I’VE MOVED THIS CONVERSATION TO MY NEW BLOG: www.jesusfollower.ca OK, here’s an easy question… or is it? Why should we praise God? Maybe a part of that question should be what does it mean to praise God? And if you really want to get personal, why do you praise God? This can go a lot…
Sermon on Psalm 147:1-20
I’m preaching on Psalm 147:1-20 this coming Sunday (Feb 4, 2007). Its the daily Bible Reading scheduled for January 30. I would be interested in hearing from you as to what jumps out at you in this passage. What questions does it raise? What do you hear God saying to you in this passage. I suggest…
Jan 29 — Mark 1:21-28
SCRIPTURE: Mark 1:21-28 OBSERVATION: Jesus followed the Jewish customs (going to the synagogue, not something required by the law of Moses) but used them for His own purpose. Jesus’ teaching had an authority lacking in the Jewish leaders… the anointing of the Holy Spirit! What was this evil (lit. unclean) spirit? The evil spirit was there,…
Jan 28 — 1 Corinthians 8:1-13
SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 OBSERVATION: Maybe this is a possible reason for why Paul had Timothy circumcised, to not mislead the weaker Jewish believers (Acts 16:1-3). Paul is saying that our knowledge about God and grace should not lead us to act in a way that gets in the way of the newborn believers. Just because something is…
Jan 27 — Acts 16:1-15
SCRIPTURE: Acts 16:1-15 OBSERVATION: Does Paul break his own rules here by having Timothy circumcised (Galatians 2:3-5)? One possible reason is that he did it to keep that issue from getting in the way of his missionary work, not to please people but to serve the cause of the gospel. Was it to protect Timothy as a…
How did you experience God this week?
Often people will share personal stories with me about how God worked in their lives, whether through a miracle, an answer to prayer, to deep or personal experience, a “God-moment” (what some people call a coincidence, but I prefer to call God-incidents), and many other ways. Maybe you could start sharing your stories here, so…
Jan 26 — Titus 3:1-15
SCRIPTURE: Titus 3:1-15 OBSERVATION: Paul is writing instructions to Titus on how to lead the believers at Crete, what to stress in his teaching (v.8). He describes what the Christian life looks like (vv.1-2) and why we should live this way (vv.3-7). Describes the ‘before’ and ‘after’: foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of…
How much does it cost to follow Jesus?
Often when we hear about the “good news”, we hear about God’s love as free, no strings attached? And yet what about the high cost of following Jesus. In his book “The Cost Of Discipleship”, Dietrich Bonhoeffer (a Pastor who died in a Nazi concentration camp for opposing Hitler) distinguishes between costly grace and cheap…
Jan 23, 2007 — Mark 1:14-20
SCRIPTURE: Mark 1:14-20 OBSERVATION: Starts with the high cost of serving Jesus – John the Baptist is thrown in prison, and ultimately dies (Matthew 14:1-12) – this shows that Jesus’ message of good news is not easy news, it comes with high cost. The call to follow Jesus leads Peter, James and John to leave: their work,…
Jan 25, 2007 — Galatians 1:11-2:10
SCRIPTURE: Galatians 1:11-2:10 OBSERVATION: Paul defends his message as ‘straight from God’, and he retells his story to make that clear. His conversion (1:13-16, 22-24) would be like Henry Morgentaler becoming pro-life, or Stephen Harper becoming NDP – a radical change of direction. Paul describes his specific purpose as being a missionary to the Gentiles (non-Jews)….