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Today is the first Sunday of the new year. Passing from one year into the next carries many reflections with it. There is something lost. We can never again go back into 2020. There will be things gained this year, but they are not yet a reality. Those things are only imagined. The point of saying this is to say that we tend to think reflectively about something lost or gained when a we embrace a new year. Now, let’s…

“A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks, a new and glorious morn.” The world acknowledges the birth of Jesus Christ around this time every year. While I cannot say that Jesus was undoubtedly born on our December 25th, I will say that it was refreshing this past week to hear, at Disney World of all places, an open acknowledgement of the birth of Christ being the most important moment in the world’s history. Our challenge during…

This week we will be looking at the sermon on the mount. We will concentrate ourselves on chapter 7, verses 13-23 this morning and tonight. Then this coming Wednesday, for our coordinated devotional, we will consider verses 24-27 as our focus. I am hoping you will join us in studying all these words of Jesus. There are important matters for you to hear from your Master in the sermon he preached 2000 years ago. Some try to make this an…

As we begin the countdown towards what we hope to be a fantastic 2021, it is important to remember what we know about God. – He is near. – He is in control. – He will always make the right decisions. – He loves mankind in a way that we cannot even understand. Remembering these things will create a completely different attitude for us all as we take aim at a new year. God has always been, will always be,…

As a kid, I remember being told that the Christian life was one of JOY. I would notice that people who were faithful Christians were consistently happier and more satisfied than other people I happened to be around. When I was younger, it was explained that was because they lived their lives according to the following acrostic: J – Jesus first O – Others second Y – Yourself third Living the Christian life brings out the best in people. The…

There is much attention to the idea of gratitude this week. It is a yearly reminder to us that we have so many blessings. Look around our good land, and you will quickly see that we have some of the best water, food and shelter. Truly we are a rich nation. Gratitude comes from knowing what these blessings are, and feeling a direct connection to how those blessings improve your life. Gratitude might be expressing those wonderful blessings around a…

The church is a wonderful group of people who care for each other in a way that is very similar to a family unit. We pray for one another, we laugh with one another, we cry with one another, and most of all, we are all striving towards the same goal — Heaven. The church is a divine gift from God that creates a network of believers around the world who feel that they have a spiritual family who is…

What if? What if we really lived our lives believing the things we have all stated as Christians? – What if we lived our lives with the motto of “To live is Christ and to die is gain”? – What if we lived our lives truly in fear of Hell and what it means for the lost? – What if we lived our lives speaking truth and encouragement? – What if we lived our lives fully relying on God? –…

The times we live in are strange to say the least. In our country alone we have seen a seemingly endless stream of ridiculousness and negativity reign while civility and common decency appear to be ignored. In our churches we are seeing anger over whether or not one should wear a mask, Christians condemning one another over their choice of political party or over their health concerns, and disputes erupting over meeting times and locations. In our schools, parents are…

There are times in every person’s life where the spiritual side takes a backseat to the worldly side. There are times in every person’s life where the decisions they make center solely around their own selfish desires and not the glory of God. However, when we truly examine those disastrous moments in our lives, we must see them for what they are: a blatant denial of Jesus Christ and His sacrificial love for us. In those moments we take the…

Hezekiah is a good king of Israel. During his reign, he has to deal with a threat of the Assyrian king coming in to destroy Jerusalem. The king receives verbal threats, along with a letter, with a discouraging word to him, and all the people. The king “spread out the letter before the Lord. And Hezekiah prayed…” (Isa 36.14-15). Hezekiah was told that his life was going to end. He humbled himself and prayed to God (Isa 38.1-3). So here…

“If you can trust God to save you for eternity, you can trust Him to lead you for a lifetime.” — David Platt There are very few absolute certainties in life. Some are simply matters of happenstance – for example, when anyone sees a newborn baby they will state “How cute!” – but there are precious few things in life that you can absolutely put all of your trust in. As a matter of fact, there really is only one…