Acts 6:1-7 How do you resolve your problems? In today’s scripture lesson Dr. Luke writes that in the early history of the church it had problems. The church was growing fast as large numbers of people joined the People of the Way. The problem was between the Greek speaking and Hebrew speaking believers. The Greek speaking believers complained about the Hebrew speaking believers saying that the Greek speaking widows were being discriminated against in the daily distribution. The only…..
Acts 2:29-41 What words that were spoken to you jolted your life? ‘You are loved? You are forgiven? You will live? You are my friend? I believe you?’ Words give new life and power to us. Words spoken from the heart can inspire us to do things we thought we could not do. In a great naval battle John Paul Jones said to the British, “We have just begun to fight “. Douglas McArthur said, “I have returned.”, as…..
Matthew 28:16-20 Is it hard for you to keep focused on the main things in living life? If you have ever done any farming or gardening, you know that if you want a good crop or garden you must do certain things. The main thing in gardening begins with soil preparation. Good soil preparation gives the things you plant a chance to sprout and grow. To keep growth going you must remember to keep cultivating the soil to keep…..
Acts 9:1-19 What encounters have you had that changed your life? A sickness, loss of a job, death of someone you loved, a son or daughter that is living a troubled life or a divorce? Many things we encounter change our lives. My dad told a story about a man that lived in his community in his growing-up years. This was the early years of the 1900’s. The men of the community would get together and cut logs…..
Luke 24:13-24 In 1857 Hans Christian Andersen wrote a fairy tale titled The Emperor’s New Clothes. In the story two weavers were great con men. They were weaving nothing on their looms, but they convinced everyone that if you could not see the material they were weaving you were a fool or stupid. We could laugh at the story, but look at the blinders we have today. We wear all kind of blinders: cultural, educational and religious blinders. …..
John 20:1-8 In the history of the NCCA men’s basketball tournament a number one seed has never lost to a sixteen seed until this year. Maryland Baltimore County, a sixteen seed that made this year’s tournament on a last second shot in their conference tournament beat the number one seed. The University of Virginia was the number one seed in the NCCA tournament. They had a record of thirty wins and two loses. Virginia had won the ACC regular…..
Read John 1:6-14 Do you remember how important it was to you as a teenager to get an invitation to the party that was to be the end-of-all parties? Then it happened and you did not receive an invitation. You were crushed by the experience. If you received an invitation it meant you were important. You were in that inner circle of people and that made you part of the elite group. The time you did not receive an invitation…..
Scripture: Psalm 126 Many things have blurred our focus on the meaning of Thanksgiving. In our blurred focus we have a hard time seeing God’s blessings in our nation’s life. We have been blessed with prosperous lives. In our prosperity we see ourselves as producers of the good life we have. In our easy living we don’t spend much time giving thanks for the abundance of things we have in our lives. The pioneers that settled this land, especially in…..
Matthew 25:31-46 We live in a time when more and more people live life with the focus on what’s in this for me. ‘Me-ism” is not new to us as human beings, because it is in our DNA. We start as little children with the cry ‘me first’. An example of this me-ism was a boy in our class in Elementary School always had to be first to bat in our school-yard ball games. Me-ism is about self-centered living. …..
John 10:1-18 Are we faithful to the promises we made to God when we joined His family? When we buy a home or car we promise to pay a certain amount each month or year. If we do not keep our promises to pay then the lender will come and take the car or home. What happens to our lives if we do not keep our promises we make to God? When we look at the word faithfulness, we think…..