2023 Week 21 Reading – Romans 6
Should a Christian fight sin? Why should we fight sin? How should we fight sin? As Paul answers the opening question, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?,” he goes along way towards answering these questions. To start with, its worth observing how Paul doesn’t answer this question. On the one hand […]
2023 Week 17 Reading – Matthew 14
Most of us tend to think of faith like a traditional light switch, either on or off. And there is a sense in which this is correct. We either have genuine faith or we don’t. We either trust Jesus alone or we don’t. At the same time, Scripture indicates that there is a sense in […]
2023 Week 16 Reading – Matthew 9
It is common for those who seem to have it all together, to become impatient with those who clearly don’t; for those who don’t seem to have any needs, to see the needy as burdens; for those who are able, to look down on those who aren’t; for those who get it to shake their […]
2023 Week 13 Reading – Galatians 5
We live in a society that often seems obsessed with freedom. We should be able to do whatever we want whenever we want and we want everyone to celebrate it. As Christians, we often react to this by reaffirming the moral standards that we see in the pages of Scripture. We assume that the solution […]
2023 Week 10 Reading – Hebrews 3
When reading the book of Hebrews I find it especially helpful to remember the broader context of what the original readers were experiencing. The author is writing to believers from a Jewish background. They had heard the gospel and they had embraced the truth that Jesus was the promised Messiah and Savior. However, in […]
2023 WEEK 7 READING – ACTS 19
In Acts 19:21-41 we find the account of a riot in Ephesus. When you read the passage, it becomes clear that these people are passionate about Artemis (their city goddess). At one point they spend two hours shouting “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.” We look at this and it seems foreign- so different from […]
2023 Week 5 Reading – Acts 8
The book of Acts traces the spread of the best news in the world. It’s the news that the promised Messiah King has arrived; he has died; he has risen; he will come again. This news needed to be spread, and that’s exactly what we see happening here in Acts 8. This need doesn’t go […]
2023 Week 4 Reading – Acts 4
In the first half of Acts 4 Peter and John are arrested by the temple guard and thrown in jail overnight. The next day they are brought before the council, interrogated, and threatened. After the Jewish leaders reluctantly release them, Peter and John return to the fledgling church. It’s their response at this point that […]
2023 Week 3 Reading – Mark 14
We live in a society that prizes self-confidence. A lack of self-confidence is often seen as a fatal flaw and the presence of self-confidence almost as a guarantee of success.
2023 Week 3 Reading – Mark 12
By the time we get to Mark 12 the conflict between Jesus and the Jewish leadership is nearing its zenith.
