Tag: mission
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Freely
We are often quite ready to put boundaries on many things in our lives. With whom and how, however, the fewer boundaries we place the more likely we are to be where God already is.
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Abandon Ship
Jonah 3:1–5, 10; 1 Corinthians 7:29–31; Mark 1:14–20 Jonah may have been the most successful preacher in history. He preached and an entire city repented, and a large city, at that. The church celebrates 4000 in one day as a supreme act, yet cranky Jonah exceeded that by far. We often question and scorn Jonah…
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Wolves Invisible
Psalm 62:5–12; Jeremiah 20:14–18; Luke 10:13–16 Do you know the story of “The Boy Who Cried, Wolf”? The shepherd boy who falsely cried “wolf” so many times that after some time no one would come to his aid. Of course, as the case with moral tales, the real wolves came, he cried “wolf”, and no…
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Whose King
Psalm 95:1–7a; Ezekiel 34:11–24; Matthew 25:31–46; Ephesians 1:15–23 Christ is King. We often say that to ourselves and to others. The real question that we need to ask is, do we believe it? As the 2020 US political season wraps up, the victors and the losers each have their speeches to give, and much to…
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Thankfulness as Discipleship
2 Timothy 1:1–9 Thankfulness is often for that which benefits us. We are thankful for homes, jobs, food, family, Jesus. Paul is thankful for Timothy. Paul’s simple gratefulness for Timothy’s enduring faith is plain to see. Paul does view Timothy as a son, but not as the biological son of a father, but more of…
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A Small Project
2 Samuel 12:13–23; Ezra 8:21–23; Mark 2:18–22 Fasting is an age-old spiritual practice that has mostly lost its place in American Evangelical Christianity. Yes, there are some that practice it. Fasting remains strongly part of the Orthodox church and somewhat the Roman Catholic church. As American Evangelical Christianity has discovered Advent and Lent, fasting has…
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Heart Mission
2 Chronicles 7:12–18; Matthew 9:1–8; Acts 3:1–10 Prayer times and services have often been called “aches and pains time”. The implication being that we often ask for physical healing for the aches and pains of our bodies. This can be from the innocuous pulled muscle to cancer. It’s not that we are called to pray…