Description:The short answer is "Because God spoke". The Bible says that creation sprang into existence because the all-powerful God said it should. This passage tells us everything we need to know about the God who made the world and the world he made.

Description:The focus of the creation account is the man & woman. They alone are made to be in God's image and to rule over the creation. They alone are made for relationship with God.

Description:Genesis 3 shows us sin entering into the world. It is not just a matter of eating fruit but rejecting God's authority and wanting to choose for ourselves what is right & wrong.

Description:Genesis 4 shows the spread and increase of sin. We see it with Cain … but we are also taken 5 generations ahead to Lamech.

Description:This is a very common question … and the story of the flood is God doing something about sin. It reminds us that rebellion against God is serious and that God will one day judge the world again.

Description:The story of the Tower of Bable … while somewhat more subtle … is man again grasping at being like God.

Description:In light of all that has happened with the world you would understand if God were to just give up on the world. But God's response in the face of man's rebellion is to choose Abraham and begin a plan of salvation that will culminate in Jesus.

Description:Depression is a serious issue in our society today. Most commentators think that the writer of these Psalms is suffering from depression. As people who trust in God there is some good advice in here.

Description:How should we respond when bad things happen to us? Should we think that it is God's punishment or judgement? They are the questions being asked by the writer of this Psalm ... and the answers are helpful for us.

Description:A great Psalm of confidence in the God who rules over everything.

Description:We should love one another. Why? Because God sent his son into the world. If you understand the truth about Jesus you will love. If you deny the truth about Jesus then you are not from God. Obedience, Truth and Love are all connected.

Description:Eternal life comes through Jesus. He who has the son has life. He who does not have the son does not have life. Life comes through Jesus. And the life we have in Jesus gives us confidence about this life, confidence in our prayer and confidence about our future.

Description:Grace is the doctrine that stands at the very heart of Christianity. Grace is the defining difference between Christianity and all the other religions of the world. But we struggle to understand grace ... and often think that our relationship with God is achieved by our effort. Jesus seeks to correct that thinking in Matthew 20:1-16.

Description:Christians can sometimes be motivated by wrong things in their Christian lives - fear, guilt, pride, obligation, etc. The Bible says our primary motivation as we seek to follow Jesus should be God's grace to us in Jesus.

Description:Christmas is a time when we can experience a whole range of emotions - happiness, surprise, sadness, etc.Two of the big emotions of the very first Christmas day were fear and joy. We see those emotions in the story of the shepherds.

Description:One characteristic of Australians is that they seem willing to forgive people. David, the king of Israel, says that the most praise-worthy thing about God is his willingness to forgive.

Description:In this Wisdom Psalm the writer wants to point out the fact that money can't give the security that you might think it can ... and there is one things that money can't do.

Description:Are there poeple you envy? Do you sometimes think that others have the "good" life ... and that being Christian means you are missing out?

Description:Anthony retells the story of the Woman at the well from the woman's perspective ... what she might have seen and felt about her encounter with Jesus.

Description:Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:28-29)

Description:Chapter 8 sees the beginning of Jesus ministry. He establishes by is actions he is the saviour God promised to send. The surprise in these chapters is the response to Jesus. Jesus also challenges his followers to work at building the Kingdom.

Description:One of the surprises in Matthew is that Jesus greatest opposition comes from the people who should be most excited he has come … the Religious Leaders.

Description:Matthew chapter 13 is devoted almost entirely to talking about the Kigdom that Jesus has come to bring in. In this series of Parables Jesus explains some important things about the Kingdom.

Description:One of the things that stands out about Jesus is his compassion for people. We see it in the way he deals with the Canaanite woman ... as well as in the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus is driven by a love for people.

Description:Jesus talks about how to handle things when someone sins against you. All this talk about forgiveness leads to teh Parable of the Unforgiving Servant.

Description:God's ways are not our ways. It a world that works on merit and pride/position Jesus says that the values in his Kingdom are very different.

Description:What stands at the heart of this passage is Israel’s rejection of the authority of Jesus and culminates with a Parable that seems to sum it all up.

Description:The motto for the scouts is "Be Prepared". In Matthew 24-35 Jesus tells his discples to "Be Prepared". He tells them what to be prepared for and how to be prepared for it.

Description:Matthew gives us the account of the crucifixion of Jesus ... but he knows that this is the cornoation of Jesus ...his crowning as King. But this is almost the opposite of what yo uwould expect in a coronation.

Description:Matthew gives us the shortest account of the resurrection of Jesus ... but tells us 5the important things that we need to know.

Description:God's Kindness in Hardship - While Naomi is unable to see it, but God has been with her every step of the way … through all her hardships.

Description:God is at work through what looks like a series of coincidences to bring Ruth to the feild belonging to Boaz ... their kinsman redeemer.

Description:God's kindness to each of the characters in this story through family relationships. Family is how God has us wired as the people he made.

Description:The genealogy at the end of the book of Ruth is where the whole story has been heading. God's kindness to Ruth, Naomi and us is seen iin the gift of a King who will lead God's people.

Description:Before giving his disciples the model prayer he tells them how NOT to pray: Not like hypocrites and not like pagans.

Description:For many people the words of the Lord's Prayer are simply words to be recited from memory ... not really any throught is given to what they are praying. But Jesus is asking for us to pray for some radical changes to happen in our world and in our lives.

Description:With these final 3 petitions Jesus again wants us to pray for big things. He wants us to recognise our dependence on God, the importance of us being forgiving people and livingly godly lives for the same of God's name.

Description:Genesis 1-11 shows us a world that repeatedly turns away from God. God's plan to fix our problem begins with Abram ... and culminates with Jesus.

Description:Abram and Lot are forced to part ways because they now have so much livestock. Lot chooses to move to Sodom. Abram chooses to move into the land God has promised to give him.

Description:Fearing that God is not going to act in giving Abram descendants, Sarai & Abram decide to give God a helping hand ... with disasterous consequences.

Description:Genesis 18 & 19 give us to contrasts of how to respond when God visits - Abraham (18) and the people of Sodom & Gomorrah (19). Amazingly, Jesus says that some of the people of his day are more hard hearted than the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Description:These chapters show us the defining event in the life of Abraham.

Description:The Abraham story closes and shows that he now makes his decisions in life based on the promises of God.

Description:Jesus tells this short parable to make one simple point: He is coming again to judge this world.

Description:In this strange parable Jesus tells the story of a dishonest manager and says that his followers can learn from him. But it is not the dishonesty we are to copy.

Description:Chrstians aren't left guessing what God is like or how we are to respond to him. He has clearly revealed himself. Our God is a god who speaks to us ... communicates with us. And most importantly God has made himself know in the person of Jesus.