friendship

A Place to Belong

“Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.” – John 8:35 The powerful heart of the Gospel message is that God made a way for us when there was no other way. No amount of good or righteous deeds could build a bridge back to right standing with Him — we needed Him to do the work, and He did. We were infected by the poison of sin, and we were helpless to heal ourselves until He stepped in and made Himself the antidote; all we had to do was say “yes” and partake. At the moment we received Jesus as our Lord, we belonged to His family, and our souls breathed a sigh of relief. No longer did we have to seek a place to call home, for as His children, we inherited the love of a perfect Father and

May 29, 2021 No Comments

Who Are Your Untouchables?

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” – Matthew 5:43-45 As we wrap up our discussion about the four groups of untouchables whom Jesus readily touched, we do well to ask ourselves, “Who are the untouchables in my life?” So today, I invite each of us to consider the answer to this question and to look beyond the obvious before we respond. While it’s easy to reply categorically and to list populations such as vagrants, criminals, or drug addicts, I believe we all have a more personal application…if we dare to admit it. Truth be told, for some of us, it would be easier to walk into the middle of a homeless encampment and sit down and eat lunch

May 25, 2021 No Comments

Return to Your First Love

“You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.” – Revelation 2:3,4 To wrap up our discussion about the church at Ephesus, I want to look at the words John wrote in the book of Revelation. In the Apostle’s vivid vision, which happened while he was exiled on the island of Patmos, he was given messages of wisdom and instruction for each of the seven churches in Asia. As we’ve seen over the past couple of days, the Christians in Ephesus lived in an atmosphere of persecution and hostility. Because they wouldn’t worship the image of Artemis or bow down to the emperor Domitian, they were oppressed and mistreated. Nevertheless, they endured and stayed strong in their convictions. However, through John, the Lord communicated the one thing He had

April 20, 2021 No Comments

Jesus Wants to Bless You!

“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” – Psalm 27:13 If there’s any truth I want you to internalize this year, it’s that God wants to bless you! Many of us who were raised in church, especially in legalistic environments, wrongly believe that our Lord is a killjoy and that we should expect nothing more from Him than our salvation. That said, we approach Him with fear and an underlying conviction that He will bring calamity upon us if we don’t “measure up” to His standards. Thankfully, this is not the truth! In fact, David wrote in the Psalms that although we endure difficulties and hardships, we can be confident that we will see His goodness manifest in our lives on this earth. Though our outcomes may not always be what we want them to be, because the

January 15, 2021 No Comments

A Place to Belong

Who Are Your Untouchables?

Return to Your First Love

Jesus Wants to Bless You!

ABIDE…

RESIDE…

CALL ME FRIEND…

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