John 11:45-57, Mark 10:30-32 — Before Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem that marks the beginning of Passion Week, there was a final journey. Jesus left the peace and safety of Ephraim and set out for Jerusalem knowing full well what awaited Him when He arrived. There is one scene in this final journey, recorded by Mark,…
II Kings 3:4-15 — The kings of Israel, Judah and Edom were in big trouble. They had marched their armies for seven days into the wilderness and had run out of water. They were now ripe for defeat by the forces of Moab. In desperation, a prophet was called for and by God’s good providence…
Colossians 3:8-9a — Jesus taught that what comes out of our mouth comes from the heart. So if we’re going to speak in a way that honours God and blesses others we first have to address what’s going on in our heart. This is what Paul does when he turns his attention to our speech in his…
Romans 5:5 — “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” The foundation of Christian hope is the knowledge of God’s love. So how do we know that God loves us? The Apostle Paul tells us it is because God the…
Colossians 3:6-7 — Sadly, many forms of sexual immorality barely raise an eyebrow in our world today and evangelical Christians, though not approving, can become indifferent. They’re not bothered by the sexual sin that is rampant in our community and in the media. In this text the Holy Spirit, via Paul’s pen, gives us a…
II Kings 3:1-5 — Jehoram was the son of Ahab & Jezebel and he followed his brother Ahaziah onto the throne of Israel. What’s remarkable is that he didn’t follow his wicked parents in worshipping Baal and Ashtoreth, but the tragedy is that he didn’t turn to the LORD. Rather, Jehoram went back to the apostate…
Luke 6:22-23 & 26 — Our society is becoming less tolerant of traditional Christian teaching on sexuality, marriage, gender and the exclusivity of the Gospel. It is becoming more difficult to publicly affirm what the Bible says, but we shouldn’t be surprised. Jesus told us that persecution is an inevitable part of following Him. He told…
Colossians 3:5 — In the opening verses of this chapter, the Apostle Paul points us to heaven and the assurance of future glory. He then immediately turns to the present and what we do with our bodies. A Christian who’s mind is set on heaven will mortify his/her members on the earth. The Apostle is…
Luke 6:21 & 25 — “Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled…Woe unto you that are full! For ye shall hunger…Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh…Woe unto you that laugh now! For ye shall mourn and weep.” Sometimes Jesus’ disciples are hungry and sometimes they weep. There…
Various Texts — What are we saying about God’s sovereignty when we are cynical? What are we saying about his goodness? Or His promises? In the first part of our study we learned that cynicism is a love problem, in this second part, we learn that it’s a faith problem as well. Cynicism reveals a deficient…