The cartoon series, “The Family Circus,” was created by self-taught artist and cartoonist, Bil Keane in 1959. Cartooning from his home office with family all around, Keane was inspired and soon began drawing “The Family Circus,” using his five children as subject matter. Keane said, “If there is a philosophy behind the feature, it is that a home filled with love and laughter is the happiest place in the world.”
August 18, 2024 |
Psalm 71:14-18 |
grandparent
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Grandparenting and parenting are two different roles that require different approaches. It can be confusing because grandparents are
still their grown children’s parents, but they are not their grandchildren’s parents. Moving from a direct role to a support role, from the decision maker to the influencer, from being in charge, to being an encouragement, is a challenging shift.
Does the Bible have anything to say about grandparents? In Psalm 71, David expressed his desire that in his old age God would help him pass on a godly legacy to his grandchildren. We can depend on the Lord to help us to pass on a godly legacy to our grandchildren. How can we depend on the Lord to help us pass on a godly legacy to our grandchildren.
August 11, 2024 |
1 Corinthians 7 |
singleness
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Sometimes attempts at matchmaking makes singles uncomfortable. Our couples groups and family gatherings make them feel left out. Our questions that imply they are less than whole as a single, make them feel inadequate or like an odd man out. But the truth is there is nothing “odd” about being single. Elijah, John the Baptist, Paul, and Jesus lived as singles. We all begin life single and many of us will experience singleness again later in life, and ultimately we will face God as singles.
What can help singles with the challenges they face? I believe that God’s Word offers the help that we need for living a fulfilled life and a life lived under God’s blessing. The truth is in Christ, we are never alone! In his 1st letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul instructed singles to look for true fulfillment in Christ Jesus alone. Whether married or single, we can recognize that we are to find our true fulfillment in Christ alone.
August 4, 2024 |
Ephesians 6:1-4 |
parenting
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The truth is, parents today are worried. They’re worried about their child’s health: obesity, drug abuse, bullying, internet safety, teen pregnancy, gender dysphoria, depression, teen suicide… They’re worried about their education: public, private or home school? College? So, a lot of parenting today is worry-driven, or fear driven. Parents today feel overwhelmed and underprepared. Either because they came from a dysfunctional family themselves or because they have no foundational biblical understanding, they feel lost in their role. So, many are just winging it.
In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he told them how to parent their children in the Lord. We can follow God’s Word for parenting our children in the Lord.
July 28, 2024 |
Ephesians 5:22-33 |
marriage
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Every marriage is like a high flying dangerous acrobatic endeavor that requires two people to focus on hanging on tight to one another. How is your marriage doing? Are you hanging on tight to one another? Think about your marriage for a minute. Are you experiencing the blessing of God on your marriage today? Wouldn’t you like to?
As we learned last week, experiencing the blessing of God on our family means bowing to His authority and plan and depending on His power and love. Have you decided to follow God’s plan, His design for the family? In the apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he gave instructions on how to follow God’s design for being the family of God. Among these, are his instructions on how to follow God’s design for marriage.
July 21, 2024 |
Ephesians 3:14-21 |
family
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What’s the answer to the question, “Who dealt this mess?” We did. That’s the answer. That’s why we worry so much about it. Because we know that much of the mess, if we’re truly honest, is our own fault. Yet no matter how hard we try to have the perfect family, we’re still ending up with crazy chaotic and well, messy. And this often leaves us feeling exhausted and feeling like failures.
But what if we’re aiming at the wrong thing? What if we stop aiming at having the perfect family and instead aim at having a family that lives and even thrives under God’s blessing? What if we prayed, “God bless our mess.” In the book of Ephesians, the apostle Paul prayed that believers would experience God’s blessing on the family.
July 14, 2024 |
Psalm 99 |
Full Transcript Available
Why is it important for us to consider God’s holiness? Indeed, the word “holy” might be taken negatively by some. If someone calls you a “Holy Joe,” or refers to you as “holier than thou,” you might take it to mean that they think you are judgmental, that you think you’re better than them or that you’re really a hypocrite. So, we have a little trouble with the word “holy.” Yet, God says to His people, “Be holy, for I am holy”
But before we try to understand what it might mean for us to be holy, we first need to get a grasp on what it means that “God Is… Holy.” In Psalm 99, the Psalmist called worshipers to praise God for His holiness. We can praise God for His holiness.
July 7, 2024 |
Psalm 107:1-3 |
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“Is God really good?” You ask. Sometimes you may have doubted God’s goodness. For if any of us has had a trauma, a bad diagnosis, lost a job, or suffered a failed relationship… then we’ve asked the age-old question: “If God is good, then why are these bad things happening to me?” Most of us affirm God’s goodness until something bad happens to us.
Perhaps it is our understanding of God and our understanding of what is truly good that is lacking. For who are we to approve of what is good or not? In Psalm 107, the Psalmist encouraged his hearers to give thanks to the LORD for His goodness. We can give thanks to the LORD for His great goodness towards us.
June 30, 2024 |
Lamentations 3:22-24 |
Full Transcript Available
In a world full of broken relationships and broken promises, don’t you wish you knew someone who was faithful? Someone dependable and reliable? Someone constant and trustworthy?
And that’s what our God is. He is faithful! In Lamentations 3, the prophet Jeremiah declared his hope in God’s faithfulness in the midst of his suffering and sorrow. We can put our hope in God’s faithfulness.
June 23, 2024 |
Hebrews 6:13-20 |
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In a world where everything is in flux and constantly changing, don’t you wish you had something or someone that you could depend on? Someone who didn’t change?
God is unchanging. That’s what we want to “know” more about God today. In Hebrews chapter 6, believers were reminded that they could hold fast to an unchanging God in an ever-changing world.
May 19, 2024 |
John 6:25-40 |
eternity, heaven
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What must we do to prepare for what comes after death? How can we prepare for the ultimate journey? It’s a journey that most of us don’t want to think about, but it’s a journey that everyone must take.
Trips take a lot of preparation, some more than others. But how much more must we prepare for the trip that everyone will face one day… the trip to our eternal home! In the gospel of John chapter 6, Jesus told His hearers what they must do to be prepared for eternity.
