin, freed to live for him

Can you imagine what it would like to have a visit from royalty? Can you imagine how surreal it would be if they came to your house? And can you imagine the absurdity if they came to clean your house and serve you? That’s only a glimpse of the paradox that is King Jesus. His entry into Jerusalem and his reception by the people highlight the absurd nature and purpose of his coming. Jesus’ acceptance and then rejection by the crowds reminds us that he doesn’t come to popularly fix surface problems

A crisis like the current coronavirus is usually toughest on the control freaks. When it seems chaotic, we struggle to ‘keep calm and carry on’. The words we hear most these days, describing the feelings of the general public, are fear, uncertainty and anxiety – the kind of feelings that result from lack of control and seeming chaos. They’re also the kind of things the disciples were feeling when a furious storm rose up on the Sea of Galilee. But Jesus, sleeping comfortably in the boat, was the

Solomon’s downfall and death makes for a sad conclusion to his grand story. He started so well and had so much potential, but the enticements of this world proved too much for him and he succumbed to idolatry. His heart was led astray and he walked away from his first love. Sin got the better of him, and it warns us of the tendency of our corrupted hearts to chase idols. We are all at risk. And yet, Solomon’s story still points to Jesus, who brings grace, forgiveness and God’s ultimate answer to the deepest of sin. In Christ, we can escape our own downwards spirals and generational cycles, to find hope and eternity through God’s faithfulness.

Solomon’s downfall and death makes for a sad conclusion to his grand story. He started so well and had so much potential, but the enticements of this world proved too much for him and he succumbed to idolatry. His heart was led astray and he walked away from his first love. Sin got the better of him, and it warns us of the tendency of our corrupted hearts to chase idols. We are all at risk. And yet, Solomon’s story still points to Jesus, who brings grace, forgiveness and God’s ultimate answer to the deepest of sin. In Christ, we can escape our own downwards spirals and generational cycles, to find hope and eternity through God’s faithfulness.

Last week, we saw how God exists in an array of wondrous paradoxes, and this week as we look at 1 Corinthians 12, we will see a further paradox that God creates in his own people: unity in diversity. As we have all been united by the gospel of Jesus Christ, Paul shows us how this unity should transform our churches, bringing each of us closer together in humility and in depending on each other, even as we fulfill different places within the church body, for the sake of God's kingdom.