What Prayer, Is Not Last week we talked about prayer, with the main focus being on what prayer is. And of course, to put it very simply, prayer is talking to God. It’s talking to the Almighty God, the creator and sustainer of all things; And it’s talking to our Father in heaven, and it’s talking to the one who should be, our very closest friend. And…
What is Prayer ? This will be at least a two-part lesson, this week and next week. Today I’d like to talk about, What is prayer? Next week I want us to consider what prayer is NOT. But for now, what is prayer? Prayer is simply talking to God. There’s nothing mysterious about prayer, and there’s nothing complicated about it, or hard to understand, it’s simply…
Worthy Art The Lamb Who Was Slain I’d like to read to you a few passages from the book of Revelation. Go ahead and follow along in your own bibles if you’d like. I’m going to start at the very beginning, in Revelation 1, verses 1 thru 3; “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to Him, to show unto His servants, even the things which…
Exercising Self-Control Today I’d like you to think about self-control. A Christian is expected to exercise self-control, no matter what comes our way in life. In our times of difficulty, and in our times of sadness, and in our times of anger, and even in our times of celebration. Self-control, is one of the “fruits of the Spirit”, listed in Galatians 5, verses 22 & 23. …
A Sanctuary Church I saw an advertisement on the internet last week that made the proclamation that The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, has passed a measure declaring their entire denomination to be a “sanctuary church” for migrants, including those who entered the United States illegally. How should we feel about that? Is that a good thing, or is it a sad thing? How should a Christian…
1 Samuel Chapter 17; David and Goliath Read 1 Samuel 17:1 thru 11.. All the people of Israel, including king Saul, were afraid of Goliath the giant of the Philistines. You know, Saul was a big man himself, especially compared to the average Israelite. It’s estimated that the average height of an Israelite was only about five, or five and a half foot tall. One…
Disappointment Have you ever been disappointed by the actions of another? Sure you have, everyone, at some time or another has been disappointed by what someone else has done. Have you ever been the one who has disappointed someone else? I’m sure that I have. I’m not happy with that fact, but I’m sure that it’s happened. In just very casual relationships, I’ve come to…
God’s Math Is Not Our Math In the world we live in, two plus two always equals four, and two divided by two always equals one. But that’s not always true in God’s world. God seems to add and divide differently than we do. Let me give you an example of that.. In Mathew 14, verses 17 thru 20, we have the story of how Jesus feed…
Help Me Choose A Church Here’s a question that someone posted on Facebook last week.. I have a friend, a single older lady, who just moved here from Iowa, and she’s looking for a church to join. She’s used to a not so large church. What church do you go to, and what do you like best about it? Now, the last time I checked, there…
Malachi 1:6-8, and 13-14 God wants certain things from us. A few weeks ago I talked about the fact that God wants our patience, and God wants our loyalty. But here’s two more things that God wants; He wants our best, and He wants what’s first. Let me read a few verses from the book of Malachi. God says in Malachi 1, verses 6 thru 8; …
Is It Biblical to Love the Sinner, and Hate the Sin ? I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, that we should love the sinner, but hate the sin. Some people probably think that saying comes from the bible, but it doesn’t. The idea expressed in that saying, comes from the bible, but the saying itself was made up by man. I believe the saying was first…
Two Things God Wants From You I want to talk about just two things, that God wants from you, as individual. If we wanted to, we could put those two things into just one category. And that one category would be, our love. What God wants from you, and what God wants from me, is our love. If we fully gave our love to God, we’d be…
A Delusion, an Error, and a Lie There’s an interesting verse, in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 11, that says; “And for this cause, God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.” And the cause, for this “strong delusion” from God, is stated in the previous verse, verse 10; “..because they received not, the love of the truth, that they might…
Words of Encouragement I’m with you. I’m listening to you. I’m praying for you. I care about you. You matter to me. You make me happy. Just a few simple words like that can lift someone up, and be an encouragement to them. The bible says in Hebrews 10:24; “And let us consider one another, to provoke unto love and good works.” We…
A Familiar Verse A verse that most people are very familiar with is John 15, verse 13. In this verse, Jesus tells us something about love, and about friends; “Greater love has no one, than this; That one should lay down his life, for his friends.” In the next verse, Jesus says; “You are My friends, if you do what I command.” And of course,…
A Religious “Tract” A friend of mine found a little religious tract the other day, and he showed it to me, and here’s part of what it said; One day John’s friend stopped him.. “John, I’ve got some good news for you! “Really?” John said. “Yes, the bible tells us that heaven can be our home, since Jesus Christ died for our sins! “That is good…
The Book of Life You’ve heard about the book of life, haven’t you? Most people have, if they’re at all familiar with the bible. It’s spoken about in the old testament, and it’s spoken about in the new testament. In Exodus 32, verse 32, Moses speaks these words to God; “And yet now, if You would, forgive their sins; But if not, blot me I pray, out…
The Works of the Word I want us to consider six separate, but related works, that the Word of God has accomplished, and continues to accomplish, and will accomplish. First, the Word of God has created life, as we know it. Second, the Word of God creates faith in God the creator. Third, the Word of God became the sacrifice for the sins of the world. …
Who is “Poor” in Spirit? Jesus said in Mathew 5, verse 3; “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” I was reading in Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, and it says that “poor” means.. “to be beggarly, and destitute, and afflicted”, and that it refers to “one who is crouched in wretchedness”. And then it says; “It has always had a bad…
Each One Is Tempted I want to talk to you today about temptation. And when I talk about temptation, I’m specifically talking about the temptation to commit sin. I’m not talking about the temptation to have another piece of chocolate cake, or the temptation to splurge on something that you know you really don’t need. I’m talking about the temptation to sin. The temptation to do something…