SERMON QUOTE “Crossing the Jordan meant taking a big dramatic step of faith.” DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT God said to Jeremiah, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.” (17:7) – whose hope, confidence and assurance are God Himself. Faith and trust are closely related. To trust someone, we must know them well enough to believe they are worthy of that trust. God said to Habakkuk, “The righteous will live, be alive and flourish, by his faith.” If we want to live the new life Jesus has given us, we must make Him our…
Daily Devotionals
SERMON QUOTE “We are called to be: light in the darkness; a source of hope; salt; Good Neighbors; Good Stewards; those who consider others more important than themselves; those who love their enemies; those who live in light of eternity.” DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT Growing up in Brooklyn, I lived in an apartment building adjoined to other buildings. The noise of neighbors and sirens were customary sounds throughout the day and night. Thus, the New York way was to keep to yourself, make no eye contact and mind your own business. Being too inquisitive could…
SERMON QUOTE “There are no heroes other than Jesus in here. We get the real story about how bad people can be, I find to be a good thing – a comforting thing – because I am deeply flawed. It is encouraging to see God work with Abraham after he does some spectacularly bad things.” DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT One of the many benefits of reading through the Bible is that it underscores the fact that the Bible is not a collection of stories, it is God’s story. In that story, God uses many individuals….
SERMON QUOTE “This is the game changer. The intervention of God – more technically – ‘the call of God,’ changes everything.” DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT In the Bible, God sometimes got people’s attention in BIG ways. Like a talking snake in a beautiful garden, or people waking up one morning and finding that everyone in town spoke a different language, or a flood that lasted forty days and nights and wiped out everyone on the face of the earth who wasn’t aboard Noah’s boat. All these attention-getters happened in the first chapters of the Bible….
SERMON QUOTE “The first thing we see about the call from God, is that Abraham had to take some next steps. The second thing we realize is that this call demands a surrender of his will.” DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT Abraham might have thought he was surrendering to God when he agreed with God’s vision for his life: that he would be the forefather of a new nation and promise and that God would use him to bless all the earth. I wonder if he would have agreed with God’s vision for his life if…
SERMON QUOTE “God will keep His promises to me. I do not have to fight for my way, for my advantage.” DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT We can count on God keeping His promises because God can do no other than keep His Word. 2 Timothy 2:13 reads, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; for He cannot deny Himself.” Applying this truth can be challenging, because we often aren’t sure what He has promised, much less what we need. Many things we’d like, though they may be good, are not part of His plan, which…
SERMON QUOTE “Abraham cared for others. He did not fight to get to the head of the line.” DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT A former professor of mine is known for boldly serving the community. He once shared the question he is asked most: “Why are you doing this?” In response, he leans forward with a twinkle in his eye and asks, “Do you really want to know?” In Genesis 14, an old man risks his whole household to rescue his nephew from calamity. Why? What might compel someone to do something so risky, so illogically…
SERMON QUOTE “Jesus reorganizes our life to be about others. Caring for others. Looking out for others.” DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT It’s interesting to watch how Jesus talks with the woman at the well in John 4. He didn’t just meet her needs but He engaged her life and as He did, her story revealed the needs of her heart. One thing we can draw from this passage is that caring for others needs invites us to engage in their life. Caring for others is more than just seeing their needs, it’s about thoughtfully engaging…
SERMON QUOTE “We are going to be reminded of a pretty important truth – first we make our decisions and then our decisions make us. Choices matter.” DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT One thing that has always amazed me about God – He let’s us decide. When I think about my daughter, who is just a few months shy of her 3rd birthday, letting her make her own choice is often very difficult for me. There are some decisions I find easy to let her make (i.e. what to wear, what toy to play with). But…
SERMON QUOTE “I am not going to dance around this. Giving away your time and money is a radical idea in this culture. And it is generally radically unpopular.” DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT One of the reasons giving is not popular is that the invitation to “give” is an invitation to live by faith. Living by faith has an element of unknown that can create fear, insecurity or anxiety. I want to suggest there is something we need to know before we can give. A former teacher of mine adopted two young boys from a…