Today’s passage: John 13:18–38 Focus verse: “A new command I give you: Love one another.” (John 13:34) Though love is a common theme throughout Scripture, Jesus places an even greater emphasis on it. So does John. John often writes about love. Except for Psalms, John’s biography of Jesus mentions love more than any other book […]
Knowing Jesus and Hearing the Holy Spirit Is Better Than Formal Education Most all churches expect their clergy to have undergone formal, academic education. Many insist on a seminary degree, especially for their ordained ministers. From a worldly standpoint this makes sense. But from God’s perspective I can imagine him laughing. Look at the credentials […]
Learn More about Jesus and What His Life Means Some people view Jesus as a great historical figure, an insightful teacher, or a guru who taught and exemplified the importance of loving others. They’re intrigued by him and want to learn more. They are Christ curious. Other people go all in for Jesus. They follow […]
Jesus Focused on the Kingdom of God, Not Church Jesus talked about the kingdom of God, but we made a church instead. What if he never intended us to form a church? After all, Jesus did tell his followers to “seek first the kingdom of God,” (Matthew 6:33, ESV). Let’s look at where else the […]
On Pentecost God Gives Us the Holy Spirit as Our Guide to Replace the Law Pentecost occurs fifty days after Resurrection Sunday (Easter). It’s a significant event in the early church. That’s when the Holy Spirit comes upon Jesus’s followers in an extraordinary way. The Holy Spirit empowers team Jesus to share his good news […]
Jesus Must Return to Heaven before the Holy Spirit Can Come Ascension Day occurs forty days after Resurrection Sunday (more commonly called Easter). Here is some background. Jesus comes to earth as a man to save us. He dies on the cross as a sacrificial sin offering, dying in our place. On Easter Jesus rises […]
We Should Praise God for the Many Ways He Loves Us Love is a recurring theme in Scripture (686 verses). It shows up in most every book of the Bible (60 out of 66). The word is most common in Psalms (157 verses). Psalm 136 leads the way with 26 mentions of love, all in […]
Not Everyone Can Be a Missionary, but Everyone Can Support Missionaries We’ve talked about four places—or ways—to be a missionary for Jesus. How does the idea of a short-term mission trip fit into Jesus’s command to be his witness (Acts 1:4-8)? Or his instruction to go make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20)? It doesn’t. At best a […]
We Must Correct Some Wrong Perspectives about Our Religious Practices We’ve looked at how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament to provide a new way for us and our churches to function, replacing the temple, paid clergy, and tithes. Then we explored ten New Testament practices and five New Testament examples to inform our church behavior. […]
Make Disciples of all Nations In the oft-quoted passage that wraps up the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells his followers to go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19-20). In doing so, they—and we—are to be a missionary for Jesus. We see this repeated in the book of Mark (Mark 16:15-20). In the parallel […]