Church Blog (Page 4)

There are dozens of reasons that Christians should love and study the book of Acts, but we are narrowing that down to only five in this study. The first reason we noted is to learn about how to become a Christian. A second reason we need to know this book is to learn about the power of the gospel. In the book right after the book of Acts (i.e., the book of Romans), we read the words, “the gospel of…

Of the 66 books in the Bible, which book should Christians know the best and study the most? That’s a hard question and the answer varies, perhaps, to each individual Christian. But, the book of Acts is such a key book to Christianity, for it shows the inception and the early years of the religion of Jesus Christ on this earth. There is much to learn, to love and to live in this book. Let’s consider five reasons that every…

When Covid-19 struck our nation, we became willing to take whatever precautions we had to prevent contracting and spreading the virus to our friends and families. Immediately, people began buying sanitary masks in bulk. Soon, the CDC told us to stop buying them. The masks cannot prevent you from getting the virus. They said, “Trust the science!” A few weeks later, the CDC changed their stance. Now, we need to wear masks everywhere we go. “Trust the science!” they said.…

The most powerful bomb ever detonated on earth was the Tsar Bomba in 1961. The test was carried out on October 30, 1961. According to Britannica.com, “…it was modified to yield 50 megatons…about 3,800 times the strength of the U.S. bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II. It exploded about 2.5 miles (4 km) above the ground, producing a mushroom cloud more than 37 miles (60 km) high.” The Hiroshima bomb alone was devastating, killing 135,000 Japanese people. It…

What is it that sets a servant-hearted person apart from everyone else? What could I do to become more servant-hearted? Jesus said that He “did not come to be served, but to serve” (Matt. 20:28). That demands introspection! Am I a true servant? I should want to be a servant! But how? After many long years of sacrificial service to others, a faithful and active child of God passed from this life. To discover what made this Christian so servant-hearted,…

When one is baptized into Christ and becomes a Christian, he begins a new life (Rom. 6:4), in which he is to set aside those things of his old way of life (2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 4:22) and excitedly pursue his new life in Christ and his new relationship with his Savior and Lord. Jesus summarized His expectations and made this promise, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2:10). What is involved…

One of the great joys of Bible study is finding words and phrases which have great truths but which can so easily be overlooked. Read the following verse, and see if you may have overlooked one of the “hidden” truths. “Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Heb. 5:8-9). He learned obedience! Obedience is not something…

This Sunday I will partake of the Lord’s Supper for the 3,819th time. I vividly remember the first time I sat at His table and meditated on all that Jesus had done for me. I have never tired of that time of meditation, and communion is even more moving now than it was that first time. There are some things that we must never count as ordinary and outdated. Consider these timeless, eternal truths that are part of our soul.…

Every parent (and probably every teacher) knows what this is like. You tell your kid to do something and the immediate response is something like, “Ok, but first I’m going to do this other thing.” What’s going on in that response? “This other thing” has taken priority over whatever the child has been instructed to do. The child thinks he/she knows better than the parent and that what he/she wants to do is more important. Fortunately, kids grow out of…

As Israel’s “old” and final judge was nearing his last days, the elders of Israel gathered to Samuel and made their demands. The first thing they basically said was, “We don’t want you or your sons!” And then they laid out this directive, “Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations” (1 Sam. 8:5). Notice several things about this demand. Their timeframe for this change was “now.” They were done waiting. They wanted satisfaction to their…

Sometimes we mistakenly think of the magnitude of sins in a wrong way. We talk of “little” sins as being those which really do not “count” because they seem so innocent when compared to major blunders which only the most ungodly do. The Catholic Church even has the same view of sins which are characterized as venial and mortal sins. When one has this mindset, he struggles to figure out how eating fruit from a tree in the Garden of…

It is remarkable that we so often overlook the importance of those who are standing in the shadows. Yet their impact on the lives of all those around them can shape the future far more than those who stand in the limelight and the center of the stage. Take a moment to focus on one of the most unheralded heroes of the Bible. That person is the mother of David, the most widely known individual in the history of the…