January 16, 2015 |
What do we do when a relationship is fractured by an offense? How do we find forgiveness and reconciliation? And what do we do when we are faced with the problem of the unrepentant offender that will not or has not reconciled to us. We might even question God, saying, “Do I have to forgive them?
October 3, 2014 |
“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Acts 2:42 (ESV) What makes a true community? People use the word community to describe all sorts of social groups. But what constitutes a “true” (real, authentic, fully realized) community? If we are born into the same race or family, does
July 26, 2012 |
“So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet! Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it” (Philippians 3:15-16 The Message). “‘Come,
August 16, 2009 | Romans 12:4-5 |
Many of you have made a commitment to Christ. You’ve surrendered your life to Him as Savior and Lord. But you’ve lost focus. You started out focused on Christ, but He is no longer the organizing principle of your life. He isn’t the focus.
Perhaps we’ve made following Christ too complicated. We’ve forgotten that following Christ means we have to hang out with the other disciples.
Can you hear Peter saying? “Sure Jesus, I’ll follow you, but do I have to hang out with Judas over there?”
No, following Christ, we become one of His disciples together. Connecting together as we follow Christ has a sharpening effect. It sharpens our focus on Christ.
As Proverbs 27:17 (NIV) says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
In the book of Romans the apostle Paul told the Roman Christians that even though they had followed Christ by an individual decision they must recognize that in following Him they had become one body, connected to other believers. When we follow Christ we make must make an individual decision to follow, but that leads to a corporate identity. We become the body of Christ connected to every other believer.
March 8, 2009 | Acts 2:42-47 |
September 18, 2008 |
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Acts 2:42 (NIV) What makes a true community? People use the word community to describe all sorts of social groups. But what constitutes a “true” (real, authentic, fully realized) community? If we are born into the
June 6, 2008 |
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Acts 2:42 (NIV) We had our 16th annual “Hot – Diggity – Dog Schools Out” event last night. I still remember our first one in 1992. We thought we needed to get together to celebrate the start