From the Blog
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Rediscover the Story
Everyone loves a story. And the best stories are worth telling over and over again. What story are you telling yourself this Christmas. Is it a story about your past? Past mistakes you’ve made? Past hurts you’ve experienced? Or maybe it’s today’s story? So many of us get discouraged and even depressed at this time…
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Rediscover the Worship
What is worship? It’s whatever you value or love the most. It’s what you spend your time, talent and treasure for as your greatest source of significance and security. That’s worship. It’s whatever or whoever you ascribe the greatest worth to. Ironically Christmas might be the most difficult time of the year to truly worship…
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Rediscover the Mystery
Do you have sense of mystery this Christmas season? Or have you lost the sense of mystery you had as a child? Wouldn’t you like to rediscover the sense of mystery this Christmas? Some of life’s greatest mysteries have to do with origins. Like the origin of the universe, or the origin of life, or…
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Rediscover the Anticipation
Do you feel a sense of anticipation as Christmas approaches? For many, Christmas has become just another secular holiday, albeit the biggest of all holidays. But rather than having a sense of happy anticipation, some have a sense of dread or complacency. But remember when we were children? Christmas was so mysterious and wonderful then.…
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In All Circumstances
When we think of God’s will, sometimes we think about asking God to clearly tell us what decision to make about my careers, relationships, major purchases. It’s not that God doesn’t care about these major life decisions, but He cares more about the heart than he does the decisions of the heart. Do you want…
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Gospel Guidance, Greetings, and Glory
The gospel reveals God’s love and righteousness to us and Paul closes the letter the way he began, with the gospel. In Romans 16:17-27, the apostle Paul closed his letter to the believers in Rome with a final word of gospel guidance, greetings, and God’s glory. Even in closing his letter, Paul was showing them…
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Greetings and Commendations
Many who preach through the book of Romans skip over these verses as a mere list of mostly unknown names that the apostle Paul commends and greets in closing. It’s neither propositional nor prescriptive, so they decide it’s not preach-able. Yet, we can learn much from the personal and affectionate way that Paul begins to…
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The Gospel Church
There’s not a lot of good news today. We have to remember that the news business is just that… a business. And bad news sells. Violence sells. Sex sells. If it bleeds, it leads. But aren’t you sick and tired of all the bad news? As followers of Jesus, we’re the ambassadors of the good…
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Living in Harmony
We need unity in the church today. For there is certainly little unity in our country or world. We live in one of the most divisive and divided days in our nation in my life time. Yet, the church is supposed to be different. One of the key marks of the church is supposed to…
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Discernment over Judgment
Judgment condemns, but discernment seeks to understand and point the person to Jesus. The motive in judging is self-righteousness and a sense of superiority, often accompanied by anger. But the motive for discernment is humility and love. In Romans chapter 14:13-23, the apostle Paul told the believers in Rome that as a result of having…