Ephesians 6:10-20; Paul concludes his letter to the Church in Ephesus by instructing them on the intense nature of spiritual warfare. He makes it very clear that our battle is “not against flesh and blood”, so it is absolutely necessary for believers in Christ to “put on the full armor of God”. Repeatedly Paul urges […]
Ephesians 6:5-9; After addressing individual Christian conduct, Paul shifted to relationships in the church by introducing the term “submit”. From there he expanded to the home, where proper husband-wife and parent-children interactions were clearly established. The final area of Christian conduct was master-servant relationships, how we treat one another as image bearers of God in […]
Ephesians 5:28-6:4; This message is as a continuation (or part II) of the previous sermon on biblical instruction for husband-wife relationships in the home. Paul challenges the wife to submit to her husband, then coaches the husband to love his wife “just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her“. The passage […]
Ephesians 5:21-27; Paul transitions from instruction on personal christian conduct to the church and home. Repeatedly Paul emphasizes the powerful term “submit” to describe how believers and family members must yield to the God-given authority above them.
Ephesians 5:15-20; Following his forceful instruction about Christian behavior in the areas of speech and sexual conduct, Paul issues a series of cautions about living foolishly….or wisely. Only by preparing ourselves to “make the most of every opportunity”, as well as living exemplary lives in regards to personal choices and substance control, will a believer […]
Select gospel passages: Mother’s Day is a commemoration of the sacrifice and care our mothers selflessly invested to raise us as Christ following adults. Our focus today is an overview of the bibilical references of Mary, the special lady that God chose to bear His Son.
Ephesians 5:1-14; Paul begins his third set of directives on appropriate Christian living with an exhortation to “Follow God’s example….and walk in the way of love”. The Apostle abruptly shifts tone by addressing sexual immorality, impurity, greed, obscenity, foolish talk and coarse joking as behaviors which are completely unbecoming of a believer in Christ. These […]
John 20:17-31: John continues his characteristic focus upon people who interacted with Jesus through the end of his gospel account. Mary Magdalene’s devotion to Christ allowed her to be the first withness of the Resurrection, then she is sent to inform the fearful disciples hiding in Jerusalem. Jesus appears through locked doors to commisson the […]
Passages from John 11-20; John’s gospel is uniquely personal and focused on the actions of people encountered by Jesus. We start with the Pharisees just prior to the Triumphal Entry at the beginning of Passion Week and trace the interactions of key individuals on the way to the cross…..the burial….and empty tomb.
Mark 11:1-7; John 12:12-19: The arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem just prior to Passover during the third year of His ministry was very special. Rather than walk into Israel’s capital city as another religious pilgrim celebrating the festival, He rode into town to the cries of “Hosana! Blessed is he who comes in the name […]