Abraham and Sarah had longed for a child. Throughout their married life they had prayed to God for a son to be their heir. Thanks be to God, those prayers were answered. They were well past the age when one might reasonably expect the birth of a child when Isaac was born. How delighted they were. God had promised that Abraham's descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens and with the birth of a male heir that promise was given tangible possibility. In the scripture for today, Isaac is ...
1152. Christianity's Initial Growth
Acts 2:1-21
Illustration
R. Robert Cueni
In less than 100 years the fire of the Gospel of Jesus Christ was carried as far as Spain to the west, India to the east, and Ethiopia to the south. It subsequently took several hundred years for the Gospel to arrive in the northern reaches of Europe, but it did. Down through the centuries the flames of the Fire burned brightly. The Christian faith gained and its ranks grew because people who were attracted to Christ had their lives changed. When people were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, they ...
1153. Attention to Health
Illustration
Erin Verkler
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that receiving loving attention in childhood leads to better emotional health in adulthood. But in a new study of 2,905 women and women ages 25 to 74, researchers at the State University at Albany School of Public Health found that it can help beat the odds of getting any number of diseases, too. People who said their parents were nurturing had fewer incidents of many chronic physical conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure, and arthritis, the ...