Tag: repentance
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…
Biblical Baptism, Part 4 (What was the purpose of John the Baptist’s Baptism?)
What was the purpose of John the Baptist’s baptism? Why was John baptizing Jews who lived under the Law of Moses? In this post, we’ll answer these questions. … Welcome to part 4 of my series on baptism. These posts build on each other. If you need to catch up, here are links to the…
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…
What Does it Mean to Believe (According to the Bible)? [part 1]
What it means to believe is the single most foundational concept in the Bible. And it’s also perhaps the most misunderstood concept. The Bible says that an unbeliever cannot be approved by GOD (see Heb. 11:6; Rev. 21:8). Yet, some passages regarding belief seem to contradict one another. For example, Rom. 10:13 says that everyone who…
December 27 – Revelation (part 1)
Reading Rev. 1:1-3:22 Devotional Today begins our five-day look at the last book in the Bible, Revelation. Sometime between 65 and 95 A.D., Jesus appeared to the apostle John, while he was in exile on the island of Patmos, through a vision and told John to write what he saw in a book. John was…
December 20 – Letters from James and Jude
Reading James 1:1-5:20 Jude 1-25 Devotional At the same time Paul and other apostles are working to spread the gospel, other important leaders within the church are also working and writing. Two of these men are James and Jude. These men are generally believed to be the James and Jude who were brothers of Jesus,…
December 8 – The Gospel Produces Faith
Reading Rom. 9:1-11:36 Devotional As we continue our reading of Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapters 9-11 deal with GOD’s rejection of the faithless and wicked Jews while preserving a remnant of faithful people, His acceptance of willing Gentiles, and His promise to accept those who are willing and come to Him, regardless of their…
December 4 – Godly Repentance and Cheerful Giving
Reading 2 Cor. 1:1-9:15 Devotional Paul and his companions left Ephesus shortly after an uproar led by the silversmith Demetrius due to the negative impact Paul’s teachings had on Demetrius’ income. (Demetrius made silver shrines of Artemis, the idol of Ephesus.) Paul traveled to Troas, apparently hoping to find Titus there, and then went on…
November 30 – 1 Corinthians (part 1)
Reading 1 Cor. 1:1-4:21 Devotional Around 55-56 A.D., Paul wrote the letter that we know as 1 Corinthians. Apparently Paul and the brethren at Corinth had written each other a previous time, during which the Corinthian Christians asked Paul a number of questions, which Paul addresses. Additionally, Paul instructs them regarding divisions between them as…
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…
