“Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying,“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice… I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought
Year: 2013
No not Nineveh!
“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.’ But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of theLord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it,
The upside-down, inside-out effect of the gospel
“Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17 ESV). “Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God’” (John 3:3 ESV). “And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up
Who needs the gospel?
“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2 ESV). “The gospel is not just the ABCs but the A to Z of the Christian life. It is inaccurate to think the gospel is what saves non-Christians, and then Christians
Two gospel thieves
“Just as Christ was crucified between two thieves,” so the gospel “is ever crucified between two opposite errors” (Tertullian, early church father). “If our gospel message even slightly resembles ‘you must believe and live right to be saved’ or ‘God loves and accepts everyone just as they are,’ we will find our communication is not
Evangelium: What the gospel is… and isn’t
“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2 ESV). We’re starting a new 4-week sermon series this Easter weekend talking about the gospel. As the apostle Paul saw the need to remind the church at Corinth of the
Two weeks in God’s story
“The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!’” (John 12:12-13 ESV). The Bible has been described as
The power of story
“And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death” (Revelation 12:11 ESV). “The universe is made of stories, not of atoms” (Muriel Rukeyser). “God made man because he loves stories” (Rabbi Nachman). “Tell us another story, Papaw.” I begged my
What kind of neighbor am I?
“But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’” (Luke 10:29 ESV). The expert in the law who sought to test Jesus found himself tested instead. By asking Jesus the question, “Who is my neighbor?” perhaps he thought to limit the extent of the law’s demand by limiting those who
What’s your witnessing love language?
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13 NIV84). “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. …I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might