Author: Norm

SCRIPTURE: Acts 2:14-21 “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Acts 2:21, Joel 2:32) Something dramatic has just happened, but this is not what matters. It’s the meaning behind it: that God is reaching out to people. Since God is invisible to us, He works through the things around us. Miracles, dramatic…

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 125 “The sceptre of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous.”.” (Psalm 125:3) If God’s kingdom is coming, why does evil seem to be so strong? If Jesus has all authority, why does the evil seem to be in control? There’s no doubt about it, darkness is still strong and…

SCRIPTURE: Romans 14-16 “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you…” (Romans 15:7) We are all so different. And we also have strong opinions about who is better and who is worse. We look up to the strong, we look down on the weak. We criticize those who do not follow our religious traditions, or hold…

We will look at Romans 14-16 tomorrow. SCRIPTURE: Romans 12-13 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world…” (Romans 12:2) Jesus changes everything: we are restored, evil is defeated, God’s kingdom is unfolding. How then shall we live: not like the world! “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2) Having received the Breath/Spirit of life,…

SCRIPTURE: Acts 2:1-13 “They have had too much wine.” (Acts 2:13) How to dismiss something you don’t like or believe. Trivialize it, explain it away, dismiss it as a human scam or weakness. There must be some natural, physical or psychological explanation. This bias towards disbelief is in all of us, when we don’t like something. When…

SCRIPTURE: Acts 1:12-26 “One of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.” (Acts 1:22) Why could only one be chosen to witness to Jesus’ resurrection? It seems they are selecting a representative, to make the original ‘twelve’ complete. Like the twelve tribes of Israel, the NT community of faith also has twelve leaders. Matthias…

SCRIPTURE: Acts 1:1-11 “You will be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) I witnessed an accident in grade school, along with my friend. He saw something slightly different from me. We both gave our statements to the police, and never heard anything again. Maybe I was wrong, but I saw what I saw,…

SCRIPTURE: John 21:24-25 “The whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” (John 21:25) How little we appreciate all that was accomplished through Jesus. Not enough room for all the books to be written? Like so many facets on a beautiful diamond, each reflecting the light of God’s love. Is it any…