December 2, 2022
HOW TO PREPARE FOR CHRIST’S RETURN Determine to finish well. How? “Remain in fellowship with Christ.” Stay close. If you wander, come back. If you stray, return. If you sin, repent. Keep short accounts. “Remain.” Which is to abide, to stay, to live and walk in constant “fellowship” with Jesus. This is not working or
December 1, 2022
CHRIST IS BOTH THE MEDIATOR AND MEANS OF SALVATION The Greek word translated here in the NLT as “the sacrifice that atones” is the word “hilasmos.” This word is often translated as “atonement” or “propitiation.” It points back to Israel’s sacrificial system, whereby a lamb without spot or blemish was offered as an atonement for
November 30, 2022
BELIEVING THE EYEWITNESS TESTIMONY CONCERNING JESUS The apostle John opened his first letter as he did his gospel, and as Moses did the Torah, with the phrase: “the beginning.” Also, similar to his gospel, John referred to Christ as the “Word” (Greek: “λόγος, logos”). In John’s gospel, he spoke of the Word’s divine preexistence and
August 28, 2022 | 1 John 1:3-2:2
What’s your response when you sin? Do you make excuses and say, “Everybody’s doing it”? Or do you struggle with guilt and shame, feeling distant from God? And what do you do about repetitive sin areas? You know those sins that you’ve confessed to God, but you still struggle to overcome? So now you’re either discouraged or you’ve given up and started doubting your faith? And what about when you sin against a family member or friend? In other words, you’ve offended them in some way. How do you handle that? Do know how to reconcile with them, giving and receiving forgiveness so that fellowship is restored. So that you feel accepted again?
This is what we’re considering today from the apostle John. How to experience God’s acceptance. In the apostle John’s first epistle, he taught believers how to experience God’s forgiveness and acceptance. We can learn to experience God’s forgiveness and acceptance.
May 8, 2022 | 1 John 5:11-15 |
The lyrics to the hymn, Blessed Assurance, were written by Francis Jane Crosby, or as she was commonly known, Fanny Crosby. The tune was written by her friend, Phoebe Knapp. Fanny Crosby was an American mission worker, poet, lyricist, and composer. She was a prolific hymnist, writing more than 8,000 hymns. She is also known for her teaching and her rescue mission work in NYC. By the end of the 19th century, she was a household name. Crosby was known as the “Queen of Gospel Song Writers.”
Do you know the blessed assurance of belonging to Jesus? Are you sure of your status with God? Do you have confidence that you’ll spend eternity in heaven? To be “assured” of something means “to be certain, to be confident of a thing.” It means to feel “secure” that what God has promised in Jesus is truly yours. Do know this blessed assurance today?
January 9, 2022 | 1 John 5:11-15 |
2000 years ago, the Lord Jesus told His disciples to “GO and MAKE DISCIPLES” and He has called His disciples, His church, to be on the move ever since. So the church is not a place, it’s a people. The church is not a monument, it’s a movement!
If someone asks, where’s your church? Let’s learn to answer with another question, “When? Because it depends on the time and day of the week.” For the church gathers for strengthening and scatters for service. It gathers for worship and scatters for witness. It gathers in praise and scatters in power. The church gathers in fellowship and scatters in faith as the body of Christ in this world. The church is on the move. So, do you want to belong to this Jesus following, disciple-making movement?
December 5, 2021
THE CONFIDENCE WE HAVE IN CHRIST Because we are in Christ we now have confidence that the Father will hear and answer our prayers. For this reason Hebrews teaches us to “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). And
December 3, 2021
TRUE LOVE ACTS When we receive Christ, we receive the love of Christ. This is the love that moved Christ to die in our place, so that we might have eternal life. True love takes action. The evidence that we have received Christ is that the love that goes beyond mere words and takes action
December 2, 2021
ARE YOU GROWING MORE LIKE JESUS? Do you ever ask questions of God like, “Why is this happening to me?” The apostle John answers saying not everything has been “revealed” yet, but one thing we can be sure of is that “we are children of God” and we shall “be like” Jesus. That’s God’s goal
December 5, 2020
THE CURRENCY OF THE KINGDOM IS ASKING “In Him,” namely, “in Christ,” we have confidence before the Father. For this reason Hebrews teaches us to “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). And the apostle Paul writes that in