Therefore, if any [are] in Christ, [they are] new creation[s]; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. (v. 17)
John Bishop tells of a London slum child whose major refuge was his Roman Catholic day school. In the course of things, his school was visited by a physician who did medical examinations for the students. As the skinny little fellow left the doctor’s room, one of the nuns aske...
King David said, "Mephibosheth, your master’s son, shall always eat at my table." (v. 10b)
Are you a people watcher?
I am. The most interesting thing about going to the State Fair is the chance to watch people. In fact, I find them more interesting than the livestock. Except for size and color, every cow looks and acts like every other cow, and every pig looks and sounds like every other pig.
B...
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean ... (v. 22a) ... Stir up one another to love and good works. (v. 24b) It’s right there, in the name itself: communion - that which makes for unity, oneness. But if this Christian sacrament of unity has been anything through twenty centuries, it has been a sacrament of division. Let’s move backward quickl...
[Jesus said] If any[one] would come after me, let [them] deny self and take up [their] cross daily and follow me.
Our family was skiing in Colorado with some friends. I rode up a long chair lift with a stranger who turned to me saying, "The name’s Clyde; I’m a plumber from California. I'm out here to meet women and have fun. What’s your work?"
I answered, "Fire insurance," the response I frequen...
May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me; he was not ashamed of my chains ... (v. 16)
Meet Onesiphorus.
Onesiphorus was a friend of Saint Paul’s. We ought to think about him. We ought to imitate him.
Saint Paul writes about Onesiphorus in his second letter to Timothy. Paul’s letters make up about a third of the entire New Testament. They are theologica...
Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. (v. 35)
After his resurrection, Jesus promised that he would be with us everywhere. We can be assured and conscious of his presence in the private place of prayer, but also the rush of daily routines, including a classroom or a crowded restaurant; or even in the midst of a rabid crowd at a spo...
The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? (v. 16a) The Christian faith at times expresses itself in strange ways. It talks about persons losing their life to find it. "Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 16:25b) It talks about persons finding strength through acknowledging their weaknesses. "My grace is sufficient for you, for my p...