The Great Adventure of Prayer – Part 3
Who’s first on your spiritual speed dial? When things are well or ill who do you contact before any other?
Names of God: Apostle
Today’s passage gives two names for Jesus: apostle and high priest. Let’s read the passage and consider why Jesus is called an “apostle.”
The Great Adventure of Prayer – Part 2
There’s a truism in sports that claims, “You play like you practice.” In your spiritual life, it could also be said that “You pray like you practice.”
Names of God: Offspring of David
In the last letter he wrote, Paul instructed a young pastor named Timothy to stand strong and endure hardship like a soldier fighting for his country. Paul would soon be gone, so he challenged Timothy to press on and share the gospel.
The Great Adventure of Prayer – Part 1
Like the stony faces on Mt. Rushmore we sometimes feel as if our prayer life looms over us with an accusing stare. And too often we bow our heads in guilty confession.
Episode 33 The Least of These
Brenda Tenison on the worldwide challenges of sex trafficking, children without parents, children in poverty, and ways we can make a difference.
Names of God: King of Kings
The Jewish people were looking for a king. Oppressed under the heavy hand of Rome, they wanted a leader to deliver them and rule over them. The coming of their king was not what they expected. A baby born to poor parents in the little town of Bethlehem went unnoticed, except for some shepherds in the fields and magi from the east.
Barriers to Worship – Part 2
Detours keep us from arriving at our destination in a timely manner. And sometimes we don’t get there at all. We get lost on winding, back roads. And so it is on the path to worship.
Names of God: Mediator
Jesus is the mediator, the go-between, the intercessor. There is only one God, and there is only one way to spend eternity with him: The Mediator—Christ Jesus.
Names of God: Head of the Church
In the New Testament, God’s chosen people expanded from one nation to the entire world. Now, believers from every nation make up the body of believers, the ekklesia, the church. Jesus is the One in charge. He is the head of the body. Paul explains it like this:
Names of God: Lord
The apostle Paul reminded the church in Philippi that every believer should have the attitude of Jesus. Although he was God, Jesus took on the very nature of a servant and humbled himself. He became obedient to death, “even death on a cross”! Paul explains that because of Jesus’ work on the cross, God exalted him.
Barriers to Worship – Part 1
Attempts to enter into worship are sometimes aborted journeys. That’s often because of the billboard-size distractions that hail us along the way.
Names of God: Our Sacrifice
When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, they tried to cover up their sin and shame. The fig leaves they sewed together concealed their nakedness, but the fig tree continued to live. Sin deserved death. Fig leaves would not pay sin’s penalty.
The God We Worship – Part 2
How do you want others to think of you and how important are their thoughts? Now ask that question about God. Blessedly, we don’t have to wonder who it is we worship.
Names of God: Cornerstone
There was no love lost between the Jews and the Gentiles. Jews refused to associate with non-Jews, and if they even rubbed up against a Gentile while walking down the street, they considered themselves unclean. Then Jesus came…and changed everything.
The God We Worship – Part 1
Who is the God you praise? You may be surprised to find He’s not exactly who you think He is. And that can make all the difference in your adoration.
Episode 32 Look Them in the Eyes
Juliann Gross—a licensed clinical social worker—on the causes and challenges of homelessness and how believers should respond.
Names of God: The Seed
In the early church, there were Jewish Christians called Judaizers who were not willing to leave the past behind. They believed that the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament were to be practiced in the church. Paul wrote to these Christians to explain that a relationship with God comes through Jesus alone, not Jesus plus the Old Testament laws.
In Spirit and in Truth – Part 2
God will not be worshipped in a box. Even a pretty one with colored windows and soaring arches does not impress Him. He’s looking for intimate and open and often messy places.
Names of God: Gift of God
God so loved the world that he gave a great gift, an inexpressible gift. God gave his Son to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. Jesus, the Gift of God, bridged the great gap between a holy God and sinful man. The Gift of God left heaven to selflessly and sacrificially give himself on the cross.