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…
Luke 6:20 & 24 — “Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God…But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.” What did Jesus mean when He said this? How do His words relate to us and the attitude we have towards money and material possessions? This is a…
I Kings 21:11-29 — In this sermon we consider what happened to Ahab & Jezebel after Naboth’s murder. Their cruel and wicked act did not go unnoticed in the halls of heaven. Immediately God sent his prophet to pronounce judgment against them both. We also consider the kind of influence Jezebel was upon her husband and it…
Luke 6:20-26 — Four blessings and four corresponding woes. With these Jesus opened the sermon that takes up the greater part of Luke chapter 6. How are we to interpret these blessings and woes? To whom are they addressed? Is this Luke’s version of the Beatitudes that we find in Matthew chapter 5? Before we address…
I Corinthians 13:7 — Cynicism is the inclination to believe that people are motivated purely by self-interest. A cynical person is overly skeptical, constantly distrustful and generally pessimistic. We live at a deeply cynical time in history. People are more distrustful and contemptuous of institutions than ever before. Unfortunately this attitude can find its way into…
Luke 6:17-19 — Jesus came down the mountain with his freshly chosen apostles and was immediately met by a great multitude. Many in the crowd were sick and disabled, some were troubled by evil spirits. They pressed in upon Jesus hoping just to touch him and thereby receive healing. How would Jesus respond to this…
Colossians 3:3-4 — A belief in the return of Jesus Christ is definitional to the Christian faith and it’s what Paul talks about in the second half of this text. His return is the consummation of His redemptive work and the end of our salvation. When He appears in glory so will we. Our everlasting…
Colossians 3:3-4 — After an extended break we pick up our study through Paul’s letter to the Colossians and we come to a section where Paul explains why Christians should look and live heavenwards. He then moves to talk about our everlasting life and why it is secure forever. We hope the truth unfolded in…
I Kings 21:1-16 — Letters had come from the queen to the elders of Jezreel. It was her wish that an innocent man be falsely accused and executed. They complied and Naboth died. Why did these leaders do what Jezebel wanted? How will we respond when we are pressured to do something that violates our…