The preaching text for Sunday will be John 6:1-21. If Jesus is drawing a line in the sand with the religious leaders in chapter five, he is drawing a line in the sand with the crowds following him in chapter six. We will see the masses abandon Jesus by the end of the chapter, but in the verses leading up …

What Do You Really Love? “What do you really want? What are you dreaming about having? What’s fueling your hope for the future? What’s capturing your attention most? What are you focusing your reading on? What are you searching the internet for? What are you spending your time and money on? What are you making plans to pursue? Or we could ask it negatively: What desired person or …

The preaching text for Sunday will be John 5:31-47. This chapter introduces us to the increased opposition that Jesus will face for the remainder of his earthly life, particularly from the Jewish religious leaders. The confrontation in our text stems from Jesus’ work in healing an invalid on the Sabbath, commanding him to stand up, take his mat and go. …

Holiness Is A Race, Not A Prohibition “The Christian life is not intended to operate on a minimalist ethic — on prohibitions — don’t touch that, don’t do this, avoid that. Success in the Christian life is not merely a matter of avoiding sin, yet we often make it into a life of exclusions….” What To Do If You’re Chronically …

  The preaching text for Sunday will be John 5:18-30. These verses unfold the heart of what John is doing in this chapter. He is introducing us to the reason the Jewish religious leaders oppose Jesus to the point of having him executed. However, John is also reinforcing the point of this entire gospel account, that is, Jesus is the …

Have Mercy On Me: Four Glimpses Into the Heart Of God “Many of us today are prone, by nature and nurture, to see God’s mercy as peripheral or incidental to who he is. We suspect that perhaps he shows mercy by accident or weakness. But if we let the Scriptures have their say, we will see that when God shows …

The preaching text for Sunday will be John 5:9b-18. Over the next couple of chapters John is introducing us to the elevated opposition that Jesus will face for the remainder of his earthly life. Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath, which leads to the religious leaders accusing Jesus of breaking the Sabbath. While the issue surrounding the Sabbath isn’t …

What Is God Saying To Us? “Harvey and Irma may go down as the Bonnie and Clyde of tropical hurricanes. My extended family in Texas suffered great loss from the latter (though all of their lives were spared, by God’s grace), and now my immediate and church family in Florida are preparing for the onslaught of the former, which as …

I really appreciate all the prayers and encouragement I’ve received from many of you this past week as Lindsey, the kids and I were out attending my grandmother’s funeral. Very thankful to be part of such a loving body! Since we didn’t get to our text in John 5 this past Sunday, we will, with the Lord’s help get to …

Our preaching text for Sunday will be John 5:1-18. John 5 begins a section that runs through chapter 7 where John introduces the opposition Jesus will encounter through the rest of his earthly ministry. Yes, there has been some controversy up to this point, but now the opposition will become very public and sometimes officially sanctioned. Someone hearing this for …