December 13, 2020
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John 1:1-18
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christmas
Do you ever feel alone? Christmas is just around the corner, and for many people that means family, fun, and a few days spent in the company of the people we love. Except that, for some of us, Christmas time represents none of these things. For some, it will be a time of loneliness, trauma and great anguish. Many of us will spend this Christmas grieving for the people we’ve said goodbye to since last year. The parents we’ve lost. The friends. The children. Others may be reminded of insurmountable fractures in their familial relationships – the people we no longer speak to, the parties we can no longer in good conscience attend.
How can we experience the true light of Christmas this year? A light that overcomes our broken hearts and broken relationships? The apostle John tells us that Jesus came to light up our lives, so that we might know and be made right with God the Father. Jesus offers to be the Light of your life!
October 25, 2020
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John 17:13-26
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prayer
This week, we’re going to learn to pray, “Lord, send me,” agreeing with the Lord’s prayer in John 17.
“Lead us” and “deliver us.” This closing part of the Lord’s Model Prayer is aimed at us. It requests both direction and protection. It closes with the purpose for which we live: His kingdom and His glory according to His power, Amen. It is that part of the Lord’s Model Prayer that sends us out into the world! In John 17, Jesus prayed that His disciples would be sent into the world just as the Father had sent Him into the world. We can pray in agreement with Christ’s prayer that we are sent just as He was sent.
June 2, 2020
THE LOVE THAT WILL NOT BE DENIED The night Jesus was betrayed, Peter denied Him three times before the rooster crowed, just as Jesus had warned. Surely Peter, the “Rock,” was still struggling with his personal failure when the Lord appeared to His disciples for the third time after His resurrection. Indeed, Peter had become
May 31, 2020
THE THIRD WORD OF JESUS FROM THE CROSS WAS A WORD OF CARE Reading the four gospels together, there are seven last words of Jesus recorded. Anyone’s last words are considered important, so shouldn’t our Lord Jesus’ words be even more so? This is the third of Jesus’ last words. It is a word of
May 30, 2020
BEHOLD THE MAN! The Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, brought Jesus out to stand before the accusing crowd. He had been scourged, beaten, mocked, and spit upon. A crown of thorns was pressed down upon his bruised brow and a purple robe thrown across his torn and bleeding shoulders. He stood silently before his
May 28, 2020
THE LORD’S PRAYER FOR BELIEVERS TODAY Jesus prayed for those that would believe in him both present and future. That includes us! The prayer found in Matthew 6 that begins “Our Father” is referred to as “The Lord’s Prayer,” but really it is the Lord’s model prayer. For he gave the prayer as a teaching
May 27, 2020
WHAT DOES JESUS SAY TO KEEP US FROM STUMBLING IN OUR FAITH? The word translated “stumble,” has the meaning to “trip over and fall because of some impediment.” In this context, Jesus meant to prepare them, so that when trouble came, they would not be tempted to fall away from following Him. What things
May 24, 2020
ARE YOUR FAITH QUESTIONS FOR UNDERSTANDING OR DEBATE? Some would say that the member of the Twelve named Thomas was slow to believe. But would we have Christ’s response without his question? Jesus was not offended by the question, but was pleased to answer, knowing that Thomas was honest in his inquiry. For his question
May 20, 2020
JESUS IS THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE The One who had said, “Let there be light,” now entered into His fallen creation, speaking resurrection life to those dead in their sins. He called to “Lazarus” specifically because otherwise every dead body on planet earth would have burst forth from the grave at His command, “Come
May 15, 2020
WILL YOU DIE IN YOUR SINS OR BELIEVING IN CHRIST? Jesus warned that those who did not believe in Him as the Christ, would die in their sins. Sin is the state of all of Adam’s race. It begins as an attitude of the heart that wants its own way, and manifests as an act