We will be studying today in Luke 19 as we continue our series: “In the Steps of the Savior.” In the overall structure of Luke’s gospel, we are finishing up the section that I have titled, “The Mission and Teaching of Christ.” in Luke 19:9-10, Jesus said, “Today salvation has come to this house, since…
The prayer that is recorded in Colossians 1:9-14 is a beautiful prayer that is chock-full of rich content for us to model our prayers after. This is the prayer that I asked our supporters to pray for us when we were serving as cross-cultural missionaries in Asia, and it is the same prayer that I…
This week, we will be looking at some of the prayers and teachings about prayer from Paul in his letter to the church at Ephesus. In his letter, Paul prays for the Ephesian believers “to be strengthened with power through his Spirit” in their inner beings. Paul was praying a Prayer of Fortification for them.…
As we enter into the New Year, many people are making New Year’s Resolutions with the hopes of improving their lives. Some resolutions are grandiose and unrealistic while others are more practical and feasible. But what if there was a resolution that was guaranteed to succeed? Wouldn’t that be worth your time? Listen in as Pastor David shares what the Bible has to say about the kind of resolution that lasts.
I think all of us realize how difficult the task is to live a life of holiness, but fortunately, God has given us His grace through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit to enable us to live for Him. But living a life of holiness is a process. The Apostle Paul writes: “So we…
Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus is an amazingly rich manuscript for both Christian theology and practice. Paul begins the letter by delineating all the spiritual blessings that believers have in Christ. Then he prays a prayer of thanksgiving for the faith that the Ephesian believers have in Him. In chapter 2, Paul gives…
After getting to the point where we know and understand our God-given personalities, there is a danger that we must guard against. The danger exists when we come to the fatalistic conclusion of: “That’s just who I am!” Instead of using personality test results as a tool, we sometimes view them as an infallible declaration…
The Parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the most well-known teachings of Christ from the Gospel of Luke. While we are probably all aware of the specifics of this parable, it is important to interpret this parable on two levels—the straightforward teaching and the symbolic teaching of the parable. On the surface, this…
This morning, we will be focusing on a topic that I have given much of my life to thinking about. I’ve spent years working to develop effective processes and tools for its implementation. It’s been said that “a person needs to invest about 10,000 hours in a skill in order to master it.” In the…
According to Carey Nieuwhof, when people go shopping for a church, 86% choose a church based on the quality of the preaching—they want to be fed. Thom Rainer says that “being fed” is another way of saying that they want the church to cater to their “desires and preferences.” We know that the preaching of…