This is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It is the most sacred Christian site in the world. Today it is located within the walls of the old city of Jerusalem in what is known as the Christian quarter. But during the time of Jesus, this site was outside the town’s walls and very likely a quarry, so it is a possible site for the crucifixion. Emperor Constantine embraced Christianity in 312 AD, and soon after, his mother, Helena, made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where tradition claims she found many Christian sites, including the place of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built on the site she located. The name sepulchre means a chamber that is used as a grave. In the Bible book of John 19:41-42, it says that the tomb was close to the place of the Crucifixion, and so the church was planned to enclose the site of both the cross and the tomb.

There’s a lot of discussion today about the food we eat. There’s foods that are good for us and benefit our bodies and brains. But there are also foods that are harmful and that we would be wise to avoid.

Caesarea Maritima! It’s a truly amazing place. Herod the Great planned to build a perfect city as the political capital of the region. From the palace, the hippodrome or the chariot racetrack, the ancient public lavatory, bathhouse, shoreline promenade, Roman theatre, and frescoes, to the magnificent harbour – it was a grand town.

The brain is the most sophisticated piece of tissue in the known universe. It’s not only very complex in function – it’s also extremely sensitive and energy demanding. And what we eat impacts it directly. So much so that researchers now know that nutrient deficiencies can foreshadow cognitive decline. Most people think that brain super foods are exotic and expensive foods, that must be gathered from distant and hard-to-reach locations. They couldn’t be more wrong because many of the best superfoods for our amazing brains can be found at our local supermarket or farmers’ market.

The beautiful and peaceful Garden Tomb is situated just outside the walls of the old city of Jerusalem. It is considered by some Christians to be a possible location for the crucifixion and burial of Jesus in a stone tomb. The Bible records tell that Jesus was crucified at Golgotha outside the city of Jerusalem near a gate of the city and along a major thoroughfare. Right next to the Garden Tomb is a large rock that many feel could have been Golgotha. “Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs. 41 At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb, in which no one had ever been laid. 42 Because it was the Jewish day of Preparation and since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.”

Back in 1895, a 30-year-old Banjo Paterson was staying at Dagworth Sheep Station near Winton, when he heard the story of the recent death of a striking sheep shearer at the nearby Combo Waterhole, wrote the tale and put the lyrics to the tune he had heard the station owner’s daughter playing on the autoharp. The new song spread rapidly, and the first public recital was at Winton’s North Gregory Hotel on 6 April. The enduring popularity of this song that uses many iconic Australian words to describe the rugged beauty and character of the outback, also is a graphic reminder of the consequences of fear. Fear is a common and powerful emotion that can interfere, restrict and cripple our lives. Are you afraid or worried about something? What’s your greatest fear? Is it embarrassment? Failure? Rejection? Disappointing others? Not fitting in? How can we better cope with fear? What do we do when fear consumes us? God doesn’t want you to live in fear, even when life is difficult and the future uncertain.

It’s a day some look forward to with excited anticipation and secret hope and others with dread and despair. So, what could this day be? Well, it’s Valentine’s Day, 14 February, the red-letter day of love when the shops are full of red hearts, red roses, chocolates, cards, and many gift ideas to share with that special person in your life. Did you know that Americans spend nearly $30 billion on Valentine’s Day each year? And that the first Hallmark Valentine’s Day cards were sold in 1913 and today about 145 million Valentine cards are given each year. A surprising statistic about Valentine’s Day is that teachers receive the most Valentine’s cards annually of anyone in the world. Now, since Valentine’s Day is the second biggest holiday spend after Christmas, let’s take a deeper look at the fascinating facts of how this day of celebrating love began.

I am standing here on the Temple Mount Steps beside the walls of the old city of Jerusalem. The Bible comes alive when you step foot in Israel and that’s certainly true when you visit the Temple Steps here in Jerusalem. It’s amazing to think that Jesus would have walked up these very steps on his way to the Temple. Herod the Great originally built these stone steps when he expanded the size of the Temple Mount and rebuilt the Second Temple. Sometimes called the Southern Steps, these steps were originally a set of 30 steps that were 60m or 200 feet wide.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a double agent who plotted to assassinate Adolf Hitler in the Wolf’s Lair fortress. When the plot failed, Hitler made sure Bonhoeffer was executed in the final days before the German surrender. Today Bonhoeffer is hailed as a twentieth-century martyr. He voluntarily faced imprisonment and execution with determination and courage. But why did he do this? What values shaped his life, and where did these come from?

The start of a New Year is a time of new beginnings and fresh starts – as well as a cause for celebration. I love the way that Jesus combined all of this in His story of the prodigal son. It’s about a young man who rebelled and left his father, taking his inheritance with him and wasting it on careless living. Luke 15:14 says, “He spent everything he had . . . and he was left without a thing”. His recklessness had left him lonely and miserable. So, he decided to swallow his pride and return home and ask to be a servant in his father’s house. The prodigal’s father is like your heavenly Father. No matter what you’ve done, when you come home to God, he wraps you in his love. He gives you his best and says, “All is forgiven! Go get the robe. Go get the shoes. Let’s have a feast! My child has returned to me.” You come home to celebration, not condemnation.

People all over the world have heard the story of Jesus’ birth. But have you ever wondered why it matters, and what difference it makes? Well, it makes a huge difference, and not just to Christians, but to everyone. The birth of Jesus was the most important event in human history – and here’s why.

As the year draws to an end, billions of people around the world look forward to Christmas Day, with its evergreen trees, colourful lights, carol-singing, gi…

The Roman empire was one of the greatest and most influential civilisations in history and ruled the world for around 500 years. It was founded when Augustus Caesar proclaimed himself as the first emperor of Rome…

The Universal War, the war between good and evil, between God and Satan, has just about come full circle. It’s just about over. The same Jesus who was die…