The way that you respond to hardship, spend your money, treat your neighbour – the way you conduct yourself when no one is watching – EVERYTHING about you is shaped and dictated by your view of God. Who is He? What does He require of you? What will it be like when you stand before […]
How does a person pray when their world has been turned upside down, when their closest loved ones have dealt them their deepest wounds or when they find themselves in times of trouble? Psalm 3 is a beautiful example of how David prayed after one of his darkest moments – when he was driven out […]
At first glance, the events during the 10-day period between the Ascension and Pentecost seem entirely uneventful and, one might even say, ordinary. But Luke – inspired by the Holy Spirit – saw something significant here, and he means for us to see it too. Acts 1:12-26
The disciples had every reason to believe that the Kingdom of God was about to be realized. They weren’t wrong to be thinking about the Kingdom as they looked at their resurrected King. But their question reveals that they didn’t yet understand the timeline or the nature of the Kingdom. Acts 1:6-11
This first chapter in Acts serves as a transitional chapter. In these opening verses, Luke is building a bridge from the conclusion of Jesus’ earthly ministry as described in the Gospel of Luke to the beginning of the ministry of the Holy Spirit empowered church. Acts 1:1-5
Our passage this morning was written to help Timothy to pastor the rich Christians in his church. But nowhere was Timothy instructed to shame the wealthy Christians into getting rid of their possessions. On the contrary, Timothy is instructed to remind these wealthy Christians that every good gift they have is from God. 1 Timothy […]
Sometimes it is difficult for a congregation to see how a letter like 1 Timothy can be relevant to them. But behind every fallen leader is a church that allowed them to lead or allowed them to play fast and loose with the Bible. A church that often found themselves saying: “Something doesn’t seem right […]
In today’s passage, the Apostle Paul speaks to the challenge that Timothy will face leading a church that consists of a large number of slaves. How do you shepherd people who are still living under the yoke of slavery? When your church is facing injustice and oppression, what is it that they need to hear […]
Our culture doesn’t know what to do with leaders. Sometimes we worship and idolize them in such a way that we become blind to their glaring flaws. More recently, we tear them down. We resemble kids at a birthday party swarming around a piñata, swinging away with glee. How do we relate to leaders? Are […]
In our passage this morning, Paul is pressing in on a particular relationship that Timothy will need to give thought to – his relationship with the widows in the church. Paul is calling on Timothy to be generous! But he wants to make sure that Timothy adds wisdom to his generosity so that he doesn’t […]