Mark 12:41-44, Luke 21:1-4 There is a huge church debate about how much we’re supposed to give to God. Usually this debate circles around the idea of tithe and 10%. Is that 10% before taxes? Is it gross or net? Does it include gifts? Is it 10% of everything, or just 10% of our salary? You’ll notice that this discussion…
James 2:14-29, Mark 12:28-31, John 10:11-18 On Trinity Sunday, we think about the Trinity, that really tough and vague doctrine that is somehow essential to our understanding of God. We’ve talked about three leaf clovers, and many other metaphors over the years. All of them fall short of the understanding of the whole. …
The kids and youth show us how the Spirit has been moving in their past year of Sunday School.
Acts 2:1-4, Romans 8:14-39 What Spirit are we blessed with on Pentecost? Slavery, or adoption? Fear, or Glory? Hiding in the upper room, or confronting the crowd? Speaking a powerful story that overcomes the barriers of language, national origin, or hiding for fear of the crowds? Are we gifted with a Spirit that…
Benjamin GVD shares the last year’s mission, ministry, and life from LCC International University in Lithuania.
Romans [3:28-30] 5:1-11 Weakness, suffering, endurance, hope, and love. What a range of descriptions. What a range of adjectives. We end up focusing on being justified by faith, or by this string of poetic phrases, or that hope does not disappoint. This passage is filled with catch phrases and memorable lines, and yet filled with even more content. So what’s…
Romans 1:1-17 In this letter, in the beginning of this letter, we hear the introduction of Paul as an apostle, and powerful Good News of Jesus Christ. From there, the letter continues into something we might take for granted. Paul asserts that he prays for them, that he thanks God for them and that he hopes to strengthen them, and that…
Acts 13:1-3; 14:8-18 Saul and Barnabus get sent out to proclaim the Gospel. The Spirit has work for them to do. When they get to Lystra, they speak, and they heal a man. They heal a man crippled from birth who cannot walk. People are amazed. People believe that the gods have come down to earth. That’s right. They think…
Acts 10:1-17, 34-48 In this passage the sending goes both ways. Cornelius gets an angel sent to him, that tells him to send for Peter in Joppa. Peter, meanwhile, has a vision that sends him to see Cornelius. This encounter and passage begins to open the church to Gentiles, transforms Peter into the apostle to the Gentiles, and changes the arc…
Matthew 28:16-20 This is post-Easter, as fast (we assume) as the disciples could get to Galilee and see Jesus. Hear the text- they saw him, they worshiped, but some doubted. Doubt is not a barrier to being present with Jesus and worshiping in the Resurrection. The task, however, for disciples post-Easter, is to: acknowledge the authority of Jesus (all authority…