Spiritual connectedness requires prayer, so let's be praying for each other! Paul models two types of loving and encouraging prayers we can share with one another to keep us spiritually connected: (1) prayers of gratitude and (2) prayers for growth.
1 Thessalonians 2:17-3:8 - "Absence And The Heart"
As Christians, we must intentionally cultivate our faith AND our friendships in the Church, because we all need faithful friends. In our passage, Paul reveals the importance of having friends who will be faithful to us and faithful to Christ.
1 Thessalonians 2:1-16 - "More Than Words"
Today’s passage calls us to live and love in a way that commends our faith to others. Christ calls us to relay the gospel fearlessly and faultlessly so that others will respond faithfully.
1 Thessalonians 1:2-10 - "Give Thanks For God's People"
God’s people reveal God’s grace, so then let’s give thanks for God’s people! In our passage, Paul gives thanks for the works and the witness of God’s people in Thessalonica. Both of these aspects of the Thessalonian church revealed God’s grace.
1 Thessalonians 1:1 - "Grace & Peace"
Paul reminds his fellow believers (including us) that God gives us grace and peace in Christ. Those two terms together are a virtual summary statement of all that we have received by trusting in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. And the order is important, since our peace is a result of God’s grace.
Genesis 11:10-12:4 - "A Is For Abram"
God uses unlikely people armed with unconditional promises, and so we can accept our weakness and find comfort in His grace. In today’s passage, we are going to look at how God chooses an unlikely Patriarch and provides him nothing but a promise, which turns out to be more than enough.
Genesis 10:1-11:9 - "B Is For Babel"
What we learn from our ancient ancestors is that God’s Plan is always better than our plans, so we must trust Him. In today’s passage, we see how the human family advocates for a “Plan B”, but how God ultimately accomplishes His “Plan A.”
1 Peter 1:3-5 - "Our Living Hope" (Easter 2020)
If Jesus is alive, we can live with hope. But Christian hope is not wishful thinking. It is a firm conviction about the future. In today’s passage, Peter makes it clear that our hope in Christ is both solid and secure.
Genesis 9:1-29 - "God's Promises, Our Peace"
God makes promises so that we can have peace. But confusion about His promises robs us of the supernatural peace that we have access to through faith in Christ. Today’s passage highlights two of God’s promises. The first part is all about God’s promise to Noah, and the second part looks forward to God’s promise to Abraham.
Genesis 6:11-8:22 - "The Flood"
The Bible does not leave room for us to separate God’s just judgment from His merciful salvation. Judgment and salvation are linked. Therefore, we can rely on God’s mercy even as we encounter His judgments.
Genesis 4:1-6:10 - "Forsaking Or Following God"
Since God is the source of life, then walking away from Him can only lead to death. But walking with God always leads to life, which means we can face death without fear and anxiety. Today’s passage presents two very different strands of humanity. On the one hand, we see Cain’s line, which walked away from God and experienced death. On the other hand, we see Seth’s line, which walked with God and experienced life, even though most of them also died.
Genesis 3:1-24 - "The Fall"
To deny the reality of sin is to dismiss our need for a Savior. Sin is real, and so we really need a Savior. Today’s passage helps us understand the origin and nature of sin. Specifically, we are going to look at two aspects of sin: its characteristics and consequences.
Genesis 2:18-25 - "Created For Relationship: Part 2"
God created male and female for our good and for His glory, so we need to rediscover the beauty of how men and women complement each other. When we fail to recognize the God-gifted differences between men and women, we lose sight of God’s goodness.
Genesis 2:4-17 - "Created For Relationship: Part 1"
The Lord God is relational, so we can have a relationship with Him. In our passage, the Creator’s desire for a personal relationship with His creatures is evident in how He gives life, land, and law to mankind.
Genesis 1:6-2:3 - "The Purpose of Existence"
Today’s passage is a great reminder that God purposefully created us, and so we must look to Him and to His Word to discover our life’s true purpose. In our passage, we see three different facets of our purpose: we were created to reflect God’s glory, to receive God’s grace, and to rest in God’s goodness.
Genesis 1:1-25 - "God Is Great, God Is Good"
Genesis 1 should be a wonderful reminder of God’s greatness and goodness, and our need for gratitude and dependence. But we’ve all heard it so many times, that it quickly loses its significance, and our gratitude and dependence become entitlement and independence. But God IS great, and God IS good, so let’s give Him the glory He deserves.
Genesis 1:1 - "In The Beginning, God"
Without God, life is meaningless. Since all of reality is rooted in the Person of God, we must look to Him for meaning. The first line of Scripture introduces God as being above all, before all, and behind all.
Luke 24:50-53 - "A Blessed Beginning"
Christianity began with the blessing of Christ, and we must continue to abide in His blessing in order to worship, rejoice and praise as we should. Today’s passage reminds us of Christ’s blessing, out of which the Church is born.
Luke 24:36-49 - "Peace, Purpose + Power"
God has given us all that we need for life and godliness, so that “in Christ” we can live peacefully, purposefully, and powerfully for His glory. But all of this is contingent upon the reality of the Resurrection. In today’s passage, we are going to see how Jesus provides proof of life, which leads to purpose and power for living.
Luke 24:13-35 - "The Road to Emmaus"
If it were up to us, we’d fall into relational passivity in our relationship with God. But, thankfully, God pursues us and reveals Himself so that we can have a relationship with Him. And we see this vividly in the post-Resurrection appearances of Jesus. The Risen Lord pursues people, and calls us to respond in faith. In our passage, we see how Jesus engages two of His followers, and how He elicits a response of faith from them.
