On this Thursday of Holy Week, let’s consider the events recorded in scripture on this day. Luke 22:39-46 gives us a different peek at Jesus than we see in many other parts of scripture. Elsewhere, we see Jesus commanding the storm to cease, boldly confronting the religious leaders who opposed him, authoritatively teaching in the […]

Read More Stories from the Middle 4: Jesus in the Garden

When we struggle in our trust with God, it’s helpful to look at times where God was faithful both to us in the past and in the Bible. However, it’s important for us to remember that even for many of the Bible’s greatest heroes, the waiting and trusting did not always come easy. This brings […]

Read More Stories from the Middle: Abraham and Isaac’s Climb

1st Samuel beings the story of one of the greatest figures in the Old Testament, however before Samuel’s story begins, we are given a very brief view of a long and painful personal ordeal in the life of a woman named Hannah. See, Hannah was unable to have children, anyone who has faced this in […]

Read More Stories from the Middle 2: Hannah

We often read Bible stories in the most unhelpful of ways. We read through the narrative much too quickly to grasp what it was like for the people we are reading about. Or, because we have grown up around many of these stories, we already know the ending of the stories. Maybe we don’t feel […]

Read More Stories from the Middle 1: Jehoshaphat’s Night Between

We’ve looked at the first two commands that Jesus gave to us if we want to be considered one of His disciples. First, we are to “deny ourselves” (read part one here) and secondly we are to “take up our cross,” (read part two here) but now we have reached the final command, and while […]

Read More The Price Part Three

In John 9, Jesus tells us that there are three things that we HAVE to do to be his disciples. First He told them that they had to set aside their selfish ambitions. (Read Part One Here) Jesus is telling us that in order to be devoted to Him, we have to let go of […]

Read More The Price Part Two

When my daughters (now 8 and 6 years old) were young, they had no concept of how much things cost. When we went to the store they didn’t know the difference between an item that cost $10 and an item that cost $25 dollars, they only knew what they did and didn’t want. It didn’t […]

Read More The Price Part One

In all four New Testament gospels, we are given an account of Jesus’ grand entrance into Jerusalem. We commemorate this day by celebrating Palm Sunday. Many churches use palm branches in their worship services in the way the crowds came out in droves to lay their coats and palm branches in the road under the […]

Read More What Changes Between Palm Sunday and Good Friday

We have reached the end of our Series on the Lord’s Prayer. It’s my hope that you have grown in your relationship with God as we’ve looked at how Jesus taught us to pray. The often quoted prayer ends with a declaration of praise much like the closing doxology in the book of Jude. Oddly […]

Read More THE PRAYER: Part 7 “For Yours is the Kingdom…”

When Jesus taught His followers the model for prayer in Matthew 6, He taught a deliberate sequencing in order for us to understand the priority of prayer. He begins by teaching us to acknowledge Him first (Our Father,) then moves us to worship (Hallowed be your name.), and then into submission before Him (Your Kingdom/Your […]

Read More The Prayer Part 6: “Lead us not into temptation/deliever us from evil.”