When Your Focus is In Need of Adjustment
We must continually police our hearts to ensure that we are accurately worshiping the real Christ with a reverent urgency regarding our task to obey him and serve him in this world.
Luke
When Following Him is Painful
It is important that we anticipate the costs of following Christ in this world knowing that any sacrifice we make is not worth comparing to the benefits of salvation and eternal life in God’s kingdom.
When Our Expectations Aren’t Met
God is sovereign, always working out his good plans, in, through, and around our lives – our call is to trust him even when those plans surprise us with unexpected turns and painful experiences.
When There's Theological Confusion
We must seek to be confidently assured regarding the truth about Christ regardless of the perennial religious confusion in our world due to its sin and rebellion.
When the Task Seems Impossible
We should learn from Christ’s compassion and selflessness, confident that he will provide what is needed when we sacrificially step up to face the challenges he providentially sets before us.
When the World Doesn't Understand Us
We should expect ongoing confusion about the person and work of Christ – he has always been controversial because the truth demands that he be received as THE Prophet, Priest, and King.
When Our Preparation Isn't Enough
Christ will call us to positions and tasks for which we will feel inadequate, our job is to be faithful, trusting that he will supply all that is needed, bearing fruit through us in victories and setbacks.
Confident in His Power to Restore
We must be thankful to God for any relief he grants our ailing bodies, knowing that even when sickness and death prevail, our ultimate restoration is certain by faith in the omnipotent Christ.
Confident in His Power to Protect
Extreme examples of demonization can provide us with insight into Satan’s agenda regarding our own lives, making us vigilant but always confident in Christ’s supreme power and authority.
Confident in His Power to Sustain
Christ possesses all authority and all power over all things, yet for now, before he exercises that authority at the coming kingdom, we must learn to trust him implicitly amid a variety of troubles.
Your Fraternity of Hearers
As Christ modeled in his own life, we must highly value and consistently invest in friendships with those who continue to demonstrate their commitment to obeying God’s word.
Why We Amplify the Truth
Our careful learning and obedient response to truth has a lasting & profound impact, and should remind us of our stewardship to become thoughtful evangelists & caring teachers of truth.
The Hard Work of Fruitful Hearing
The right and saving response to Christ is dependent on the transformative work of God in our hearts, and results in an enduring resolve for doctrinal and behavioral fidelity to the truth.
The Chronic Noise of the World
Those with real saving faith will, by God’s grace, be occupied with growing in their relationship with Christ without becoming preoccupied with the futile things this world has to offer.
Deafening Trials
We need a wholehearted reliance on all the promises of Christ, knowing that past experiences won’t be enough when trials come to test our faith.
A Grueling Spiritual Battle
Knowing we have a spiritual enemy who seeks to obscure, twist, and deprioritize the truth of the Bible we must continue to boldly present it, obey it, and pray for God to let it be heard.
Christ on Hearing God
Understanding and applying God’s truth are gifts from God to underserving people, yet even those graced with the gift of perception must work hard to carefully understand and apply the truth.
Teaming Up to Prepare Our Generation
Our personal dissimilarities and diversity actually work in favor of our mission when we pull together as a church to evangelize and disciple our generation in preparation for Christ’s return.
The Hallmark of the Spiritually Prepared
To be prepared for the arrival of Christ’s kingdom we must be sure that we have grappled with the gravity of our sin and are trusting exclusively in Christ for our forgiveness.
Excuses that Interfere with Our Preparation
We often make excuses attempting to rebuff the conviction that comes with God’s truth, but we must learn to concede his good purpose for us and respond with humble obedience.
Learning to Listen to the King's Prophets
We may at times respond with negativity to the accurate preaching of the truth, but God has called all Christians as his messengers to be faithful to God’s message regardless of the response.
Making Sure We Don't Miss the King
Difficulties in life can tempt us to doubt Christ’s power, concern and sovereignty, but we must trust him, remembering the proof of his credentials which reassure us of his coming kingdom.
Awaiting the Defeat of Death
Jesus shows that he has power over death, not as a representative of God, but as the Lord of life – an ultimate role that requires our allegiance and submission as his disciples.
Anticipating the Defeat of Disease
Christ at his first coming displayed his credentials as the King of the coming Kingdom by healing some people of their illnesses, in part to remind us that he will one day vanquish all disease.
Understanding Obedience as Christ Does
Obedience to the word of God is a fundamental duty of the Christian life – one that is forsaken at great personal cost, and one that is ultimately rewarded with lasting benefits.
The Importance of Admitting the Obvious
A saving encounter with Christ changes one’s heart from “evil” to “good” and the evidence of a changed life will necessarily flow from that miraculous work of God.
The Practical Value of Integrity
As we consider Christ’s hatred of hypocrisy, we should at the same time consider the explicit and implicit benefits that are derived from living a Christlike life of integrity.
Seeing My Growth for the Good of Others
Not only must we choose our Christian leaders and spiritual mentors wisely, but we all have to accept the responsibility to lead in the spiritual growth of others with our words and by our example.
Godly Perspectives in a Godless World
God rewards us as we mercifully relate to others, mindful of his kindness and mercy toward us – that may not preclude all forms of judgment, but it does rule out the petty and hypocritical kind.
Exceptional Love with Exceptional Motives
Jesus calls us to decide to sacrificially love others (as God himself does) without thought of what we might get or not get in return.