St Barnabas Daily Devotions

St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield and Bossley Park
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Daily Devotions written by members of St Barnabas to help us grow in our personal relationships with God by reading God's Word. From February 2025, the Scriptures quoted are from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB). https://berean.bible Prior to February 2025, the Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® https://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

  1. 13H AGO

    John 8:12–20

    12 Once again, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not valid.” 14 Jesus replied, “Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is valid, because I know where I came from and where I am going. But you do not know where I came from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. 16 But even if I do judge, My judgment is true, because I am not alone; I am with the Father who sent Me. 17 Even in your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18 I am One who testifies about Myself, and the Father, who sent Me, also testifies about Me.” 19 “Where is Your Father?” they asked Him. “You do not know Me or My Father,” Jesus answered. “If you knew Me, you would know My Father as well.” 20 He spoke these words while teaching in the temple courts, near the treasury. Yet no one seized Him, because His hour had not yet come. REFLECTIONSWritten by Bethany Rowlands Sometimes I catch myself thinking of God the Father as having a different character or will than Jesus the Son. I used to think of Jesus as helping me to please the Father. I’ve had friends tell me they like the Jesus of the New Testament, but not the angry God of the Old Testament. I’ve read writings that talk of worshipping the Creator while confident Jesus was just a man we can ignore. The passage today in John doesn’t give me room to separate God in that way. Yes, the Father, Son and Spirit have different roles and activities in God’s big plan. The Father sends and the Son is sent. But the passage’s claim is clear that the Father, Son and Spirit have the same goal, the same judgement of sin and the same heart to save sinners. In fact, the passage says that by knowing Jesus, a person knows the Father! They are not separate or different, but they are one. The Father is with Jesus and Jesus came to reveal who the Father is. Jesus said the people listening to Him in John 8 don’t know the Father because they don’t accept Jesus! How I respond to Jesus IS how I respond to the Father. I can’t say I trust Jesus but not the Father. I can’t follow God but not accept Jesus as Lord. The Father and the Son and the Spirit are one God. So the challenge is, do I believe what Jesus said about Himself and the Father, or have I made up a different, fragmented picture of God? When Scripture says something about the Father or Jesus that I don’t like, do I seek to understand God better or do I start to prefer Jesus or the Father over the other? Pray and ask God to help you grow in your understanding and your trust in his character, revealed to us in Jesus his Son. ABOUT THE AUTHORBethany is a member of our Fairfield Morning congregation.

  2. 2D AGO

    John 8:1–11

    1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early in the morning He went back into the temple courts. All the people came to Him, and He sat down to teach them. 3 The scribes and Pharisees, however, brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before them 4 and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such a woman. So what do You say?” 6 They said this to test Him, in order to have a basis for accusing Him. But Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger. 7 When they continued to question Him, He straightened up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her.” 8 And again He bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard this, they began to go away one by one, beginning with the older ones, until only Jesus was left, with the woman standing there. 10 Then Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?” 11 “No one, Lord,” she answered. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Now go and sin no more.” REFLECTIONSWritten by Rebecca Shead I find this passage both intriguing and confronting. Did you notice that the scribes and Pharisees brought to Jesus only the woman caught in adultery? By definition, there must also have been a man caught in adultery. The seventh of the ten commandments says, “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex 20:14). And the Old Testament law lays out the consequences: “If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death” (Lev 20:10). The Pharisees are displaying their hypocrisy and double standards here by bringing only the woman to Jesus; the man was also guilty! In any case, it’s clear the woman’s sin was very serious. She was condemned by the law and deserved the death penalty. I’m trying to imagine how the woman would have felt when she was brought to Jesus in the temple. Perhaps she felt indignant, because her partner in crime seems to have escaped without judgment. I’m guessing she felt both ashamed and fearful: ashamed, because her sin had been exposed in front of Jesus and all the people gathered in the temple; and fearful, because she deserved the harshest penalty the law could bring. But Jesus’ response to the Pharisees and the woman shows the depth of his love and compassion. Instead of condemning her as the Pharisees wanted, and as she deserved, Jesus offers her another chance. Earlier in the book, we read, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him” (John 3:16-17). The woman is on the receiving end of God’s love. Her shame and fear have turned into surprise and gratitude! It’s so easy to see the sin in others and be critical and judgmental. Instead, we should pray that God will help us to see our own sin. If we’re honest, we will admit that we deserve to be condemned too. Let’s pray that God will help us to turn away from our sin, to accept his offer of forgiveness, and to be thankful and rejoice in the salvation he offers to us and other sinners through Jesus. ABOUT THE AUTHORRebecca is a member of our Bossley Park Morning congregation.

  3. 3D AGO

    John 7:45–53

    45 Then the officers returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring Him in?” 46 “Never has anyone spoken like this man!” the officers answered. 47 “Have you also been deceived?” replied the Pharisees. 48 “Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in Him? 49 But this crowd that does not know the law, they are under a curse.” 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who himself was one of them, asked, 51 “Does our law convict a man without first hearing from him to determine what he has done?” 52 “Aren’t you also from Galilee?” they replied. “Look into it, and you will see that no prophet comes out of Galilee.” 53 Then each went to his own home. REFLECTIONSWritten by Linda Vu Reading John 7:45–53 made me pause and notice how divided people were about Jesus. Some were amazed by Him, others were confused, and the leaders were angry and defensive. What struck me most was how the guards, who were sent to arrest Jesus, came back empty-handed, captivated by His words. The officers could not find any fault in His teaching to justify arresting Him. It made me reflect on the power of truth. They weren’t scholars or religious leaders, yet they sensed there was something different about Jesus. Nicodemus also stood out to me. Even though he was one of the Pharisees, he spoke up and asked whether the law judges someone without first hearing them. His response wasn’t dramatic, but would have taken courage. It reminds me that faithfulness can look like small, quiet moments of standing for fairness and truth when others are against it. Overall, this passage made me reflect on my own response to Jesus. Am I open and listening like the guards? Or defensive like the Pharisees? Or quietly seeking truth like Nicodemus? It encourages me to keep an open heart and to have the courage to respond with honesty, even when others disagree. Sometimes Jesus’ teachings can be hard to accept. Will I become defensive like the Pharisees, making excuses? Or will I listen and accept the truth? Pray with me: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for your truth and for speaking words that reach our hearts. Help us to be open and willing to listen, not defensive or hardened. Give us courage like Nicodemus to stand for what is right, even in small ways. Shape our heart to love Your truth and respond with humility and faith. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen. ABOUT THE AUTHORLinda is a member of our Fairfield Morning congregation.

  4. 4D AGO

    John 7:37–44

    37 On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’” 39 He was speaking about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. 40 On hearing these words, some of the people said, “This is truly the Prophet.” 41 Others declared, “This is the Christ.” But still others asked, “How can the Christ come from Galilee? 42 Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Christ will come from the line of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David lived? ” 43 So there was division in the crowd because of Jesus. 44 Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid a hand on Him. REFLECTIONSWritten by Helen Mitry Over the past few weeks at Growth Group we have been studying Jesus through the lens of the Old Testament and seeing how every promise God made points towards him. Today in John’s Gospel we also see how the Old Testament celebrations and rituals were fulfilled in Jesus. It took me a while to write this devotion as there was a lot of cultural context to consider. However after doing some digging, it made sense! We are told that it is the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles for the Jews. A “tabernacle” was a kind of tent, so can you guess what they did to celebrate this festival? Each family would make their own little temporary shelter and camp out for the week! This sounds like a Gus Cameron type of celebration. This festival reminded them of God’s goodness to Israel when they had camped in the wilderness for 40 years after he rescued them from Egypt. Another important theme in this celebration is water, because if you were stranded in the wilderness you would definitely want water! For 7 days they would pour water from the Pool of Siloam on the altar to remind each other that God had provided them with water in the desert. (The Pool of Siloam will feature again when Jesus heals a blind man in chapter 9.) In today’s passage Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.” I don’t think it was a coincidence that Jesus chose to preach this message on this day, at this celebration and to this crowd. “Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” This is Jesus talking about the Holy Spirit. Jesus is calling the crowd to him – and not just that crowd back them. He is calling us as well. We can come to Jesus thirsty, and he will satisfy our deepest need. We only need to believe in him to receive the Holy Spirit. Come to Jesus, the only source of living water. ABOUT THE AUTHORHelen is a member of our Fairfield Evening congregation.

  5. 5D AGO

    John 7:32–36

    32 When the Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Jesus, they and the chief priests sent officers to arrest Him. 33 So Jesus said, “I am with you only a little while longer, and then I am going to the One who sent Me. 34 You will look for Me, but you will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.” 35 At this, the Jews said to one another, “Where does He intend to go that we will not find Him? Will He go where the Jews are dispersed among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? 36 What does He mean by saying, ‘You will look for Me, but you will not find Me,’ and, ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?” REFLECTIONSWritten by Herman Tu Imagine this: You’ve recruited Stephen Shead to lead your Bible study. You have all been praying for this moment. And he finally comes … and the first words he speaks in front of you all are: “I will do no more Bible studies. Plus, you will not find me at all.” One of your group members says, “He is going back to Chile!” But he says he isn't and you cannot find him. How would you feel? I would be shocked. Confused. Curious. And I would feel utterly stupid. (Of course, I’m not really comparing Stephen to Jesus – that’s just a fun little illustration!) When Jesus arrives on the scene, he performs many miracles and teaches as one with authority. The Jewish people see this and begin to realise that the Christ has potentially come (v25). Could this be the prophesied Messiah who would bring his people into an enduring kingdom? We’re told that some of the Jewish people were starting to believe in Him (v31) – they would have been so excited that he had come. So it’s no wonder that when Jesus said, “I am with you only a little while longer, and then I am going to the One who sent Me” (v33), the Jewish people became shocked too. There is a mismatch between expectations and understanding. Then again, many of them did not believe, and they had already tried to seize Jesus (v30). And the religious leaders were still intent on killing Jesus and were trying to arrest him (v32). It’s not surprising that Jesus left them confused – it was not yet his time to die (v30). Thankfully, the Jewish people’s confusion about Jesus helps us to accurately see Jesus. “Where does He intend to go that we will not find Him?” We know! He is going to the cross, to fulfil the mission the Father has sent him to carry out, and to conquer sin and death. “You will look for Me, but you will not find Me.” We know how to find him! They were chasing after the wrong kind of Messiah and so rejected Jesus. But we know that Jesus is the Messiah, and we have found him by trusting in him. “Where I am, you cannot come”? We know! Jesus is seated at the right hand of power. Jesus always had in mind the will of his Father. He knew in miraculous detail where he was going and the pain he would suffer on the cross for us. Give thanks for God’s great rescue plan through His Son. Pray for those who do not see Jesus clearly, that they may see Him as Saviour and Lord over all. ABOUT THE AUTHORHerman is a member of our Fairfield Evening congregation.

  6. 6D AGO

    John 7:25–31

    25 Then some of the people of Jerusalem began to say, “Isn’t this the man they are trying to kill? 26 Yet here He is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying anything to Him. Have the rulers truly recognized that this is the Christ? 27 But we know where this man is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where He is from.” 28 Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, “You know Me, and you know where I am from. I have not come of My own accord, but He who sent Me is true. You do not know Him, 29 but I know Him, because I am from Him and He sent Me.” 30 So they tried to seize Him, but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. 31 Many in the crowd, however, believed in Him and said, “When the Christ comes, will He perform more signs than this man?” REFLECTIONSWritten by Rodney Clarke This passage is interesting, because for most of his ministry Jesus did not make big public claims to be the Messiah. He waited until it was his time to give his life. But on this trip to the feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, he alluded publicly to being the Messiah. The people who are gathered for the feast are tripped up by Jesus’ claims, because – they think – how could the Messiah come from Galilee? It's the equivalent of saying, “How can the King of the world come from Fairfield?” I suppose recognising Jesus never just comes from human reflection, it comes from true faith which is given by God. You may have heard the saying: “You can't judge a book by its cover.” Well in this case, it’s: You can't judge a person by where they come from … especially if you don’t truly know where they come from! Jesus had total authority from God and came to reconcile man to God and to announce a message of real hope. Jesus came from God, as God’s plan of rescue. But the crowd could only see the humble carpenter who came from Galilee. Sometimes we are blinded to the truth by someone's humble circumstances. In the people’s minds, Jesus didn't meet the requirements of what the Messiah should be. I think we can fall into the same trap sometimes, when we want Jesus to be our Saviour but not our Lord. But that’s not our choice to make. We can only meet Jesus on His terms, not ours. God calls us to recognise Jesus not just as a humble preacher from Nazareth, but as the One who He sent into the world – as God become flesh. Some parts of the crowd wanted Jesus to do impressive miracles and perform signs and wonders on demand – that was what they expected of a "Messiah.” But the real miracle of Jesus is the gospel, the good news bringing hope and reconciliation to God. We all want God to solve our earthly problems right now, but most importantly Jesus can deal with our problem of sin that condemns and separates us from God. So no matter what Jesus’ humble earthly origins were, the work he came to do is truly majestic, Kingly and from God. Maybe you need to do business with God on His terms and be truly transformed and reconciled to Him, by giving your life wholeheartedly to Jesus as both your Saviour and your Lord. ABOUT THE AUTHORRodney is a member of our Fairfield Morning congregation.

  7. APR 12

    John 7:14–24

    14 About halfway through the feast, Jesus went up to the temple courts and began to teach. 15 The Jews were amazed and asked, “How did this man attain such learning without having studied?” 16 “My teaching is not My own,” Jesus replied. “It comes from Him who sent Me. 17 If anyone desires to do His will, he will know whether My teaching is from God or whether I speak on My own. 18 He who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is a man of truth; in Him there is no falsehood. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps it. Why are you trying to kill Me?” 20 “You have a demon,” the crowd replied. “Who is trying to kill You?” 21 Jesus answered them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22 But because Moses gave you circumcision, you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath (not that it is from Moses, but from the patriarchs.) 23 If a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses will not be broken, why are you angry with Me for making the whole man well on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging by outward appearances, and start judging justly.” REFLECTIONSWritten by Mercy Saw In this passage, people make several judgments against Jesus. Firstly, the Jewish leaders witness Jesus teaching in the temple and are amazed at him. We aren’t told the details of what he taught, but it was clearly of such a standard that they are impressed at his wisdom and authority despite him not having received formal training under their religious teachers. Although they can see that his teaching is powerful, the Jewish leaders judge Jesus as a threat, so they are still intent on killing him. The crowd’s response to Jesus is just as bad. They judge Jesus completely incorrectly and accuse him of being demon-possessed for calling the Jewish leaders out for their evil intentions. Ironically, the judgments made again Jesus expose those who are judging him. Jesus says that the mark of whether a person desires to do the will of God is whether they correctly recognize that Jesus’ authority comes from God who has sent him. Jesus seeks to glorify the Father by obeying him, and thus demonstrates he is the one who is full of truth. In contrast, the religious leaders are caught up with maintaining their authority through their rigid enforcement of the law, and so fail to recognize Jesus for who he is. They condemn him for healing a man on the Sabbath (John 5) rather than seeing that this miracle shows he is the promised Messiah sent by God to fulfil the law. This reminds me that it is possible to have much head knowledge and training in God’s word, but what matters most is to be submitting to the authority of Jesus and his word over my life. This is especially important when we come to parts of the Bible which may challenge our beliefs or call out areas of our lives where we may need to repent and obey God. It also reminds me that we need God’s Spirit to give us discernment to understand his word and see life as Jesus does. Praise God for Jesus and his humility in seeking God’s glory by obeying him, and ask that he would help us to do likewise. ABOUT THE AUTHORMercy is a member of our Fairfield Morning congregation.

  8. APR 10

    John 7:1–13

    1 After this, Jesus traveled throughout Galilee. He did not want to travel in Judea, because the Jews there were trying to kill Him. 2 However, the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near. 3 So Jesus’ brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go to Judea, so that Your disciples there may see the works You are doing. 4 For no one who wants to be known publicly acts in secret. Since You are doing these things, show Yourself to the world.” 5 For even His own brothers did not believe in Him. 6 Therefore Jesus told them, “Although your time is always at hand, My time has not yet come. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me, because I testify that its works are evil. 8 Go up to the feast on your own. I am not going up to this feast, because My time has not yet come.” 9 Having said this, Jesus remained in Galilee. 10 But after His brothers had gone up to the feast, He also went—not publicly, but in secret. 11 So the Jews were looking for Him at the feast and asking, “Where is He?” 12 Many in the crowds were whispering about Him. Some said, “He is a good man.” But others replied, “No, He deceives the people.” 13 Yet no one would speak publicly about Him for fear of the Jews. REFLECTIONSWritten by Tina Bogg One thing that stood out for me when I read this passage is how divided the opinions about Jesus were. This passage starts with Jesus avoiding Judea because the Jewish leaders were looking for a way to kill him, while his brothers were asking him to publicly show himself, and then in verse 12, it says that among the crowds there were mixed opinions, with some believing he was a good man and others thinking he deceived the people. One man, yet so many different beliefs about him and his ministry. In many ways, I guess it is similar in this day and age, when people have lots of different opinions about Jesus: a good teacher, a historical figure, a prophet, or the Son of God. This week I had an interesting chat with someone who only wanted their kids to hear the ‘gentle’ teachings at church – nothing about hell or death, just the good morals and being kind to one another. Jesus and all his teachings have to be taken together, which is why there were – and still are – such divided opinions about him. Without his teaching about sin, why would we need forgiveness? Without his teaching about death and hell, why would we need to be saved? My reflection is to thank God that Jesus didn't hide the truth from us, even when it meant he would be hated, because without all of Jesus’ truth, the good news wouldn't be nearly as good. Be encouraged and pray that God will give you the courage not to hide parts of Jesus' teaching that aren't easy to hear, even if it means you're hated or looked on differently. And if you are treated that way, ask God to help you know and trust that he will use it for his good plan. ABOUT THE AUTHORTina is a member of our Bossley Park Morning congregation.

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Daily Devotions written by members of St Barnabas to help us grow in our personal relationships with God by reading God's Word. From February 2025, the Scriptures quoted are from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB). https://berean.bible Prior to February 2025, the Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® https://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved.

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  • Creator
    St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield and Bossley Park
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    108
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    Clean
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    © Copyright St Barnabas Anglican Church Fairfield and Bossley Park.
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