New Year, New You!
Even with your New Year’s Resolutions, did you step across the threshold of midnight into 2019 any different than you had been at the end of December? Did you wake up to a new you?...
Keep ReadingThe Patriarch Jacob was like many who grew up in the church. He knew about God. He'd watched his parents worship and build their lives around the biblical faith. He wasn't opposed to it. He kind of believed it too. But in reality, Jacob had not really come to God himself. If the truth were told, he was simply coasting off his father's faith....
What is Easter to you -- just another religious holiday? A time when your wife, mother, or family member pressures you to attend church with them? Perhaps for you it is a bit more meaningful, -- it is a time for tradition. At Easter the family attends church, has a festive meal, or reunion. For some, it is about the children. At Easter the children get their special spring outfits, have egg hunts, and receive their annual basket of goodies! Perhaps a review of the first Easter morning will shed light on how this historic day should be viewed by us. In your heart and mind, return with me to that bright morning. Let’s walk through it and meet the people that were there, that witnessed it for themselves, and for us. ...
What is love? What is Christian love? After all, doesn’t the Bible say that God is love? Shouldn’t love be one of the dominant characteristics of genuine Christians? The answer to each of these questions is YES. But hold on a minute! Does this mean that Christians accept all manner of sin and blasphemy against God in the name of love and if they do not they are then “unloving?” Let’s see what the Bible says about Christian love and how it really transforms us not to be like the fallen culture around us but to be like Christ. ...
Identity. What a loaded topic this has become in the last decade. With all the attention given to “understand” our identity, one would expect that we, as a culture, had learned something. But the sad reality is that we haven’t. How do I know that we have not learned from the exorbitant attention given to identity by our media, the music industry, government agencies, advertisement, and the public school system, and pop-culture? It is evidenced by not only the gender confusion being produced, but also by more subtle observations such as how people have become nearly obsessed with labeling themselves with logos, flags, tattoos, clothing, hairstyles, jewelry, and music. This is an attempt to find and secure identity in things, celebrities, sexuality, and brands. It is sad to watch as people created in the image of God seek meaning in everything but God. This is condition of lost humankind. In the Epistle to the church at Ephesus, the Apostle Paul expounds some of the great truths of Christian identity. We learn in chapter one that our identity as believers in Jesus Christ is secured by God’s choice in eternity past (1:3-6). We rejoice in the identity we’ve been given by grace through faith in Jesus Christ (2:1-9). Our identity is not just in eternity but it is also here and now as we live (2:10) so that our new identity in Jesus comes with a new purpose for life - good works. But that’s not all, not by a long shot! Our new found position in our Lord Jesus Christ includes new relationships, new foundation for life, and a new purpose for existence! As the Church of Jesus Christ, Scripture says we are…...
Did you know that marriage has a mission? Marriage is not a mere sociological invention of man instituted for the propagating and stabilizing of societies. ...
It is imperative that local congregations recover true Christian love with its doctrinal faithfulness, purifying power, and deep wells of joy flowing from Christ and His Word....
I want to encourage our congregation to make OTHERS our 2023 MISSION. Let’s be passionate and purposeful to live this year for God’s glory in ways that shine the light of the Truth of the Gospel of Christ to those around us. And, let’s do it with such humility that when they see God’s love through us they are compelled to give glory to our Heavenly Father. ...
Put away your anxiety, uncertainty, and pain. Turn from sin and dis- belief to faith and hope in the knowledge and trust that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world (1 John 13-16). Forget about the holiday stress and pressure of our culture. They do not know our God. ...
My intention here is not to prop up the American holiday of Thanksgiving but to encourage Christians to grasp their calling to be the people in this fallen world who are characterized by giving thanks to the true and living God (1 Chronicles 16; Luke 17:18; Philippians 4:6). ...
Many things in life are beyond the scope of thrill seeking or material possessions. There are things that cannot be bought with money such as the birth of your child, a baby’s first words or steps, a rare sunset, the appreciation of true and pure beauty, unity in a family, or the forgiveness of sins, just to name a few. Scripture tells us that wisdom is priceless....
Even with your New Year’s Resolutions, did you step across the threshold of midnight into 2019 any different than you had been at the end of December? Did you wake up to a new you?...
Keep ReadingIs the church’s primary responsibility to win the lost or to worship God?...
Keep ReadingLet’s brighten things up! It’s important that a church campus look welcoming, even inviting. Our campus should be a place that reflects our faith in our Great and Merciful God!...
Keep ReadingBefore I started anything in the office, I made my way to the sanctuary......
Keep ReadingUnfortunately, today that is often not the case. Many cannot, in good conscience and obedience to the Scriptures, simply attend the closest congregation to their home because it has forsaken the faith of Jesus. So this begs the question, What makes a church a living and vibrant congregation?...
Keep ReadingThe last few weeks have been a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. With the sudden onset of severe chest pains two months ago......
Keep ReadingFinding out that a bypass rather than a stint was needed ranks among the more shocking moments in my life....
Keep ReadingAll of us want to give our children a fighting chance in life. In fact, we want better; we want them to succeed. Often this well-meaning sentiment is misguided. We parents begin filling our children’s lives with things, lessons, and classes to ensure they fit in and do well. The problem is, in a troubled culture, this strategy backfires on us. Our culture has become godl...
Keep ReadingThe Unquenchable Flame is a thrilling 198-page account of one of the most pivotal events in the history of man, the Protestant Reformation. Author and theologian Michael Reeves is a master storyteller. Even if you are not very familiar with the specifics of the Reformation or the key people involved, you will be able to follow Reeves as he unfolds one amazing event after a...
Keep ReadingR. Kent Hughes, Bible teacher and former Senior Pastor of the congregation of College Church, Wheaton, Illinois, observes that, “Common sense, as well as research, tells us that a vital element for building a family is instilling a healthy sense of heritage, an appreciation of one’s roots, both earthly and spiritual.” A legacy is not something that can be calculated ...
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