Sanctification
Drinking Beauty

Drinking Beauty

God paints on a large canvas. His creativity is seen in the grandeur of the mountains, in the wildflowers on a rolling hillside, in classic masterpieces in an art gallery, or in the curious expression on the face of a child. Beauty is all around us. But seeing it...

Not a Game

Not a Game

From childhood, most of us have learned to love games. The excitement, the cheering, even the competition creates a rush of adrenalin that’s hard to find anywhere else. And on the playing field of life—even life with God—we can find excitement too. But living your...

Vote for Jesus

Vote for Jesus

It seems clear that Jesus wants to shape culture. To ultimately transform the conscience and morality of a people. His disciples anticipated that Jesus was about to establish a political machine capable of toppling the Roman Empire. But that’s not what Jesus did. The...

Good Gifts and Good Works

Good Gifts and Good Works

Part I - Good Gifts Like many American children, I was raised with a strong faith in Santa Claus. And this faith taught me a lesson: good behavior is rewarded with the gifts of my dreams (thanks for the Nintendo, Santa!) and poor behavior is punished by withholding...

When You Find and Follow Jesus

When You Find and Follow Jesus

Becoming a Christian and living as one are two different things. God refers to one as justification and the other as sanctification. We might also understand these two distinctions as finding Jesus and following Jesus. Blur this distinction between salvation and...

Your Life with God

Your Life with God

Salvation is often viewed as a singular “event” or moment in our lives. By God’s grace, we receive salvation by believing in the death and resurrection of Jesus to save us. There is a sense in which this is absolutely true, from the moment of belief we are saved...

Your Growth Toward Maturity

Your Growth Toward Maturity

You’re born into God’s family the moment you place your faith in Jesus for eternal life. You start as a spiritual baby. But it’s never God’s intention for you to remain a baby. You are to grow and thrive as a maturing believer in Jesus. But you never grow passively....

Your Old and New Natures

Your Old and New Natures

Have you ever felt unprepared? You’ve probably had a time in your life when you were not prepared at all for what was about to happen. As our flesh constantly fights to lead us further away from God, it’s easy for us to feel unprepared for life. But God prepares us by...

Confessing Your Sins

Confessing Your Sins

God’s redemptive plan for humanity involves the death of Jesus for the sins of everyone. But we enjoy God’s forgiveness only when we believe what Jesus did for us. Have you noticed, even Christians still sin? Confessing or admitting our daily sin keeps our...

A New Creation

A New Creation

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17 OBSERVATION The Church of Corinth had issues. Paul's writing here is to address just one of the many challenges facing...

Your Assurance of Salvation

Your Assurance of Salvation

Is it possible to know you have a new life through Christ and are headed for heaven? If so, how? God never intends for the assurance of your salvation to be a perpetual guessing game. You can know you’re saved. Unfortunately, you can lose your grip on the assurance of...

A Good God

A Good God

Nothing challenges our view of God like challenges. Maybe, lately, you feel like you’ve had your share of obstacles and hardships. When we’re pressured with difficulties, our idea of a good God can end up on the chopping block. How can God be good when evil exists and...

Here I am, Send Me – Who Will Go?

Here I am, Send Me – Who Will Go?

"Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs form the altar. And he touched my mouth with it, and said: "Behold, this has touched our lips; Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged." Also I heard the...

A New Covenant

A New Covenant

God reminds us in the Bible that He gave an Old Covenant and a New Covenant. Confuse the two and you’re in for a confusing and inconsistent attempt at living for Jesus. It’s not an exaggeration to suggest that the church across the world is mired in legalistic...

New Habits

New Habits

Habits can have a profound impact on our lives in both good and bad ways. And often, we’re unaware of how much we do in our lives simply by force of habit. We’ll discuss how modern behavioral science is catching up to what the church has known for thousands of years...

A New Purpose

A New Purpose

Living without purpose is not really living at all. When you find new life in Christ, you can then find a new purpose—an investment of your life that makes sense and brings glory to God. If someone asked, “What is your purpose in life?” how would you respond? Those of...

New Creation

New Creation

It’s easy for us to become consumed with what happens to us and around us. We spend so much time and energy on managing our circumstances that we begin to think those circumstances define us. After thinking this way for a while, we eventually believe that those old...

New Command

New Command

Whenever we head into a new normal, there is usually an old normal we have to contend with first. We transition into a new normal when an old normal no longer works or the new normal is significantly better. This week, we'll discuss a new command Jesus gives his...

A New Mind

A New Mind

There is a powerful connection between how we think and how we live. We’re not always aware of those connections, but what we think about and how we think about it directs our actions and responses. The Bible draws a direct connection between spiritual transformation...

A New Beginning

A New Beginning

We all had a beginning. You entered the world in a moment of time. And just like a physical birth, so too, you need a spiritual birth. You may be a child who is only a few years old or an adult well into your later years. But you need to experience new life through a...

Our Finest Hour

Our Finest Hour

It’s possible to experience “our finest hour” in the most challenging of situations. That’s true, in part, because God uses hardships and difficulties to reveal what’s inside of us. Then, we can change and become better with His help. It’s ambitious to envision our...