Posts from 2019 (Page 3)
Grace
Many people tell me that time passes more quickly as you get older. I don’t know if it’s true for everyone, but from where I sit I think they’re right. Can you believe that it’s the year 2019? Do you remember when everyone was stressing over Y2K? That’s been nearly two decades. What’s happened in your life in the last few years? Did you send a child to kindergarten for the first time? Send one to college? Get a new…
But I need it
Most of us probably use the verb need a little too loosely. Man, my phone is ancient—I’ve had it almost two years—I really need a new one. These clothes are so last year . . . I need some new ones. We really need to redecorate the house . . . It’s getting kinda dated, you know? The automaker convinces us that a four-year-old car that’s missing most of the latest bells and whistles is beneath us . . . We need something better, and…
Giving gifts
Most of us like receiving an occasional gift—maybe for a birthday or for Christmas or some other special occasion. It makes us feel sorta special like someone cares for us. The apostle Paul takes an interesting approach to receiving gifts, it seems, and it’s probably because he wants us to learn an important lesson. He’s in prison, and it’s fascinating to think of his eyes lighting up when a friend from Philippi brought him a gift from the home church…
Just-Around-The-Corner Contentment?
There’s a tendency to postpone contentment or to explain away why we don’t have it right now. The condition is so common that it’s got its own street name: the “Greener Grass Syndrome.” Sometimes the good life is almost within grasp, just the other side of a 5% raise. Or it’s in that house just across town, the pretty one with 500 more square feet and the fenced-in back yard and the better school district and less traffic. Yep, I’d…
Resources for Discussion Class Hour on May 29, 2019
Sermon Title: Jacob’s Ladder Text: Genesis 28:10-22; John 1:43-51 Resources: Click here to listen to or watch the sermon Download tonight’s printable study guide Brief summary Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran. And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder…
Resources for Discussion Class Hour on May 22, 2019
Sermon Title: It Cost Everything Text: 2 Samuel 24 Resources: Click here to listen to or watch the sermon Download tonight’s printable study guide Brief summary Then Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take and offer up what seems good to him. Here are the oxen for the burnt offering and the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood. All this, O king, Araunah gives to the king.” And Araunah said to the king,…
Don’t Worry
If you’re one of those people who obey this passage with something close to consistency, I applaud you. Here’s what Paul writes: Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6). Just to make sure we understand exactly what he’s commanding, here are a couple…
Resources for Discussion Class Hour on May 15, 2019
Sermon Title: Have Mercy On Me, O God Text: Psalm 51 Resources: Click here to listen to or watch the sermon Download tonight’s printable study guide Brief summary Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done…
Resources for Discussion Class Hour on May 8, 2019
Sermon Title: How is Our Culture Affecting Us? “That We May Be Like All the Nations” Text: 1 Samuel 8:19-22 Resources: Click here to listen to or watch the sermon Download tonight’s printable study guide Brief summary But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and…
At Hand
I’ve got quite a few things within reach as I type these words: my computer, of course, and my desk, a bunch of books, pictures of my wife and kids, and dozens of other things. They’re “at hand,” so to speak, because I can reach them from where I sit. Wherever you are, look around. What’s within your reach? What’s “at hand”? The way Paul uses that expression in Philippians 4:5 both comforts and warns us. The Lord is at…
Be Nice
We Christians ought to be nice, you know? Kind, gentle, warm, friendly. Perhaps that’s not anything new to you, but it seems to me that occasionally we overemphasize some things and forget about others. For example, we’ve really stressed what the Bible teaches about baptism, the church, sexuality, what women can and cannot do, and so on. And we don’t need to ignore “doctrinal” matters. People need to hear what God said about issues like those, so we shouldn’t shy…
Resources for Discussion Class Hour on May 1, 2019
Sermon Title: What Shall We Do? Text: Acts 2:37-41 Resources: Click here to listen to or watch the sermon Download tonight’s printable study guide Brief summary Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the…