As part of our centenary celebration we have given the gift of Luke's biography of Jesus to the 10,000 households in Hastings. "The Essential Jesus" is an opportunity for people to read about Jesus for themselves.

More than 2 billion people on the planet and
50% of New Zealanders call themselves "Christian".

For over 2000 years Jesus has been impacting history and politics, art and ethics, science and philosophy.

His life, death and resurrection are on our calendars each year through Christmas and Easter, and the year itself, 2009, takes its reference from him.

Jesus is someone who everyone should know about.

Which Jesus?

There are many versions of Jesus on offer today:

• Baby Jesus safely tucked away in the Christmas manager
• Green Jesus of the political left. With long hair, sandals, a flowing robe and a kind word for everyone
• Right wing Jesus out to punish evil doers and looking to uphold capitalism, civic morality and the status quo at all costs
• The misunderstood Jesus who was an ordinary bloke with a wife and children. He died a tragic martyr's death but now he lives on in the hearts of believers as a towering example to be followed
• Religious Jesus who was manufactured by the Church to maintain ancient institutions, rituals and traditions

Our hope is that you will have an encounter with the real Jesus through the accounts of those who actually saw and heard Jesus. As Luke describes them: "those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the message" (page 7).

Professor Richard Bauckham, author of Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels As Eyewitness Testimony tells why the accounts of Jesus are reliable

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Questions?

Jesus makes bold and big claims. There are issues to be thought through, concerns that come to mind, implications to be considered:

What can we really know about Jesus after all these years?
Does religion have a place in a scientific age?
If there is a God, why is there suffering in the world?

We won't claim to be able to answer everything in full, but many of the questions that you might ask have been asked by others.  Follow the link below to explore some of those questions.