Looking to Jesus as the Perfect Pattern With the glorious history of the faithful in mind, our author turns now to his readers. The standard of faith has been set by the record of God’s faithful people in the past, who moved out into the unknown with confidence and who endured hardship without giving up their expectation of a future fulfillment of the promise. But the author now comes to the supreme example of this kind of faith in Jesus—the name that must be the climax of any list of paragons of faith. ...
Looking to Jesus as the Perfect Pattern With the glorious history of the faithful in mind, our author turns now to his readers. The standard of faith has been set by the record of God’s faithful people in the past, who moved out into the unknown with confidence and who endured hardship without giving up their expectation of a future fulfillment of the promise. But the author now comes to the supreme example of this kind of faith in Jesus—the name that must be the climax of any list of paragons of faith. ...
Running Time Twenty-five minutes (including one two-minute break) What's It About? This is a skit written for a Christian Women's Pre-Christmas-Season program, suitable for a ladies' breakfast, brunch, luncheon, and so forth. It is not evangelistic, but rather an idea-filled dialogue which gives some practical suggestions for keeping Christ in Christmas and heading off the usual frenzy of the busy season. How Many Characters? The four characters are women who are meeting for their regular kaffee klatsch ...
It was almost exactly five years ago. Just before Thanksgiving, a Friday morning, shortly after 5:00 AM - I was awakened by a shout from our kitchen, "OH, NO!" A moment later, the cry came again, "OH, NO!" Christie had gotten up, gone in to start the coffee, and discovered we were flooded. A hose leading to our washing machine had burst during the night and water was gushing out. For the next hour and a half we were bailing out our house, then later watched as a crew moved in, hoisted furniture, pulled up ...
How many of you have a computer at home? How many of you ever surfed the net? If you do, you know there is an entirely new language to learn when you get involved with computers. I thought I would give us a little quiz just to see how well we are "with it" when it comes to talking computer lingo. I'll show you the word then you tell me the definition. ASAP – As soon as possible FYI – For Your Information LOL – Laughing Out Loud KIT – Keep In Touch TTYL – Talk To You Later BCNU – Be Seeing You G2G – Got To ...
We are concluding a series that we've entitled, "Picture Perfect". It is a series on the family. We have said for the last several weeks, "God desires for the family to show His love for His glory." We have seen how God has given each family member a specific role to play and a specific responsibility to fulfill. Husbands - Love As they relate to their wives, husbands are to always ask this question, "What is the loving thing to do?" Wives - Submit The question wives are to ask as they relate to their ...
"The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat." Jane Wagner, "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe"[1] You would expect that the richest man who ever lived would have something to say about money, and, in Solomon's case, you would be right. He has plenty to say. There is a wealth of wisdom about wealth in Proverbs. With money, there is not only much to earn, but there is much to learn. In fact, the entire Bible has much to say about money. Howard Dayton, the ...
One of the reasons I want to preach on this passage of scripture is because I’ve never really understood it. The only way to really make sense of it is to view the story of the friend at midnight as a parable. You may remember the old definition of the word, parable. It goes something like this. A parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning. We could flesh that out considerably, but this little quip really captures it quite nicely. Parables are sometimes confusing until you realize that most, or at ...
Some of you heard my story about the husband and the wife who had quarreled. It had been a high-pitch quarrel, each digging their heels in to preserve the position they had vehemently taken. Emotions ran high. Both were nursing their hurt feelings in defensive silence. As they were driving to attend a family wedding in a distant city — it was an uneasy and quiet trip, both of them starring straight ahead or out the window as the miles went by in icy silence. The angry tension between them was so thick you ...
Of all the topics that a pastor talks about, by common consensus everybody would agree, the most sensitive topic that a pastor talks about is - money. However, the most difficult topic that a pastor deals with is the one we have been talking about for the last couple of weeks in the series we’ve entitled, “Missing Person.” We have said that a missing person is any person who is far from God - any person who does not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The very first command that Jesus ever gave ...
Yard sales are interesting to me. I don’t frequent them very often, but I am always fascinated by the fact that “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.” Someone can’t wait to get rid of old tapes and records — doesn’t want them cluttering up the house anymore. Along comes a complete stranger and he just can’t believe anyone would want to sell them. He buys them for a steal and drives home with a big smile thinking he just committed robbery. He brings the records home, clutters up his own house ...
We have seen evidence that the earlier chapters were independent traditions. For example, in chapter 1 the four Jews proved to be wiser than all the other sages, yet they are not asked to interpret the dream in chapter 2; Daniel is prominent in chapter 2 but missing from chapter 3. The author does not do a lot to provide smooth transitions between the different episodes, but there is some continuity in that the first four chapters feature King Nebuchadnezzar. The chasm between chapers 4 and 5 is greater ...
I have a pop quiz for you this morning. How much money would you say Americans lost to Internet scams and online crime in 2020? Would you believe $4.2 billion? That’s billion—with a “b”! And that’s just in one year’s time. Internet scams are an increasing problem all over the world. (1) If I were to ask for a quick show of hands, how many of you have gotten an email or message on social media that you suspected was a scam? It’s a pretty common occurrence. I read an excellent story on the blog Now I Know! ...
The TITHE. You do know what that is, right? You would be surprised how many do not. Lots of folks think the tithe is simply what you give to the church, no matter what amount - a dollar, two dollars, a hundred - no matter what proportion of income the amount represents. And that is why, according to the Gallup folks, 17% of church members say they tithe. Unfortunately, lots of those good people are wrong. The word tithe comes from the Old English and simply means one-tenth. A tithe is one-tenth of ...
Cast Edgar 1 Edgar 2 Bartimaeus Tintoes Helene Essay Reader 1 Essay Reader 2 Essay Reader 3 (Edgar 1 sits facing the audience and addresses the audience only. Edgar 2 stands next to him, but speaks to himself and the other characters in the play. Helene and Essay Readers 1-3 sit at center and stand when they "enter") Edgar 1: I rubbed my eyes and looked at the letter a second time. Yes, I was not asleep; the thing had happened. There was my cup of coffee and the half-eaten donut just as I had left them ...
It was something that I had been putting off for a good while, for a number of reasons, the least of which I just didn’t want to deal with it. Last year, Teresa and I finally took the plunge and we did it. I thought it would be morbid – it wasn’t. I thought it would be kind of miserable – it wasn’t. I realized after it was over it really was a ministry. It took a few weeks for the results of our efforts to be completed, but then the day came that it came in the mail. I opened up the package, looked at the ...
Nobel Prize Laureate for Literature Robert Allan Zimmerman — more popularly known as Bob Dylan — has written many memorable lyrics. He has a good ear for the rhythms of speech, poetry, and the Bible. In his song “The Times They Are A-Changin’” Dylan listed a number of factors that should prove to those who stand in the way of truth that “Your order is rapidly fadin’.” He concluded with words that echo Jesus — “For the first one now will later be last, for the times, they are a-changin’.” In the gospels it ...
"Among those who are born of women ..." If you are thinking of the human race, this is a rather inclusive statement; I can’t think of very many people it leaves out! And this is a statement of Jesus as he offers a summa cum laude of highest praise to one of his associates in the dissemination of truth and light. He says, "Among those who are born of women, there has not arisen a greater prophet than John the Baptizer" (Matthew 11:11; Luke 7:28). What was it that was so great about John - this son of ...
A well-to-do man and his family of five lived in a plush, gated neighborhood in a wealthy urban community. He was a righteous man, by all accounts. A volunteer worker in the student, faithful to his wife, never missed one of his son’s baseball games. “I’ve never met a better man than that one,” someone was overheard saying of him at church. “It’s amazing how the Lord has blessed him.” At night, when the man turned into his neighborhood, he would always catch a glimpse of a young lady on the far street ...
Call for Mutual Consideration Paul’s concern for unity of mind and mutual consideration among the members of the Philippian church need not imply that there was an atmosphere of dissension there. The fact that two members are singled out by name and urged to agree in 4:2 could suggest (unless 4:2 belongs to an originally separate letter) that theirs was an exceptional case of conflict. We do not know what Epaphroditus had told Paul about the state of the church, but at this time Paul found sufficient ...
If I were to name the year 1989, I wonder if you would know the significance of it. I imagine most people would think back to something that happened personally to them that year, something that touched their life in a dramatic way, like a birth or death in the family. We wouldn't forget that. But in 1989, during the season of Advent, you will remember, the Communist empire crumbled, the Cold War ended, and the Berlin wall came down. I have a piece of that wall. Our children gave it to us after a trip to ...
Do you ever have moments in your life when you feel that God must have decided somehow not to be on speaking terms with you anymore? Maybe you haven’t seen him answer your prayers for some time, or perhaps you haven’t sensed his presence in your life for a while. For some reason, you have been led to wonder if he’s giving you a cold shoulder. You begin to think that he has stopped talking with you altogether. If you can say that such a thought has crossed your mind, then you can probably identify with the ...
Jesus said, "I have come that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." Jesus came that we might be, in a word, happy. Paul, history's greatest interpreter of the teachings of Jesus, identified three sure-fire ways to find the joy Christ was talking about, three indispensables for happiness. They are: 1 -- Find someone to believe in. This is the spiritual dimension of happiness. Paul said it this way when writing to his friends in Corinth: "Make love your aim, and earnestly desire the spiritual ...
"I am the light of the world." -- John 8:12 (NRSV) "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." -- John 9:5 (NRSV) "You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works, and give glory to your Father in heaven." -- Matthew 5:14-16 (NRSV) ____________ Imagine that ...
My dear children, I am only to be with you a little longer. You will seek me; (but) "Where I am going you cannot come." A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you. (John 13:33-34) Has it occurred to you that in those parts of the United States where it comes on at 11:30 p.m., "Saturday Night Live" is also Sunday Morning Live? It might be good if we could bring a little more of the humor of that show with us to church on Sunday mornings. The skits on Saturday Night ...