1 For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. 2 A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. 3 A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and...
Genesis 1:1 shows us that work is an activity of God, before anything else. His work ethic from the beginning, an example given to us through creation, sets the stage for a life of work. However, as humans, we recognize the challenge of...
I very much wanted a family, but I really always saw myself as a working mom. I even rolled my eyes a little at college friends who would be studying their bums off for finals, knowing that their ultimate goal was just to raise babies....
22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the Lord. 23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you...
1 Then on October 17 of that same year, the Lord sent another message through the prophet Haggai. 2 “Say this to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the remnant of God’s people...
1 On August 29 of the second year of King Darius’s reign, the Lord gave a message through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Jeshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 2 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s...
7 And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.”...
1 The sayings of King Lemuel contain this message, which his mother taught him. 2 O my son, O son of my womb, O son of my vows, 3 do not waste your strength on women, on those who ruin kings. 4 It is not for kings, O Lemuel, to guzzle...
We can try to run from it, but eventually it will catch up to us. Most of us dread it and view it as an obligation rather than an opportunity. It is a four letter word that makes us cringe and causes us to cower:...
When we think about our work we typically think of our vocation (job) and the required activity it takes to complete its mission-a lawyer doing litigation work, a server serving tables, a homemaker managing the household, a project leader coordinating a project team...
18 I came to hate all my hard work here on earth, for I must leave to others everything I have earned. 19 And who can tell whether my successors will be wise or foolish? Yet they will control everything I have gained by my...
22 Don’t rob the poor just because you can, or exploit the needy in court. 23 For the Lord is their defender. He will ruin anyone who ruins them. 24 Don’t befriend angry people or associate with hot-tempered people, 25 or you will learn to be like them and endanger your soul. 26...
In Genesis 3, we see that Adam and Eve’s sin leads to God’s curse on humanity and a broken relationship with God. This curse affects both men and women as it brings frustration to where God had meant for them to be most fruitful....
18 You who are slaves must submit to your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel. 19 For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust...
10 Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! 11 The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers! 12...
11 Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. 12 Then people who are not believers will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend...
When we open the first pages of the Bible, we see God working. Where there is darkness and chaos, God brings light and order. Where there is a vast sea, He forms dry land. He is working—creating, shaping, and forming a world. And He said...
9 So I became greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom never failed me. 10 Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my...
1 “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work. 3 “At nine o’clock in the morning he was...
Creation began with work. Therefore, it only makes sense that God would call His creation to work in many different ways to bring glory to His name. When most of us think of “work” we think of a job that we go to and...
18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was...
This past weekend we kicked off our new series, Work: A Sacred Calling. We are excited to study this topic together as a church body and look at what it means to work with excellence for God's kingdom. As Matt Williams mentioned, here's a look...
1 The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” 2 “Of course we may eat...
1 Let all that I am praise the Lord. O Lord my God, how great you are! You are robed with honor and majesty. 2 You are dressed in a robe of light. You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens; 3 you lay out the rafters of your...
1 I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless. 2 So I said, “Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?” 3 After much thought,...