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Helping you connect with God. Every day. Every way. Read along with today's devotional: https://www.odbm.org/en/devotionals/devotional-category/out-from-the-dark Want to get Our Daily Bread's daily devotionals delivered to your inbox or mailbox? Subscribe for free here: https://odbm.org. Our Daily Bread Ministries helps millions of people connect with God each day. For more than 75 years, our purpose has remained the same: to reach people with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. All Scripture from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted. SUPPORT Our Daily Bread Your generous support helps us make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to people around the world. https://donations.ourdailybread.org/intm9.html?motivation=INTM9 More Podcasts from Our Daily Bread: Discover the Word: https://www.discovertheword.org God Hears Her: https://www.godhearsher.org/podcast Ways To Connect With Us: Facebook: https://facebook.com/ourdailybread Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourdailybread/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourdailybread Print Subscription: https://odb.org/getprint App: https://odb.org/mobile-resources Web: https://odbm.org #ourdailybread #dailydevotional #bible
Helping you connect with God. Every day. Every way. Read along with today's devotional: https://www.odbm.org/en/devotionals/devotional-category/a-leap-of-faith Want to get Our Daily Bread's daily devotionals delivered to your inbox or mailbox? Subscribe for free here: https://odbm.org. Our Daily Bread Ministries helps millions of people connect with God each day. For more than 75 years, our purpose has remained the same: to reach people with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. All Scripture from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted. SUPPORT Our Daily Bread Your generous support helps us make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to people around the world. https://donations.ourdailybread.org/intm9.html?motivation=INTM9 More Podcasts from Our Daily Bread: Discover the Word: https://www.discovertheword.org God Hears Her: https://www.godhearsher.org/podcast Ways To Connect With Us: Facebook: https://facebook.com/ourdailybread Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourdailybread/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourdailybread Print Subscription: https://odb.org/getprint App: https://odb.org/mobile-resources Web: https://odbm.org #ourdailybread #dailydevotional #bible
This is the audio from the September 30, 2025 social media broadcast of encouragement and prayer by Impact Prayer Ministry’s director, Tom Lemler. ~ “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy […]
Zechariah 6:20-23 (Many peoples shall come to seek the Lord in Jerusalem) 2 Timothy 3:14-17 (All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching)
Helping you connect with God. Every day. Every way. Read along with today's devotional: https://www.odbm.org/en/devotionals/devotional-category/christs-resurrection-power Want to get Our Daily Bread's daily devotionals delivered to your inbox or mailbox? Subscribe for free here: https://odbm.org. Our Daily Bread Ministries helps millions of people connect with God each day. For more than 75 years, our purpose has remained the same: to reach people with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. All Scripture from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted. SUPPORT Our Daily Bread Your generous support helps us make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to people around the world. https://donations.ourdailybread.org/intm9.html?motivation=INTM9 More Podcasts from Our Daily Bread: Discover the Word: https://www.discovertheword.org God Hears Her: https://www.godhearsher.org/podcast Ways To Connect With Us: Facebook: https://facebook.com/ourdailybread Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourdailybread/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourdailybread Print Subscription: https://odb.org/getprint App: https://odb.org/mobile-resources Web: https://odbm.org #ourdailybread #dailydevotional #bible
This is the audio from the September 29, 2025 social media broadcast of encouragement and prayer by Impact Prayer Ministry’s director, Tom Lemler. ~ “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy […]
~ This is the audio from the September 28, 2025 sermon, “Knowing the Bible: God’s Word!”, shared by Tom Lemler at the Deer Run Church of Christ. Text: 2 Timothy 3:14-17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be […]
Helping you connect with God. Every day. Every way. Read along with today's devotional: https://www.odbm.org/en/devotionals/devotional-category/gods-way-home Want to get Our Daily Bread's daily devotionals delivered to your inbox or mailbox? Subscribe for free here: https://odbm.org. Our Daily Bread Ministries helps millions of people connect with God each day. For more than 75 years, our purpose has remained the same: to reach people with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. All Scripture from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted. SUPPORT Our Daily Bread Your generous support helps us make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to people around the world. https://donations.ourdailybread.org/intm9.html?motivation=INTM9 More Podcasts from Our Daily Bread: Discover the Word: https://www.discovertheword.org God Hears Her: https://www.godhearsher.org/podcast Ways To Connect With Us: Facebook: https://facebook.com/ourdailybread Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourdailybread/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourdailybread Print Subscription: https://odb.org/getprint App: https://odb.org/mobile-resources Web: https://odbm.org #ourdailybread #dailydevotional #bible
Helping you connect with God. Every day. Every way. Read along with today's devotional: https://www.odbm.org/en/devotionals/devotional-category/god-never-leaves-us Want to get Our Daily Bread's daily devotionals delivered to your inbox or mailbox? Subscribe for free here: https://odbm.org. Our Daily Bread Ministries helps millions of people connect with God each day. For more than 75 years, our purpose has remained the same: to reach people with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. All Scripture from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted. SUPPORT Our Daily Bread Your generous support helps us make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to people around the world. https://donations.ourdailybread.org/intm9.html?motivation=INTM9 More Podcasts from Our Daily Bread: Discover the Word: https://www.discovertheword.org God Hears Her: https://www.godhearsher.org/podcast Ways To Connect With Us: Facebook: https://facebook.com/ourdailybread Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourdailybread/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourdailybread Print Subscription: https://odb.org/getprint App: https://odb.org/mobile-resources Web: https://odbm.org #ourdailybread #dailydevotional #bible
Helping you connect with God. Every day. Every way. Read along with today's devotional: https://www.odbm.org/en/devotionals/devotional-category/beauty-out-of-tragedy Want to get Our Daily Bread's daily devotionals delivered to your inbox or mailbox? Subscribe for free here: https://odbm.org. Our Daily Bread Ministries helps millions of people connect with God each day. For more than 75 years, our purpose has remained the same: to reach people with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. All Scripture from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted. SUPPORT Our Daily Bread Your generous support helps us make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to people around the world. https://donations.ourdailybread.org/intm9.html?motivation=INTM9 More Podcasts from Our Daily Bread: Discover the Word: https://www.discovertheword.org God Hears Her: https://www.godhearsher.org/podcast Ways To Connect With Us: Facebook: https://facebook.com/ourdailybread Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourdailybread/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourdailybread Print Subscription: https://odb.org/getprint App: https://odb.org/mobile-resources Web: https://odbm.org #ourdailybread #dailydevotional #bible
Series: RootedWeek 3 Title: God Speaks, Are You Listening?Scripture: Hebrews 1:1–3; John 1:1,14,18; John 16:12–15; Acts 13:2; Proverbs 11:14; Hebrews 10:24–25Big Idea: God is not silent. He has spoken most clearly through Jesus Christ, and He continues to speak through His Spirit and His people.I. God Speaks Through His SonIn the past, God spoke through prophets and visions (Hebrews 1:1).Now, He has spoken most clearly through Jesus (Hebrews 1:2–3).Jesus is the Word made flesh (John 1:14).All Scripture points to Him (John 5:39–40).To see and hear Jesus is to see and hear the very Word of God.II. God Speaks Through His SpiritThe Spirit convicts, reveals truth, glorifies Jesus, and guides believers (John 16:8,13–14).The Spirit actively leads God's people (Acts 8, Acts 10, Acts 13, Acts 16).The Spirit convicts while the enemy accuses.The Spirit reveals truth while the enemy confuses.The Spirit glorifies Jesus while the enemy glorifies self.III. God Speaks Through His PeopleWise counsel (Proverbs 11:14; 15:22).Encouragement and healing (Proverbs 12:25; 16:24).Influence (1 Corinthians 15:33).The early church devoted themselves to teaching, fellowship, prayer, and encouragement (Acts 2:42; Hebrews 10:24–25).Following Jesus is not a solo pursuit; we need each other to hear God's voice.IV. Application / ChallengeDon't overcomplicate the divine—God is speaking clearly.Ask: Are you in His Word? Are you listening to His Spirit? Are you walking with His people?God speaks. The question is: are you listening?
Helping you connect with God. Every day. Every way. Read along with today's devotional: https://www.odbm.org/en/devotionals/devotional-category/god-our-trustworthy-refuge Want to get Our Daily Bread's daily devotionals delivered to your inbox or mailbox? Subscribe for free here: https://odbm.org. Our Daily Bread Ministries helps millions of people connect with God each day. For more than 75 years, our purpose has remained the same: to reach people with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. All Scripture from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted. SUPPORT Our Daily Bread Your generous support helps us make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to people around the world. https://donations.ourdailybread.org/intm9.html?motivation=INTM9 More Podcasts from Our Daily Bread: Discover the Word: https://www.discovertheword.org God Hears Her: https://www.godhearsher.org/podcast Ways To Connect With Us: Facebook: https://facebook.com/ourdailybread Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourdailybread/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourdailybread Print Subscription: https://odb.org/getprint App: https://odb.org/mobile-resources Web: https://odbm.org #ourdailybread #dailydevotional #bible
Helping you connect with God. Every day. Every way. Read along with today's devotional: https://www.odbm.org/en/devotionals/devotional-category/coincidences-and-gods-care Want to get Our Daily Bread's daily devotionals delivered to your inbox or mailbox? Subscribe for free here: https://odbm.org. Our Daily Bread Ministries helps millions of people connect with God each day. For more than 75 years, our purpose has remained the same: to reach people with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. All Scripture from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted. SUPPORT Our Daily Bread Your generous support helps us make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to people around the world. https://donations.ourdailybread.org/intm9.html?motivation=INTM9 More Podcasts from Our Daily Bread: Discover the Word: https://www.discovertheword.org God Hears Her: https://www.godhearsher.org/podcast Ways To Connect With Us: Facebook: https://facebook.com/ourdailybread Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourdailybread/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourdailybread Print Subscription: https://odb.org/getprint App: https://odb.org/mobile-resources Web: https://odbm.org #ourdailybread #dailydevotional #bible
Books of the Book: Week 2 - The Book of Jude ### Introduction This week's sermon delves into the **Book of Jude**, exploring its profound relevance for modern believers. Despite being one of the shortest books in the Bible, Jude's message is powerful and urgent, calling Christians to contend for their faith amidst ancient and contemporary challenges. ### The Importance of Scripture The sermon begins by emphasizing the foundational role of Scripture in the life of a believer. Echoing the words of Jesus, "Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God," and Paul in **2 Timothy 3:16**, which states, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." This underscores the necessity of engaging with all of God's word to be equipped for every good work. ### Understanding Jude Jude, Jesus's half-brother, addresses his letter to those who have come to God through faith in Jesus Christ. Despite his familial connection to Jesus, Jude identifies himself foremost as a servant of Christ, highlighting humility and obedience over personal prestige. The core of Jude's message is a call to "contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God's holy people" (**Jude 1:3**). This faith, established through Jesus' death on the cross, is unchanging and must be defended against distortion. ### The Threat of False Teachings Jude warns against individuals who have infiltrated the church, perverting the grace of God into a license for immorality and denying Jesus Christ as Lord (**Jude 1:4**). He references historical examples of rebellion against God, such as the Israelites who were delivered from Egypt but later judged for unbelief, the fallen angels, and the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (**Jude 1:5-7**). These false teachers are described as dangerous and destructive, akin to "clouds without rain" and "autumn trees without fruit" (**Jude 1:12-13**). They are accused of leading believers astray by promoting a message that cheapens grace and denies the call to righteousness. ### Call to Action Jude's letter is not just a warning but a call to action. Believers are urged to: - **Build themselves up in their most holy faith** - **Pray in the Holy Spirit** - **Keep themselves in God's love** - **Show mercy to those who doubt** - **Save others by snatching them from the fire** These actions are crucial for personal growth and maintaining the faith community's integrity. ### Conclusion The sermon concludes with a prayer for strength and wisdom to contend for the faith with mercy and love. It emphasizes the church's responsibility to uphold the truth of Scripture and to resist the divisive and destructive influences of false teachings. In a world where beliefs and morals are constantly challenged, Jude's message is a timeless reminder of the importance of standing firm in the faith "once for all delivered to the saints" (**Jude 1:3**). As believers, we are called to be pillars of truth, reflecting God's mercy and grace to a world in need of hope and salvation.
Helping you connect with God. Every day. Every way. Read along with today's devotional: https://www.odbm.org/en/devotionals/devotional-category/saving-lives Want to get Our Daily Bread's daily devotionals delivered to your inbox or mailbox? Subscribe for free here: https://odbm.org. Our Daily Bread Ministries helps millions of people connect with God each day. For more than 75 years, our purpose has remained the same: to reach people with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. All Scripture from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted. SUPPORT Our Daily Bread Your generous support helps us make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to people around the world. https://donations.ourdailybread.org/intm9.html?motivation=INTM9 More Podcasts from Our Daily Bread: Discover the Word: https://www.discovertheword.org God Hears Her: https://www.godhearsher.org/podcast Ways To Connect With Us: Facebook: https://facebook.com/ourdailybread Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourdailybread/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourdailybread Print Subscription: https://odb.org/getprint App: https://odb.org/mobile-resources Web: https://odbm.org #ourdailybread #dailydevotional #bible
On Sunday we ended our When in Doubt series with Paul's words to Timothy: “All Scripture is God-breathed and useful… so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17)Here's a thought I didn't get to share: our culture often treats truth like a playlist—you just add or skip depending on your mood. But Paul insists truth isn't curated by us, it's breathed by God. Which means the Bible isn't just one voice among many competing for attention; it is the voice that makes sense of all the others. If we sideline it, we don't just lose information—we lose orientation.That's why Paul pictures Scripture as equipping us, like a soldier with armor or a ship with supplies. You and I are not sent into Monday empty-handed. God has given us His Word as a compass that cuts through the spin, the noise, and the deception. And the more we steep ourselves in it, the more it points us beyond itself—to Jesus, the Word made flesh.
Helping you connect with God. Every day. Every way. Read along with today's devotional: https://www.odbm.org/en/devotionals/devotional-category/recognizing-jesus Want to get Our Daily Bread's daily devotionals delivered to your inbox or mailbox? Subscribe for free here: https://odbm.org. Our Daily Bread Ministries helps millions of people connect with God each day. For more than 75 years, our purpose has remained the same: to reach people with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. All Scripture from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted. SUPPORT Our Daily Bread Your generous support helps us make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to people around the world. https://donations.ourdailybread.org/intm9.html?motivation=INTM9 More Podcasts from Our Daily Bread: Discover the Word: https://www.discovertheword.org God Hears Her: https://www.godhearsher.org/podcast Ways To Connect With Us: Facebook: https://facebook.com/ourdailybread Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourdailybread/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourdailybread Print Subscription: https://odb.org/getprint App: https://odb.org/mobile-resources Web: https://odbm.org #ourdailybread #dailydevotional #bible
Whiskey Review: Maker's Mark 101 Special Proof Follow us on all your podcast platforms and: Instagram: @manhoodneat X: Manhood Neat (@ManhoodNeat) / X Youtube: Manhood, Neat Podcast - YouTube Reach out: manhood.neat@gmail.com Show Notes: What if the health of your church isn't measured by its size or popularity, but by how faithfully its leaders shepherd the flock? In a world of shifting cultural winds, why does the Bible insist on structured leadership? Overview why church leadership matters, its God-ordained roles in teaching, correcting, sending, and encouraging; the unyielding accountability to Scripture over congregational whims the necessity of ongoing biblical evaluation; and a snapshot of biblical church "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11-12, ESV). "The true shepherd is one who leads the flock by going before it, not by driving it from behind." – Charles Spurgeon Section 1: Why Church Leadership and Its Structure Are So Important Key Statement: Church leadership isn't optional—it's God's blueprint for unity, growth, and protection against chaos. Without it, the church drifts into individualism or cultural compromise. Points: Leadership provides direction in a fallen world, preventing division 1 Corinthians 1:10: "I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you". Structure ensures accountability and order, mirroring God's order in creation and the Trinity. Historical context: The early church exploded in growth under apostolic leadership (Acts 2:42-47), but faltered when structure was ignored (Corinth's factions in 1 Corinthians). "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account" (Hebrews 13:17, ESV) leaders as soul-watchmen. "The church is not a debating society but a body under authority." – John Stott highlighting the need for structured submission for spiritual flourishing. Share a brief anecdote of a church thriving under strong leadership vs. one fractured by leaderless drift. Section 2: The Roles of Church Leadership – Teaching, Correcting, Sending, and Encouraging. Teaching – Grounding in Truth Leaders proclaim sound doctrine to build mature believers. "You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:1-2, ESV). "The pulpit is the Thermopylae of Christendom." – J.C. Ryle underscoring teaching as the church's frontline defense. Correcting – Restoring the Wayward Gentle yet firm rebuke to prevent sin's spread, fostering holiness. "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16, ESV). "Correction does much, but encouragement does more. Encouragement after censure is as the sun after a shower." – John Wesley balancing correction with grace. Sending – Equipping for Mission Leaders commission members outward, advancing the gospel. "While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them'" (Acts 13:2, ESV) the Antioch church sending Paul and Barnabas. "The church exists for the salvation of the world." – Lesslie Newbigin, reminding leaders to propel the church beyond its walls. Encouraging – Building Up the Weary Sustaining hope amid trials, spurring one another on. "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing" (1 Thessalonians 5:11, ESV). "A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success." – Unknown Which role have you seen most in your church? Least? These roles are powerful, but they're only effective when leaders anchor them in something unchanging Leadership's Accountability – To the Gospel and Bible, Not Congregational Feelings True leaders serve God first, resisting the temptation to pander for approval, which dilutes the gospel. Points: Accountability to Christ ensures fidelity to truth, even if unpopular Galatians 1:10: "For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ". Dangers of emotion-driven decisions: Leads to moral relativism and church splits. Paul's farewell charge Acts 20:24: "But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus". "Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching" (2 Timothy 4:2, ESV) unwavering proclamation. "The pastor must be a man of conviction, not convenience." – A.W. Tozer warning against crowd-pleasing. Have you witnessed leaders prioritizing feelings over the Gospel?" Section 4: The Crucial Need for Constant Evaluation of Traditions and Practices Churches must regularly test their customs against Scripture to avoid idolatry of tradition, ensuring relevance and purity. Points: Traditions can ossify into legalism if unchecked Mark 7:8: "You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men". Benefits: Renewal, unity, and gospel-centeredness. Model: The Bereans Acts 17:11: "Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so". "Test everything; hold fast what is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21, ESV). "Tradition is the living faith of the dead; traditionalism is the dead faith of the living." – Jaroslav Pelikan distinguishing helpful heritage from harmful habit. Encourage listeners to start a "Berean group" in their church for verse-by-verse checks. Section 5: A Brief Overview of Biblical Church Structure The New Testament envisions a simple, plural, servant-hearted model: Plurality of elders (overseers/pastors) for spiritual oversight, deacons for practical service, all under Christ's headship. Roles ( we will break these down in upcoming Episodes further): Elders: Plural, qualified men leading by teaching and example (1 Timothy 5:17: "Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching" Deacons: Servants handling logistics to free elders for prayer and word (1 Timothy 3:8-13). Congregation's Role: Active participation in discipline, giving, and mutual edification (Matthew 18:15-17; 1 Corinthians 14:26). No CEO-style hierarchy; mutual accountability and local autonomy. "Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God" (Acts 20:28, ESV). "The New Testament knows nothing of a one-man ministry." – John Piper advocating elder plurality. Does your church match this?
Helping you connect with God. Every day. Every way. Read along with today's devotional: https://www.odbm.org/en/devotionals/devotional-category/peace-with-god Want to get Our Daily Bread's daily devotionals delivered to your inbox or mailbox? Subscribe for free here: https://odbm.org. Our Daily Bread Ministries helps millions of people connect with God each day. For more than 75 years, our purpose has remained the same: to reach people with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. All Scripture from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted. SUPPORT Our Daily Bread Your generous support helps us make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to people around the world. https://donations.ourdailybread.org/intm9.html?motivation=INTM9 More Podcasts from Our Daily Bread: Discover the Word: https://www.discovertheword.org God Hears Her: https://www.godhearsher.org/podcast Ways To Connect With Us: Facebook: https://facebook.com/ourdailybread Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourdailybread/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourdailybread Print Subscription: https://odb.org/getprint App: https://odb.org/mobile-resources Web: https://odbm.org #ourdailybread #dailydevotional #bible
“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16–17 NLT) Over the next few days, we’re going to address some frequently asked questions about the Christian faith. It’s likely that none of these questions will be new to you. You’ve probably heard them—or maybe even asked them yourself—more than once. I want to emphasize that these questions are valid. They often indicate a thoughtful approach to the Christian faith. But sometimes questions are nothing more than a smokescreen—a way of deflecting the truth of the gospel. They are excuses for not making a decision for Christ. With that in mind, let’s proceed. In Isaiah 1:18, God says, “Come now, and let us reason together” (NKJV). Christianity is a logical faith. It was only after I became a Christian that the world began to make sense to me. Prior to becoming a believer, I thought that mankind was basically good. And I really struggled with the horrible things that people did to people. But after I became a believer and discovered that the Bible teaches that mankind is sinful, I began to understand. I also discovered that God can change the human heart. Becoming a Christian doesn’t mean you have to check your brain at the door. Bring your questions, even the tough ones. Find out what God says in His Word. Of course, if we’re going to search for answers in God’s Word, we need to be able to trust it. So, our first question is: How do we know the Bible is true? We can point to its amazing origin. The Bible is actually sixty-six different books written over a span of 1,500 years by some forty different authors from every walk of life, including kings, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, poets, statesmen, and scholars. Yet every one of them wrote about the same theme, God’s redemption of mankind. Because God Himself directed their words. We can point to archaeology. For many years, scholars used archaeology to argue that the Bible was unreliable. They could find no evidence of certain names, places, and events mentioned in Scripture. As archaeologists uncover more and more of the ancient world, however, they are discovering that the Bible is quite accurate. We can point to prophecy, specifically prophecies about the Messiah. Jesus fulfilled many Old Testament prophecies—including being born of a virgin, being born in Bethlehem, and being crucified—centuries after the prophecies were made. Perhaps most importantly, we can point to what the Bible says about how to know God and how to live in these troubled, crazy times. It’s the only book that speaks with authority in this realm. And it’s the only book whose promises resonate deep within us. Ultimately, the best way to discover that the Bible is true is to experience its truths in your own life. Reflection question: How have you experienced the Bible truths in your own life? Discuss Today's Devo in Harvest Discipleship! — The audio production of the podcast "Daily Devotions from Greg Laurie" utilizes Generative AI technology. This allows us to deliver consistent, high-quality content while preserving Harvest's mission to "know God and make Him known."All devotional content is written and owned by Pastor Greg Laurie. Listen to the Greg Laurie Podcast Become a Harvest PartnerSupport the show: https://harvest.org/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Helping you connect with God. Every day. Every way. Read along with today's devotional: https://www.odbm.org/en/devotionals/devotional-category/the-sweetness-of-scripture Want to get Our Daily Bread's daily devotionals delivered to your inbox or mailbox? Subscribe for free here: https://odbm.org. Our Daily Bread Ministries helps millions of people connect with God each day. For more than 75 years, our purpose has remained the same: to reach people with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. All Scripture from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted. SUPPORT Our Daily Bread Your generous support helps us make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to people around the world. https://donations.ourdailybread.org/intm9.html?motivation=INTM9 More Podcasts from Our Daily Bread: Discover the Word: https://www.discovertheword.org God Hears Her: https://www.godhearsher.org/podcast Ways To Connect With Us: Facebook: https://facebook.com/ourdailybread Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourdailybread/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourdailybread Print Subscription: https://odb.org/getprint App: https://odb.org/mobile-resources Web: https://odbm.org #ourdailybread #dailydevotional #bible
Helping you connect with God. Every day. Every way. Read along with today's devotional: https://www.odbm.org/en/devotionals/devotional-category/the-change-christ-brings Want to get Our Daily Bread's daily devotionals delivered to your inbox or mailbox? Subscribe for free here: https://odbm.org. Our Daily Bread Ministries helps millions of people connect with God each day. For more than 75 years, our purpose has remained the same: to reach people with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. All Scripture from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted. SUPPORT Our Daily Bread Your generous support helps us make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to people around the world. https://donations.ourdailybread.org/intm9.html?motivation=INTM9 More Podcasts from Our Daily Bread: Discover the Word: https://www.discovertheword.org God Hears Her: https://www.godhearsher.org/podcast Ways To Connect With Us: Facebook: https://facebook.com/ourdailybread Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourdailybread/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourdailybread Print Subscription: https://odb.org/getprint App: https://odb.org/mobile-resources Web: https://odbm.org #ourdailybread #dailydevotional #bible
Helping you connect with God. Every day. Every way. Read along with today's devotional: https://www.odbm.org/en/devotionals/devotional-category/of-megalodons-and-leviathan Want to get Our Daily Bread's daily devotionals delivered to your inbox or mailbox? Subscribe for free here: https://odbm.org. Our Daily Bread Ministries helps millions of people connect with God each day. For more than 75 years, our purpose has remained the same: to reach people with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. All Scripture from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted. SUPPORT Our Daily Bread Your generous support helps us make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to people around the world. https://donations.ourdailybread.org/intm9.html?motivation=INTM9 More Podcasts from Our Daily Bread: Discover the Word: https://www.discovertheword.org God Hears Her: https://www.godhearsher.org/podcast Ways To Connect With Us: Facebook: https://facebook.com/ourdailybread Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourdailybread/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourdailybread Print Subscription: https://odb.org/getprint App: https://odb.org/mobile-resources Web: https://odbm.org #ourdailybread #dailydevotional #bible
It's our story with God, but do we really know it? These are stories so many of us have heard since we were tiny humans. This season we will take some time to revisit these childhood stories and go deeper into their true meanings. No more surface level learning for us! Scripture References 2 Timothy 3:16–17 – All Scripture is God-breathed and equips us. Luke 24:27 – Jesus shows that all Scripture points to Him. 1 Corinthians 10:11 – These things were written as examples for us. Main Takeaways - God as Creator of order and intimacy. - The fall fractured creation and humanity. - The first gospel promise in Genesis 3:15. Reflection Questions Which Bible story from childhood do you remember most vividly? How has your understanding of that story changed as an adult? What do you hope to gain by diving deeper into these familiar stories? Resources Mentioned Reading plan is found at: https://www.chrystanferrell.com/podcast Connect with Chrystan Website: www.chrystanferrell.com Instagram: www.instagram.com/chrystanferrell Tik Tok: @chrystanferrell Facebook: https: www.facebook.com/ChrystanFerrellFaith
Helping you connect with God. Every day. Every way. Read along with today's devotional: https://www.odbm.org/en/devotionals/devotional-category/gods-strength Want to get Our Daily Bread's daily devotionals delivered to your inbox or mailbox? Subscribe for free here: https://odbm.org. Our Daily Bread Ministries helps millions of people connect with God each day. For more than 75 years, our purpose has remained the same: to reach people with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. All Scripture from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted. SUPPORT Our Daily Bread Your generous support helps us make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to people around the world. https://donations.ourdailybread.org/intm9.html?motivation=INTM9 More Podcasts from Our Daily Bread: Discover the Word: https://www.discovertheword.org God Hears Her: https://www.godhearsher.org/podcast Ways To Connect With Us: Facebook: https://facebook.com/ourdailybread Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourdailybread/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourdailybread Print Subscription: https://odb.org/getprint App: https://odb.org/mobile-resources Web: https://odbm.org #ourdailybread #dailydevotional #bible
How can you tell if a teaching lines up with God’s truth? In this devotional, we explore how reading the Bible protects us from false teaching and equips us to recognize deception before it takes root. By understanding Scripture deeply, we can confidently discern God’s truth and avoid being led astray by misleading doctrines and counterfeit beliefs. ✨ Highlights Why studying the Bible is key to recognizing false teachers How God’s Word exposes manipulation, error, and deception Practical ways to hide God’s Word in your heart How the Holy Spirit guides us in discerning spiritual truth Scriptures to help strengthen your faith and guard against lies
“You teach what you know, but you reproduce what you are.” Howard HendricksIn this episode, Pastor Eric and Andy look at the pour, the fill, and the overflow of discipleship. Every disciple needs someone pouring into them, so that they can be filled up, and then overflow into others.
“You teach what you know, but you reproduce what you are.” Howard HendricksIn this episode, Pastor Eric and Andy look at the pour, the fill, and the overflow of discipleship. Every disciple needs someone pouring into them, so that they can be filled up, and then overflow into others.
Helping you connect with God. Every day. Every way. Read along with today's devotional: https://www.odbm.org/en/devotionals/devotional-category/overcoming-evil-with-good Want to get Our Daily Bread's daily devotionals delivered to your inbox or mailbox? Subscribe for free here: https://odbm.org. Our Daily Bread Ministries helps millions of people connect with God each day. For more than 75 years, our purpose has remained the same: to reach people with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. All Scripture from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted. SUPPORT Our Daily Bread Your generous support helps us make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to people around the world. https://donations.ourdailybread.org/intm9.html?motivation=INTM9 More Podcasts from Our Daily Bread: Discover the Word: https://www.discovertheword.org God Hears Her: https://www.godhearsher.org/podcast Ways To Connect With Us: Facebook: https://facebook.com/ourdailybread Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourdailybread/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourdailybread Print Subscription: https://odb.org/getprint App: https://odb.org/mobile-resources Web: https://odbm.org #ourdailybread #dailydevotional #bible
Helping you connect with God. Every day. Every way. Read along with today's devotional: https://www.odbm.org/en/devotionals/devotional-category/making-disciples-for-christ Want to get Our Daily Bread's daily devotionals delivered to your inbox or mailbox? Subscribe for free here: https://odbm.org. Our Daily Bread Ministries helps millions of people connect with God each day. For more than 75 years, our purpose has remained the same: to reach people with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. All Scripture from the New International Version, unless otherwise noted. SUPPORT Our Daily Bread Your generous support helps us make the life-changing wisdom of the Bible understandable and accessible to people around the world. https://donations.ourdailybread.org/intm9.html?motivation=INTM9 More Podcasts from Our Daily Bread: Discover the Word: https://www.discovertheword.org God Hears Her: https://www.godhearsher.org/podcast Ways To Connect With Us: Facebook: https://facebook.com/ourdailybread Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourdailybread/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/ourdailybread Print Subscription: https://odb.org/getprint App: https://odb.org/mobile-resources Web: https://odbm.org #ourdailybread #dailydevotional #bible
Sermon Title - The Biggest Sinner of All Scripture - 1 Timothy 1:12-17 What happens when we feel inspired by the Holy Spirit but unqualified or unworthy to do anything about it? The self-proclaimed “biggest sinner of all” has some thoughts.
Group Guide Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week. TranscriptGood morning. My name is Spencer. I am one of the pastors here. We started a new series last week. We finished up First Samuel. We'll get back to Second Samuel in the new year. We started a series called Remember where We Are Remembering. We are walking through what it looks like to be a member here as we walk through our membership commitment. So we're taking the next few months to walk through this commitment. Normally, as we study through books of the Bible, we get to look at the text and follow along with what God is doing in his redemptive story in this world. But this is something where we get to walk through 14 membership commitments that we have written that our membership abides by and see where these actually come from, the scriptures, to see why we believe these things and why it is good to be bound by these beliefs together as a church, as we seek to be a gospel centered community on mission. So this commitment actually a lot of ways, when you read it, actually functions a lot like a discipleship game plan. And that's one of the things that we'll see over the next couple of months that this is if you want to figure out who we're called to be and how we're called to make disciples. These 14 statements kind of provide an outline for that. So if you're new and you've been coming around for a bit, this is actually a very good time to walk with us as we walk through this membership commitment to see the things that bind us together in belief and practice. But if you've been here for a few years, my hope is that this would be an encouragement, that this would be a shot in the arm. This would be galvanizing. This would help us remember why we commit to be members of this church and what we hope to do. So what we're going to do is look at two statements this morning. The first two statements that are foundational for really the rest of the statements that flow out of them. So we're going to see these first two foundational statements. But let me tell you first about how 98 people lost their lives a few years ago. So a few years ago in Florida, there was a condo building that collapsed. I mean, it just looked like a demolition. It just completely collapsed. And 98 people instantly lost their lives. And I remember watching the video from that. I remember me kind of echoing the same sentiments that so many people have, which is, how in the world does that happen in America in 2021? Like, how is it possible for an entire building to just collapse? And everyone was like, I mean, you've seen throughout history, this has happened with different buildings, but with all the building codes, all the things we have here, how does a building just fall? And as they started to do the studies on it, it became very clear that what happened with this building is what happens with a lot of buildings over time. But the foundation of this building was not sound. It seemed they had cut corners. It seemed they had neglected things, and the foundation was crumbling, and it was unable to support the weight of everything above it. And when they did this, when they neglected the foundation of this building, catastrophe ensued. It was a disaster. It was awful. And I can think of no better metaphor than to think about what happens if you build your life upon the wrong foundation. That as you think about faith, what it means to build your life on the wrong beliefs. Because if you do not have a solid foundation to build your faith upon, it will crumble under the weight of everything above will not last. It will break and it will fall. And these first two commitments are unbelievably important to us. They're important for us. They are the foundation upon which we build the rest of our faith. So we're going to walk through these two commitments. We're going to see how important they are, because they are how we view the Bible and how we view our God. So let me pray, and then we'll walk through this together.Heavenly Father, I pray that you might help us either discover or for some of us, rediscover what it means to be a people that build our lives upon you. And may that be so compelling to our hearts that we not just be hearers of the Word, but we would be doers of the Word in responding in faith and in repentance and reorienting our lives in a way that honor you. In Jesus name, Amen.All right, so we're gonna get this first. Commitment number one. The Bible is God's inerrant revelation of Himself to us. And I accept it as the authority over my life. Life. That's the Bible. The first 60 or the 66 books in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. If there's a blue Bible around you, that's it. That that Bible is God's inerrant, meaning it is truthful, it is trustworthy, the inerrant revelation of Himself to us that God reveals Himself to us in His Word. It's how we know God. And I accept it as the authority over my life, meaning I submit myself to this God through His Word and trusting him and believing him and being obedient. To his will. That's what this commitment says. And some will ask, wait a second, why are you starting with the Bible? Why don't you start with God? Why would you elevate the Bible above God? That seems out of order. And I could understand how it may seem that way. When you read a lot of systematic theologies, which are just theology textbooks that have organized our beliefs in a way that's systematic. That's why it's called systematic theology, you guys. In case you didn't know, they start with the Word. And the reason why is because before we get to who God is, we have to start with a baseline. How do we actually know who this God is to begin with? How can we actually know Him? What is our source? Now, there are two sources for how God reveals Himself to us. The first is what's called general revelation. This is creation revealing who our God is. That when you look at the Milky Way, that when you look at the Grand Canyon, when you feel that there's something bigger than yourself and you feel small and you start to see someone had to have made this. That is how God reveals Himself generally. Romans chapter one captures this in verses 19 and 20.> because what may be known of God is plain to them, for God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Romans 1:19–20 ESV)What we see in that is this reality that the heavens, the stars, the beautiful mountains and valleys and sea and rivers, all of it in its grandness, reveals the. The invisible attributes of God, namely His divine power, that a creator made this, that feeling that everyone feels that's built into us because God has revealed Himself through creation. When you read Psalm 19, which is a psalm that regularly shows up in our call to worship, the first half of that psalm is picturing how God reveals himself to creation, how it shows his glory. So that's one way God reveals himself. The second way is what's called special revelation. This is how God specifically specially reveals Himself to us through His Word, through the Scriptures, through from Genesis to revelation, these 66 books in the Bible. And that's how we get to know God. Specifically the Book of Hebrews, which is a New Testament letter that is capturing how Christ fulfills the old covenant. So it very helpfully ties together the Old Testament and the New Testament.> Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. (Hebrews 1:1–2 ESV)Then we get this picture of he talks about our fathers by the prophets. That is the Old Testament, that God spoke through the prophets. That's how we have the Old Testament, the Old Covenant. But in the new covenant of Christ, Jesus speaks. And when you play that out, what that is is the Gospels, the recordings of Jesus teachings. And then the apostles who God used to write Scripture to. We saw this last week to churches in the New Testament, to people of the New Testament. These are the apostles who carried the teachings of Christ with them and God spoke through them to us. The Old, the New Covenant together, the Old and New Testament. This is God's word to us that reveal more of who God is in a way that creation cannot, in a way that is powerful. In 2 Timothy 3, 16, 17, it says all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training and righteousness. That the man of God may be complete equipped for every good work.> All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV)That language of breathed out. That's where we get the word inspired. That God inspires through men his eternal wonderful truth. And God uses this to bring us into faith. But he uses this to teach, to reproof, to correct, to train us in righteousness that we may be equipped for every good work that God has called us to do. The Scriptures are powerful and they are true. That God has spoken truthfully. We use the phrase inerrant means devoid of any error. This is something we've taught for years in our church. We've talked over and over again about how God speaks truthfully, that our Bibles are trustworthy. And after teaching this for years, this is something that actually in our membership commitment, we've added this word inerrant. And we'll talk about this at family meeting to help clarify. This is something that we've always believed and it's something we should build our faith upon to trust God that when he has spoken, he has spoken truthfully. That certainly there are times in the Bible where it's hard to figure out what this text means versus this text. But as at the end of the day, when the dust settles, we can trust our Bibles unbelievably trustworthy. There's so many people who've dedicated their lives to helping see some of the nuances of how the Greek and the Hebrew were transcribed over time and how it's completely trustworthy. We spent some time in this in the past to help us see that our Bibles are so unbelievably trustworthy. We've looked at some stuff from like, Wesley Huff. We've done some video work on that in the past to help us see that man. There's so much that we can see that we can build our lives upon this as being true. And the Bible testifies to this. We look at Psalm 19, the second half of Psalm 19. It begins in verse 7.> The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. (Psalm 19:7–8 ESV)Law, testimony, precepts, commandment. These are all phrases that mean the word of God. And it is perfect and it is sure and it is right and it is pure. And you'll see this over and over again. The Scriptures are trustworthy. They're reliable. That when God speaks, we can trust him. And not just trust him, but obey him. That we would see him as the authority in our lives. The Scriptures are authoritative. The way God speaks, we respond. So much so that when he says, flee from sexual immorality, we say, yes, my flesh wants this, but I'm going to flee. I'm going to run from this. Because I know ultimately I'm going to trust you over my own desires. That when God says, keep yourself from the love of money and be content with all things, we say, I know that I live in a culture that pushes me to build my life on success, the American dream, but I'm going to run from that. I'm going to keep myself free from that. I'm going to trust you above my own instincts, God. That when God speaks, we respond. This is unbelievably important. This is foundational. Because the Bible has to be part of this foundation that helps us trust who our God is. When he says who he is and it reveals who God is, which is our second commitment that we would know this God commandment number two. The God that scripture reveals has existed forever as a trinity. God the Father, God the Son, Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit.So the God that scripture, that's the Bible that you have reveals, just talked about, has existed forever, meaning that God is outside of time in a way that breaks our brain. That time is a linear thing that he has created and eternity past, which we don't know how that works. God forever existed. He exists in outside of time. And when time ends after time and eternity future, God forever exists, which again, we don't Know how that works. Our finite minds can't understand that, but has existed forever as a trinity. God the Father, God the Son, Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit. Now, Trinity is not a word you will find in the Bible. It's not a word that you'll see in the Scriptures in the same way that inerrant is not a word you'll find in the Bible. But over time, we've had to. We've had to come up with words and concepts to describe what's happening in the Scripture and also answer false teachings over time. And that's where the doctrine of the Trinity came. In the first few centuries, as the early church fathers were looking at the Scriptures, trying to understand who our God is, we came up with the doctrine of the Trinity, built upon the Scriptures, which just means tri unity, our triune God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, three distinct persons, completely and fully one God. Which, as we try to understand that, again, our brains do not compute. I got three kids, 10, 8, and 6. When we read the Bible together, when we talk through different theological things I'm trying to instill and teach to them, they get to the Trinity and we've had this conversation, and they'll be like, wait a second, wait a second, wait a second. Our God is one, but he's three. But three isn't one. And they just go, what? That doesn't make sense. And I say, welcome to the party. Christians for centuries have sat in the mystery of who our God is, that he is one and that he's three. And, yep, what you're feeling right now is very normal. And there have been ways to try to explain who our God is as a triune God. There's a symbol that's been used for years in church history that I find helpful, and it's been very, very, very common for many centuries. And it helps us see that the Father is God, but the Father is not the Son, and is not the Holy Spirit. And Jesus is God, but he's not the Holy Spirit. He's not the Father. The Holy Spirit is God, but he's not the Father, and he's not the Son, Distinct, but all God. And it's like, what I know. It's hard. It's hard for us to understand it. It's paradoxical. It may seem contradictory to us because we operate in finite rules, in finite order of the universe. Our God is infinite and stands outside of the finite order that he created. So we take this in faith to understand who our God is. And the Church did this. Y' all looking at the Scriptures, looking at Genesis 1:26, it says, then God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness.> Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." (Genesis 1:26 ESV)That is God, us, our in conversation with himself, making humanity in his image. That when Jesus gives the great commission, he says, go therefore, make disciples of all nations baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and of the Holy Spirit.> Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (Matthew 28:19 ESV)That when we baptize people in the name of our God, it is Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Three in one. In the New Testament, when you get to certain sections that are encouragements, you see 1 in 2nd Corinthians 13:14. It says, the grace of the Lord Jesus and the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.> The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Corinthians 13:14 ESV)And it's this language of Father, Son, Holy Spirit, that God the Father, in his deep love for us, sends Christ the Son to be crucified for us to conquer the power of death, of the resurrection, to bestow grace upon us. That the work of the Holy Spirit renews and brings to life in our hearts and carries us through to completion until we see God face to face. This is the work of our triune God. And it's something that the Church has grappled with for a very long time. That's one thing I don't think we appreciate in the modern setting. We don't appreciate that the first few centuries of the Church was really trying to understand this, really trying to get this right, really having big debates and trying to understand our God correctly. And I think we take those battles for granted. I do. We'll try to explain God with cheap illustrations that don't, not only don't do justice, but speak wrongly about our God. I've heard this for years. This is a classic illustration. Some will say that, you know, God is like water, and at room temperature it's a liquid, but when you freeze it, it turns into a solid because it's ice. That's the second form of water. But the third form of water is when you heat it up and it turns into a vapor, it's a gas. So it's all one substance. One substance, but three different forms. And people go, oh, yes, that's a great way to understand it. And church history goes, no, no, no, that's a historical heresy called modalism. One God, three forms. That is not what I just put on the screen earlier. No, that's something the Church fought over for a very long time. To not see as one God and three substances. No, one God, three distinct persons, three and one. And it's hard to wrap our minds around this, but we should go with what the Scriptures give us. We should not try to go outside of it. We should not try to oversimplify this for human understanding. No way. And we should acknowledge those false teachings that get the Trinity wrong and realize that there's danger in that it leads to judgment. That Jehovah's Witness, Mormonism, Oneness, Pentecostals, Christian Scientists, Unitarians, all preach a heretical view of the Trinity and that leads to judgment. We should seek to remember our history and to remember our Bibles, because those versions are not true in any real biblical sense or historical sense at all. The Bible reveals our triune God, that we get to know who he is and all of his mystery and all of his wonder without trying to oversimplify this for our finite minds. I heard a lecture in seminary once. We had a guest lecturer who came in and he was lecturing on Trinitarian theology. And I so appreciated. He was quoting a guy named Gregory of Nazi Ansus as a church father. So don't get humbled on his last name. He's like 3rd, 4th century, so has nothing to do with the Nazis, just has an unfortunate last name for history. But he was quoting Gregory who said, I cannot think on the one without quickly being circled by the splendor of the three, nor can I discern the three without being straightway carried back to the One. And the lecturer was making a point that we should be overwhelmed by the threeness of our God, that our God is three. And we were so blown away and captivated by his three ness that we should run back to the oneness of God and see who our God is as the one true God. And we've thought too much of the oneness of our God. We should be driven to the splendor of the three ness of God and be driven back between three and one, three and one. And to keep our minds always there. And I've always found that to be wildly helpful for my soul. To think of our God as the one true God, and also to think about the Father and how loving and how wonderful he is, and how sovereign and wonderful our God is, and think of Christ and His beautiful work that's been given to us that we don't deserve, and to think of the nearness of the Spirit at work in us. We should be thinking about our God in trinitarian language, in our souls, in our speech regularly.So that's our first two commitments. The Bible is God's revelation of Himself to us. And I accept it as the authority over my life. And the God that revealed the scripture reveals has existed forever as a trinity. God the Father, God the Son, Jesus, and God the Holy Spirit. These two commitments are foundational, foundational to Christian belief. If you reject them, you're in danger of judgment. Listen, they cannot be just nice thought exercises. They can't just be neat ideas that are just floating. That we ascent. We agree. We agree to. It's like, yeah, I get that. And then just mentally agree with it without believing in it, building our life upon it and orienting our reality in line with it. Because if we don't do that, we're in danger. This cannot be just head knowledge. It cannot be. I mean, you can, with head knowledge, agree that gravity exists. In theory. You can have mental agreement that says, you know what? Yeah, it makes sense. It's a decent idea. In theory, that makes sense. But if you don't actually believe in gravity, if you don't actually orient your life as if gravity is a reality, you're in danger. You will find yourself on the Gervais street bridge thinking, I don't know, I mean, maybe it's true. Mentally it makes sense. But I also, I think I can invent my own beliefs here. Maybe I can fly. Maybe I'll float off this bridge. And if you do that, you will crash into the congaree. And if the crash doesn't kill you, one of those gators they've been taking pictures of near the bridge will snatch you up. You can't. This, this cannot be just mental. Yeah, yeah, no, no. Our reality has to be built upon this. And if it does, if that's not what we do, we are in trouble. We're in danger. But life is so much better when we orient ourselves on what is actually true and build our lives upon that.So I have two challenges as we close up to think through these two commitments as we want to grow in this as Christians. And the first is we become people of the Word. That we should be a people that make the scriptures central in our lives and fight to do this over and over again. I have a few different ways we can do this. The first is we see that our worship is centered in the word of God. That our worship is centered in the word of God. That as we gather here on Sundays to realize and to celebrate that the Word is primary, that we begin with a call to worship that comes from the scriptures. When you hear the call to worship, you should not just be checking out and be thinking of other things, but should be thinking about the words that we are reading. That point to who our God is. That we have scripture readings, liturgy readings that we should not check out from. We should actually clue it and see the importance of reading the Word out loud together. That we should realize that our songs are chosen not haphazardly. There's a team that chooses songs that align with what we're teaching, that align with, that help teach us wonderful theology that we can sing deep into our souls and to sing that joyfully in a way that helps the Word be centered in our heart. This is why we preach sermons from the Bible and honestly why we do this. Most of our sermons are just going through books of the Bible. That's most of our teaching. Over 80% of our teaching is what's called expository preaching. For theology nerds, that'll mean something to you. For others of you, it just means that we're going through books of the Bible verse by verse, expositing the text, helping understand who our God is. And this. Most of our preaching is just going through books of the Bible. And every now and then we'll do a topical series like this. But we do that because a honestly topical series, not our best. Our best stuff is just being honest with you. It's harder for us. It's a lot easier, and it makes a lot more sense just to go through books of the Bible. But the more important reason is we just want to walk through the Bible. And if we're in charge and we get to pick text here, here, here and there, we're going to pick things that we want. I'd rather just pick books of the Bible, walk through them, not skip things, lean into the difficult stuff and get the Word into our hearts. And that's what our teaching is. Our teaching is scriptures centered in the scriptures. But we have to be, as a people, mindful of this and joyfully embracing this. The Word of God should be central in our worship. And when we leave here, every. Every time we leave on Sunday, we say the church is plan A for advancing the kingdom, for advancing the Gospel. There is no plan B. We mean that. Which means that our evangelism needs to be centered in the Word of God. That when we leave here and we take the word that we've been given, our evangelism needs to be centered in the Word of God. Which means that when we talk to people who are not believers, it cannot just be wise and persuasive arguments. Those can be helpful. But if you never get to the gospel that flows from the scriptures, you're not actually preaching the gospel. But if you think that preaching the gospel is just friending someone, befriending someone, which we should do as Christians, we should be the most hospitable, the best of friends, the most reliable. But being a friend to someone isn't the gospel. It's not. There's a phrase that gets thrown around quite a bit that says, use the gospel, preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words. And it gets attributed to somebody who didn't even say that. But that guiding ethos has for the last few decades just made us be, okay, I'll just share the gospel of my life. And it's like, no, you can live out the gospel in a way that makes the gospel compelling, but you have to say words. You got to declare who Jesus is. You should memorize some scriptures. You should know how to break down Romans 6:23 and sit with someone and help them see who God is. Our evangelism should be word centered. As we scatter into community groups. That's the third thing. Our groups are word centered. We come together as groups regularly and we study the Word because there's power in the word of God exposing the thoughts and intentions of our hearts. Hebrews 4:12 that we should see this. And as we are walking with other Christians, we should point each other to the Word. That means an accountability that when someone is sinning, we should lovingly and winsomely compel them from the scriptures to say, hey, here's what obedience looks like. One of the things we say is when we practice is we use the phrase good news before good advice. What that means is that when someone shares a problem, we don't want to jump to, okay, here's a bunch of life advice to be able to fix that. No, we want to start with the Gospel. We want to pause and say, hey, can I remind you of who you are in Christ? That your identity doesn't come from your work. It doesn't come from what you do in the office. Your identity comes from the God who saved you, who redeemed you, who set you apart to love him and delight in him. And one of the ways you do that is you actually glorify him in your work. But step one, like you need to believe that first. Now let's talk about your problem outside of that or flowing out of that. But that comes from the scriptures. Those ideas, the gospel comes from the Scriptures. We should be word centered in how we point one of the two Christ and our groups and our groups needed to continue in being word centered. We should be mindful of if the majority of things that we are saying are absent and detached from the Scriptures and we should course correct if that is the case. Fourth thing, our care is centered in the Word. The way that we care for one another is centered in the Word of God. That goes back to something similar. I just said that when someone has an idea about how to care for someone, we want to be able to take everything, every idea and filter that through the Word of God and see, is that biblical? Does that make sense in light of the teachings of the Scriptures? Because we want to be Bible people in how we care for one another. We want to be able to think scripturally and give Scripture when it's appropriate. Our pastoral counseling, which we do, is that at times it can be complex in the things that we go through, but ultimately at its root core, it's simply walking with other people who are struggling and helping them see. Do you see who God is in His Word? Do you see how knowing him and how delighting in him actually exposes some of the things in our own life? The brokenness, the sin, the struggles, the idolatry? We want to be a people whose care is centered in the Word of God. And lastly, we want to have spiritual disciplines that are centered in the Word of God. We want to be a people who stay disciplined in His Word in a way that truly takes the Scriptures, adores them, and meditates on them day and night. I want to be like that picture that we just read earlier and sang about in Psalm 1. It's planted in the streams of water that flow from our God and the living and abiding Word of God that bear fruit in our lives in wonderful ways. And I know over the years I've heard the popular rebuttal that says, okay, yeah, I mean, I get it, yeah, read your Bible. You know, I've been told that and I've done that and it didn't work. And as I've heard this over the years, I've thought about my own soul in this. What I've realized is I don't think we truly understand what it means to actually be rooted in the Word of God like we're supposed to. I don't think we truly understand what it means to meditate regularly in the Word of God. I think what happens is that, that our souls are so over entertained, so easily distracted, so glued to our phones that we are so now oriented to experience 20 second clips in a way that has made us so distracted, that the idea that we think is that alongside that we can Inject a few minutes of the Word in our day, here or there, every few days. And that. That somehow is supposed to counteract all of the things that we fill our soul with that rob us of joy in Christ. And God sometimes does, in those few moments, supernaturally, just in his wonderful power, work through the Word in that moment and reorient our souls. But often what happens in the lives of ordinary Christians in ordinary days is regularly meditating upon the Word of God in a way that seems saturates our souls so that when we are walking through whatever we're walking through, we're able to see it through the lens of the Gospel. And that's different, y'. All. When you study the faith of the people of old, of centuries ago, it's like they'd wake up and they'd read the Word of God and they wouldn't just leave it there. They'd pick it up and they meditated on it throughout the day. And they continue to think about it, continue to process it and chew on it and enjoy it. And then as the day closes, as their evenings close, they come back to the Word and they'd read it and they'd enjoy it. And even those Christians walked through seasons that were dry, that felt like a spiritual desert. But they persevered knowing that the path to getting to the other side of that is to continue to stay disciplined in beholding who our God is and His Word. So when I hear, yeah, I read my Bible, it didn't do anything for me. I'm just like, I don't know if we actually did. Not in the way the Scriptures outline, not in the way that we're supposed to. Not in the way that God invites us into. No, I don't. We cannot reject the power of God's Word as people under the authority of God's Word and make God the least influential position on our screens and in our souls. That cannot be. And I feel this, y'. All. I feel this personally right now. So as we look at our commitments, I know some of our commitment is going to cover this. We need to come back to being men and women who are disciplined in the Word of God, which means at times you're going to read things that you don't like. You're going to read the Scriptures and go, I don't know if I'd like that. One of the things I've appreciated over the years of walking with people is at times when you come up against something in the Bible that says, I don't like this. It's like that's okay. But in faith, trust the God who wrote it. And in faith what you'll see is that over time you may not like that, but at time you'll grow to believe that is actually ultimately what is good for you. And that God willing, he's going to change our hearts. That we might love the things that we once did not like at all. But that takes discipline and that takes some pursuit and that takes making God central in our lives. We should be people of the Word.The second and the last is we should become people of God, become Bible people and God centered people. People love God. I don't mean that in a way that says that this is how you make yourself a Christian. That's not what I mean. I mean that if you're in Christ, we should be just of God in a way that Jesus taught when he said, pursue God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul. That we should be a people. That our intellect and our affections, our emotions, our whole being is oriented towards our triune God. We should think about God the Father in a way that says, I love our heavenly, my heavenly Father. That he's a better Father than any earthly Father I could have. He's a better authority figure than any authority figure I could have. That I'm going to trust in my heavenly Father. That I want to behold Christ the Son and think about all the ways every day as I sin, every day as I struggle to remember Jesus. Thank you that you bled and you died for my struggles, for my brokenness. That we remember the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives in a way that helps us remember that every moment of our lives, in every room, God is present with us. To believe that, that God is present with us. That even when we can't feel it, we know by faith he's with us. We should think and dwell and enjoy our triune God. One of the normative ways to do this is through prayer is to seek our triune God in prayer. Jesus taught the normative pattern of prayer is to the Father. So we should pray normally to the Father. Most of the prayer you see in the New Testament is to the Father, our Father who lives in heaven. But we also should pray with the rest of the Trinity in mind with Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit and be trinitarian and how we think about prayer. To think about God the Father that we are submitting to and enjoying in prayer. And Christ our great High Priest who offers our prayers to the Father and the Holy Spirit who prays for us when we don't know what to say ourselves. Our God is wonderful and he is good and we should orient our souls to toward our triune God and be God centered people, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, one true God. And if we make him our pursuit, make him the goal of our affections, of our desires, God will form us in the people that he's called us to be. And I believe that if we build our lives on these first two commitments we walk through that we will set a foundation that is meant to last. That we will build our lives on a foundation that will not crumble. Y', all, I have. I'm serious. I have watched friends who seemed like they were on fire for Jesus, that raised their hands and worshiped and knew all the right phrases and knew all the right correct answers, who did not build their life on this foundation, who began to question the Bible, who began to question the validity of it, who became skeptical, who began to slowly drift in a way that they didn't just walk away from God, they became enemies of God and to this day are still throwing stones at Jesus and his movement. It is important for us to evaluate what are we building our life upon. What is the foundation that everything is built upon? These two commitments are vital for building a foundation that will last.Let me close with the words of Jesus at the end of the Sermon on the mount in Matthew 7 and I want you to hear these if you have to close your eyes to focus, do so. But I want you to hear what Jesus says to us. He says, everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.> Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 7:24–27 ESV)What he just said is that everyone who hears my words hears Christ's words, believes, trusts, obeys, and builds their life upon them. It's like a wise person who built their house on the rock. Verse 25 and the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock. That when the storms of this life shift you and beat upon you, when you feel suffering and trials and the storms of temptation, everything that begins to shake, you won't shift off of the rock because you were built on a solid foundation. He goes on to say, and everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell. And great was the fall it that Jesus warns and says, if you don't build your life upon me, upon Christ, upon our triune God who's revealed himself in his word. If you don't, it will not last. And when the storms of life come, you will be shifted. But we as a church resolve to commit ourselves to be built upon the rock that is Christ. These two foundational commitments are vital. And if we will build our lives upon pursuing and knowing and delighting and trusting our God and His Word, so that we might know who God is and respond to him in faith and repentance and delighting in him and trusting him and walking out joyfully in obedience, we will stand.Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I pray that you might help us begin. Some of us begin to see the beauty of the scriptures that reveal who you are. That we would not believe in anything else, in anyone else, that we would build our lives upon you as our solid rock and faith foundation. But Lord, that comes through your redemptive work in our hearts, through helping us to see you more clearly and growing in us spiritual fruit that helps us know you in Jesus name. Amen.We're going to respond here by taking the Lord's Supper. I want to read from Mark chapter 14 to prepare our hearts to take the Lord's Supper. Here Jesus.> And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, "Take; this is my body." And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." (Mark 14:22–25 ESV)That when Jesus was sitting with them and he took the bread and he broke and he took the cup of the new covenant, he said, this is my work done for you. The second member of the Trinity looking at us saying, I love you so much that I came to have my blood shed for you. And if you're a Christian and your life is built upon the rock that is Christ, you get to in a moment joyfully come to the table confessing our sin, but confessing our wonderful Savior as revealed to us in the word of God. So in a moment, prepare your heart. There's gluten free back in that back corner over there. But come and take the Lord's Supper. But hear this. If you are not a Christian, if you haven't trusted in Christ My hope is this morning is you would not come to the table, but you would come to Christ. You would place your faith in him, and you'd build your life on the wonderful foundation that is our God. But when you're ready, come.
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.2 Timothy 3:16-17
Last Week, Ps Andy gave an introduction to the new series "A Growing Church", and explained how this also fits within our overall theme of Magnify and Multiply. This week, Ps Paula begins the series in earnest by speaking about being 'Devoted to the Word'. The key scripture here is Acts 2:42 (NLT) "All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord's Supper), and to prayer".In Acts 2, we read that Peter, a disciple, had just preached the gospel to a crowd. In verse 41, it lets us know that the ones who devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching were those who received Jesus' words, were baptised and added to the church - 3000 souls! Those who gave their lives to Jesus became devoted to His words. What we see in the book of Acts is the word of God come alive to people who were willing to be devoted and were willing to change their lives.The whole of Paula's message is about how our lives become shaped by reading and being devoted to the word of God. Without this, our lives drift, according to our feelings at times and certainly not in alignment with God's plans for us. We must read and apply Gods word if we want to grow.2 Timothy 3:16 (NLT) says "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right". We need the bible and Christian friends to feed us truths not pander to our emotions!
Jim Franks discusses 2 Timothy 3:16—“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
There are days when words flow easily in prayer—and then there are days when silence feels heavy, and you don't know what to say. But here's the gift: God has already given us the perfect words to pray—His Word. When we pray Scripture, we're not just reciting verses; we're aligning our heart with His truth and declaring promises that will never fail.Our springboard for today's discussion is:“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” — 2 Timothy 3:16 (ESV)Praying Scripture is one of the most powerful habits you can form in your prayer life. When you feel anxious, you can pray Philippians 4:6-7: “Do not be anxious about anything… and the peace of God… will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” When you're weary, you can declare Isaiah 40:31: “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.”This practice does three things:* It roots your prayers in God's authority. Instead of praying based on emotion, you're praying based on unshakable truth.* It transforms your mind. As you pray His Word, you're also meditating on it, letting it rewire your thinking.* It increases your faith. Romans 10:17 tells us, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” When you pray Scripture, you're speaking life into your spirit.Praying Scripture also protects you from praying selfishly. Instead of asking only from your perspective, you begin to align with God's heart and His will. It becomes less about “Lord, do what I want” and more about “Lord, let Your Word be fulfilled.”Here's a practical step: pick one passage of Scripture today, personalize it into prayer, and speak it out loud. For example, take Psalm 23:1—“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want”—and pray: “Lord, thank You that You are my shepherd. Today, I trust that I lack nothing in You.”Question of the Day:What Scripture do you need to begin praying over your life and family right now?Mini Call to Action:Choose one verse today, write it down, and pray it morning and night this week.Prayer:Father, thank You for giving me Your Word as a foundation for my prayers. Teach me to pray it daily, not as ritual but as relationship—so that Your truth fills my heart, my home, and my future.Let's Get To Work!Pray the Word, and you'll always pray His will. Scripture isn't just to be read—it's to be declared.Thanks for reading My Reasons To Believe! This post is public so feel free to share it.My Reasons To Believe is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit myr2b.substack.com/subscribe
Our scripture passage is about two types of wisdom, so I thought it would be fun to share with you some advice I found on the internet that I will get you into trouble if you do follow it: Carry a fork with you. If someone tries to rob you, pull it out of your pocket and say, thank you Lord for this meal Im about to have and charge at them with the fork. Always say what you're thinking out loud. "Don't breathe, 100% of people who breathe die at some point." "Dont go to the doctors office if you only have one problem. Wait until you have four or five; thats how you get the most bang for your buck." If life gives you lemons, squeeze the juice into a water gun and shoot other people in the eyes. "When confronted by a bear, give it a hug and tell him it'll be alright." We laugh at these bits of wisdom I found on the internet because they are so foolish they are comical. In James 3:13-18, we are reminded of two sources of wisdom, and of the two, we as a species gravitate to one over the other. Wisdom is the application of knowledge. According to James 3:13-18, not all wisdom is good. The Source of Worldly Wisdom What is worldly wisdom? James says that it is, earthly, natural, and demonic (v. 15). Well that sounds a bit harsh does it not? Lets dive a bit deeper into what James means here before we judge whether or not he said too much. The kind of wisdom that is earthly, natural, and demonic is the kind that is motivated and driven by, bitter jealousy and selfish ambition (v. 14). So what is bitter jealousy and what does it look like? The Greek word for jealousy is... are you ready for it? The Greek word is zēlos. Do you think there may a better way to translate this word? Of course you do, a better translation for this word is our English word zeal! Zeal can be positive or negative. The prophet Elijah was zealous for God is a good way, and that zeal was demonstrated on multiple occasions by standing against evil and speaking on behalf of God, even when it was not safe for him to do so; when his life was threatened by Queen Jezebel, Elijah prayed: I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of armies; for the sons of Israel have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they have sought to take my life (1 Kin. 19:10). Zeal can also become a bad thing. Zeal can turn into bitterness, rivalry, and even pride. In the case of James 3:14, it is a harsh zeal that places the individual at the center of his universe at whatever cost may come to those around him. The kind of bitter Jealousy (harsh zeal) James is talking about is self-centered. The person with this kind of mindset is one whose glory and mission in this world is his own. The other source for worldly wisdom is selfish ambition. There is not much I need to say to make sure you understand what selfish ambition is. It is the kind of thing we see every four years in America: How do I make sure I get what I want. There is only one Greek word that is used here for selfish ambition, and it is eritheia. In ancient Greek it means strife, contentiousness, and selfishness. It is a word that was also used by the Greek Philosopher Aristotle to describe a self-seeking pursuit of political office by unfair means.[1] It is used in the New Testament to describe the jealous or angry leader who, forms a group which emotionally or physically withdraws from the rest of the church.[2]These are the kinds of people Paul described in Philippians 1:15-17, Some... proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking that they are causing me distress in my imprisonment. There are varying degrees that bitter jealousy and selfish ambition can come into the life of a person, but none of it is from God. Even the best of us can cave to the kinds of vices that lead to worldly wisdom. Consider some of the people from the Bible such as Abraham, David, and Solomon. God told Abraham that he would father a child with Sarah, but because pregnancy seemed impossible to the couple, Sarah came up with another plan that was culturally acceptable. Sarah said to her husband: See now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please have relations with my slave woman; perhaps I will obtain children through her. And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai (Gen. 16:2). So, the slave woman got pregnant and had a son and what Abraham got in return was one big giant mess that we are still dealing with today. David wrote much of the Psalms that are in our Bible, and he knew his Bible pretty well! He understood what Gods word said of Israels kings in Deuteronomy and most likely had memorized it. He knew that as king, he was not to acquire the kinds of properties the kings of the other nations collected to measure their glory and strength such as many horses or many wives, nor was he to hoard silver and gold (see Deut. 17:16-20). We know David knew this because he even wrote a song about it that included the verse: Some praise their chariots and some their horses, but we will praise the name of the Lord, our God (Ps. 20:7). Yet at the height of his reign as king, he conducted a census to measure the strength of his nation instead of trusting the God who told Him that his power did not come from numbers but from God alone. Can you see what Abraham and Davids stories all have in common? They followed after the wisdom of the world instead of trusting the word of God as their source of wisdom. Abraham wanted a son so badly and for his legacy to go on, so he took matters into his own hands and got his female slave pregnant. David conducted a census just like the other kings did because he needed to know how he and his nation compared to other nations. If you listen closely to the pages of scripture you can hear the serpents question with these men: Has God really said...? The wisdom of the world would lead you to an easier and wider road rather than a narrow and more difficult one. The wisdom of the world would have you erect a house on sand instead of spending the time necessary to lay a good foundation. Heavenly Wisdom Unlike worldly wisdom, the kind of wisdom that leads to the thriving life God created us to know and enjoy does not come from within, or from this world, or beneath; it comes from above where God is seated. The wisdom from above is pure, peace-loving, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy, impartial, free of hypocrisy, and full of good fruits (v. 17). From where does heavenly wisdom come from? It comes from God! Where can I gain this kind of wisdom? From the counsel God has already given, which is His word. We already saw in the first chapter that those of us who lack wisdom, are to ask God for it without doubting (1:5-6); the source of the kind of wisdom we need comes from the word of God. We gain wisdom from above when we first listen to what God has said through His word and then become a doer of it by putting what we read into practice (see 1:21-25). But here is the thing... there is no wisdom from above if you do not have the kind of faith that moves you to really trust the truth of Gods word. It is one thing to say you believe the Bible to be true and another to act upon that belief. Think for a moment about what we say we believe at Meadowbrooke; this is what we state on our webpage about the Bible: We believe the Bible, including the Old and New Testaments, is the divine revelation, the original autographs of which were verbally inspired by the Holy Spirit, thus rendering them trustworthy and solely authoritative in faith and practice (2 Tim. 3:16, 2 Pet. 1:20-21). The Scriptures reveal the mind of God concerning the need and the method of human redemption, the character and destiny of mankind, and are useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (Jn. 5:39, 2 Tim. 3:16-17). The more important question is not if we are okay with that statement, but do we really believe it? The Bible testifies of itself: All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17). In the book of Hebrews, we are told, For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (4:12). But do you really believe it to be what it claims? If you believe the Bible to be the word of God and that it is beneficial for teaching, for correcting, and training in righteousness, then how is it shaping your choices in life, what kind of influence is it having on your relationships, how does it affect how you behave and function at work? Do you believe the Bible to be the word of God even if what it tells you to do with your life makes no sense to those around you and the rest of the world? Think about some of the things that God told His people to do. God told Abraham to leave his home in Ur and promised him a child, even though he and his wife Sarah were quickly advancing in age to the point that fathering a child would be highly improbable. The conventional wisdom of Abrahams day suggested that he father a child through one of his servants, but that was not the promise God made to Abraham. God promised a son that would be both his and Sarahs, and in their old age God provided an heir. God used men who acted upon the word of God when others thought they were nuts. Men like Moses who God commissioned to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. Men like Joshua who God told to march around Jericho a bunch of times while blowing seven trumpets and then on the seventh day after the seventh time around the city to shout to bring down the walls of the city. Men like Gideon who God ordered to cut his army of 32,000 soldiers down to 300 to face an army of at least 135,000; each of Gideons soldiers were to carrying a torch, a clay pot, and a trumpet that they would blow after breaking the clay pot at night while surround the 135,000 Midianite army and then shout: A sword for the Lord and for Gideon! and this would be the way they would defeat an army that outnumbered them by 440 to 1 (see Judges 7:1-8:10). God raised a shepherd boy whose own father and brothers did not think much of to be a king over Israel, and it would be through his descendants a savior would be born who would rule the nations. God spoke through unlikely prophets of old, and choose an unassuming and impoverished virgin girl and her fianc to raise up the promised Messiah that she alone would be the biological parent of, and the child would grow up and live the life we could never live in a little country about the size of New Jersey for the purpose of suffering on a cross and dying under the wrath of God a death we all deserved. This is why the apostle Paul wrote, For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18). Gods wisdom is different! Not only is the wisdom of God different, but it is in a whole different category than the wisdom of the world. In what way is it different? We are told in verse 17, But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, free of hypocrisy. Gods words and His ways rub against the grain of the worlds conventional wisdom and is the reason the prophet Isaiah wrote of God, For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, declares the Lord (55:8). The question for you, dear brothers and sisters, is what are you doing with it, or maybe a better question for some of you is, What will you do with His word? Conclusion What wisdom is guiding you? What wisdom is shaping your decisions? What wisdom are you applying to your marriage, your children, and your friendships? James is not offering us an option here, for what the Holy Spirit is showing us in James is that if you belong to Jesus, then you have no business with the kind of wisdom that is earthly, natural, and demonic. Why, because we are kingdom people! I told you that I believe what James is doing is simply applying Jesus sermon on the mount to everyday life. I have shared with you repeatedly that the way you come to Jesus is as one who is poor in spirit, one who mourns over sin, and one who is meek enough to lay you pride before the cross of Christ. These are the first three of Jesus beatitudes and are what theologians call, the beatitudes of need. The fourth beatitude is the fruit of the first three: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied (Matt. 5:6). How can I be satisfied? By finding my satisfaction in the One who is infinitely righteous and from whom true wisdom is found. What does a hunger and thirst for righteousness produce when that hunger and thirst is satisfied in Jesus? It produces what theologians call the beatitudes of action. I will pick up on this next Sunday, but for now I think it is enough for you to see what James is doing with wisdom and our Lords beatitudes. What kind of fruit does wisdom from above produce? It is pure, peace-loving, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy, impartial, free of hypocrisy. Pure: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will receive mercy (Matt. 5:8). Peace-loving: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God (Matt. 5:9). Gentle (meek): Blessed are the gentle, for they will inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5). Reasonable (compliant): Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:3). Full of mercy: Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy (Matt. 5:7). Impartial / free of hypocrisy: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted (Matt. 4). Full of good fruit: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied (Matt. 5:6). My question for you is what are you doing with the wisdom that comes from above? It is the wisdom from above that calls those who follow Jesus through the narrow gate instead of the broad gate (Matt. 7:13-14). The wisdom from above calls the Christian to build upon the rock instead of sand (Matt. 7:24-29). The wisdom from above calls us to action in such a way that we do not only call Jesus Lord but live in subjection to His lordship (Matt. 7:22-21). The wisdom that is earthly, natural, and demonic will lead to death. The wisdom from above will lead to the kind of living where you can truly thrive as a child of God. Some of you may need to turn from whatever wisdom that has been guiding you, by humbling yourself before God Almighty. I will leave you with James 4:3-4 and you can do with it what seems best in light of what we have considered today: You ask and do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend what you request on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. [1] Peter H. Davids, The Epistle of James: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1982), 151. [2] Ibid.
Our scripture passage is about two types of wisdom, so I thought it would be fun to share with you some advice I found on the internet that I will get you into trouble if you do follow it: Carry a fork with you. If someone tries to rob you, pull it out of your pocket and say, thank you Lord for this meal Im about to have and charge at them with the fork. Always say what you're thinking out loud. "Don't breathe, 100% of people who breathe die at some point." "Dont go to the doctors office if you only have one problem. Wait until you have four or five; thats how you get the most bang for your buck." If life gives you lemons, squeeze the juice into a water gun and shoot other people in the eyes. "When confronted by a bear, give it a hug and tell him it'll be alright." We laugh at these bits of wisdom I found on the internet because they are so foolish they are comical. In James 3:13-18, we are reminded of two sources of wisdom, and of the two, we as a species gravitate to one over the other. Wisdom is the application of knowledge. According to James 3:13-18, not all wisdom is good. The Source of Worldly Wisdom What is worldly wisdom? James says that it is, earthly, natural, and demonic (v. 15). Well that sounds a bit harsh does it not? Lets dive a bit deeper into what James means here before we judge whether or not he said too much. The kind of wisdom that is earthly, natural, and demonic is the kind that is motivated and driven by, bitter jealousy and selfish ambition (v. 14). So what is bitter jealousy and what does it look like? The Greek word for jealousy is... are you ready for it? The Greek word is zēlos. Do you think there may a better way to translate this word? Of course you do, a better translation for this word is our English word zeal! Zeal can be positive or negative. The prophet Elijah was zealous for God is a good way, and that zeal was demonstrated on multiple occasions by standing against evil and speaking on behalf of God, even when it was not safe for him to do so; when his life was threatened by Queen Jezebel, Elijah prayed: I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of armies; for the sons of Israel have abandoned Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they have sought to take my life (1 Kin. 19:10). Zeal can also become a bad thing. Zeal can turn into bitterness, rivalry, and even pride. In the case of James 3:14, it is a harsh zeal that places the individual at the center of his universe at whatever cost may come to those around him. The kind of bitter Jealousy (harsh zeal) James is talking about is self-centered. The person with this kind of mindset is one whose glory and mission in this world is his own. The other source for worldly wisdom is selfish ambition. There is not much I need to say to make sure you understand what selfish ambition is. It is the kind of thing we see every four years in America: How do I make sure I get what I want. There is only one Greek word that is used here for selfish ambition, and it is eritheia. In ancient Greek it means strife, contentiousness, and selfishness. It is a word that was also used by the Greek Philosopher Aristotle to describe a self-seeking pursuit of political office by unfair means.[1] It is used in the New Testament to describe the jealous or angry leader who, forms a group which emotionally or physically withdraws from the rest of the church.[2]These are the kinds of people Paul described in Philippians 1:15-17, Some... proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking that they are causing me distress in my imprisonment. There are varying degrees that bitter jealousy and selfish ambition can come into the life of a person, but none of it is from God. Even the best of us can cave to the kinds of vices that lead to worldly wisdom. Consider some of the people from the Bible such as Abraham, David, and Solomon. God told Abraham that he would father a child with Sarah, but because pregnancy seemed impossible to the couple, Sarah came up with another plan that was culturally acceptable. Sarah said to her husband: See now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Please have relations with my slave woman; perhaps I will obtain children through her. And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai (Gen. 16:2). So, the slave woman got pregnant and had a son and what Abraham got in return was one big giant mess that we are still dealing with today. David wrote much of the Psalms that are in our Bible, and he knew his Bible pretty well! He understood what Gods word said of Israels kings in Deuteronomy and most likely had memorized it. He knew that as king, he was not to acquire the kinds of properties the kings of the other nations collected to measure their glory and strength such as many horses or many wives, nor was he to hoard silver and gold (see Deut. 17:16-20). We know David knew this because he even wrote a song about it that included the verse: Some praise their chariots and some their horses, but we will praise the name of the Lord, our God (Ps. 20:7). Yet at the height of his reign as king, he conducted a census to measure the strength of his nation instead of trusting the God who told Him that his power did not come from numbers but from God alone. Can you see what Abraham and Davids stories all have in common? They followed after the wisdom of the world instead of trusting the word of God as their source of wisdom. Abraham wanted a son so badly and for his legacy to go on, so he took matters into his own hands and got his female slave pregnant. David conducted a census just like the other kings did because he needed to know how he and his nation compared to other nations. If you listen closely to the pages of scripture you can hear the serpents question with these men: Has God really said...? The wisdom of the world would lead you to an easier and wider road rather than a narrow and more difficult one. The wisdom of the world would have you erect a house on sand instead of spending the time necessary to lay a good foundation. Heavenly Wisdom Unlike worldly wisdom, the kind of wisdom that leads to the thriving life God created us to know and enjoy does not come from within, or from this world, or beneath; it comes from above where God is seated. The wisdom from above is pure, peace-loving, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy, impartial, free of hypocrisy, and full of good fruits (v. 17). From where does heavenly wisdom come from? It comes from God! Where can I gain this kind of wisdom? From the counsel God has already given, which is His word. We already saw in the first chapter that those of us who lack wisdom, are to ask God for it without doubting (1:5-6); the source of the kind of wisdom we need comes from the word of God. We gain wisdom from above when we first listen to what God has said through His word and then become a doer of it by putting what we read into practice (see 1:21-25). But here is the thing... there is no wisdom from above if you do not have the kind of faith that moves you to really trust the truth of Gods word. It is one thing to say you believe the Bible to be true and another to act upon that belief. Think for a moment about what we say we believe at Meadowbrooke; this is what we state on our webpage about the Bible: We believe the Bible, including the Old and New Testaments, is the divine revelation, the original autographs of which were verbally inspired by the Holy Spirit, thus rendering them trustworthy and solely authoritative in faith and practice (2 Tim. 3:16, 2 Pet. 1:20-21). The Scriptures reveal the mind of God concerning the need and the method of human redemption, the character and destiny of mankind, and are useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (Jn. 5:39, 2 Tim. 3:16-17). The more important question is not if we are okay with that statement, but do we really believe it? The Bible testifies of itself: All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17). In the book of Hebrews, we are told, For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (4:12). But do you really believe it to be what it claims? If you believe the Bible to be the word of God and that it is beneficial for teaching, for correcting, and training in righteousness, then how is it shaping your choices in life, what kind of influence is it having on your relationships, how does it affect how you behave and function at work? Do you believe the Bible to be the word of God even if what it tells you to do with your life makes no sense to those around you and the rest of the world? Think about some of the things that God told His people to do. God told Abraham to leave his home in Ur and promised him a child, even though he and his wife Sarah were quickly advancing in age to the point that fathering a child would be highly improbable. The conventional wisdom of Abrahams day suggested that he father a child through one of his servants, but that was not the promise God made to Abraham. God promised a son that would be both his and Sarahs, and in their old age God provided an heir. God used men who acted upon the word of God when others thought they were nuts. Men like Moses who God commissioned to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. Men like Joshua who God told to march around Jericho a bunch of times while blowing seven trumpets and then on the seventh day after the seventh time around the city to shout to bring down the walls of the city. Men like Gideon who God ordered to cut his army of 32,000 soldiers down to 300 to face an army of at least 135,000; each of Gideons soldiers were to carrying a torch, a clay pot, and a trumpet that they would blow after breaking the clay pot at night while surround the 135,000 Midianite army and then shout: A sword for the Lord and for Gideon! and this would be the way they would defeat an army that outnumbered them by 440 to 1 (see Judges 7:1-8:10). God raised a shepherd boy whose own father and brothers did not think much of to be a king over Israel, and it would be through his descendants a savior would be born who would rule the nations. God spoke through unlikely prophets of old, and choose an unassuming and impoverished virgin girl and her fianc to raise up the promised Messiah that she alone would be the biological parent of, and the child would grow up and live the life we could never live in a little country about the size of New Jersey for the purpose of suffering on a cross and dying under the wrath of God a death we all deserved. This is why the apostle Paul wrote, For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18). Gods wisdom is different! Not only is the wisdom of God different, but it is in a whole different category than the wisdom of the world. In what way is it different? We are told in verse 17, But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peace-loving, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial, free of hypocrisy. Gods words and His ways rub against the grain of the worlds conventional wisdom and is the reason the prophet Isaiah wrote of God, For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, declares the Lord (55:8). The question for you, dear brothers and sisters, is what are you doing with it, or maybe a better question for some of you is, What will you do with His word? Conclusion What wisdom is guiding you? What wisdom is shaping your decisions? What wisdom are you applying to your marriage, your children, and your friendships? James is not offering us an option here, for what the Holy Spirit is showing us in James is that if you belong to Jesus, then you have no business with the kind of wisdom that is earthly, natural, and demonic. Why, because we are kingdom people! I told you that I believe what James is doing is simply applying Jesus sermon on the mount to everyday life. I have shared with you repeatedly that the way you come to Jesus is as one who is poor in spirit, one who mourns over sin, and one who is meek enough to lay you pride before the cross of Christ. These are the first three of Jesus beatitudes and are what theologians call, the beatitudes of need. The fourth beatitude is the fruit of the first three: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied (Matt. 5:6). How can I be satisfied? By finding my satisfaction in the One who is infinitely righteous and from whom true wisdom is found. What does a hunger and thirst for righteousness produce when that hunger and thirst is satisfied in Jesus? It produces what theologians call the beatitudes of action. I will pick up on this next Sunday, but for now I think it is enough for you to see what James is doing with wisdom and our Lords beatitudes. What kind of fruit does wisdom from above produce? It is pure, peace-loving, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy, impartial, free of hypocrisy. Pure: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will receive mercy (Matt. 5:8). Peace-loving: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God (Matt. 5:9). Gentle (meek): Blessed are the gentle, for they will inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5). Reasonable (compliant): Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:3). Full of mercy: Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy (Matt. 5:7). Impartial / free of hypocrisy: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted (Matt. 4). Full of good fruit: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied (Matt. 5:6). My question for you is what are you doing with the wisdom that comes from above? It is the wisdom from above that calls those who follow Jesus through the narrow gate instead of the broad gate (Matt. 7:13-14). The wisdom from above calls the Christian to build upon the rock instead of sand (Matt. 7:24-29). The wisdom from above calls us to action in such a way that we do not only call Jesus Lord but live in subjection to His lordship (Matt. 7:22-21). The wisdom that is earthly, natural, and demonic will lead to death. The wisdom from above will lead to the kind of living where you can truly thrive as a child of God. Some of you may need to turn from whatever wisdom that has been guiding you, by humbling yourself before God Almighty. I will leave you with James 4:3-4 and you can do with it what seems best in light of what we have considered today: You ask and do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend what you request on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. [1] Peter H. Davids, The Epistle of James: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1982), 151. [2] Ibid.
Friday, 22 August 2025 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. Matthew 12:35 “The good man, from the good treasure of the heart, he ejects good, and the evil man, from the evil treasure, he ejects evil” (CG). In the previous verse, Jesus called the Pharisees vipers' offspring, telling them that from the surplus of the heart, the mouth speaks. He next explains the result of that, saying, “The good man, from the good treasure of the heart, he ejects good.” The word ekballo, to cast out or eject, is used. It is more forceful than “bring out,” such as in the NKJV. The meaning then is that the goodness of a good man wells up inside him until the point where goodness simply exudes from him, being ejected under its own pressure. The words here show us that Jesus' words in Matthew 9:17 are a comparative statement intended to make a point. In responding to being called “Good Teacher,” Jesus said – “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” Jesus was making a comparison of goodness in relation to God. Likewise, Jesus is here making a comparison between people. One is good in relation to others. Because he is, good things will be ejected from him. This is certainly a comparative statement, because even a good person can get frustrated or fed up, and something not so good will come out of his mouth. However, his character in general is one that demonstrates an inherent goodness in relation to others. Likewise, Jesus says, “and the evil man, from the evil treasure, he ejects evil.” This is a person who is comparatively evil. The things that come out of such people, welling up and being ejected into their regular conversation, will be evil. But even such “evil” people can say something nice. Jesus is referring to their general character. To get the sense of such a person, all one needs to do is turn on the TV and watch people arguing from a political standpoint. Those on the left will spew forth invectives, call out for illegal activities to be condoned, rage against goodness while embracing those who do truly wicked things, etc. To them, morality is defined by theft and murder, not hard work and self-sufficiency. Those who pray to God are an offense who must be silenced. Because of their character, evil proceeds from them like a well under pressure. In opening their mouths to speak, the evil gushes forth. Life application: In Luke 6:45, the same words are spoken by Jesus in His sermon to the people, but there are differences – Matthew - “The good man, from the good treasure of the heart, he ejects [ekballo] good, and the evil man, from the evil treasure, he ejects [ekballo] evil.” Luke - “The good man, from the good treasure of his heart, he hauls [propheró] good, and the evil, from the evil hauls [propheró] the evil. For from the heart's surplus, it speaks – his mouth.” In Matthew, different words concerning the motion of what is in the heart are used. One says to eject while the other uses a word meaning to bear forward. A good single word to get the intent would be to haul. Also, in Matthew, the thought about the heart's abundance came in the preceding verse, whereas Luke places it afterwards. Other slight variations in the Greek exist as well. So the question may be asked, “Which is the original and which one has an error?” Or the statement may be made, “See, there is a contradiction in the two accounts.” When you are faced with such a question or statement, how will you respond? A suitable explanation is that both can be correct. This could be for various reasons. The first is that it is assumed that Jesus was originally speaking in Aramaic. Different people will write what they heard in Greek in different ways. Likewise, the change in order of what is said may be a part of that translation process. Therefore, such changes would be expected. But what if the person says, “But even the context of what is said is different! One is to the Pharisees and one during a sermon!” Is this a contradiction? Not at all! How many times have you repeated a point that is true in your life? Jesus was preaching and proclaiming. He probably stated the same truth innumerable times that are not recorded, along with those that are. He may have changed the structure of His words, chosen different words, and spoken these things in a multitude of contexts. If the narratives were identical, those who want to tear apart the Bible would (and do!) say that the accounts were simply copies and the events belong to one source. Thus, there are not three different testimonies to Jesus' work. If they have any differences, the accusation that there are contradictions immediately arises. Don't let such things bother you. Be prepared to show these people the folly of their thinking. From there, drop the argument. Some people wouldn't be content if God spoke the word of Scripture personally. Wait... He did! “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16, 17 Lord God, we trust that You have given us a word that carries Your intent for us to know and understand what You desire for us. Help us to be diligent in reading it and contemplating it all the days of our lives. To Your glory, we pray. Amen.
Philippians 3:17-21 NLT17 Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. 18 For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. 20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. • • •1. Look to other Christians as an example. • • •Philippians 3:17 NLT17 Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine, and learn from those who follow our example. • • •1 Corinthians 11:1 NLT1 And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ. • • •2 Timothy 3:10 NLT10 But you, Timothy, certainly know what I teach, and how I live, and what my purpose in life is. You know my faith, my patience, my love, and my endurance. • • •2 Timothy 3:14-17 NLT14 But you must remain faithful to the things you have been taught. You know they are true, for you know you can trust those who taught you. 15 You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. • • •2. Look NOT to this world for your example. • • •Philippians 3:18-19 NLT18 For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. • • •3. Look forward in life with a heavenly mindset! • • •Philippians 3:20-21 NLT20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. 21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control. • • •1 Corinthians 15:47-49 NLT47 Adam, the first man, was made from the dust of the earth, while Christ, the second man, came from heaven. 48 Earthly people are like the earthly man, and heavenly people are like the heavenly man. 49 Just as we are now like the earthly man, we will someday be like the heavenly man. • • •1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 NLT16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. 17 Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. 18 So encourage each other with these words. • • •Application:Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.– 1 John 2:6
In this episode, we're going straight into Job 1:9–10—a conversation so ancient and cosmic it still rattles the gates of spiritual warfare today.Why do some Christians mock the phrase "hedge of protection"? Is it outdated? Harmless? Or is something more sinister at play when we joke about what Satan himself takes seriously?Whether you've heard this phrase in prayer circles or mocked on stage, today's deep dive will challenge you to rethink your posture toward spiritual boundaries, bold prayer, and the unseen war around you.
Bourbon Review: Smoke Wagon: The Younger Discussion Topic: The Deconstruction movement leading to a Reconstruction movement? Verses 2 Timothy 3:16-17: "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." Titus 1:9: "He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it." Ephesians 4:14: "So that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes." Follow us on all your podcast platforms and: Instagram: @manhoodneat X: Manhood Neat (@ManhoodNeat) / X Youtube: Manhood, Neat Podcast - YouTube Reach out: manhood.neat@gmail.com Show Notes: Introduction Define deconstruction in Christianity Highlight the growth of the deconstruction movement over the past decade, fueled by social media and progressive Christian voices. The Deconstruction Movement Examples: diluted sermons, avoidance of controversial biblical topics. Deconstruction often results in softer theologies that prioritize inclusivity and cultural relevance over doctrinal purity. The Turn to Conservative Reformed Theology Explain why young men are drawn to it: Seeking solid convictions and clear doctrine in contrast to the ambiguity of softer theologies. Attracted to intellectual depth and historical grounding. The Risk of Dogmatism Define dogmatism Overfocus on being "right," Elevation of theological systems or leaders to near-idolatrous status.
Your child just asked you a question that made you freeze up. Whether it's about circumcision after Sunday school, what sex is, or something they read in the Bible, difficult questions from kids can catch Christian parents off guard. In this episode of Marked by Grace, Heath Lambert shares three essential principles for handling sensitive topics with children. Learn why YOU must be the primary source of answers, how to use Bible words confidently, and the art of giving age-appropriate responses without overwhelming little minds.Timestamps0:00 - Introduction: Handling difficult questions from little kids2:36 - Principle #1: YOU must be the source of answers4:50 - Principle #2: Use Bible words confidently6:44 - Principle #3: Be age-appropriate in your responses7:40 - Example: "What is sex?" - Simple, truthful answer8:18 - Example: Deuteronomy question from a first-graderKey Points-Be the Primary Source: Your children will get answers to their difficult questions somewhere. The question is: do you want them getting answers from you or from friends, the internet, or other unreliable sources?- Use Bible Words: If God uses certain words in Scripture, they're appropriate for your children. Don't feel nervous about using biblical language - circumcision, adultery, etc. - when explaining biblical concepts.- Age-Appropriate Responses: Don't give more detail than children actually want or need. Often a simple, truthful answer satisfies their curiosity without overwhelming them.- Create an Open Environment: Make it clear that no question is off-limits, even if it makes you uncomfortable. Children need to trust that parents are the best source for answers.- Start Simple: Begin with basic explanations and let children ask follow-up questions if they need more information. Don't build the whole "watch" when they just want to know the "time."- Biblical Foundation: Scripture equips us for every good work, including answering our children's questions. If kids are old enough to read the Bible, they're ready for Bible words. View this episode of Marked By Grace on teaching the Gospel to your children: https://youtu.be/hSlKeI3YHyI- Modern Challenges: Today's children face more complex questions earlier than previous generations due to increased exposure to mature content and technology.Scripture References2 Timothy 3:16-17 - "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." - Scripture equips us for answering children's questionsDeuteronomy 6:6-7 - "And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." - Teaching God's word to childrenEphesians 6:4 - "Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." - Parental responsibility for spiritual instructionHave a question you'd like answered? Send it to markedbygrace@fbcjax.com