When Jesus ascended into heaven after the resurrection, He put the entire future of His Kingdom movement into the hands of a group of ordinary men and women.
Read MoreIn our last episode, we began talking about what it means to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is at work in you…”
Read MoreMakeover shows have been exceedingly popular television viewing for decades. Do you remember the show, “Extreme Makeover”?
Read MoreHave you ever wondered, “Is it worth it?” Is all the sacrifice and effort for the Kingdom really worth it? Is all the ridicule and mockery for following Jesus worth it?
Read MoreAll our lives, we are encouraged to climb up the ladder. The word “up” has come to be cherished in our society.
Read MoreIn Philippians 2, Paul calls his friends – and us – to live in a totally countercultural manner. This “upside-down living” is the very opposite of what our society sees as normal.
Read MoreWhat do you think God’s favorite word is? While we aren’t given a direct answer to that question, I’d like to hazard a guess.
Read MorePaul had told his friends, the Philippians, how he had suffered for the sake of Christ. Now, he tells them that they will face the same struggle.
Read MoreWhen Paul wrote his letter to his Philippian friends, he was under house arrest in Rome, chained constantly to a Roman guard. But Paul saw this as an opportunity for the gospel.
Read MoreThere are many kinds of prayer and many reasons for prayer, but most of the time, it seems that we pray when there is a need or crisis. Such prayers are appropriate and powerful! But is that all God had in mind when He gave us the gift of prayer?
Read MoreHave you ever started a good work and not finished it? Maybe it was a New Year’s resolution that started well, but quickly faded. Or a home project that began with good intentions but was never completed.
Read MoreGrace and peace. With this simple phrase, the Apostle Paul opens his letter to the Philippians. In fact, it’s how he opens every letter we have recorded in Scripture. Grace and peace.
Read MoreThere was once a group of people - a church - who dared to live out fully the gospel that had been shared with them. Two thousand years later, we still read of them and can learn from them how we, too, can more fully live out the good news of Jesus.
Read MoreOur world is a messy, broken place filled with messy, broken people. But if the birth of Jesus tells us anything, it tells us that God is not afraid of a mess.
Read MoreIn the last episode, we talked about Caesar Augustus, ruler of the vast Roman Empire at the time of Jesus’ birth. One of the ways he made governing this massive area more manageable was to establish local kings to rule on his behalf.
Read MoreWe will be looking at a very familiar portion of Scripture today, but I’d like to put a twist on it by starting with a verse that, as a recovering control freak, I’ve had to lean into again and again.
Read MoreWhen the Lord brought His people out of slavery in Egypt, He promised to bring them up to Canaan – the “Promised Land.” But before they were ready to step into their inheritance, they had to spend time in the Land Between…
Read MoreWhen you’re in the Land Between, the natural question we ask is, “How long? How long will I be in this hard place?”
Read MoreSooner or later, all of us will find ourselves in the Land Between – a place of undesired and difficult transitions.
Read MoreWe all know what it’s like to screw up. To go somewhere we shouldn’t have gone and done something we shouldn’t have done.
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