Revelation 7 offers one of the most well-known pictures of worship in heaven. The Lord gives us this picture to encourage us about our future. But the picture also gives us a template for our worship this side of heaven.
Paul opens 1 Corinthians with insight about his preaching. He contrasts two messages: the foolish message of the world and the wise message of God.
In Acts 20, Paul gives a farewell speech to the leaders of the Ephesian church. In the speech, Paul uses the metaphor of the church as a flock. The metaphor indicates both the dangers and protection in the local church.
This week's passage emphasizes the church as God's people, made by Him and made for Him. We will also be reminded of the purpose of the church's existence.
As we continue our Define the Relationship summer series focused on who we are as the church, we look at another image: the church as God’s holy temple. God’s Word shows us not only who we are but how to live in light of who we are.
We continue our Define the Relationship series by looking at one of the better-known images of the church: The Body of Christ. The passage shows that church members are mutually dependent but have distinct roles.
Paul writes 1 Timothy to help his young spiritual son, Timothy, lead the church in Ephesus. At the center of the book, Paul makes a remarkable statement about the identities of Jesus and the church Timothy leads.
This passage is the beginning of a brief period Jesus took for quiet reflection away from the crowds. This was a significant time, a time when it would be made clear to the disciples who Jesus was and what that meant in terms of rejection and suffering and death. The topics Jesus takes up in today’s verses relate to Jesus’ identity and His work to build the church.
Deuteronomy is made up of three sermons given by Moses to prepare the people to enter the Promised Land. In chapter 6, Moses addresses who God is. Now in chapter 7, Moses turns his attention to who the people are and how they should relate to God.
Numbers records God's faithfulness in keeping His promise despite the Israelites' unfaithfulness to Him. In this passage, the people reject entering the Promised Land, thereby rejecting God.
Leviticus is filled with rules. Most of those rules seem completely irrelevant to us. Lev. 20:22-26 offers a glimpse of what is behind the rules. God’s people are different from the nations around them. Leviticus shows how to make that difference obvious.
After leaving Egypt, Israel was brought by God to Mount Sinai where He gave them the law and made a covenant with them. Several weeks later, while waiting for Moses to return from talking with God on the mountain, Israel plunged into sin. This sin brought to light a big problem in their relationship with the Lord.
Exodus picks up 400 years after the end of Genesis. God’s people are still in Egypt, but now the Egyptians have turned against them. Exodus opens with one of the bleakest times in Israel’s history before or since.
Are you #blessed? Joseph’s experiences in Genesis 39 would lead you (and him) to doubt that he is blessed. But God’s Word makes it clear that God is with him even as he is far from his family and everyone he knows.
God’s call and Abram’s response sets in motion God’s plans to form a community of faith. The blessings God promises to Abram are at the core of God’s redemptive work.
John 20 records three encounters with Jesus after His resurrection. Each encounter shows the life-changing power we celebrate at Easter.
The mood changes dramatically in chapter 18. Jesus and the disciples leave the Upper Room for the Garden of Gethsemane. The time of serving, teaching and prayer in chapters 13-17 is replaced by betrayal, confrontation, and arrest.
As Jesus continues his prayer out loud before his arrest, he moves from praying for himself to praying for his disciples: the ones with him and the ones to come. We get to be a fly on the wall and listen in on this intimate prayer between the Father and His Son.
After talking to his disciples to prepare them for the tumultuous events about to occur, Jesus turns to prayer. In the beginning of his prayer, he surprisingly prays for himself - asking the Father to glorify him.
This is the last section in Jesus’ Upper Room teaching time with the Disciples. Chapter 17 transitions to Jesus’ prayer. In these final words, Jesus continues to comfort the disciples as they anticipate Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension back to the Father.