Examine Your Answer Carefully Jesus asks his disciples, who do people say that I am? The disciples reel off some common answers. He could be John the Baptist, others say he’s Elijah, and some think of Jeremiah. Or he could be anyone of the other prophets. Then the teacher brings the question into focus. “What […]
To Discover WWJD We Need Only Look at What the Bible Says Jesus goes to the synagogue in his hometown to worship God with his family and friends. It’s his turn to read scripture and the day’s scheduled passage is from Isaiah. It’s a prophecy—about Jesus. After he reads it, he simply confirms that he […]
Look to the Wellbeing of Others and Not Focus on Ourselves In Isaiah 39 we read a prophecy given to King Hezekiah by Isaiah. This occurs after Hezekiah does something foolish. He graciously receives envoys from the powerful behemoth, Babylon. Not only does he show off his nation’s wealth, he also provides his enemies one […]
We Must Pick Up Our Cross and Follow Jesus Many people profess Jesus but follow the world instead of following him. We shouldn’t live close to the world. We should keep a safe distance. Though we don’t need to change our behavior to earn God’s favor, we should want to change in response for what […]
Feed My Sheep Today’s passage: John 21:15–19 Focus verse: Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” (John 21:17) Right before Jesus was crucified, he predicted that Peter would deny him three times. The confident disciple was adamant it wouldn’t happen, that he was willing to go to prison […]
Daniel Foretells the Future Daniel 7:13–14 “His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:14) The prophet Daniel lived some five centuries before Mary. You may know the story of Daniel in the lions’ den, where God protected him overnight after […]
Three Easy Ideas If the Word Evangelism Scares You In the post Are You Reluctant to Invite Friends to Church? we looked at the New Testament church and saw that people first invited others to follow Jesus. Then they went to church. Therefore, we shouldn’t invite people to go to church with us until after […]
The Service Members Want Isn’t What the Unchurched Needs Over the years I’ve wanted to invite friends to church. Too often I don’t. This isn’t due to a lack of courage on my part but a fear that the church service would drive them from Jesus instead of drawing them closer. For those times I […]
Carefully Consider Your Faith Foundation and the Basis for What You Believe Some Christians base their faith on what the Bible says. Others, however, reject this view as outdated and judgmental. Instead, they allow society to guide their practices, which veers further and further from a firm faith foundation. They have become secular Christians. Here […]
We Should Do What Jesus Commands and Push Secondary Pursuits Aside Jesus wants us to be his disciples. Each of the biographies of Jesus mention this. To be his disciple means to set all else aside and follow him (Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23, and Luke 14:26–33). As his disciples he expects us to […]