Through this series of lessons in Luke 18, Jesus is trying to rectify our faulty thinking on one very important issue: too often people think that they can be good enough to earn eternal life with God, but that is a flawed assessment! I can only imagine what must have been going on in the…
We’ll be returning to Luke 18, this morning—looking at verses 18-30. In this passage, Jesus says that God is the only one who is good. And in the Scripture—specifically in the Book of Psalms—the Bible tells us over and over again that the Lord, He is good! Only God is good, and we aren’t God.…
This past month, we’ve been studying some of what God’s Word has to say about Practicing the Way of Peace. Today we will be jumping ahead to the teachings of Jesus on the topic of conflict resolution. He addresses the issue of conflict and reconciliation on several occasions throughout the four gospels. Most of our…
We are starting a new sermon series this morning—“Practicing the Way of Peace.” This five-week series will be focused on the biblical principles concerning conflict resolution. As we live our lives, conflicts are bound to happen—there’s really no way to avoid them. The question, then, is not how can we avoid them but how should…
In our message today, we’ll be focusing on the Prayer of Solitude. We’re going to examine a couple of passages in the Gospel of Matthew—one where Jesus is our example in prayer, and the other where Jesus is teaching us how to pray. One of the most effective ways that I have found to get…
We are currently living in the midst of a great crisis in the Christian life. We have been legally emancipated from the penalty of sin by the blood of Jesus Christ. But many of us are still living as though we are slaves to sin. We are free, but we are not living daily in…
This morning, we’re going to be looking at Psalm 88 and considering the concept of a “Prayer of Desperation.” This psalm is considered a psalm of lament. One of the most notable authors on this subject is Mark Vroegop. He explains that: “Lament is a prayer in pain that leads to trust. It is not…
For the past few weeks, we have been exploring the biblical basis for the modern, Christmas carol “Sing We the Song of Emmanuel.” Verse one of this song begins with teachings on the fulfillment of prophecy and quickly move to focus on the incarnation of the ultimate God-Man. Verse two continues its focus on the…
In the second half of Psalm 101, David lays out the kind of leader that he aspires to become—a leader with integrity. Just like last week, we see in these verses, five issues of integrity that are important when it comes to life in general and in leadership more specifically. David had a front row…
For the past several weeks, we have been looking at the teachings of Christ on various topics—from prayer to spiritual warfare to hypocrisy to personal property. In each of these areas, Jesus taught His disciples how they were to think, act and speak. In this last section of teachings, Jesus is seeking to motivate His…