Thursday, August 25, 2016

Stop Arguing!

My sister and I were pretty good kids, but we did argue. A lot. About pretty much everything. So my parents, often and with great forcefulness would tell us to "Stop Arguing!" To be honest, we really didn't have that much to argue about, except my sister did take more than her share of the back seat of the car. I think, more than anything, we just got in the habit. We argued because that's what we had always done.

We weren't the only ones. The disciples had a tendency to argue among themselves, often about some of the most trivial things imaginable. They argued on more than one occasion about who among them was the greatest. In John 13:15-17, Jesus taught them a lesson they would never forget, that true greatness comes out of service.

See you Sunday!

Thursday, August 11, 2016

I Know You

I met a guy I hadn't seen for nearly twenty years. He had changed a little. Actually, he had changed a lot. I didn't recognize him at first. When he started talking, though, I remembered who he was. That's always awkward when you meet someone you are supposed to know, and you don't know them at first. In this instance, though, it didn't matter. He didn't remember me, either.

Jesus repeatedly shared an important truth we need to remember - when we know Jesus, we know God. This week we will see that this essential reality is revealed in John 12:44-46, a truth every person needs to know.

And remember.

See you Sunday!

Hear this message at NHBC Media

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

Seasons

It's beginning to cool down outside (although sometimes it certainly doesn't feel like it). The days are getting shorter, the summer flowers are slowly ceasing to bloom and school is about to start. It all points to another season about to occur. Soon the leaves will turn and fall, there will be a chill in the air, pumpkins will be picked and we'll start planning for Thanksgiving. And before we blink in Fall, winter will sneak up on us. The seasons come and go every year.

Similarly in our lives, seasons change. We graduate, get jobs, perhaps marry and have children, and sometimes seasons are tough, like winter's bite. Loved ones die, jobs end, illnesses appear, and disappointments come. Life, like the weather, is always changing--it's part of the cycle. Ben Franklin is attributed to saying, 'nothing is certain but death and taxes.' But is THAT really true? Jesus might return before the death of several, and lawmakers continually change the way taxes are collected. So what IS certain? JESUS is THE SAME, yesterday, today and tomorrow...no matter the season outside or in our lives. What a blessing. So thankful.

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Do You Believe in Miracles?

They were Al Michael's famous words at the conclusion of the United States hockey team victory over the highly favored Soviet national hockey team at the 1980 Olympics: "Do you believe in miracles?" In truth, it wasn't a miracle; improbable, but the victory was actually the result of some excellent team play on the part of the US squad.

It is an important question, though: Do you believe in miracles? Do miracles still happen? Did miracles only happen in the Bible, or does God still work today? Find out this Sunday the exciting truth that we serve a God of miracles. Perhaps even more important is our reaction to those miracles, as the Bible reveals in John 12:37-43.

See you Sunday!

Hear this message at NHBC Media