Jan 7, 2016 | Wednesday
This scripture sets before us principles too high for us to attain without the direct blessing of God. But there is also a word in this text which is so secular and human that it surprises us. Paul says, “Here is something I greatly ‘wish’ – WISH – even your...
Dec 31, 2015 | Wednesday
John, one of Jesus’ closest disciples, had become an old man – perhaps an old man before his time. He had done much to glorify his Saviour, and he had suffered much in the process. Perhaps while still in exile, or while still under torture, the Lord gave to him...
Dec 24, 2015 | Wednesday
On Argonne Street, north of Broadway, close to Starbucks, there is a huge bilboard sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. I have only glanced at it in passing, so some of my details might be slightly off. It is illustrated by one of those Renaissance paintings of the...
Dec 17, 2015 | Wednesday
I remember as a child visiting a place where it appeared that everything was wacky and lopsided. It was in the Black Hills of western North Dakota – the first mountains we came to going west from Omaha. People walked as though they had weights on one side of their...
Dec 10, 2015 | Wednesday
David is described as “a man after God’s own heart.” What does that mean? Can that description be applied to anyone? If so, how can it be applied to me? I’m not sure that I’m qualified to answer those questions. David was a man of prayer – more than most of us are –...
Dec 3, 2015 | Wednesday
Paul had earlier told his friends in Thessalonica that he prays for them continually. Here he mentions a couple of specific things about which he prays. And among them, he beseeches the Lord for their sanctification and preservation. As we shall see, these things are...
Nov 26, 2015 | Wednesday
In thinking about a message for this Thanksgiving-eve, I considered several Psalms. Many of the Psalms are great texts for Thanksgiving, because they voice praise in such poetical ways. Psalm 113, for example, along with so many others are happy and warm. They are the...
Nov 19, 2015 | Wednesday
I have lived in places where tornados frequently descend, but I’ve never been in a tornado. I have never lived in a place where hurricanes or typhoons destroy and kill. But all of us here tonight know what power even smallish winds can reveal. Some of us were without...
Nov 12, 2015 | Wednesday
If the Bible is the revelation of God’s will, and we know this is true, then we’d better take heed to what it says. In Hebrews 12:14, the Bible says “Without (holiness) no man shall see the Lord.” And here in I Thessalonians, we are told that...
Nov 5, 2015 | Wednesday
Have you ever gotten a drop of pond water and put it under a microscope? I don’t mean a clear mountain lake, but a stagnant, sluggish pond – the “bog” at certain times of the year. What do you suppose those poor little creatures are thinking as they looked back up at...
Oct 29, 2015 | Wednesday
This evening, let’s think about walking. There are many different ways to get from one place to another, including motorized methods, but let’s think about the more manual forms. Just about everyone has their own walking style – their own gait. Sometimes we can hear...
Oct 22, 2015 | Wednesday
We are not going to study all of this letter. In fact we aren’t going to study any of it. I just want to point you to a man mentioned in verse 12 – “Demetrius.” If you look up that name in your complete Bible Concordance, you’ll find three...
Oct 15, 2015 | Wednesday
I know that we studied this event only three years ago in the form we found it in Matthew 8. But there has been a lot of water under the keel of our little fishing boats during that time. And I’m sure that we can always look at this a little differently even if that...
Oct 8, 2015 | Wednesday
I’d like us to think about Rahab this evening, under the title “Rahab’s Passover.” The events of this chapter took place sometime early in the month of Abib, elsewhere called Nissan. I don’t know whether Joshua or Eleazar has mentioned this to Israel or...
Sep 24, 2015 | Wednesday
I am told that as a general rule each storey of a building is roughly 10 feet in height. Of course the first floor is often higher than 10 feet, but the rest of the building is usually pretty consistent. So a 20 storey building is about 200 feet off the level of the...
