Posts from 2019 (Page 4)
Resources for Discussion Class Hour on April 24, 2019
Sermon Title: This Jesus Text: Acts 2:14-39 Resources: Click here to listen to or watch the sermon Download tonight’s printable study guide Brief summary Sunday was Easter, of course, and people throughout the world reflected on the resurrection of Christ. We studied Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 because it was the first sermon preached after the resurrection, and so it was the first sermon from the apostles that was shaped by their new awareness of who Jesus really was. Notice how Peter…
Resources for Discussion Class Hour on April 10, 2019
Sermon Title: Root Rot: Weathering Storms and the Damage Done by Sin Text: 2 Corinthians 5:17 Resources: Click here to listen to or watch the sermon Download tonight’s printable study guide Brief summary “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17) “‘For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.’ It is for discipline that you have to endure.…
Resources for Discussion Class Hour on April 3, 2019
Sermon Title: What Was Right In Their Eyes Text: Philippians 2:19-24 Resources: Click here to listen to or watch the sermon Download tonight’s printable study guide Brief summary In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. –Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. –Judges 21:25 To be frank, the book of Judges is a discouraging book. If you’re…
In the Lord
If you look at the world a certain way, it’s easy not to rejoice. Life is stressful. I keep waiting for that time when everything slows down. Then, I tell myself, I’ll be less stressed and more content. Do you ever fall into this trap? There’s negative stuff all around us, which, if we’re so inclined, can damper our spirits. An uncertain economy. A rising deficit. Strife in the Middle East (isn’t there always?). Perhaps there’s uncertainty about health (why these weird…
Thank You
Sometimes my prayers are characterized more by habit than by heart. “Father, I thank you so much for this food and for this day and for my family and for every blessing. Thank you for our house and our clothes and our friends. And, of course, thank you for Jesus.” I can say all that—and quite a bit more—without thinking at all about what I’ve said. Do you ever do this? We fall so easily into the rut of ritualism,…
Resources for Discussion Class Hour on March 20, 2019
Sermon Title: No One Like Him Text: Philippians 2:19-24 Resources: Click here to listen to or watch the sermon Download tonight’s printable study guide Brief summary I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know Timothy’s proven worth,…
Getting along
Have you ever (secretly) wished that everybody in the church would be more like you? Most of us probably wouldn’t admit it, but maybe we’ve looked down our noses at some church folks and wondered why they’ve got the issues they do. Truth is, if everybody in the church was like you and me, we’d still have problems. It’s just the way it is. Last week I wrote about how much I appreciate the sweet fellowship of God’s people, and…
False Gospels and God’s Wrath
In the Bible book of Galatians, Paul writes bluntly to the church that met in Galatia. In the letter’s introduction and greeting, Paul points to the eternal hope that we have through the resurrection of Jesus. He reminds the readers about the grace that we all need and enjoy. I love the line in the song “How He Loves,” that says “if grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.” It is endlessly deep and is literally available to all people everywhere. Then,…
Resources for Discussion Class Hour on March 13, 2019
Sermon Title: The Kindness and Severity of God Text: Romans 11:22; Deuteronomy 27, 28, 32 Resources: Click here to listen to or watch the sermon Download tonight’s printable study guide Brief summary “How America Sees God” (USA Today lead story from October 7, 2010)—the article is based on a study conducted over the last four years by two sociologists from Baylor University in Texas. Their work is published in a book called, America’s Four Gods: What We Say About God and What This…
God’s family
I’m sure there’s enjoyable fellowship outside of God’s family, but I honestly can’t imagine what it would be like not to have the church. These are my people. Oh, they’ve got their problems, of course (don’t we all?), but people within the household of faith are my support group. I grieve and rejoice with them, I depend on them, I need them. Where does everyone else find this? At a local bar? With their bowling club? I’m thinking it’s a…
Look ahead
It’s a cliché, I know, but it became a cliché because it’s true. Don’t live in the past. Is that you? Are you beating yourself up over something you did years ago? I think the apostle Paul struggled with that. In some of his letters he mentioned the terrible things he’d done to Christians years earlier, referring to himself as the “worst” of sinners and the “least of the apostles” (1 Timothy 1:15; 1 Corinthians 15:9). It bothered him. I’m…
Cut flowers
Note: I wrote this article before the governor of New York signed a bill on Tuesday that legalized abortion up until birth in some cases. He also directed the One World Trade Center and other landmarks to be lit in pink to celebrate the passage of the “Reproductive Health Act.” How exactly the law will be interpreted and applied remains to be seen, but it seems like another step in the deeply discouraging direction of becoming a nation that delights…