Luke 9:10-17: Jesus Feeds the 5,000
There are only 2 miracles of Christ that are recorded in all four gospels, the resurrection of Christ from the dead, and the feeding of the 5000. Jesus did many more miracles than the gospels record, but few had such an impact as the feeding of the 5,000. There was another less well remembered feeding of the 4,000 as well, Mark 8:1-9. Here is what John tells us happened after Jesus fed the 5,000, 6:14-15, ‘When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”...
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Luke 9:1-9: The Sending of the 12 Apostles
We are about half way through Christ’s 3 ½ year earthly ministry. We are in the final stretch of what is known as Christ’s Galilean ministry before He sets His sights on His cross-work in Jerusalem. 9:51 is a turning point in His ministry, ‘When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.’ We are still in the middle of a key section that is putting on display the identity of Christ. We have seen by His miracles that He is the one with authority over nature, demons, sickness...
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Luke 8:41-56: Weak Faith Meets a Strong Saviour
‘My cup runneth over;’ ‘Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think;’ these biblical phrases remind us that when we bring the thimble of our faith to God, He fills it with the flood of Himself and His gifts. Luke 8:41-56 records the narrative of two people who have faith in Christ, but it is a thimble sized faith and Christ exceeds their expectations. The woman with the issue of blood comes to Jesus believing that He has the power to heal, but she will leave knowing His kindness...
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Luke 8:26-39: Power to Deliver
We are all familiar with the concept of power, we just have to think of the country of China and we have an immediate picture of power, it has economic power, military might, it represents one 7th of the world’s population. We can think of past powers like the USSR; Hitler; Napoleon; the USA at the height of its powers, but power to do what? Power without goodness is perceived to be a threat. Christ has power and authority, Christ as the vice-regent of God has ascended to the right hand of God and been given all power and...
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Ephesians 3:14-19: Praying for power
Praying when we are in need is easy, we always pray from the heart, but praying for others often deteriorates into shallow requests without heart. We often pray generic prayers for health, provision, and spiritual well-being. Paul in the portion before us prays under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, prayers of pastoral care, and prayers that flow out of the realities of the gospel. Paul as a minister of the gospel is not only called to preach the message of Christ to the Gentiles, but to pray for the church as well. Eph. 3:14-21 consists of 2 main...
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