God’s Love Is My Refuge God’s Love Is My Refuge is a simple thought reflection from Psalm 5:1-12 May 30, 2016 Year C Psalm 5:1-12 God’s love in my refuge. There are times when I may feel sad (Psalm 5:1), or pray to God in times of difficulty (Psalm 5:2-3). I can depend upon God. He is bigger and stronger than all kinds of evil that may come my way. God is stronger than: The wicked (Psalm 5:4) The boastful... Read more
Joshua 22:1-34 How to Peacefully Resolve Problems Joshua 22:1-34 How to Peacefully Resolve Problems – let’s begin with a story: That little weasel. Ben took one look through the glass wall and knew what was going on. His supervisor was in there telling the boss about “his” great ideas for increasing production – except the ideas had come from Ben, over lunch that very day. Well, if that’s the way Larry wanted to play, maybe a few scratches on his... Read more
Worship Leads to Missions Worship Leads to Missions is a simple thought Lectionary reflection from Psalm 96:1-13 about the relationship between worship and missions. May 26, 2016 Year C Psalm 96:1-13 “Missions in not the ultimate goal of the Church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship does not.” – John Piper Worship leads to missions. Worship and missions are related purposes for the Christian. There are five purposes which every Christian is to fulfill: fellowship, discipleship, ministry, missions and worship.... Read more
Worship Leads to Missions Worship Leads to Missions is a simple thought Lectionary reflection from Psalm 96:1-13 about the way that worship can lead a Christian to missions. May 26, 2016 Year C Psalm 96:1-13 “Missions in not the ultimate goal of the Church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship does not.” – John Piper Worship leads to missions. Worship and missions are related purposes for the Christian. There are five purposes which every Christian is to fulfill: fellowship, discipleship, ministry,... Read more
Revelation 11:1-14 Our Gospel Witness When we come to this section of Revelation, there are two methods of interpretation. The first interpretation is to take this passage as a description of literal witnesses and events during the Tribulation period. These two witnesses are real prophet-evangelists whose ministry opposes the Antichrist and inspires people to come to Jesus. The second interpretation method is to spiritualize these events. In this case, the two witnesses are representative of the church during the Tribulation... Read more
Living Your Christian Purpose Consistently May 24, 2016 Year C Ephesians 5:15-21 It is very hard to be consistent. We have a hard time doing something on a regular basis, unless there is a motive that keeps us going. Many times, the motive is money, or some other priority that focuses on ourselves. These motives are selfish. It takes maturity to understand that living out a consistent life (especially a consistent internal, personal, spiritual life) benefits yourself and others. The... Read more
#TeamGod May 23, 2016 Year C Psalm 124:1-8 There has been a tradition to pick sides and name that side with the following: #Team_________. For example, when Conan O’Brian was kicked out of his position as host of the Tonight Show by the producers who wanted Jay Leno, there were people on Twitter pickings sides: Are you on #TeamConan or #TeamJay? It’s become common to pick a team, put a hashtag and label it Team _____. Even in the most... Read more
Blessing God for the Property Blessings He Gives You May 23, 2016 Year C 1 Kings 8:14-21 It is hard to imagine sometimes that God has blessed you with property. We live in a country that takes pride in the freedom to have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – including the happiness of owning a building. We live with the expectation that it is good if we own things. We buy material items and we are expected to... Read more
Heavenly 3-Party Line May 22, 2016 Year C John 16:12-15 Do you remember the days of the “party line”? I don’t mean a line at the party. I mean the days when a phone could be used by more than one household. The party line was a shared line used by more than one household. When one person in a household were on the phone, another person on the “party line” could listen in and even talk. Here, Jesus talks... Read more
Godly Knowledge, Wisdom and Understanding May 20, 2016 Year C Proverbs 3:19-26 God used knowledge, wisdom and understanding to create the heavens and the earth (Proverbs 3:19, Genesis 1:1-2). God used His brain (if God were to have a brain) to create. His knowledge was used to make the rains occur (Proverbs 3:20). God used wisdom, knowledge, and understanding to create the universe and everything in it. In the same way, God expects us to use our knowledge, wisdom, and... Read more
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