Good news of great joy

The humble Christ appearances can be deceiving a royal announcement (2:1-7a) a royal birth? (2:7b) a royal coronation? (23:1-3, 35-43) celebrate the coming of the King

For the service of God What are you afraid of? a) A child has come b) Fulfilment is coming 1 2 3 c) Salvation is coming d) So that you can serve without fear

The salvation of the Christ sharing in the goodness of God 1.0 God's blessing to Mary (1:38-49) 2.0 God's mercy to Israel (1:50-56) a. who God will be merciful to (1:50-56) b. how God will be merciful to them (1:54-55) 3.0 God's mercy to the humble a. humble in confession b. humble in obedience

The coming of the Son of God the arrival that changes everything 1.0 The coming of the King (1:26-33) a. Son of the Most High b. the throne of David 2.0 God will do it a. virgin birth ! b. the power of God 3.0 We are the King's servants (1:38)

The coming Day prepared for the coming of the Lord? 1.0 Something big going down? (v5-7) 2.0 The Day of the Lord is going down! (1:8-17) 3.0 Ready for the Day of the Lord? a) Zechariah wasn't (1:18-25) b) neither was Israel (e.g. 13:34-35; 20:9-19) c) are we?

The certainty of Christ searching for certainty 1.0 Knowing the certainty of things taught (v4) a) many other accounts b) handed down by eyewitnesses (v2) c) carefully investigated (v3) 2.0 The freedom of certainty

Celebration ! 1. Esther goes to the King (Esther 5) 2. Reversal Reversal 1: Mordecai (Esther 6) Reversal 2: Haman (Esther 7) Reversal 3: A New Decree (Esther 8) 3. Celebration (Esther 8)

True colours 1. A dark hour for God's people 2. Esther's response - Esther 4 Esther says "no"... Esther will go 3.A dark hour for Jesus - Matthew 26:38-42 Jesus response God's true colours: Romans 8:32-38

Where is God? Looking for God... 1. Vashti the 'disobedient' queen 2. Esther more worthy than Vashti? 3. Where is God in Esther? 1 Peter 1:20 Romans 8:28-30

Continuing on... 1. Continuing on despite opposition (3v10-13, 4:3-4) 2. Continuing on in the Bible (3v14-4:2) 3. Continuing on to the end. (4:5-8)

Work that's worthwhile 1.0 The work of the Lord (15:58) 2.0 People doing the work of the Lord 3.0 Activities that contribute to the work of the Lord 4.0 A fitting final chapter

A body to die for What happens after we die? 1.0 The certainty of a resurrected body (v12-34) 2.0 The characteristics of a resurrected body (v35-49) 3.0 The consequences of a resurrected body (v50-58)

Christianity explained 1.0 What is Christianity about? 2.0 "Christ died for our sins" 3.0 "he was raised on the third day" 4.0 "according to the Scriptures" 5.0 Do you believe it?

Silence is golden 1.0 When silence says it all 2.0 Tongues (v26-28) 3.0 Prophets (v29-33) 4.0 Women (v33-38) 5.0 Putting it all together observation #1 observation #2

Prophet motive 1.0 The way of love (v1) 2.0 The way of love applied to tongues and prophesy a) what are they? b) their effect on believers (v2-19) c) their effect on unbelievers (v20-25) 3.0 The way of love and us

The power of love ice cubes and snow flakes 1.0 The most excellent way (12:31) 2.0 The essentialness of love (13:1-3) 3.0 The characteristics of love (13:4-7) 4.0 The permanence of love (13:8-13) 5.0 The excellence of love

True spirituality 1.0 The Corinthian competitive spirit (v1) 2.0 Every Christian has God's Spirit (v2-3) 3.0 ... and God's Spirit gives different gifts to each one... (v4-11) 4.0 ... so that we all need each other (v12-30) 5.0 God's co-operative Spirit

The God of blessing and curse a simple equation 1.0 Jesus was fully obedient (Hebrews 5:7-9) Jesus Obedience = Our Blessing 2.0 Life or Death for Israel (Deuteronomy) Life or death (28-30) Destined to be disobedient (31-32) 3.0 Life or Death for us(John 3:36)

The God of detail the best thing, you never knew, you always wanted 1.0 Christ makes sense of Deut 12-26 (Rom 13:8-10) 2.0 Because of who the LORD is and what He's done... (Deuteronomy 1-13) 3.0 obey the Lord by loving your neighbour (Deut 14-26) Deuteronomy 14:28-29 Deuteronomy 15:1-2, 7-8 Deuteronomy 16:18-20 Deuteronomy 22:1-3 Deuteronomy 23:24-25 Deuteronomy 24:19-22 4.0 Obeying God by loving our neighbour today (Romans 13)