Jesus’ courage

Chris Turner | Matthew 23:1-12 (The Message) 

Now Jesus turned to address his disciples, along with the crowd that had gathered with them. “The religion scholars and Pharisees are competent teachers in God’s Law. You won’t go wrong in following their teachings on Moses. But be careful about following them... Instead of giving you God’s Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn’t think of lifting a finger to help. Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next.”

Does this way of speaking fit your image of Jesus? This is far from the "gentle Jesus, meek and mild" of Nativity scenes, says Chris. What was Jesus really like as a person? Introducing  a new series focusing on the character of Christ, Chris points to Jesus' determination and love of the truth which enabled him to rage against hypocrites and yet show the greatest of gentleness to broken sinners.

The service is introduced by Janet Chalmers and also includes a reading from Alison Cooper and prayers from Graham Chalmers.

The recording is an edited version of our Sunday service. The full video version of the service, including music and prayers, can be viewed on YouTube.