Posts with the category “sunday-rewind”

Sunday’s study took us through James 1:12–16, which builds upon the earlier verses in James when we learned that God uses trials in our life to build stronger faith. Sunday we were reminded of that, p...  Read More

As James concludes the introductory encouragement to his readers in chapter 1, verses 9–11 are addressed to the lowly and the rich. The reader may be inclined to think that James isaddressing believer...  Read More

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”1 John 1:7 In order to have fellowship, we must gathe...  Read More

We wake up to a beautiful spring morning. The sky is blue, the birds are chirping, and there is green everywhere. And the gates of hell stand wide open, longing to devour. It takes an eye of faith to ...  Read More

Last Sunday we studied together 1 Peter 4:10–11 and our Lord’s direction for believers on how to build His church in a hostile culture. We saw that discovering your gift and abilities was a starting p...  Read More

Corrupt talk is rotten to the core (Ephesians 4:29) but has great appeal to the depths of our flesh (Ephesians 4:22). As such, it is so easy to fall into the deceptive trap of believing that a few loo...  Read More

God is bountiful in His grace, so we can bountifully sow our resources, expecting a bountiful harvest from Him and a multiplication of our seed. What a joy! Mostly when we read these truths from 2 Cor...  Read More

“To live is Christ and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21) is a great claim to make about our Lord Jesus. He is our all-sufficient portion in this life and the great hope of our soul to see Him face to...  Read More

The believer belongs to two families: his earthly family and the eternal family. Both were created by God, Who was a Father to His Son before Creation. Although believers are justified and righteous t...  Read More

We have received grace upon grace from our Lord Jesus Christ, and He is our everlasting reservoir that we draw from to give grace in our family relationships. If we were to draw on our own strength in...  Read More

If Jesus is beautiful, so is His Bride. If our Head is our “One Thing,” His Body is closely united. Love flows down from Him, so does His beauty.David, in Psalm 27, longed to gaze at the beauty of the...  Read More

 During a disagreement early in our marriage, I once yelled across the room at my wife, “You need to submit to me!” I had the verses to prove it, but, in my immaturity, I saw it as a law more than gra...  Read More

How futile it would be for a man to salt the icy church parking lot using a small kitchen funnel. As the salt slowly trickled out and eventually clogged, the man would freeze, and the parking lot woul...  Read More

What if Jesus was really Lord of all, and all things were under His feet, and He was far above all powers, rulers, dominions, and every name? What difference should this make in our lives?It is probab...  Read More

“O LORD, you have searched me and known me!” Psalm 139:1 There is a deep desire in the human heart to be searched and known. Yet, in the busy, self-focused world we live in, so few take the time to kn...  Read More

In our study of Psalm 1, we find that believers are blessed—or fulfilled—when they avoid bad influences (verse 1) and delight and meditate on God's Word (verse 2). More than commands of what to avoid ...  Read More

In Sunday’s study we looked at Jesus' direction for us going into prayer. In Matthew 6:9–10, especially verse 10, He directs us to pray for the Lord’s kingdom and will to be done. This clear direction...  Read More

I was chewing on the goodness of God in the Bread of Life Sunday after church and realized I couldn’t chew. Since late last week, a tooth I had recently received a filling in began to ache, and the pa...  Read More

Often, we run across articles critical of the local church. In this day of high-powered online ministries, the church can seem out of date. However, feeling like family is something you cannot produce...  Read More

Last Sunday we journeyed through Matthew 6:25–34 and 1 Peter 5:7, learning our Lord’s direction for relief of our anxieties. Two words: cast and seek! First is cast from 1 Peter 5:7: “Cast your cares ...  Read More

Prayer is one of those vital aspects of the Christian life that we all agree on; but we wrestle, not with its importance but with how to allow it to really get a foothold in our daily lives. It is the...  Read More

“One who is full loathes honey, but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.”Proverbs 27:7 The full soul passes on the Lord like pumpkin pie after gorging ourselves on turkey and potatoes: “No...  Read More

I was blessed and helped in our study Sunday as we walked through the end of this wonderful Gospel of John. Prominent in these final passages were familiar terms for us at Calvary. Our vision statemen...  Read More

After boasting in his commitment to Jesus (John 13) and then denying Hims (John 18), Peter finds himself sitting with Jesus around a fire with six other disciples. Jesus turns to Him and eventually re...  Read More

After the resurrection, Jesus manifested Himself to seven of His disciples. Several of them were expert fishermen, and they had followed Peter as we went fishing—something familiar, something they kne...  Read More

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”John 20:29 Believing is seeing, and seeing stimulates believing if you believ...  Read More

When you are being considered for a job, the last thing you want to hear is “unqualified.” It means you don’t have what it takes to do the job.In our message Sunday we saw Jesus begin to commission th...  Read More

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”1 Peter 5:5b–6 (ESV) I find it fascinating to study these accounts of the death and resurrection of Jesus found in John’s Gospel. The death and re...  Read More

I remember, years ago, a large denomination was removing songs and hymns that talked about blood. They felt these were antiquated and needed to be left behind, as they felt their culture had moved for...  Read More

In our “Road to the Cross” journey in the Gospel of John, Sunday we went through the civic trial before Pilate. In this passage, we see the complete failure of the civic authority (Pilate) to do what ...  Read More

“The nations rage and the people plot against the Lord and His anointed!”These words are from Psalm 2 and describe the age-old rebellion of mankind against the Lord, Who is creator of all things. This...  Read More

Our salvation, forgiveness, and spiritual blessings, are “not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit! says the Lord of Hosts” (Zephaniah 4:6 ESV).Last Sunday, at the darkest moment of Jesus arrest d...  Read More

His disciples asked Jesus a critical question, “How should we pray?” And His answer began with, “Pray this way, Our Father…” (Matthew 6:9 ESV).In the most important area of communication in our whole ...  Read More

As we behold the glory of Christ, we grow a distaste for all other glories. We are bornwith a heart that hates the glory of God and craves the praise of man (John 5:44). It isthe nature of our flesh t...  Read More

“We must not conceive of prayer as though it were an overcoming of God’s reluctance; when in fact it is a laying hold of His highest willingness.”—Richard Trench, 1807-1886 All believers have probably...  Read More

So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. John 16:22 Jesus continues to love and shepherd His followers right up to t...  Read More

I don’t know who coined that phrase, but we have all felt it from time to time.And it is a terrible feeling.If anyone in history should have felt impending doom, it was Jesus, during John 16 and his f...  Read More

The steadfast love of the Lord is better than life, but is it better than money? In the abundance of our worldly goods, sometimes it can seem that we value our money more than our lives: when the mark...  Read More

Our study last Sunday in John 15:12–17 introduced an old theme of “loving one another” along with a newer theme that Jesus calls us His friends. We saw that this word friend He uses means “an affectio...  Read More

You sit across from your spouse, looking at and listening to them. Eyes are focused. Ears are engaged. Yet, in your mind, you are not engaged. Silently, perhaps you are planning your day, or fixing so...  Read More