The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican is widely recognised as one of the great triumphs in human artistic endeavour. Painted from 1508 to 1512, Michelangelo’s striking portrayal of the creation, fall and destruction of humankind by the flood has evoked enormous praise for its interpretative and creative genius. […]
As we read through the biblical material concerning his earthly life and ministry, we find that Jesus sent his disciples out as missionaries on at least two occasions (Matthew 10:1-42; Luke 10:1-20. Their task both times was to preach the good news of the Kingdom, and demonstrate its reality by performing the miracles Jesus himself had carried out.
When we set off to fulfil the task God has given us in mission, the obvious first step to begin with is to turn to the scriptures and to see what Jesus and the early church did as they responded to this same calling. In doing so our hope is inevitably to find a simple, […]