Many people today say that "sin" is an old-fashioned word which religious people use to describe the free lifestyle choices that are entirely legitimate for everyone in the 21st century. So if a person has sexual intercourse with multiple partners outside marriage, we must not call that sin! Rather, we must think of this as a legitimate lifestyle choice which people are perfectly entitled to make in a free society.

The title of our new series of studies in John’s Gospel is, "The Truth about Freedom". Our aim in this new series is really very simple one. We want to understand what Jesus meant when he promised freedom to his disciples. Jesus’ words may be very familiar to us, but because the context may not be quite so familiar we need to look at it carefully before we plunge into today’s passage. So please turn to John 8:31,32 on page 114. John writes, "To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.

You will have seen from the email invitation that it is estimated that 50-60 million abortions take place every year around the world. That means that during this lunch hour alone there will probably be about 6,000 abortions being performed somewhere in the world. That is almost twice as many abortions this lunch hour as people who died in the 9/11 attacks. Some claim that abortion is tantamount to murder. If this is so, or even if this could be so, then there is no doubt that abortion is the single most important ethical issue which confronts the world and the church today.

One of the most skilful jobs is the job of the picture restorer. He gets to spend his time working with wonderful old masterpieces. Over the years these precious paintings have become covered with grime and dust and in some cases other artists have even painted over them. And his job is to gently remove the dirt and the paint that has been added, so that we can see the picture in its original glory.

Some of the world’s markets suffered their biggest falls yesterday since the crash of 1987 and there are fears of worse to come. The extent to which we will feel the shockwaves here in South Africa are still unclear to many people, but there is certainly a new mood of fear in business circles. And at such times people want to know what God is doing and whether He has anything to say on the subject.

Last week the long awaited movie about Hansie was released in South Africa. And it looks like it is going to be a great success. In the first four days, it grossed R 1.6m at the box office some way ahead of the latest Star Wars film, which grossed only R 1.1m in the same period.

This week our text is the last phrase in verse 29, where Nebuchadnezzar, speaking about Daniel’s God, makes the astonishing confession, "No other god can save in this way." And I want to suggest to you that our passage this week, surely one of the most famous in the whole Bible, teaches us something about the unique power of God, a power, which is quite different to any other power and which is available to strengthen and encourage every believer.

So, what is this power and what difference does it make?

This week a fascinating experiment has been launched in Switzerland. Scientists have spent $9 bn to build the largest and most complex machine ever made. As far as I can tell this machine is situated in a circular tunnel 27 kilometers in circumference and it is designed to smash particles together at the speed of light. What’s the purpose? Scientists are hoping to recreate the conditions that existed a millionth of a millionth of a second after the Big Bang in order to tell us how the Universe was created.

As we try to make sense of the toxic anti-God culture in which we find ourselves, Daniel reminds us that, in spite of appearances, God is still very much in control. His plan is on track. In some ways, the story of Daniel is a great illustration of Paul’s famous words in Romans 8:28, "And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose." We will see that again and again in this series of studies.

 Graham Kissack

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” Romans 12:2.

While on the same training course that I mentioned last time, we were given a number of motivational sayings in the notes. Here are some of them:

"The best way to prepare for life is to begin to live." -E. Hubbard

"Life’s most persistent and urgent question is – what are you doing for others?" -Martin Luther King