This might be as good a moment as ever to be reminded of the type of power Jesus came to display. God of all creation, gave everything up, to live among the poor and downtrodden, and face the offense that this wrought. Jesus' lowly statues was an offense to everyone - to the elites, the priest, and in our passage, his hometown.

And his answer in Mark 6? To send out the disciples in his power; to get close to people, to free them from evil, heal their sick and preach the good news. There is no clearer way to see the kingdom Heaven, than in the moments we see worldly power fail so spectacularly. So, whatever it is we feel about what’s happening on world stages, let us not fail to worship Jesus today.

By Hannah Flint

Jesus declares himself Lord of the Sabbath. This is less about him arguing over Sabbath law, and more about him establishing his Lordship over everything, including that which we most hold dear.

This is confrontational and necessarily requires his hearers, as well as us, to consider where our hearts have wandered to other gods. When we’re confronted like this we have a choice: we can react defensively, with avoidance, or rejection. Or we can choose to humble ourselves and receive his Lordship over our lives - to do so is to experience not enslavement but freedom, life not death. His offer is of Sabbath rest for all of us - reconnection to God, and life as it was alway intended.

By Ed Flint

Jesus first encounters opposition to his ministry when he begins to proclaim the forgiveness of sin.

Things get confrontational when Jesus refuses to be limited to the surface issues of our lives. Declaring himself as the one who forgives sin means not only equating himself with God, but tells us we have a fundamental problem which only He can solve.

Often our requests to Jesus reveal that we only really want him to scratch the surface issues of our lives. But Jesus is primarily fixated on the state of our hearts. If we let him, he will transform our hearts to be ones after his own. This is where lasting peace, joy, praise, and freedom is to be found.

By Ed Flint

Jesus’ first public pronouncement concerns the arrival of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is God’s just rule over the universe where all pain and evil cease and joy and peace abound. The Kingdom has come because Jesus, the King, has come. So entrance into the Kingdom is available to all who follow him. Its markers are evil banished, the sick healed, and the authority of Jesus revealed.

By Ed Flint

Jesus doesn’t enter the world in a vacuum, he’s the long awaited Messiah. But he’s more than a human deliverer. He’s the divine Son of God.

This intro to the series is an invitation to expand our view of who Jesus is, and a challenge where we’ve restricted who we’re willing to let him to be.

By Ed Flint