I Believe in the Holy Spirit
Read: John 14:15-18, John 14:26, 1 Corinthians 12 “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” So Christians confess, whenever they recite the words if the Apostles’ Creed. But what do we mean by this? And do we really understand what we are claiming to believe? “I believe in the Holy Spirit.” So Christians confess, whenever they recite the words […]
The Great Commandment: Loving God
Read: Matthew 22:34-40 What is the single most important thing you need to do in your life? Someone came to Jesus one day and asked that very question. Listen to his answer. On hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this […]
We Are Stewards of God’s Mysteries
Read: 1 Corinthians 4:1-5 “This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Corinthians 4:1, ESV). Here is the way you should picture me and my colleagues, says Paul to the Corinthians. A Christian leader isn’t a big shot, a CEO, a spiritual celebrity, an ecclesiastical […]
We Are God’s Co-workers
Read: 1 Corinthians 3:5-9 Every Christian is called to service in Christ’s name David Bast has selected ten vivid metaphors from First and Second Corinthians that describe ministers of Christ, and he explores them in this series. His message today: “We are God’s Co-workers”: the ultimate synergy—working as partners with God in the work of […]
The Measure of God’s Love
Read: John 3:16, 18 How do you measure love? Love is not measured by how much you say or how strongly you feel but by how much you give. This is supremely true of God’s love for us. One night Jesus was talking with a man called Nicodemus, a leading religious teacher from Jerusalem. Nicodemus had […]
Elisha and the Siege of Samaria
Read: 2 Kings 7:1-9 Someone has famously described evangelism—the sharing of the gospel message of salvation with non-Christians—as “one beggar telling another where to find bread.” In a famous incident from the life of the prophet Elisha we can see just how true that is. Elisha, Elijah’s successor, was more than just a prophet; he […]
Elijah and the Chariots of Fire
Read: 2 Kings 2:1-18 Elijah was a tremendous hero of faith. But like all men, his time eventually came to an end. But despite the spectacular way in which he left the world, the lesson for us is quite an ordinary one: God’s servants—even the greatest of them—pass on, but God’s work goes on. Human […]
Elijah and the Still, Small Voice
Read: 1 Kings 19:1-18 It is no contradiction that people who have great faith can also have great personal and spiritual struggles. Elijah shows us that, and a way out of our seasons of discouragement. The prophet Elijah’s dramatic triumph on Mt. Carmel over the worshipers of Baal had a surprising result. This great victory for […]
Elijah and the Power of Prayer
Read: 1 Kings 17, 18:41-46 One of the most surprising things we learn from scripture about Elijah is that, for all his heroic deeds, he was a person just like us. The secret of his power was found in prayer. In the ancient world, every people had a special class of religious leaders. They were […]