Posts by Chuck Webster (Page 6)
Genuinely concerned
Like Timothy, Christians are “genuinely concerned” for one another’s welfare. They feel pain when someone else hurts, and they smile when a fellow Christian rejoices.
I think that’s what’ll make our evangelistic efforts work. People don’t know—and don’t care—what we believe about various doctrines, but they’ll notice the compassion.
The Omega
Most of us have been tempted by the buy-now-and-pay-later mantra. After all, why wait for something when you can have it right now? It’s effective with us because of our finite nature as human beings. We’re bound—to a great extent, at least—by time. We’re aware of the past, and we anticipate the future, but more than anything, there’s today. That causes problems, of course. The Lord referred to himself as the Alpha and Omega in several places. He’s our Alpha,…
The Alpha
You’ve made bad decisions, right? Some of them were really bad, resulting in things you’re embarrassed about, stuff you won’t share with anyone who doesn’t already know. Welcome to normal. It must be written in our DNA. Decision-making is a complex process, of course, and unfortunately, we can’t will ourselves into always making the right decisions. But here’s a good place to start: When the Lord revealed himself to John near the end of the apostle’s life, he said: “I…
His good pleasure
It’s clear that God expects a human response in our relationship to him, but do we sometimes emphasize what we do above what he’s doing? It’s important to recognize that God’s saving us begins, continues, and ends with his initiative, not ours. Notice how Paul mentions both in this passage: Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and…
Standing up
I love reading biographies, and Eric Metaxas has written two excellent ones. Amazing Grace describes William Wilberforce’s twenty-year fight to abolish the British slave trade. Bonhoeffer discusses the courageous life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German theologian who stood up to the Nazi regime and was eventually hanged for his convictions. In his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast a few years back, Metaxas himself made a point about the common theme in these biographies: both of his subjects fought for…
Obey
Some folks have a problem with obedience. Actually, we all have a problem with obedience. It seems that we’re hard-wired with an inclination toward doing what we shouldn’t, or not doing what we should. It’s easy to see in kids, of course. It’s not a good parenting technique, but sometimes the quickest way to get a toddler to do something you want him to do is to tell him not to do it. Unfortunately, that little rebellious streak never leaves…
Becoming a part of the Hoover family
People become a part of a church for a multitude of reasons. In the past, it was fairly common in Churches of Christ for those who wanted to “place membership” with a church to walk forward during the invitation song after the sermon and express this. Most people find this experience to be uncomfortable and often do not want to do it. Today, most will simply let the ministers or one of the elders know that it is their desire…
Highest Place
“Highest Place” is one of my favorite worship songs: We place You On the highest place For You Are the great High Priest. We place You High above all else And we come to You And worship at Your feet (Scripture in Song, Ramon Pink, 1983). The lyrics are based on the NIV’s translation of Philippians 2:9-11: Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of…
Emptied Himself
I think the greatest motivation for living how we ought to live is contained in these three verses. Read them slowly, carefully, reflectively, perhaps repeatedly. . . . Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to…
His mind
Two Sundays ago on this page I encouraged you to do what Paul says here: “in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3). How’d you do? If you’re like me, you did really well right up until the point that you got out of bed. It’s just hard . . . really hard. Sometimes it goes against everything within you, and it seems to require superhuman effort to make it through a few hours. If we can’t make…
Welcome!
Some of you are visiting our church family today after having brought your kids to our Vacation Bible School over the past few days. And others might be visiting because you’re new to the Hoover area and are looking for a church home. Regardless, we’re so glad you’re here! During VBS we’ve been learning about the awesome story of God as revealed in the Bible. He created an incredible world that was perfect in every way, and He put Adam…
Others
Almost any time you get a group of people together for any length of time you’ll have problems. Take your family, for example. All of you may be trying your best to live right, but I know families well enough to know that you have a few problems. Dad gets grumpy. Mom loses her patience. Little Susie slaps her brother, and little brother doesn’t exactly turn the other cheek. A Christian family doesn’t always act Christian. What about your job?…