People put off all kinds of things, including important things. But faith in Jesus Christ it is too important to delay. And the more we put it off, the more desensitized we come to the risks and consequences of unbelief. Today is the day of salvation.
We all churn within over anxieties and pressure. But we can come to Jesus who promises to carry our burdens for us. The results are rest and peace in every circumstance and situation. Will you believe Jesus Christ as he gently commands us to come to Him?
We aren’t saved by praying a prayer or affirming a theological creed. We’re saved by Jesus. Jesus says don’t look at death. Look at me. I am life. I made you. I have the power over death. I am the resurrection. Look to me for life after death.
When we get to the crucifixion story, we see Jesus’ humanity like nowhere else. Look to Him, the founder and perfecter of your faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
In Christ, child of God you are forgiven and loved. God’s plan for his people is undefeatable and irreversible. He will give us the universe and all that is in it. Nothing will stop Him.
When we base our life story on our encounter with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, no one can refute it. You may not know where to show a person Jesus in the Bible. You may not have answers to their theological questions about God. You can have been a Christian 10 minutes and still be a powerful witness for Jesus Christ. By simply telling of your story of where you were before you met Jesus, how you met Him, and what your life has been like since.
Anything worth doing is worth doing right. Being the church is no exception. If we're going to be and look like the church of the book of Acts, we've got to be founded on the same truths of who Jesus is to us, how Jesus works among us, and what Jesus gives for us.
The Word calls Christians to be faithful parents and also commands Christians to honor their parents. When we live in these relationships as families, we model the gospel to the world and bring glory to a perfect Heavenly Father.
No one escapes misunderstanding. Including Jesus Christ. And as it is with our teacher and Lord. So, it is for us. In Acts 21:18-39 we can learn to respond to misunderstanding without resentment and endurance to stay at the mission God has called us to.
Determining God's will can be difficult. God reveals Himself through His word, His Spirit, and His people. However, through discernment, humility, and patience we can confidently commit our ways to the Lord and trust Him to work all things together for His glory and our good.
When we look to the past it’s to learn from it and be thankful for God’s grace. When we look to the future it’s be alert to it and ask for God’s grace. Both of those things happen in the present and are dependent on God’s grace. So, let’s fight good fights. Run the race God has us running. Keep the faith to the end.
It’s no accident that God’s people are constantly on the move in the Scriptures. Some of the greatest lessons we learn in life come from His calling us to new places and new things. Through the unfamiliar we are forced to trust God, see through different lenses, become open to the new. . God's calling us from where we are to where he wants us to be and it’s in the process of following that we are changed.
The promise from God’s Word to us right now today, no matter what we’re worried about or scared of, is this: A mindset that leans on God as an everlasting rock of support will be watched over by God and kept in an infinite, calm, posture of rest. Now that’s a promise!
The greatest evidence of God’s power is His ability to change sinful hearts and lives into conformity to the image of Jesus Christ. The transformation of individual lives. Resistance to that power comes from stubborn and unbelieving hearts. Receiving that power happens as submissive believing hearts trust Jesus Christ.
Everything Christians believe and do should be rooted in the Bible. We need to be careful that what we believe and do is thoroughly studied and understood before applying. We can do this while staying open to the Spirit's prerogative and power.
We feel that if we want to make a difference in the world we need to be impressive and attractive and powerful and competent. And the image a servant doesn’t convey any of those things. Today we learn several characteristics of God's view of greatness.
"Discipleship” is a church word that is heard a lot but that doesn’t mean we know what it means. Discipleship is an informal behind the scenes character training experience where one person works with one or a few in the living out of the Christian life and ministry. Who are you discipling? Who is discipling you?
That Jesus came to save is the essence of His life and his message. His first impression to the world! The word of salvation is God’s first word to us through the personal name of His Son.
God has been surprising people for 2000 years in the way He gave His Son to the world. And for 2000 years humanity has been responding. How do you respond to the person of Jesus Christ?
The mystery of Advent is revealed in the gospel, which is the message that we are in Christ, Christ is in us, and everything we need can be had in Christ.
Every Christmas we're reminded of the coming kingdom of God that ushers in perfect universal peace. Until then the only peace we will know can be in our heart through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the king.
We can sometimes believe that because we aren't gifted or impressive that we don't have what it takes to make difference for Christ in our world. But the truth is no one has what it takes. . Only God can does. He promises us, "my grace is sufficient."
Everyone is seeking for security, approval, acceptance, comfort, meaning, and purpose. Only God can give those things ultimately. He offers them to us in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ. Do you know Him personally? Are you personally making Him known?
We exist to pursue Christ with passion and present Christ with purpose. People who live passionately maximize their abilities and talent and impact. Christ loved God and fully lived so that we can love God and live fully ourselves. And He’s who this all about.
Whatever the barrier for us to talk of Christ to others and whatever the barrier for the person we're going to talk to trust Christ. God knows just the right way to bring things to a boil.
God is sovereign over giving or withholding opportunities in our lives. He takes full responsibility for the results. We respond in faith while we wait and obedience when we are called. Sometimes it's not until walking through the open doors that we come to understand the closed doors.
Disagreements are inevitable. Even among Christians. Spiritual maturity is being able to handle that with grace and humility. Even if a separation is necessary.
On the one hand, salvation by grace alone is not to be compromised. On the other hand, love should be demonstrated toward others when the issue isn’t central. When the emphasis is on works or self we either compromise or live selfishly. When we emphasize Christ's grace we live lovingly.
We are called to stand firm in our salvation being by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone and the freedom that it brings. Far too many Christians are too scared to live fully in the freedom that Jesus died for them to enjoy. Too easily convinced to go back into the slavery of sin or a system of human effort.
