Execution Jewelry

Do you set the x-ray machine off at the airport with all your jewellery? Some of us love wearing it. Many of us wear a cross or crucifix. The cross was the one of the cruellest means of killing criminals used by the Romans. So wearing one seems weird really. Decorating yourself with a means of execution. But for a Christian the cross is a story of the love of God shown by allowing his Son to be executed on behalf of people who didn’t even care about him. So when they look at the cross it’s sad but it’s also a celebration. At Easter we remember the cross. Jesus Christ was killed so that people like us could be given new life, a new start, a new relationship with God. Find out more at a Christian meeting this Easter.

Who am I?

Here I stand around 6ft tall. I live for a few years, make my mark and then I’m gone. Compared to the earth I’m pretty small. Compared to the universe I am ridiculously insignificant. We now know that our home galaxy, the Milky Way, contains about 100 billion stars. And there are another 100 billion galaxies each of 100 billion stars! The numbers are impossible to imagine.

But exciting new discoveries in the last few years have shown that the earth is unique. It has everything you need for life. Even scientists who don’t believe in God have had to admit when they look at many of the biological and chemical processes it just seems like it was specially designed.

Recently it was realised that if the constants of nature, like the gravitational pull, the angle of the earth on its axis, the thickness of the atmosphere, were minutely different, life as we know it could not have begun. The earth seems to have a very special place in the universe.


And life on earth seems pretty special too. One amazing example is the flagellum motor on a bacteria. You need a magnification of 50,000 times to see this amazing device. It’s just like an outboard motor on a boat. It can spin at 100,000 RPM in one direction then stop within a quarter turn and spin the other way. The paddle allows the bacteria to swim through liquids like a miniature submarine. Do submarines exist in the sea by accident? Of course not – there’s a designer. You couldn’t imagine a submarine evolving from spare parts. Can we seriously believe life on earth is the result of an accident.


So perhaps I am not so insignificant after all. Perhaps I was made with a purpose. With all that evidence we’re expected to ask, “So who was the designer?” Wouldn’t you like to meet him?

Miracle Baby

Every baby is one in a million: A unique combination of the looks and character of its parents. From the moment of conception this person develops from a tiny cell a tenth of a millimetre big to a complete human body you can hold in your arms. The journey from tiny cell to baby is breathtaking. Nine weeks after conception the baby can bend his fingers round an object in the palm of his hand. At eleven weeks the foetus can produce complex facial expressions and even smile and suck his thumb. In response to a touch on the sole of his foot he will curl his toes or bend his hips and knees. By the end of the twelfth week the baby measures almost 90mm and weighs 45g and has all the major organs. By sixteen weeks the heart is pumping 30 litres of blood a day. He can hear everything going on inside the body of the mother and loud noises from outside the uterus such as the slamming of a door or music. Tests using different types of music indicate that the baby even appears to have preferences – rock, pop or classical!


And then that moment comes when the baby says let me out of here and emerges and takes his first breath of fresh air. This is a wonderful process to produce a unique person who we should honour and love.


Jesus was all of those things. He developed in the womb like every other baby. His senses, his muscles, his brain, his heart all like ours. But there was something even more special about this baby. He was more than a human – he was at the same time God with us. It’s hard to believe or understand. Jesus was God come to earth on a rescue mission. He really was a miracle birth.