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The Time Is Fulfilled (Mark 1:15)

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  Saturday, 22 November, 2025 Psalm 51 2 Kings 22:12-23:3 Mark 1:14-28 The Time Is Fulfilled (Mark 1:15) [Jesus said] “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” It really is helpful having both an Old Testament and a New Testament reading side-by-side. In this way we get both the before and after shots on the same slide. Particularly so since slogging through some of the Old Testament history can make one a bit melancholy after awhile. Over the last couple of days we have read about a small flicker of light in Judah’s history: King Josiah and his reforms. Even though the prophetess has indeed confirmed Josiah’s worst fears, that the curses of God will come on the people, there is still a little more time until that happens. But don’t get too comfy: the time will come. Then we flick over to our second reading and read these words from Jesus: the time is fulfilled. The time of curses and disobed...
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The Beginning (Mark 1:1)

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  Friday, 21 November, 2025 Psalm 50 2 Kings 21:19-22:11 Mark 1:1-13 The Beginning (Mark 1:1) The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Going back to the start of a Gospel is always a bit of a thrill. The Gospel of St Mark especially so; he has none of the preamble of St Matthew or St Luke, with all the background information about the Holy Family, angels singing to shepherds, or cattle lowing. Neither does he present any dense metaphysic like St John, with his philosophical poetry on the Word being God. No, our mate St Mark jumps right into things and lets us know right from the start where his gospel, and our relationship with Jesus, begins. Yes, Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee – he was a man. And he was the Christ, the beloved and only Son of God the Father, anointed by God the Holy Spirit – he is God. And where do we begin, if we want to start out with Jesus with the right line of thinking? He was spoken of by the prophets...
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You Did For Me (Matthew 25:40)

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  Thursday, 20 November, 2025 Psalm 48 2 Kings 21:1-18 Matthew 25:31-46 You Did For Me (Matthew 25:40) And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ I once heard a man who played trumpet with the Air Force Band comment that the hardest gig he ever had to play was the Last Post. The tune itself is not very difficult – in fact, it is very similar to the basic warm-up most trumpet players do every day before they practise. The difficulty comes from the fact that you are standing up there, by yourself, playing alone. Brass playing is, as they say, a “team sport”, and so there is something especially tough going it alone. Christianity, or perhaps shall we say, the intended way for humanity to exist with their God, is a team sport too. God made us as a race, the human race. And the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth, died, and rose again so that all may come to him and live as ...
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Faithful Over Little (Matthew 25:21)

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  Wednesday, 19 November, 2025 Psalm 45 2 Kings 20 Matthew 25:14-30 Observance: Elizabeth of Hungary, princess & philanthropist (d. 1231) Faithful Over Little (Matthew 25:21) His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ One of the wonderful things about following Jesus is that there is always something to look forward to. He gives us comfort, and peace, an abundance of love, and all those other things that keep us encouraged in the day-to-day. But he also gives us things to keep us busy, and they are never things that are a waste of time in his eyes. While the jobs he gives us to do are of infinite worth in themselves (because he who assigned them is infinite), he also promises rewards afterwards. In this parable, he speaks about being faithful over a little – and considering how much needs to be done in this world, our per...
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Determined Long Ago (2 Kings 19:25)

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  Tuesday, 18 November, 2025 Psalms 41; 44:1-9 2 Kings 19:20-37 Matthew 25:1-13 Determined Long Ago (2 Kings 19:25) Have you not heard     that I determined it long ago? I planned from days of old     what now I bring to pass, that you should turn fortified cities     into heaps of ruins, The sovereignty of God over all things is such wonderful comfort to the Christian. We rest in God; we find peace in God; we ask him to look after us and care for us and to finally bring us into his everlasting kingdom. And we know we can ask God these things confidently, because he is sovereign over all things. Whenever the darkness threatens to overcome; whenever we feel trapped with no way out; whenever we can see the way out, but no the path to get there: God is in control, and God is good. We will get there, because God is sovereign. Spurgeon once made the claim that everyone is a Calvinist ...
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Delivered To The Lord (2 Kings 19:14)

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  Monday, 17 November, 2025 Psalm 40 2 Kings 19:1-20 Matthew 24:32-51 Observances: Hilda of Whitby, abbess (d. 680); Hugh, bishop of Lincoln (d. 1200) Delivered To The Lord (2 Kings 19:14) Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord . We sometimes get letters delivered to our house that are intended for the previous owner. Often we don’t realise it until we open it, because it will have on the front of the envelope “To The Resident”. And so we open it, and start reading, and realise – hang on, this has nothing to do with us. Better send it on. Hezekiah did the same thing with the message from the king of Assyria. I’m sure the Assyrian king thought he was talking to Hezekiah when he had those words written down. But since he was taunting the God in whom Hezekiah trusted, he was actually talking to God. And so Hezekiah received the letter, read i...
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The Lightning From The East (Matthew 24:27)

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  Saturday, 15 November, 2025 Psalm 37:1-17 2 Kings 18:17-37 Matthew 24:15-31 The Lightning From The East (Matthew 24:27) “ For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” We’ve been getting some pretty good thunderstorms recently, but they seem to be coming from the west and moving east, so when I read these words from Jesus, I have to remember that, as an Australian, I have to think upside-down compared to the rest of the world. Even so, there is nothing like a good sub-tropical thunderstorm. There’s no missing it! Wind howls, rain spatters, thunder cracks – and the lightning lights up the sky. Clouds roil with shades of colour you never see otherwise, and we remember: Jesus is coming back one day. But how do we think of the return of the Son of Man? Will we, like the tribes of the earth, mourn at his coming? Or will the blast of the trumpet be the sweetest sound of all? ...
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