But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Gal. 5:22-23 NIV) Fruit Comes from Orchards Fruit affects us at the point of taste first and foremost, but we rarely consider…
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Some people are excited for the new year. Some are skeptical that it will be any different. Others have given up hope altogether that things are doing anything but spiraling out of control. As believers, New Year’s Day, 2023, offers us an opportunity to make a declaration. We…
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There has been a lot of emphasis in recent decades on the importance of building one’s legacy, both in society at large and in the church. Just this week someone told me the sermon at their church last Sunday was about building their legacy. To be sure, there…
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The Grand Human Fishing Expedition Many of us know the oft repeated statement from Jesus to the first disciples that he would make them “fishers of men,” or maybe better, “fishers of people” (Matt. 4:19; Luke 5:10). Standing alone, this imagery communicates clearly the task before the disciples,…
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Is Jesus really reigning as king over the universe? Or should we expect someone else? Is he going to build a glorious kingdom like Solomon? Or will it be a kingdom of another kind altogether? “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will…
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One week ago yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned the Roe v. Wade ruling which had made abortion legal in all 50 states. The effect of this ruling is that it will now be placed upon each of the 50 states to decide what to…
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This past Sunday was Pentecost Sunday (June 5, 2022). On the first Christian Pentecost (which was certainly not the first Pentecost for those attending), the disciples received the fulfillment of a promise from the Father for which Jesus had told them to wait (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4). In…
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“To obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Sam. 15:22). One bible study I saw suggested that if we had to pick between obedience and sacrifice, clearly obedience is better. I’m not sure how helpful that is since in many cases one has to make sacrifices in order to…
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You’ve likely seen a version of posters from over a century ago with Uncle Sam dressed in Americana hat and coat pointing directly at the viewer declaring, “I Want You.” America had a mission, and soldiers were wanted. “Gideon Wants You!” is a play on that. It really…
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What is Advent? Advent means “coming” and is the name the Church has given to the season anticipating the coming of Christ as if before His incarnation, but also His coming in consummation—the completion of what He began in His first coming. Advent is a time of tension.…
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We’ve all been to the movie theatre. Most of us have seen dozens if not hundreds of movies in a theatre. Not as many have been to a Broadway production, or to the Straz, for a stage performance, and fewer have been as many times as most of…
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And [Jesus] called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” (Matthew 15:10-11 ESV) These verses come in the middle of…
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The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. (1 Peter 4:7 NIV) The study of eschatology, or end-times prophecy, at least at the popular level, often exists in an atmosphere more like a circus than an AA…
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Most Christians are familiar with the scene when Jesus is baptized and the Spirit descends “like a dove” and rests upon Him. What is being communicated by the presence of this dove in the scene? Why is the Spirit appearing as a dove? And when Jesus was baptized,…
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Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:10) This past Sunday we explored 1 Peter 2:9-17 in our series Homeless. For the sake of the sermon, I…
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