I have always loved productivity and have no doubt that I’ve been type-A my entire life. Case in point: as a young girl, I would go to my friends’ houses and clean their rooms while we “played”. Productivity was always bound up in my idea...
At this point in the Exodus narrative, the first three plagues have occurred over the land of Egypt, and Pharaoh has not budged in his stance of holding the Israelites captive (Exodus 7:3-5)....
We just finished studying the book of Hebrews as a church where arguably the main point of the entire book can be boiled down to: Jesus is better. The author uses Melchizedek, Abraham, Moses, the Tabernacle, and more to make the point that Jesus is...
Studying the basics of Christianity begins with our relationship with God. All people are born completely sinful as rebellious enemies of God. The way to be right with God is not by comparison to others or good works but through faith in Jesus by the...
For about a decade of my life, between middle school and college, my best friend and I frequently wrote to each other. (She’s now my roommate, so our letter-writing has somewhat dwindled.) At my best, I could turn out a good 20 pages effortlessly. It...
Faith—the objective content of the future and our subjective certainty about that content—is the one thing we need to face the future. By looking to the ordinary people who have gone before us in faith, we are encouraged to grow more certain about the promises...
The term “already but not yet” is something that sunk in for the first time when I started coming to Grace Church, and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head since we started our study of Hebrews. This is the very...
The prayer I prayed the most before we left for Israel was that I would retain and remember as much as possible. While I still fear that I might forget, what the Lord did for me instead was refocus my thoughts on what I needed...
Upon returning from our recent trip to Israel, I have frequently been asked, “What was the one thing that was most impactful for you on the trip?” My answer has been consistent: it would have to be the time we spent in the Garden of...
“People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward...
God’s faithfulness is on display throughout history. Although we can lack belief that God will truly fulfill His promises, the writer of Hebrews reminds us that God will not back out and He will not change His mind; He will stay faithful to His people....
The author of Hebrews continues to warn us in Chapters five and six to check our souls to make sure we are not deceiving ourselves. We need to acknowledge that there is something at stake and that we always need to be progressing, growing, and...
Once David is made King of Israel, God reveals the sovereign movement and direction taking place over David’s life. As he recognizes the piece he is playing in God’s redemptive plan, David is driven to humility and worship....
As the youngest son, David performed the lowly, menial job of taking care of the goats and sheep in the fields. But when David comes before Samuel, the Lord said, “This is the one; anoint him” (v. 12)....
The disciples encountered first hand the resurrected Jesus. Our experience as Christians today is different than the experience the disciples had but just as powerful....
Few men are more broken than the man with a dying child. Scanning the landscape, Jairus’ eyes finally landed on Jesus. Time was draining, and he began to run, his skirt fabric hiked up in his fist. Jairus was a ruler in the synagogue, probably a...
Jairus’ story tells not only of faith that counteracts fear, but of a Savior, who commands it. When Jairus, a respected leader of the synagogue, falls at the Rabbi’s feet in a desperate plea to save his feverous daughter, Jesus turns to address another concern...
I was driving home from school one day stressed, overwhelmed, and disappointed. I thought about all the ways I fail my Savior. I thought about my shame and feelings of unworthiness that only seem to grow as I get more involved in ministries and my...
Nicodemus has never been a Bible character who stands out to me. At first glance, his story seems to be a narrative on what not to do. In John 3, Nicodemus sneaks over to see Jesus at night in order to ask him a series...
Nicodemus, a respected Pharisee leader, sought Jesus in the darkness of the night. There the rules and knowledge that Nicodemus had built his life upon were shattered. From his story we learn that nothing is more blinding than knowledge and that Jesus is not an...
These days self-driving cars are all the talk, and despite the controversy, I like the idea. Cruising down the highway on autopilot, not having to deal with the hassle of turn signals, tapping brakes, or speeding tickets? Yes please. Checking out and not having to...
When commanded to worship the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, the Jews Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to sin against God and were ultimately saved by His miracle on their behalf. For believers, miracles are possible but not guaranteed, and often the choice must be made between...
When the king of Aram was at war with Israel, he would send forces to attack Israel at various places. However, before the attacks could ever take place, Elisha, the man of God, would warn the king of Israel so that the people could be...
Exodus 16 records the story of God’s provision for the Israelites after the Exodus. As God’s people make their way to the Promised Land, He provides for their physical needs while testing their hearts. Upon leaving Egypt, the Israelites travel through the Sinai desert on their...
This weekend was the first teaching of our summer series on “Miracles of the Old Testament.” Chris Curtis introduced the series by defining a miracle as “an unusual or extraordinary event caused by God’s power that we would ordinarily consider impossible.” It is also important...