Why is the resurrection of Jesus such good news for us? For us to be able to answer this question, we need to take a closer look at Jesus’ trail, death, and resurrection. We will discover the purpose and significance of His death and the evidence to what Christ’s resurrection points to.
If you are to faithfully follow Christ, you must offer unlimited forgiveness to those who have wronged you.
There seems to be much confusion when it comes to church membership. The Bible does not explicitly command church membership. Nowhere in Scripture does it say, “that you must join a local church.” However, the Bible does something far better. The Bible expands the relationship between the church and its members with a series of metaphors that shapes our identity and challenges our inclination to individualism, self-sufficiency, and pride.
As we dive into Romans chapter 5 verses 1-11, the Apostle Paul beautifully illustrates and helps us to see how our sinfulness and unworthiness has caused a great chasm that separates us from God. But through God’s grace and mercy, our Lord Jesus Christ stepped in spanning the chasm by taking upon all of our unrighteousness and unworthiness, and instead imputing His perfect righteousness upon us. As such, the Apostle Paul shows us that grace is the power by which we stand, as it’s not who we are, but whose we are that gives us our worth!
As we look to the beginning of the Bible, we are reminded of the creation, sinful rebellion, and fall of mankind leading to a flood. We are further reminded that just as things start anew again with Noah, mankind rebels once more by building a tower and leaving God to intervene. But just when all hope seems lost, the story takes a sudden shift when out of an act of pure mercy and love, God calls a man named Abram to go to a land He will show him, all while promising to bless Abram and make his name great. However, in Abram’s pursuing attempts to obey the Lord, he fails time and again. Yet, through each stumble, the Lord stays faithful in fulfilling His promises to Abram as they were based on His abilities, not Abram’s. In doing this, the Lord also reminds us today that our promise of salvation doesn’t rely on our own works or righteousness, but rather they reside in the finished saving work of Jesus Christ. We, like Abram, just need to receive this free gift and respond in faith to God!
The empty tomb and missing body of Jesus did not amount to good news for Jesus’ disciples initially, but instead left them in confusion and despair. The despair Mary felt from Jesus’ death on the cross was only compounded by the absence of His body from the tomb. Yet upon hearing her Teacher’s voice, Mary’s disposition dramatically changed. The despair that Jesus’ death had brought soon gave way to joy in hearing and seeing her risen Lord. Jesus was no longer missing, He is risen!
Jesus finds Himself in the midst of a large crowd flocking to see the one who performs the miracles of God. Through the crowd, however, a man in desperation named Jarius falls before Him to come and save his only child. As Jesus agrees, He’s soon caught off track by another person in need, a woman in desperation from a 12-year stint of a bleeding discharge. Seeing her faith Jesus heals her and does something far greater, He fully restores her relationship to God! Unfortunately for Jarius, his daughter has died in this timeframe and all hope seems lost. But Jesus stays with Jarius and reminds Him, only believe! Soon after Jesus raises Jarius’ daughter to life and shows that a healing faith is one that is placed in Him alone!
Our missionaries and church planters Max and Jennifer Kennedy from Nicaragua provide an update and message about stepping out for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
As the disciples travel at night in a boat across the sea of Galilee, they battle a vicious wind and turbulent waves. Tired and weary from their hours long journey, the disciples get the surprise of a lifetime as they see Jesus walking on the water besides them. As Peter comes to grips with the situation and seeks out the Lord by walking on water, he soon loses focus and begins to sink due to his little faith. In an amazing illustration of the Gospel, however, Jesus immediately saves Peter and meets him where he’s at, just as He does today with those who look to the cross and call upon His name!
Missionaries Rodney and Lindy Kidd from Mannheim Germany share the work the Lord has done as they planted churches that planted churches.
While King Solomon loves the Lord and mostly follows His Statues, we discover he's not setting the best example for the people of Israel to worship God. In spite of this failure, the Lord still lovingly meets with Solomon and grants a prayer request for him to receive wisdom. However, we soon discover that this noble request contains so much more then a one-time action from God, but rather a continuous knowing heart in alignment with God's will. We also discover that we too have this same continuous connection with God in Christ Jesus our Lord!
In Psalm 11, David finds himself in a bad situation. He is likely fleeing from Saul who was hunting him down, seeking to take his life. It was a serious time, and this psalm is a psalm of confidence in the Lord. Our situations so often sway our emotions and even our trust in the Lord. As we see evil triumph and chaos surround us. But David reminds us in this psalm that even when the situation seems hopeless and logic would tell us to give up or flee, we can take heart as we trust the Lord.
Psalm 51 is from David, when the prophet Nathan came to him and confronted him of his sin with Bathsheba. This personal lament is David’s prayer to the Lord. In this prayer for restoration, we see David’s brokenness before the Lord, his dependence on the Lord and his praise and deeper commitment to the Lord. May this psalm help us see the depths of sin and repentance as we look to Christ.
Psalm 51 is from David, when the prophet Nathan came to him and confronted him of his sin with Bathsheba. This personal lament is David’s prayer to the Lord. In this prayer for restoration, we see David’s brokenness before the Lord, his dependence on the Lord and his praise and deeper commitment to the Lord. May this psalm help us see the depths of sin and repentance as we look to Christ.
We have historical, biblical, and verifiable evidence to make us certain that Jesus Christ is the resurrected Lord of all. Luke shows us how, the tomb was open and empty. The scriptures were opened and fulfilled. Their eyes were opened, and they recognized. Their minds were opened, and they believed. Are you open to the claims of Jesus Christ?
Throughout Scripture God's reveals His plan to His people, not for approval or input, but graciously invites them in to participate in what God is doing. In Genesis 18, the Lord invited Abraham in, and Abraham drew near to God and boldly interceded. Abraham could be bold, because He knew God and appealed to the character of God. When we pray, we can boldly intercede, because the Lord has invited us in to participate in what He is doing as we appeal to His character.
In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul highlights the good news of Christ’s resurrection, the power of His resurrection, and the result of His resurrection, what it means for us today. Through this passage, we get the heart of the story of Scripture: Jesus died and rose again to save sinners. The truths taught in this passage demand our attention as well as our affection as we are strengthened in our faith by thinking about the substitutionary life and death, resurrection, and return of Christ.
Christian persecution around the world is one of the biggest human rights issues of this era. These people do not live in the same region, or even on the same continent. But they share an important characteristic: They are all Christians, and they suffer because of their faith. While Christian persecution takes many forms, it is defined as any hostility experienced because of identification with Jesus Christ. From Sudan to Russia, Nigeria to North Korea, Colombia to India, followers of Christ are targeted for their faith. They are attacked, discriminated against at work and at school, and risk sexual violence, torture, arrest and much more.