Finding Freedom The Galatians were a people Paul had come to after suffering injury. He ministered to them in their need while they, in turn, cared for his. Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. You know it was because of a bodily ailment that…
Wielding Tools of Men
How To Honor God Throughout the early chapters of Exodus, we see how God used Moses to set free his captive people. As plague after plague afflicted Egypt as witness against a hard-hearted Pharaoh who thought God of less authority than himself, Moses repeatedly demands that Israel be released to worship their God. After finally…
Have They Not Heard?
They Must Hear If you’ve spent any significant amount of time listening to sermons, you’ve doubtlessly heard the following verses preached. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how…
God Hates Divorce
Man’s Standards Harm The church today is full of all sorts of ideas about marriage and divorce. They range all the way from “well, if he was being emotionally abusive it’s fine” to “it doesn’t matter how many woman he’s had on the side, you’re stuck with him” and all sorts of different notions. We…
Murderous Cowardice
Priests Wanted Peace There were many motives involved in the wrongful conviction of Jesus. Throughout the whole process which leads to the execution of the only completely innocent man to ever be killed, we find that fear was driving everyone to kill him. What is it the priests feared? Many claim they feared only to…
Generational Punishment
Iniquity of the Fathers While it may not be presented in the same language as what is found in God’s word, there is a lot of discussion today around the idea of generational guilt. There are those who believe this concept can be found in scripture. For instance, in a verse like this: The Lord passed before…
Humility in the Wilderness
Israel in the Desert God saved Israel out of slavery in Egypt. It would seem like being forced to slavery would be enough to humble a people, but whether it was them believing themselves trapped between the sea and Egypt or upset they haven’t had meat for a while they repeatedly express how they feel…
The Sacrifice of Birth
When we think of what Jesus sacrificed to redeem us to himself, we tend to picture the cross. While him offering himself on our behalf to conquer our sin once for all, this is far from the only sacrifice he made for us. He Had Everything To Lose Paul reminds us that what our Lord…
Confronting Reality
Cost of Wisdom Ecclesiastes is a book categorized as “Wisdom Literature”. These are books of the Bible that reveal the way of this world. Rather than tell us how things ought to be done, they record how things are done. It may seem contradictory, then, when the author of this book of wisdom records the…
Who Doesn’t Like Good News?
Preaching in Nazareth Luke 4 begins with the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. Many important lessons can be learned from his experience in the wilderness but it can also distract people from what the rest of the chapter can teach us. Today, I’m going to be discussing the ministry of Christ, which began immediately…