Chances are this past week you said something you shouldn’t have. I bet this last week that you felt guilty for something. What’s wrong with you? It’s the same thing that is wrong with me and was wrong with the Apostle Paul. It's the War Within
We wrestle today with a lot of the disagreements and questions that Jews and Gentiles had thousands of years ago, such as “How do we balance God’s grace and freedom in Christ with His commands?” or “What’s the difference between following God in a legalistic way versus following God by the Holy Spirit?” How do we respond today to these questions?
Martin Luther, as he spoke about temptation, said it well, “You cannot keep birds from flying over your head but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair”. The question is, “How do we keep them from building their nests?” Join us this Sunday as we continue our “Gospel Truth” series in Romans in, “How To Avoid Temptation.”
This Sunday we will look at the qualifications and assurances that God gives us to help and encourage us in our selection of Elders. Although the list of qualifications seems exhaustive, we will try to look at it in a way that doesn’t leave us exhausted.
As 2019 draws to a close and as we prepare to enter into a new decade, this is a perfect opportunity to pause and reflect: what would you like to see happen in 2020? Psalm 145 gives some amazing words as we prepare for a new year. Reminders to draw near to God in thought, in word, and in actions.
Ordinary people sometimes discover amazing things. A man bought an old $4 painting at a flea market in Adamstown, Pennsylvania thinking the frame could be fixed and reused. When he removed the canvas, he saw a folded paper stuffed in it. He opened the document and couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw a first edition printing of the Declaration of Independence, dated 1776. Would you tell anyone?
In 520 BC, Zechariah spoke a to a post-exilic nation that had returned to their homes but had not yet fully returned to God. We live in a post-Christian culture that needs a Zechariah to call us to fully return to the Lord today.
“Someone has recently pondered what the first Christmas might have been if wise women had come from the east instead of wise men. They would have asked for directions, made it to Bethlehem on time, helped with the delivery, cleaned up the stable, made a decent meal, and brought some practical gifts.” Where do you turn when the unexpected becomes your reality?
We celebrate Thanksgiving this week and yet, shouldn’t we be celebrating in thanksgiving to God every day? Don’t you have reasons for every day of life to thank God for who He is and what He has done?
While Thanksgiving appears to be a celebration of family, food, and football, the back story to Thanksgiving included difficulties, disease and death. Join us this Sunday as we take another look at Thanksgiving through the lens of Scripture.
In Leadership magazine there was a cartoon by Mary Chambers of two women in a Bible study together. One of the women says to the other, “Well, I haven’t actually died to sin, but I did feel kind of faint once.” How do we understand when Paul says in Romans 5:20, “but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”?
Have you sensed the darkness creeping in more and more? I am not talking about Daylight Savings time but the physical weariness and spiritual oppression that seems so tangible in our lives today? Join us this Sunday as we talk about both the helplessness we feel as well as the hope we can find in Christ as we look at Romans 5
If someone handed you $5.00 without any conditions, would you take it? Jia Jiang, an entrepreneur who was paralyzed by the fear of rejection, decided to face his fears by handing out $5.00 to total strangers. How does his experiment relate to our justification by faith?
Most of us have an occupation, but each of us also has a calling. Because of the daily tasks that demand our attention, it is easy to become preoccupied with our occupation and miss our calling. A journey with Peter through John 21 will help us discover what holds us back, and how to step out of our fears and into our calling.
Ken Sande, author of Peacemaker, recently said that Christians often think of the Gospel as two doors. The door of conversion by which we are saved, and the door of heaven, that assures us where we will go when we die. He went on to say, that many Christians live in between those two doors according to the law. The Apostle Paul uses the life of Abraham to show us what justification by faith looks like in our lives today.