As Christians, we usually point to Jesus’ death on the cross and say, “That’s why I’m saved.” And, yet, we often miss that we could just as easily point to Jesus in the water of the Jordan River and say the same: “There is my salvation, forgiveness, and life!” But how can we say that? […]
1 Corinthians, Lesson 5: The Role of Pastors and the Congregation
January 25, 2015 by
Being God’s Temple Read 1 Corinthians 3:16 Scriptures teaches us that the body of an individual Christian is God’s Temple (1 Corinthians 6:19), the congregation when it gathers for worship is God’s Temple (1 Corinthians 3:17), as well as the entire Church (Ephesians 2:19-22). In these verses, the “you” is plural, referring not to the […]
Acts, Lesson 23: Paul Gives Godly Counsel to Fellow Pastors
January 15, 2015 by
Paul is still on his third missionary journey. Having left Ephesus, his longest stay during his missionary travels, he makes a final sweep through Greece before going to Jerusalem. During this time, he was collecting donations to help “the poor among the saints in Jerusalem” (Romans 15:25-27, 2 Corinthians 8-9). Paul may also have traveled […]
Church Cancelled for Sunday, January 11
January 10, 2015 by
All church activities for Sunday, January 11 are cancelled. Based on weather predictions, Kimberling City should experience freezing road temperatures with freezing rain on Sunday from about 6:30 to 8:30 AM. Temperatures are not expected to rise above freezing until 11:00 AM. A thin glaze of ice would make driving unsafe, especially considering local terrain and that our […]
Isaiah 60:1-6: Shined On By Christ
January 4, 2015 by
Have you ever looked out the window and marveled on one of those winter nights when a full moon lights up the entire sky? But no matter how brightly that moon may shine, it has no light of its own. If there were no sun, the moon would be dark, as dark as dark can […]
1 Corinthians, Lesson 4: What God Gives, How He Gives It, and What Will Remain
January 4, 2015 by
After 1 Corinthians mentioned what God had called Paul and Sosthenes to do, to preach and teach the wisdom of God, Paul then again got personal. He said the Corinthian Christians had not grown in the Faith as they should have. They were still “fleshly infants”: they haven’t grown in stature and lost their “baby […]
1 Corinthians, Lesson 3: Babies Running Amok
January 4, 2015 by
We finished chapter 1, where 1 Corinthians stressed that it’s in “weakness” where we see God. Paul contrasted earthly wisdom with God’s wisdom, which may seem foolish and scandalous, most exemplified in the cross of Christ. We begin chapter 2 with Paul still making his personal appeal, by using “I” and recalling his visit with […]
Romans 8:31-39: A Happy New Year in Christ Jesus!
December 31, 2014 by
The words on many of our lips today and tomorrow, even as some of you may be leaving the service tonight, will be this familiar greeting: Happy New Year! But what will make the new year, just a few hours away, happy? Will it be a big celebration tonight, watching the ball drop in Times […]
Matthew 2:13-18: Holy Innocents
December 28, 2014 by
See how bitterly and shamelessly Satan hates the newborn Son of God. He incites King Herod to massacre the infant boys of Bethlehem, in his bloody rage to cut down Jesus. But see even more the lengths to which God the Father will go to protect His Son. He tells Joseph to take Mary and […]
John 1:1-14: The Word Becomes Flesh, Even For Us Today
December 25, 2014 by
Caesar Augustus was emperor, and Quirinius was governor of Syria. Herod the Great was king in Jerusalem. Astrologers in Persia were gazing at the stars. Peace reigned throughout the world. But it was an uneasy peace, enforced by the power of Rome and the point of her sword. Joseph, the heir of King David eked […]
