Do you pray? Do you have intentional time in conversation with God each day? If you don’t pray, or if your prayer life is less than you desire, is it because you don’t plan to pray? When Jesus instructs His disciples about prayer in Matthew 6, He tells them to “go into your inner room, […]
Read More Plan to Pray“Love Your Neighbor”Luke 10:29-37June 28, 2026 Rosaria Butterfield asks the question, “Christians have a powerful history of building schools and hospitals, of showing up during natural disasters to offer water and food and shelter and medicine. We have that history. But do we have the daily witness of Christian neighboring?” [my emphasis] It’s tempting to […]
Read More Love Your Neighbor“Two Imperatives for Effective Fathering”Luke 10:25-29June 21, 2026 John G. Paton was a missionary to the New Hebrides in the mid-1800s. One of the greatest influences in his life was his father who after almost every meal would go to a “closet” where he would pray — “Though everything else in religion were by some […]
Read More Two Imperatives for Effective Fathering“Joy in Serving Christ”Luke 10:17-24May 24, 2026 What gives you joy? What stimulates you to be happy? When the children and grandchildren come over for the weekend. Enough rain and not too much sun (heat) in August to keep your yard alive. All green lights on 377 on your morning commute. One more diet coke […]
Read More Joy in Serving Christ“Sent with the Gospel”Luke 10:1-16May 17, 2026 In 1786 a man named William was ordained for the pastorate and sent to a small church in the town of Moulton, England. Both he and the church were very poor, and it took three jobs for William to support his family: pastor, cobbler, and village teacher. In […]
Read More Sent with the GospelThe fear of the Lord has two main emphases — a dread and terror of the judgment of God and an awe and reverential delight in God for His greatness. The former is the experience of the unbeliever and the latter is the experience of the believer. The former compels people to attempt to run […]
Read More The Blessings of Fearing God“How to Be an Almost Follower of Christ”Luke 9:57-62May 10, 2026 There is a kind of follower of Christ who is not a follower of Christ. Consider the crowds that followed Jesus; on one occasion, after He taught of the necessity of believing solely in Him and the Spirit’s role in bringing them to faith […]
Read More How to Be an Almost Follower of Christ“With His Eyes on Jerusalem”Luke 9:”51-56April 19, 2026 It seems inconceivable, but Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, the God-Man, God incarnate, was rejected by Israel when He came to be her Messiah and to provide redemption from sin. His message was rejected by Herod when Herod imprisoned and beheaded John the Baptist (3:20) He […]
Read More With His Eyes on JerusalemIt’s hard to pray. Sometimes we lack the discipline to pray. Sometimes we forget to pray. Or perhaps worse, we allow the pressures and burdens of less important but seemingly more urgent responsibilities push aside prayer. At times prayer is inhibited because of sinful indulgences — and those indulgences become more precious to us than […]
Read More When Prayer Becomes JoylessPassover is finished. The crowds are gone from Jerusalem. The Roman soldiers are relaxing. The disciples and their friends and family are returning to their daily duties and a few added priorities. There is still some buzz in the city and among the disciples, but Easter is over. Or is it? What happens after the […]
Read More Because Christ is Resurrected…“The Greatest Message”1 Corinthians 15:1-11April 5, 2026 What’s your most important possession? (Not your most important person, but possession.) You might say, “My cash/wealth,” or “My job” (no cash without some kind of job), or “my car” (have to get to work somehow) or “my house,” or “my special collection — wedding pictures, art, stamps, […]
Read More The Greatest Message“Our Savior, the Son of Man”Luke 1-9 SummaryMarch 29, 2026 When you think about Christ, how do you characterize Him? What is He like? What does He do? How is He different from everyone else that has walked on earth so that we should believe in and follow Him? John Newton said that Christ is […]
Read More Our Savior, the Son of ManJealousy and envy are insidious and persistent, showing up in unexpected places and at unexpected times. Jealousy wasn’t there. And then it was. Even in church. Among church leaders. Among the faithful servants of God. Consider the story of Jesus in Matthew 20:1-16. Workers arrive at the town marketplace looking for work; a landowner arrives […]
Read More Jealous?“The Great God and Our Quest for Greatness”Luke 9:46-50March 22, 2026 It’s hard to be humble. Pride may show up at the most unexpected times and unexpected places. Consider the story of William Masvinu and Mison Sere. For three years (2012-14) William won Zimbabwe’s annual “Mister Ugly” contest. But in 2015 he lost the title […]
Read More The Great God and Our Quest for Greatness“Our Great God”Luke 9:37-45March 15, 2026 In recent years, it seems that there has been a fair bit of talk about GOATs. Not goats, as in “domesticated, social, and intelligent mammals in the Bovidae family, related to sheep, known for providing milk, meat, and fiber.” GOATs as in the Greatest of All-Time. As in Willie […]
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Words of Grace 