Last week we received a special offering at our church for Missions projects we feel God has called us to participate in this year. We called it a “Hands and Feet” offering because we believe we are commissioned to be His hands and feet around the globe and across the street. As the elder team…
Trinity Talk (Page 22)
At least by modern standards, the Son of God was a failure when it came to evangelism. Nowhere is that more evident than in the account of Jesus’ brief encounter with the so called ‘rich young ruler’. All the Synoptic writers include this encounter between the majestic Son of God and this moral young man…
Jesus’ ministry took place during a time of great socio-political turmoil. Rome occupied Palestine and the local rulers were proud, self-aggrandizing, rash and conflicted people. Other local rulers were completely misled, thinking they could force changes on a nation from the outside, without altering the hearts of the people. Some things never change. Chapters six…
Our focus in today’s reading of Mark 3 is on verses 1-6 – the healing of “a man with a withered hand”. This is the last in a series of five stories that extends from Mark 2.1-3-6, all designed to demonstrate Jesus’ authority: He teaches with authority (1.22, 27), commands obedience from demonic powers (1.28),…
The Gospel of Jesus Christ changes everything! The book of Philemon tells a powerful story of how the gospel restores those relationships torn apart by sin. Philemon is a short but beautiful letter from the Apostle Paul (who was in prison for the gospel) to Philemon, a Gentile believer in Colosse (Col. 4:19), in whose…
As we have just completed the letters that Paul wrote to Timothy, we now come to one written to his lesser-known companion, Titus. Collectively, these letters are known as the Pastoral Epistles because they give instruction to church leaders on how to lead properly. Paul has been traveling throughout the Gentile world establishing churches and…
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of … (2 Tim. 3.14). Chapter 3 is part of a larger section (2.14-3.9) that deals with the false teaching faced by Timothy and the church he pastored. Paul instructed Timothy (and us) to “mark” (3.1) the terrible times in which…
I was flipping through the channels with my 2 youngest boys the other day when I came across one of the Christian channels. There was a poorly drawn cartoon rat on the screen eating cheese boldly in front of a family who was looking on in terror. It caught my attention so I stopped to…
“train yourself for godliness” I Tim. 4:7 Most people, when they think of living the Christian life, would not compare it to a rigorous program like that which athletes follow in order to achieve mastery in athletic prowess. Yet that is exactly what Paul does when writing to his young son in the faith, Timothy.…
As we make the switch from Revelation to First Timothy, we really have to switch our brains and our way of understanding these books. Revelation was written in an apocalyptic style with its strange references, visions and symbolism. The epistles are simply letters, written from real people to other real people – friends to friends, you could…