8 Ways to Listen to God February 16, 2017 Year A Psalm 119:33-40 8 WAYS TO LISTEN TO GOD 1. Listen to His instruction with the goal of keeping them (Psalm 119:33) The psalmist reminds me that when God teaches me something, it is meant to be kept. I learn something in order to keep it. 2. Seek to understand in order to obey (Psalm 119:34) I learn something from God. But if I don’t understand, then I need to... Read more
5 Ways to Grow Using the Bible February 15, 2017 Year A Psalm 119:9-16 1. Keep God’s Word like you would keep your word to someone else (Psalm 119:9) You know how you keep a promise to someone else? We call that “keeping your word.” It means that what comes out of your mouth is really from your heart. You seek, to be honest, true, and pure. You seek to do what you say. A modern word for this is... Read more
Ecclesiastes 2:1-26 How Can I Be Happy? “There is but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.” Napoleon is supposed to have made that statement after his humiliating retreat from Moscow in the winter of 1812. The combination of stubborn Russian resistance and a severe Russian winter was too much for the French army, and its expected sublime victory was turned into shameful defeat. As part of his quest for “the good life,” King Solomon examined everything from the... Read more
Ephesians 2:1-10 Love and Forgiveness During a children’s sermon one Sunday morning, the pastor Glenn Schaeffer held up a summer shirt that he wore around the house. Schaeffer told the children that someone said the shirt was ugly and should be thrown away. “I’m having trouble forgiving the person who said those mean things,” He said. “Do you think I should forgive that person?” His daughter, Alicia, six, raised her hand. “You should.” “But why? This person hurt my feelings,”... Read more
Ecclesiastes 1:1-18 Is Life Pointless? Is life pointless? That is the question that the author of Ecclesiastes asks. It is the question we will explore over the next few months as we dive into this great book. I’m not sure many of you have read Ecclesiastes. But I think you will be surprised how much it connects to us today. David Jeremiah states the following about this book: You’re likely to be startled, though, by this book’s starkly modern insights... Read more
5 Positive Results for Obeying God’s Word February 9, 2016 Year A Psalm 119:1-8 Just like the psalmist, I am reminded that reading and obeying God’s word is a good thing. The Bible is unique because reading and obeying it can change a person. The reason is because the Bible is supernatural. The Bible opens up the Holy Spirit to help change me. There are positive results when I allow God to use His Word to instruct and change who... Read more
Trump May Want America To Be First, But Jesus Wants Me To Be Second President Donald Trump laid out his vision for the United States during his inaugural address. He used the phrase “America First” to let people know that he wanted America to be his first priority. However, many other people didn’t take this idea so well. People criticized Trump’s speech. One such effort came from the Netherlands. A talk-show host in Holland made a video that satirized his... Read more
5 Effective Work Habits February 8, 2017 Year A Proverbs 6:6-11 These series of proverbs show us efficient work tips observed from hard workers. 5 Effective Work Habits 1. Learn from others (Proverbs 6:6) The writer of this proverb tells the lazy person to go to the ant and observe its ways. He says that watching the ant will make the lazy man wise. Why? Because we can learn from other people. What does the ant teach us about work?... Read more
Psalm 40:1-17 Trusting God Through My Troubles Trusting God is a hard thing for many people. We live in a society that says that we need to see results and we need to see them now. We go to a fast-food restaurant and we expect the food to come out quickly and efficiently. We go to the store and we expect the place to have the products we need. Because if we don’t, we can always go online. But somewhere... Read more
From Genocide to Generosity by John Steward Introduction From Genocide to Generosity by John Steward states its purpose through the subtitle: Hatred’s Heal on Rwanda’s Hills. The path to healing from hatred is from genocide to generosity. This was the lesson that John Steward learned through personal experience. Review In Part 1: Coping with Chaos (11-34), Steward described what he came to understand about Rwanda by listening to and learning from the Rwandan people. Steward learned that the people go... Read more
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