7–13 February 2016. Exodus 12 (click to read). Exodus 12 has all the characteristics of a frightening horror story. It begins with the killing of a lamb, holding it down while it kicks and struggles, drawing a sharp knife across its throat and collecting the blood that spurts out. It talks about smearing that hot […]
31 January – 6 February 2016. Exodus 1 (click to read). Sometimes when my family and I walk down the street, a Taiwanese person will yell at us, call us names, and tell us to go back to our own country. Sadly this is an experience that many foreigners have had here. While most Taiwanese […]
24–30 January 2016. Genesis 39–40 (click to read). Things just go from bad to worse for Joseph! He starts as his father’s favourite child, but is then hated, sold into slavery, and sent into a foreign land. Sometimes it looks like things will finally change for Joseph, but then the next disaster quickly comes along. […]
17–23 January 2016. Genesis 27–28 (click to read). In chapter 27 we find a story full of heartbreaking drama. We often think of it as the story of “Jacob the Deceiver” cheating his brother Esau out of his blessing. But the main character here is actually Rebekah, the mother. It’s a story about her treachery, […]
10–16 January 2016. Genesis 17–18 (click to read). In Genesis 17 we hear a different story about God’s covenant with Abraham. In this version, we don’t hear so much about the content of that contract. Instead the text mostly talks about how Abraham and his children should use circumcision as a sign that they have […]
3–9 January 2016. Genesis 5–6 (click to read). This month we start reading Genesis, the first book of the Bible. Genesis wonderfully weaves together different ancient stories in order to tell us something about how the ancient Jews understood the world’s beginnings. Chapters 5 and 6 are especially mysterious, beginning with a list of the […]
27 December 2015 – 2 January 2016. Isaiah 63 (click to read). This week in the church calendar we remember the Day of the Innocents, the day when King Herod killed all the baby boys in Bethlehem in his attempt to kill the baby Jesus. This is a big emotional change now after all the […]
20–26 December 2015. Isaiah 56 (click to read). Christmas is almost here! We stand right at the edge of Christ’s coming, the arrival of our great King! Right now, today, his kingdom is breaking into this world! So what should we do? The prophet tells us: “Protect justice, do what is right”, hold onto God because […]
13–19 December 2015. Isaiah 49 (click to read). With Christmas quickly rushing towards us, with Christ on his way, today we have another great prophecy which points us to the coming Divine Servant, our wonderful Messiah. We’re used to seeing these messages spoken to Israel. But here the prophet’s words aren’t directed at the children […]
6–12 December 2015. Isaiah 42 (click to read). As we get closer to Christmas, we can feel the excitement building as we wait for the arrival of Jesus. Especially children find it so hard to wait! They jump up and down with excitement, wanting to know how many days are left till Christmas. How long […]