25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest...
Jeremiah 17: 5-8 invites us to evaluate what we ultimately put our trust in and what we naturally rely on. In this passage, there are two kinds of trees: one that is struggling and one that is flourishing. The difference between the trees is not...
19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever...
5 “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. 6 But when you pray,...
1 “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. 2 When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets...
Anxiety stems from the unknown and can consume our everyday thoughts and life. However, anxious thoughts can be fought and won with what we do know: God sacrificed His only Son on our behalf. Through God’s reassurance to Abraham in Genesis 15 and God’s truth...
The beginning of a new year always has a way of causing us to pause and reflect on the previous year, but to also look forward to the upcoming year. On Sunday, the teaching took us back through the history of our church, our unique...
40 Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!” 41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all. 42 All the believers devoted themselves to the...
1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. 2 We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. 3 Loving God means keeping...
1 Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. 2 This is how we know if they have...
1 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. 2 Dear friends, we are...
1 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2 He himself...
The traditions and the foods may be different, but even across the globe, we can unite with our Kenyan brothers and sisters in this great celebration. Christ has come to earth! The redemption of our souls has been accomplished. Our God has made a way,...
1 We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. 2 This one who is life itself...
1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life...
1 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with...
This summer I had a memorable conversation with my Dad. He will turn 65 in a couple of months and he was talking to me about insurance options that my parents had been discussing. As we sat in that small coffee shop in Rehoboth Beach,...
As Christmas gets closer and closer, the feelings of long loved traditions and the nostalgia begins to set in. I find myself caught in this tension of living in remembrance of what was, and living in hope of what is to come....
18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, to whom...
2 At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census....
David left a legacy behind him of both devotion to God and failure. As he leaves a legacy of corruption and generational disobedience for his sons in 1 Kings, he simultaneously praises the Lord and sacrifices all the resources and wealth he has left to...
57 When it was time for Elizabeth’s baby to be born, she gave birth to a son. 58 And when her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had been very merciful to her, everyone rejoiced with her. 59 When the baby was eight days old,...
We have been pursued, therefore we pursue. We have been brought into God’s family. Therefore we bring others into ours. We now live in a state of eternal belonging, therefore we bring others into our lives and offer them a place to belong. We...
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to...
1 So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. 2 Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment,...