Apr 18, 2011
Focus reading: John 20:19-31
I had just failed my second driving test. I wasn’t a 17 or 18 year old, I was 27 and I was in my first year of studying for the ministry. I was devastated, not just because I had failed, lots of people do that, but because I knew that it was virtually impossible for me to be a minister in Australia unless I could drive a car. It seemed like all my hopes and dreams, all that God had called me to had come to an end.
Something much worse had just happened to the disciples. Their leader, the one who called them and had given them hope for a better world had died on a cross. Not only that, they had abandoned him to his trial and to that cross, but then everything changed. He appeared among them, alive, and said "Peace be with you". Today as a result there are around 2 billion people who at least nominally name themselves as Christians.
Questions for thought or discussion.
What transforming experiences have you had in your life? (Or what transforming experiences have you seen or heard of in the lives of others?) Have you ever had a disaster turn into something positive? What does Jesus give the disciples in the reading to help them in faith & life?