STOP WORRYING ABOUT HOW TO WITNESS When Jesus sent His disciples out as witnesses, He gave them detailed instructions. He even prepared them for times when they would be persecuted or questioned concerning their faith. He instructed them not to “worry” about defending their faith because God’s Spirit would give them the words to say
CHRIST’S EARTHLY MINISTRY AND OURS The apostle Matthew described the earthly ministry of Jesus as having three important aspects. They were teaching, preaching and healing the sick. These three aspects of Christ’s earthly should also be ours as members of Christ’s body, which is the Church. Teaching. Jesus had a teaching ministry. This ministry was
GO AND LEARN The Pharisees asked why Jesus ate with sinners and He answered with a rabbinic response: “Go and learn.” For rabbis were known for sending their students back to the Scriptures to discover the answers to their own questions. Jesus quoted from the prophet Hosea where God had said, “For I desire mercy
BIBLE HISTORY AND MODERN TIMES Isaac and Ishmael buried their father, Abraham, in the same tomb he had bought to bury Sarah. These two sons became two great peoples. The Jewish nation came from Isaac and the Arab nations from Ishmael. They stood united at their father’s funeral, but enmity has existed between them until
WHERE DO YOU PLACE YOUR TRUST? The proverb gives both a positive and a negative command: “Trust God, not yourself.” How many times have you regretted following your own advice? Your understanding was flawed and you suffered the consequences for relying on it. Have you not understood that your own understanding is negatively affected by
HAVE YOU BUILT YOUR LIFE ON THE ROCK? What foundation is your life built upon? Your beliefs, your passions and loves, your pursuits… what is your guiding principle? On what basis have you built your house, your marriage, your parenting, your life? Jesus never promised that those who followed Him and built their life on
TURN YOUR INWARD WORRIES INTO UPWARD PRAYERS In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus discussed the sinful and wasteful human activity of worry. Clearly, worry is sinful because it is an expression of anxious doubting. And doubt is the opposite of faith. Three times in this sermon, Jesus said, “Do not worry.” Now, if He
DO YOU PRAY “MY WILL” OR “THY WILL” PRAYERS? That which is called the “Lord’s Prayer” might rightly be called the Lord’s teaching prayer or model prayer, for He gives it to us to teach us how to pray. Even the order of the prayer should be considered as we learn to pray. Notice He
HAS GOD REALLY TURNED AWAY FROM YOU? In weakness and affliction, David cried out to the Lord. He felt distant from the Lord, so he prayed that the Lord would “turn” towards him, as if the Lord had somehow moved away. He cried out for rescue, asking the Lord to save him because of His
ANSWERING GOD’S CALL The Lord called a 75 year old man named Abram to leave his father’s house and go to a land that God would show him. And he immediately obeyed God’s call. Let us consider the implications of this verse. For there are several. 1) God calls. He speaks to those