Discerning God’s Will May 18, 2016 Year C Luke 1:26-38 There are three stages in which we all go through when we are trying to discern God’s will. In this exchange between Gabriel and Mary, Mary struggles her current situation. She is a virgin and yet she is pregnant. Why is this happening? What is going on? God sends an angel to show Mary that she is in the center of God’s will. At the same time, Mary goes through... Read more
5 Leadership Qualities of God 5 Leadership Qualities of God is a simple thought reflection from Psalm 48:1-14. May 17, 2016 Year C Psalm 48:1-14 Many church leaders look to a variety of books on leadership. They seek Christian and secular sources, experts, and gurus to find the keys to being a great leader. Yet the Bible has a catalogue of great leadership examples. Psalm 48 is a great example of the leadership skills of God. Christians talk about following... Read more
Revelation 10:1-11 God’s Intermission of the Tribulation Yesterday, my family and I went to Silver Dollar City. We arrived at 10am and did not leave until after 7:30pm that evening. We rode many rides, ate food along the and ended the day with a show at Echo Hollow Theatre. It started at 6:00pm with a pre-show. Then they had the main show which they called “Hits From the Hollow.” A male vocal group “The Harmonics” and the female vocal group... Read more
Hebrews 10:16-25 The Key to Freedom to Fulfill My Purpose A traveler was making his way with a guide through the jungles of Burma. They came to a shallow, wide river and waded through it to the other side. When the traveler came out of the river, numerous leeches were on his torso and legs. His first instinct was to grab them and pull them off. This guide stopped him, warning that doing so would leave tiny pieces of the... Read more
5 Gifts God Gave the Church May 11, 2016 Ephesians 4:1-16 In his book The Purpose Driven Church (which I reviewed), Rick Warren explains that there are five purposes for which the church was created. These purposes are: (1) fellowship, (2) worship, (3) discipleship, (4) ministry, and (5) missions. In Ephesians 4:1-16, Paul reveals that God has given five gifts to help the church succeed in fulfilling these five purposes. God has given a model by describing a five-fold leadership... Read more
Proverbs 31:1-31 Lessons to Learn From A GREAT Mother One day four preachers were talking about various translations of the Bible. One said, “I prefer the King James Version of the Bible” for its eloquent use of the English language.” Another preacher said no Bible could match the New American Standard for its faithfulness to the original Greek and Hebrew text. “The third said, “I prefer the New International Version for its contemporary language and easy readability.” There was a... Read more
2 Timothy 1:5 Influential Mothers Title: Influential Mothers Theme: Biblical Principles to Capturing the Spiritual Hearts of Children Introduction: Charles Swindoll had a friend who was raised by a Christian mother that knew the value of a godly upbringing. When he was still just a young baby she would sing him to sleep at night, not singing little ditties and lullabies, but singing the hymns and other songs that speak of the Christian faith. From the crib until he left... Read more
Revelation 9:13-21 God’s Judgment Against False Worship The clear pattern of this judgment is against the false worship of the unbelievers. Even though God sends out an army to stop people, they still engage in false worship. SEVEN EVENTS THAT OCCUR AT THE SIXTH TRUMPET 1. The Sixth Trumpet Angel announces judgment (Revelation 9:13-14) “The sixth angel blew his trumpet. From the four horns of the gold altar that is before God, I heard a voice say to the sixth... Read more
Joshua 1:1-9 Living by the Promises of God Let me ask you a question. What keeps you going? What is your motivation to keep doing what you are doing? For Joshua, his motivation was to know that God was going to keep His promises. You see, Joshua followed in Moses‘ footsteps. He followed Moses as God’s servant. Can you imagine how that felt? Moses was there when God delivered the plagues. Moses was there when God parted the Red Sea.... Read more
Leviticus 18:1-30 God’s Design for Gender and Sexual Behavior We have seen in the news lately the controversy that has developed since the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage. The recent outrage is over giving people a choice of which restroom to use. That’s called transgender bathrooms. Along with that controversy, the words gender fluid, gender change, and LGBT have entered our social vocabulary. Society will tell you that you can choose your gender, but that same-sexuality is a born... Read more
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