'faith' Tagged Posts (Page 19)
Daily Devotions: February 1, 2019
February 1, 2019 To read full passage click: 1 Corinthians 13:8-13 …“Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.” vs. 8 Christianity is known for its trends. Every few years there is a major breakthrough of some sort and we become obsessed with the newest and the latest worship practices and doctrinal statements. At those moments, there are endless debates…
Daily Devotions: January 9, 2019
January 9, 2019 To read full passage click: Psalm 29:1-4 …“Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.” vs. 1 Humans have always wondered about God. In the beginning they saw God connections everywhere, particularly in the unexplained mysteries of the universe. In those times, God was the standard cause for everything humans didn’t understand. As knowledge grew and scientific investigation revealed the natural forces at work in the world around us, some began…
Daily Devotions: January 5, 2019
January 5, 2019 To read full passage click: Ephesians 3:7-12 …“Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given me by the working of his power.” vs. 7 While many question whether Paul was the actual writer of the book of Ephesians, there is no doubt that its content is consistent with what we know of his life. He was completely committed to the message of inclusive grace that had…
Daily Devotions: December 13, 2018
December 13, 2018 To read full passage click: Philippians 4:4-5 …“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” vs. 4 Most of us believe that rejoicing is something we do when wonderful things happen in our lives. Our team wins the big game, a long awaited child is born, we get the raise we’ve been waiting for–the list could go on. There are many occasions for pure joy in the course of a lifetime. But Paul told the…
Daily Devotions: December 2, 2018
December 2, 2018 To read full passage click: Luke 21:29-36 …“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth.” vss. 34-35 Jesus was talking about the much anticipated return of the Son of Man, an event eagerly awaited by his followers in the early…
Daily Devotions: November 29, 2018
November 29, 2018 To read full passage click: 1 Thessalonians 3:9-10 …“How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you?” Vs. 9 Paul had paused for a time in Thessalonica on his second missionary journey, proclaimed the gospel, and had promptly been run out of town! Later on he wondered about those who had received his message and sent Timothy back to check on them. When…
Daily Devotions: September 22, 2018
September 22, 2018 Mark 9:30-32 …“But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.” vs. 32 The arrest and crucifixion of Jesus came as a jolt to his disciples. They had anticipated triumph and success, a great victory over the dominating oppressive powers. But after the resurrection, when it became apparent to them that Jesus was indeed the Christ, some of them remembered that he had talked about persecution and suffering while he was…
Daily Devotions: September 7, 2018
September 7, 2018 James 2:14-17 …“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?” vs. 14 Martin Luther famously lamented the presence of the book of James in the New Testament and called it an “epistle of straw.” He said this because he believed that it undermined the teachings of Paul, who wrote to the Romans that we are justified by faith apart from the works…
Daily Devotions: July 13 , 2018
July 13, 2018 Ephesians 1:11-14…“In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit;” vs. 13 It’s likely no accident that the words of this verse remind us of what is said following baptism in many of our congregations, “You have been marked with the cross of Christ and sealed with the Holy Spirit.” From the very beginning…
Daily Devotions: June 30 , 2018
June 30, 2018 Mark 5:21-34…“He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’” vs. 34 Wherever Jesus went in his Galilean ministry he attracted crowds who had heard of his healing touch. They brought family members and friends, and came expecting that Jesus could heal them. And many times that’s exactly what happened. Our ideas about healing have changed somewhat in the last 2000 years. We’re more likely now…
Daily Devotions: May 10, 2018
May 10, 2018 1 John 5:9-13…“And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” vs. 11 About the end of the first century when John was doing his writing, there was considerable controversy about the content of the gospel message. Already there was division within congregations about various issues and alternative wisdom was being proposed. John is calling his readers back to the essence of the testimony that the Spirit of God…
Daily Devotions: May 3, 2018
May 3, 2018 1 John 5:1-6…“Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” vs. 5 To believe that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, was a huge step for those early Christians. And then, once they had come to faith, they went on to make the audacious claim that they were going to conquer the world. Think of it! They had nothing going for them. At most…