"I want to know Christ . . . and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings." Philippians 3:10 The fact of suffering undoubtedly constitutes the single greatest challenge to the Christian faith. Sensitive spirits ask if it can possibly be reconciled with God's justice and love....
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8 How can we believe in the love of God when there appears to be so much evidence to contradict it? The apostle Paul spells out...
"For Christ died for sins once and for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." 1 Peter 3:18 This is one of the great New Testament texts about the cross. It tells us the major reason why Christ died. Now we need...
Congregation, Join us in private and family devotion as we prepare for public worship on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. This Holy Week, we will let John Stott guide us through the New Testament message of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Each day this week...
Recently I heard someone say, "There is no pit so deep that you can't climb out." When I heard those words I immediately remembered another quote from Betsy ten Boom, who, with her sister Corrie, endured the evils of a Nazi prison camp for their...
During the last meal Jesus shared with his disciples before his death, a fight broke out. The disciples were arguing over who was the greatest. Jesus stepped into the dispute with a question, "Who is the greater, one who sits at the table to be...
This past Sunday we looked at Luke 22, which begins with the planning of the death of Jesus. This began our approach to Good Friday and Easter. You can hear the message here. In the message I said that the planning of the death of Jesus...
| The Fullness of Time "But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son." Galatians 4:4 Why did the incarnation take place when it didprobably by our reckoning in 5 BC, about a year before the death of Herod the Great in 4 BC? Some two thousand years had passed since God called Abraham and promised through his family to bless all the families of the world. Why, then, did such a long time elapse between the promise and its fulfillment? Paul affirmed that God sent his Son "when the appointed time came" (Gal. 4:4, REB), but he gave no hint how the appointed time had been fixed. |
Originally posted on December 23, 2010 Bethlehem "She gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Luke 2:7 It is Luke who tells us the...
