Jesus would probably not be the first nor the last person to claim to be the son of God, nor would he be the only one to say "follow me", or promise life after death. However, he said and did some remarkable things during and after his lifetime which set him apart from others...

He Performed Miracles
You can imagine the astonishment when, at a wedding in Cana, Galilee, (where Jesus, his mother and followers were guests) Jesus solved a catering difficulty - the wine had run out - by turning water into wine, and very good wine it was too. This was the first of his miracles, which you can read about in the Bible (John, Chapter 2).

After this, Jesus began to perform a stream of miracles of a much more dramatic and serious nature (reported in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, which are known as The Gospels). Most of them brought instant relief from suffering which must have been close to unbearable. A mother-in-law of a friend was sick with a high fever - he drove the fever right out of her there and then (Luke, Chapter 4).  In front of a large crowd he told a man paralysed by disease to get up and go home, and that's exactly what the man did (Luke 5). He raised a dead man back to life, knowing his widowed mother couldn't cope (Luke 7). Men with leprosy cured (Luke 5 again, and 18). Countless people rid of internal demons, which we might recognise today as mental torment (eg. in Luke 8). A blind beggar-man given sight (Luke 18). Women and men, boys and girls. Storms calmed in an instant. Five-thousand fed from next to nothing. Waters bereft of fish turned into waters of plenty. The list goes on - extraordinary deeds and words, all shot through with love and humanitarian concern for people he mostly didn't even know. He was clearly not an ordinary person.

After He Died, He Came Back!
If his birth was highly unusual (Matthew 1 and 2, Luke 2), his death and resurrection were unlike anything ever seen before or since, and Christians believe that somewhere, somehow in these events - which happened as he had predicted - lies the single most essential key to our faith: that in dying he paid the price (a price that had to be paid) for our wrong-doings (which we're all responsible for), on our behalf. Three days after being crucified - nailed to a wooden cross until dead - and buried in a tomb that was guarded (due to the political sensitivity of his execution), he appeared to his followers. Again and again over the following weeks he joined them, spoke with them and reassured them that death is not the end, before disappearing finally, again as he said he would. If anyone needed convincing any further, and certain individuals did, here was the proof (John 20). And, finally, before leaving the world, he promised that one day he would be back again...

He Continues to Touch People's Lives Today
Jesus seemed to understand people's situations and came to them as they were: the hard-hearted and the downtrodden, the selfish and the generous, the happy and the sad, those quietly trying to get on with life. He knew life could be a real struggle sometimes and had something to say to everyone, whether they considered themselves "religious" or not (in fact he was scathing of the religiously correct). "The time has come", he said, "the kingdom of God is near: repent and believe the good news" (Mark 1:15). He was indicating that God has in store, for those who believe, something much, much better than life here in this imperfect world. This message didn't die when he did, nor when he ascended into heaven - in fact it was just getting started: spreading around the world and throughout history to the present day. Even now, Jesus has a knack of bringing people to a point in their lives when they decide whether to go his way and accept his guarantee of eternal life, or to continue on their own way. 

Find Out More at Reid Memorial
At Reid Memorial Church we have the opportunity to meet every week to remind ourselves of the example of Jesus and to re-focus on him, putting him again at the centre of our lives. We come to learn more about him, and, crucially, to pray through him to God the father, who we worship (John 14). And we ask for the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus introduced to people (John 16), to be present in our lives. You can find out more by visiting our About Us and Contacts  pages, or by coming along to one of our services: you'll be very welcome.

I don't have an armoury of robust arguments for the existence of Jesus - how can I when I've never seen him, or had his presence proven to me? But spiritual things aren't like that. In the same way that you can't measure love or codify life, you can't rationalise faith. I'm just saying what I - and a whole bunch of other people - have believed for a long time. We don't even say 'your faith is wrong' if we disagree with unbelievers and people of other faiths  - what's more important is that we act as sign-posts or pointers to Jesus, and that I hope is what this page does in some way.