Christian Life

The death of death

Mon, 03/12/2018 - 11:23 -- James Oakley
Fee on Corinthians

It's been a joy, and at times a challenge, to preach right through the letter of 1 Corinthians. It's healthy to take a long epistle like this, and to tackle it in a single sermon series, so we don't lose the train of Paul's thought by interrupting the series midway through. The challenge, then, is to decide how fast to go. Too fast, and you get such long blocks that the details get lost and the series is bland. Too slow, and the series simply takes too long, and we actually do lose Paul's train of thought because it's so long since we began.

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Preaching seemingly irrelevant issues

Thu, 17/05/2018 - 10:30 -- James Oakley
Microphone
Image Credit: Jackson Lewchuk

The other day I was asked why we spend time in church (during sermons) talking about issues that may not be relevant for us today.

Unpacking the Question

On the face of it, it's a good question.

If I look out at the church family here, I can think of many subjects that speak directly into needs we know and feel. Maybe there are issues about unemployment, family life, over-demanding employers, ageing and dementia, the housing market, and so on.

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Choosing a Bible Translation for Church Use

Thu, 10/05/2018 - 10:00 -- James Oakley
The Bible needs translating

500 years ago, William Tyndale lost his life in his campaign to give the English people one Bible in their own language. Today, we're spoilt for choice, with many excellent English translations of the Bible. Here's a paper I wrote in 2013 to help us decide which translation we should use in church.

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The angel Gabriel

Wed, 20/12/2017 - 13:20 -- James Oakley
Don't shoot!
Image Credit: SAJ-FSP

Angels don't normally have names in the New Testament. Why does Luke tell us that it was the angel Gabriel who appeared to Mary? Let's think this through.

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When did you last change your mind?

Fri, 08/12/2017 - 10:30 -- James Oakley
Change your mind
Image Credit: geralt

Christian, I'd like to ask you a question: When did you last change your mind?

Last week I wrote a post looking at the question of remarriage after divorce. That may not be a topic that interests you, and it was quite a long post, so maybe you didn't read it. But it was an example where I changed my mind on a topic, and I could give others.

It makes me want to ask the question: If you are a Christian, how often do you change your mind on something? What is healthy?

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