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Tag: preach

  • 5 Simple Yet Powerful Lessons I Learned from My First Sermon

    5 Simple Yet Powerful Lessons I Learned from My First Sermon

    Last week Dad brought me the cassette tape pictured with this article. It contains the recording of my first ever sermon. The date was January 29, 1995, Mom’s birthday weekend. I was 14 years old. Fourteen! Looking back on that experience 21 years ago, as of this writing, and the month of preparation leading up…

  • What is the Purpose of the Church? (Why Does Jesus’ Church Exist?)

    In this post, I’m continuing down the train of thought I began with the post entitled “What Does GOD Want from Me?”  We’ve considered GOD’s purpose for us individually and looked at some things the Scriptures teach us to be incorporating in our life. Today, we attempt to answer the question, “What is GOD’s purpose…

  • December 19 – 2 Timothy: Paul’s Final Letter

    Reading 2 Tim. 1:1-4:22 Devotional It seems that Paul was once again arrested and had to stand trial, and was apparently sentenced to death as a result of his defense of the gospel. Secular history affirms that Paul died a martyr’s death (a martyr is someone who is killed for a cause—in this case, for…

  • December 17 – Pursue Godliness, Don’t Love Money

    Reading 1 Tim. 1:1-6:21 Devotional Apparently, after two years in house arrest, Paul was released. The Scriptures don’t record the details, but the early part of Paul’s first letter to Timothy indicates that Paul has traveled back to the Macedonia region, and has left Timothy in Ephesus, which is where Paul sends the letter known…

  • December 13 – Paul Travels to Rome

    Reading Acts 27:1-28:31 Devotional Around 60 A.D., the time arrived for Paul to be taken to Rome so that he might stand trial before Caesar. A centurion named Julius was given the mission of escorting Paul safely to Rome. Luke and Aristarchus, a Christian from Thessalonica, traveled with Paul. They traveled safely along the first…

  • November 27 – Paul’s Second Missionary Journey

    Reading  Acts 15:36-18:11  Devotional Apparently soon after Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians, he began a second trip which is commonly referred to as “Paul’s Second Missionary Journey.” Paul approached Barnabas suggesting they return to the Christians in the towns where they’d preached in order to see how they were doing. Barnabas wanted to…

  • November 26 – Galatians: True Children of Abraham

    Reading  Devotional The exact timing of Paul’s letter to the Galatians is uncertain, but given its theme—salvation is found in Jesus and not the Law of Moses—it makes a lot of sense to include it now in the chronological account. Additionally, there are a few timeframes mentioned in the letter that support the notion that…

  • November 24 – Salvation Spreads to All Nations

    Reading  Acts 9:32-12:25 Devotional To this point, the message of salvation offered by Jesus’ shed blood had been preached only to the Jews. In today’s reading, we find out how GOD begins extending the good news to people from other nations. It begins with a Roman centurion named Cornelius. Cornelius lived in the city of…

  • November 23 – Jesus Calls Saul of Tarsus

    Reading Acts 8:1b-9:31 Devotional On the day that Stephen was killed there arose a great persecution against the Christians in Jerusalem. Everyone except the apostles fled Jerusalem to the surrounding regions of Judea and Samaria. Saul of Tarsus was a key part of those persecuting the Christians. He went into Christians’ homes and dragged off…

  • November 21 – Persecution of Christians Begins; the Church Grows

    Reading Acts 3:1-6:7 Devotional One day Peter and John healed a crippled beggar outside one of the gates of the temple court. The man got and leaped and jumped around, praising GOD. Everyone recognized the man and were amazed at what happened to him. A crowd gathered there as people realized what happened, and Peter…