Videos to answer big questions

Loads of people have had a go at answering some of the biggest questions we ask and all I'm doing here is compiling some of the best videos I've seen.  I hope it helps!

Why does God allow suffering?

Taking Jesus seriously

This week I did some assemblies about how Jesus made fun of people who took themselves too seriously and didn't take him seriously enough.

We looked at three jokes Jesus told about these people (not to be cruel but to help them and others realise how silly they were).

1. Jesus said they were like the 'whitewashed tombs' (Matthew 23:27).  They worked so hard on their outward appearance and reputation but they were dead inside!

2. Jesus said they were like 'blind guides' (Matthew 15:14) - leading people but with no idea what God really wants.

3. Jesus said they were incredibly self-righteous and judgmental like a guy with a plank in his eye who has a go at someone with a speck in theirs (Matthew 7:3).

Jesus came to help dead people come alive, to help blind people see the truth about God and to take our sin away so we can see clearly.  The religious people missed it because they took themselves too seriously!

Do you take yourself too seriously?

Do you take Jesus seriously enough?

The Trinity

As I mentioned in my last post, someone recently asked me to blog about what the Bible says about the Trinity and I said I would.  Finally, I'm getting round to it!  I won't be explaining where the doctrine first came from because there's lots of useful info about that on Wikipedia.  I also won't be explaining why I believe the Bible is true.  That's a different question for another time.  My main aim here is to give a basic idea of what the doctrine of the Trinity is and show some of what the Bible actually says that relates to it. 

The word 'Trinity' doesn't appear in the Bible but it's a doctrine that pulls together two big things that the Bible repeatedly and clearly says about God.  You can hit the links and see for yourself...

1. The Bible says that God is one (Deuteronomy 6:4, Mark 12:29) and that there is only one God (Deuteronomy 4:35, 32:39, Psalm 86:10, Isaiah 43:10, 45:5, 1 Timothy 1:17, 2:5). 

2. The Bible also clearly teaches that the Father is God (John 6:27, 1 Corinthians 8:6), that Jesus is God (John 1:1 and v14, John 8:58, 10:33, 20:28, Romans 9:5, Titus 2:13, 1 John 5:20) and that the Holy Spirit is God (2 Corinthians 3:17-18, Acts 5:3-4). 

So the Trinity doctrine summarises these clear teachings of the Bible by saying that God is three in one (tri-unity - from which we get the word 'trinity').  God is Father, Son and Spirit and each of these is fully God and yet they are not three gods but one God. 

Personally, I'm overwhelmingly glad that God is the perfect family.  He didn't create because he was lonely but because he already enjoyed perfect loving relationship within himself (1 John 4:8) and wanted us to be part of it (John 17:20-23).

The trinity

This week someone asked me if I would blog about the trinity and what the Bible says about God being 3 in 1.  Having done a brief search, I realise that I really haven't got into it properly in any of my blogs so far and so I promise I will get to it soon but for now, here's a fantastic simple summary of the Bible's teaching about the trinity from that brilliant series of DVDs called 'What's in the Bible?'

Rock School at St Peter's 2013

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Romans 15:1-13 - Loving the family

Paul continues the theme of family...  People who trust and follow Jesus are brothers and sisters and should be increasingly like Jesus in the way they love each other and put each other first...

Romans 15:1-13

Paul wants Christians to learn to be less selfish and more selfless.  Less like their old sinful selves and more like the people God made them to be - more like Jesus.

This means Christians should be increasingly patient with each others' weaknesses and failures.  Jesus has made them family and a loving family is one that helps people in it to grow.  This happens when each member of the family is thinking about what the others need before they think about their own needs.  They give more than they take.  They serve others instead of expecting others to serve them.  In this way, Christians are copying Jesus, who despite being God(!), put the needs of others first, gave more than he took and served others instead of expecting others to serve him.

Paul says the Bible teaches endurance and provides encouragement.  The God who wrote it gave endurance and encouragement to Jesus and offers it to those who trust and follow Jesus so that they might worship and please him as Jesus did.  This means they don't love each other in their own strength but they trust God to give them himself and everything they need through his word (the Bible) to love each other well.

If Christians could endure and encourage one another more, there would be more unity.  This is Paul's main point.  One of the signs that someone is really trusting and following Jesus is that they endure and encourage other Christians regardless of their background or where they come from because God's plan from the beginning has been to have a family of all kinds of people from all nations.

Christians have often struggled to love each other and today, if we're Christians, we probably have times when we struggle to commit ourselves to our local church with all its weaknesses, failures and frustrations.  What can we do?  We can pray for the same thing Paul does.  Paul prays for Christians to keep trusting Jesus and that God would give them the joy, the peace and the hope they need in order to love one another like he loves them. Jesus was willing to go through brutal torture and death for the sake of his people.  How much is the average Christian willing to endure before they give up on their spiritual family?  As a Christian, I need to pray Paul's prayer for myself so that God would give me the strength to be humble and keep loving my church family rather than complain or walk away.

Romans blog
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