Embrace Annual Cycles of Worship to Provide a Regular Rhythm to Our Faith Journey Some churches follow a church calendar throughout the year to guide them into seasons of worship. This provides an annual rhythm to their embrace of God. Other churches are less structured in their approach, focusing on two major biblical holidays: Christmas […]
John Bible Study, Day 21 Today’s passage: John 12:1–36 Focus verse: So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him. (John 12:10–11) Let’s recap. Lazarus gets sick. Lazarus dies. Jesus raises him from the dead […]
John Bible Study, Day 19 Today’s passage: John 11:1–44 Focus verse: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.” (John 11:25) Here we have a story of Jesus and three siblings. They are Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Jesus has great affection for them and […]
Instead of the Confusing Messages about Easter, Focus on Jesus Rising from the Dead On Resurrection Sunday—more commonly known as Easter—let’s place our emphasis completely on Jesus. After he died as the ultimate sin sacrifice for all humanity, he proved his power over death by rising from the dead. He is alive! Though dead for […]
Remember to Celebrate Jesus this Easter According to those who track public thought and opinion, the majority of people don’t realize that Easter is a religious holiday—or at least a holiday with a religious origin. Given this, we must reclaim Easter for what it means. The commercialization of Easter is strange. To start, we have […]
Should Christians Focus on Worshiping Jesus Who Suffered or Jesus Who Rose from the Dead? As we moved through Lent to approach Holy Week we anticipate four significant days: Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter (which some call Resurrection Sunday). The last two, Good Friday and Easter, stand as momentous occasions for all […]
Paul Talks to Felix The ninth sermon in the book of Acts: Acts 24:1-27 (specifically Acts 24:10-21). Paul gives his testimony and talks about his belief in the resurrection from the dead. Setting: A hearing before Felix in Caesarea Speaker: Paul Audience: Felix (the governor and judge), Jews, and Ananias and Tertullus, Paul’s accusers. Preceding […]
Discover What the Scripture Says About Overcoming Death Last week we talked about the ten times the Bible records people raised from the dead. Now we’ll expand that thought and explore more Biblical references about people rising from the dead. Valley of Bones Ezekiel records a vision in which he sees the bones of a […]
Resurrections Occur in Both the Old and New Testaments In the Bible, dead people return to life. This happens on ten occasions, with three resurrections occurring in the Old Testament and seven times in the New. Check out these stories of people supernaturally raised from the dead. 1. Son of a Widow in Zarephath The […]
Disunity Today Hurts the Cause of Jesus In our consideration of words that appear only in the New Testament, we come across Pharisees and Sadducees. Two related words are Zealot and Nazarene, along with Essene. Pharisees Appearing ninety-nine times in the New Testament, the Pharisees receive the most attention. They were a righteous group of […]