Deuteronomy 17 God anticipated that Israel would ask for a king, and He did not forbid it. Instead, He gave specific instructions for those He would appoint. The most important requirement was that the king write a personal copy of the Law
and use it as a guide for his life and rule. God ...
Matthew 3:1-6, 13-17; John 3:22-30; 4:1-3 John the Baptist was called by God to initiate a renewal movement within Israel, featuring repentance through baptism in water. Even though he had no sin, Jesus came to John to “fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus also baptized many, acting through ...
“In Christ” reveals the covenant relationship we have with him. The spirit doesn’t change who we are but empowers us to live in the covenant relationship with Christ, freely submitting to his lordship. God’s everlasting love is declared in
Romans 8.
1 Corinthians 11:23-27 we are in a ...
Reading through Luke 2:1-38, we see both God’s provision as well as his restraint in the events surrounding the birth of the Messiah. Instead of cluing in the elite and powerful, he worked through shepherds and the elderly to confirm Jesus’s destiny to Joseph and Mary. God delights to work ...
Isaiah 9:1-2 The land of Zebulun and Naphtali had suffered greatly when the Assyrian king, Tiglath-Pileser, invaded. Though Isaiah lived through the growth of the Assyrian threat from paying taxes (2 Kgs 15:19-20) to outright invasion (2 Kgs 15:29), he prophesied about a light that would ...
God has graciously provided us with a diverse community of faith. Rather than judging or worrying about our differences, let’s strive to love one another. When issues come up, we can work them out rather than dividing.
Romans 12:3-8 God just loves diversity. We see this so clearly by ...
Your identity in Christ is received, not achieved. You belong because of God’s grace, you are adopted into His family, and your identity is grounded in what Christ has already done.
Romans 6 teaches that your old self died with Christ: “Your old self was crucified with Him.” Your former ...
When we first believe and repent, we receive God’s spirit, which adopts us into his family. Like Octavius whom Julius Caesar posthumously adopted, we must accept our adoption and live it out. When we do, we will suffer. Thankfully, our inheritance as God’s children far outweighs any ...
Our good works, noble sacrifices or good behavior is not enough to receive God’s blessings and inclusion into His family. Faith, in the gift of grace, is why we belong in the family and received salvation.
Romans 1:7; 16:20 “Grace and peace” occurs 17 times in salutations and ...
Science Assumes Intelligent Design cannot be challenged. Christianity has assumed that Jesus is God and the debate is over.
The Gospel the Apostles Preached
After forty days of instruction, the apostles proclaimed:
God sent, raised, and exalted ...
Bible version: NRSVUE (New Revised Standard Version Updated)
The common view is that God is three persons in one being or substance. Each of the persons is fully God, but the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Spirit, and the Spirit is not the Father.
Problem 1: Believing that ...
Bible version: NASB-95 (New American Standard Bible-95)
The devil disguises evil in sweetness and fun during Halloween, using candy and costumes to draw children toward practices that Yahweh calls detestable. There is nothing sweet or fun about the darkness of the occult or the ...
Bible version: REV (Revised English Version)
True faith is a matter of the heart and is "trust" and "allegiance" to Jesus, which fundamentally changes how a person lives. This is contrary to the popular idea that "faith alone is all you need." While salvation is granted solely by grace ...
Bible version: NRSVUE (New Revised Standard Version Updated)
The common view is that the saved go to heaven at death to be with Jesus and their loved ones. Although it’s not clear what we’ll do there, we know that we will enjoy eternal bliss.
Problem 1: Going to heaven contradicts ...
Bible version: NRSVUE (New Revised Standard Version Updated)
The common view of hell is that it is a place of separation from God where the unrighteous suffer eternal conscious torment (ECT) in a fire with no relief and no hope of escape.
Problem 1: ECT contradicts scriptures that ...
Bible version: NASB-95 (New American Standard Bible-95)
We can evaluate God and His actions rightly based upon the parameters He has given in the Scriptures about Himself. When someone says "God did this" or "God did that" we must see if it fits with what we know about God.
Romans ...
Bible version: NET (New English Translation)
Like the ancient texts in The Mummy, God’s “backwards” truths become the key to real victory and transformation.
1. The Bible is not Boring — It’s a Living Adventure
The Bible is alive and powerful: “For the word of God is living and ...
Psalm 34:8 O taste and see that the LORD is good;
Happy are those who take refuge in him.
The lost are those who have yet to take refuge in God. They haven’t tasted and seen that Yahweh is good. These are the people we are called to reach.
Luke 19:1-2 Zaccheus was a bad man, engaged ...
Phase 1: The Garden of Eden ( Gen 1:26; 2:17 ) God’s policies were minimal and simple: ( 1 ) have children, ( 2 ) rule the world, and ( 3 ) don’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Phase 2: The Old World ( Gen 4:26; 5:22 ) People invoked the name of God. Enoch walked ...
Fail forward and don’t expect things to work out the first or 20th time. Find your superpower and put it to work in the church.
We need your light and the gifts that God placed in you!
1 Corinthians 12:12-27
A Family Forged in Crisis
Romans 12:4-5
You have to be ready for ...
The works that the man Jesus did, we can do also—because like him, we have been given the spirit and the Word to empower us. Anything God asks of us, He makes possible. His power works in us to carry it out.
John 14:12. Truly, truly - “Pay close attention—what I’m about to say is ...
Love Isn’t Always Easy. Love Costs Something. Love Sees Beyond the External.
Love Isn’t Always Easy
Loving someone can be risky and difficult. It takes vulnerability and can be hard.
1 Cor 13:4-7. Loving someone is easy when people are nice but can be quite a challenge when there ...
The Karate Kid movies and shows have resonated with people for more than four decades. One aspect that draws us to
watching them is the desire we all have for a mentor or a student. Jesus was the ultimate Myagi, teaching and training his disciples throughout his ministry. Before ...
His name is far more than a label—it represents the power, presence, and authority of Jesus Himself. When Peter explained the healing of the lame man, he was essentially saying, 'It was the very person and power of Jesus, alive and active, that made this man whole.'
John 16:23-27. We ...
What is the "good news of the kingdom of God" that Jesus preached? Put simply, it's everything wrong with the world made right. The perfect world God originally intended has been damaged by humanity's sinful actions, but God hasn't given up on the earth. His plan of redemption has already ...
The conclusion of the Ephesians' series focuses on spiritual warfare and how to combat the evil we are faced with. As we put on the whole armor of God, we can stand against the wiles of the devil.
2 Corinthians 4:4 Spiritual warfare
Matthew 13:19 – The wicked one; Mark 4:15 - ...
How should you carry yourself at home and at work? In Ephesians 6:1-9, we learn that parents should actively teach their children obedience and honor, guiding them with love and fairness rather than harshness, to foster healthy development. We also learn that we should work heartily unto ...
Ephesians 5:22-24 Not everyone should get married. If you prize your freedom and want independence, stay single for Christ (1 Cor 7:32-35). However, if a woman wants to have a biblical marriage, she should recognize her husband’s headship (Col 3:18-19; Titus 2:3-5; 1 Pet 3:1-2). She should ...
Ephesians 5:3-21
Paul warns Christians of behaviors.
Not a hint of sexual immorality
Matthew 5:32
1 Corinthians 5:1
Evil behaviors have bad consequences.
God’s way is better.
Living together/playing house
Marriage is God’s perfect answer to sexual sin. The good news ...
Put Off the Old Self (Eph 4:17-19)
Paul warns believers not to live like the Gentiles, whose thinking is futile and whose hearts are hardened. Their lifestyle is marked by having a darkened understanding, ignorance, insensitivity, and moral corruption that is driven by selfish ...
Ephesians 4:1-3 Here we find five important behaviors that all Christians should cultivate in their lives: humility, gentleness, patience, tolerance, and seeking unity. Each of these takes intentionality and sustained effort. Unity, in particular, requires serious effort. In fact, Jesus ...
The Apostle Paul prays for Christians to be strengthened that Christ may dwell in their hearts with the result that they may be rooted and grounded in love. He prays that they would be able to comprehend Christ’s love so that they may be filled with all God’s fullness. Thus, as we continue ...
The great mystery was hidden throughout the ages until revealed to the Apostle Paul. If it was known, the evil rulers
would not have crucified Jesus, and God’s plan for humanity’s redemption would have been thwarted. The inclusion of the Gentiles and the full significance of what Christ ...
Ephesians 2:11-12. Before Christ, the nations were hopeless because they had no Messiah and no real, solid hope for the future. Because of this, sin reigned and darkness increased in these nations. We too were lost. Those who had no Jewish
lineage were cut off from God’s ...
Ephesians 2:1-10 is a master text for understanding our need for salvation, God’s gracious offer of salvation, and how to live out our salvation in deed and truth. Living out of a grace narrative rather than a moral performance narrative makes it possible to avoid religious ...
God desires that we know Him in a way that enlightens the eyes of our hearts, transforming how we see Him, ourselves, others, history, and our eternal hope. The prayer in Ephesians 1 centers on God's calling, His glorious inheritance, and the immeasurable greatness of His power toward those ...
Beginning our series on Ephesians, we’ll cover the first half of the first chapter (Eph 1:1-14). What emerges are three main
points: (1) you are blessed in Christ, (2) you are redeemed for new creation, and (3) you are sealed for an inheritance. Thus, God has equipped you with every ...
This was the greatest promotion a man ever received.
It was the testimony heard round the world.
There was a long History of events that led up to this victory.
Yeshua wasn’t born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
Movies teach us and help us connect to culture.
Jesus isn’t a normal ...
Although often overlooked, Mary Magdalene was a faithful and true disciple of Jesus Christ. She and the other women supported Jesus’ ministry financially. She was at the crucifixion and burial. After God raised him from the dead, Jesus appeared to her first, making her the chief ...
Through the triumphal entry and the cleansing of the temple, Jesus publicly announced his claim to be the Messiah. The leaders of Jerusalem responded with a campaign to discredit him publicly that failed miserably. Knowing what would come, Jesus stayed the course until that fateful moment ...
John 11:3 Phileo is a word that expresses deep friendship, affection, and warmth, love between close companions.
5, 11 They were more than disciples; they were friends.
8 Stone you - 10:31-32 Jesus, undaunted, knew that God would guide and protect him.
9 Look fellows, I am doing ...
Jesus said he wanted us to make disciples. Inviting friends and acquaintances to come to church is a great way to get in the game. After all, Christianity is really helpful with major problems people are struggling with today.
Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus commissioned the church to make ...
Isaiah 35:5-6 and 42:6-7; Luke 4:16-20 Jesus understood from the Scriptures that he was to heal the blind. However, there was no specific instruction given on how to do it. So how did he know what to do?
Matthew 12:22-23 With the possessed blind and mute man, he cast out the ...
John 8:32
The truth is liberating, setting a person free from the bondage of lies and deception. The truth is powerful and vitally important in life. We can’t live without it, but we also must handle it with wisdom and discernment. Even the truth can be wielded in a way that is ...
Self-control is the ability to tell yourself “no” when you’re tempted to do something wrong and “yes” when you don’t feel like doing something right. Jesus provides us with sterling examples of what godly self-control looks like in the real world. Rather than fleeing pain and pursuing ...
Some translations render the eighth fruit of the spirit as “gentleness”, while others as “meekness”. With Jesus, we see both manifested, with meekness as the most outstanding. Meekness is receptivity to God and the things of God. His words in the garden, “Not my will, but Yours be done”, ...
How do humans define kindness?
How does humanism define kindness?
What is kindness in Hinduism?
What is kindness in Islam?
How does the Bible define kindness?
Kindness in the scriptures is acting in benevolence with no obligation to do so.
Kindness of God in the OT
Genesis ...
In the Bible, “good/goodness” is more than just describing someone or something as being helpful, nice, or pleasant. Rather, being “good” (i.e., having “goodness”) deals with having moral excellence, righteousness, and integrity.
“Goodness” is a quality that we are to seek to exhibit in ...
Even from childhood, Jesus was about his Father's business (Luke 2:41-52). He always did the Father's will (John 5:30; 6:38; 8:28-29; 14:31). Humility is the key to his faithfulness. The Christian life isn’t about you. It’s about God and the work God is doing. When we humbly join God in ...
Jesus embodied patience through his gentle teaching, forgiveness, and endurance of human weakness. He corrected his disciples with kindness, bore their misunderstandings without frustration, and showed mercy even when betrayed or denied. His patience was demonstrated as he willingly ...
The fruit of the spirit, peace, as seen in the ministry of Jesus is viewed with practical suggestions on how to maintain peace throughout life’s complexities. The Prince of Peace gives us peace via the holy spirit.
Isaiah 9:6 Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Despite facing continuous immense ...
Jesus' joy was found in being an obedient servant to Almighty God. He expressed joy in sharing, serving, and suffering. Perhaps Jesus' most significant example of living with joy is how he focused on God's promises during his darkest hours and used God's truth and faithfulness as a way to ...
