Blog (Page 12)
We are Never Alone
One hot summer day, a friend gave me four free tickets to a New York Yankees baseball game. The year was 2008 and the Yankees were playing one of their very last games at the original Yankee Stadium, and I wanted to take one last look at the stadium, and to say goodbye. In addition, I wanted our three very young daughters to see this historic stadium in the Bronx. I planned out the trip in great detail so we…
The Walk Continues
If you think of this sermon series as a ham and turkey sandwich, the first week was the piece of bread laid down with some condiments, last week was the Black Forest Ham (only the best for LifeWay), and this week is the delicious deli turkey that we’re going to lay on top. That is to say, we are continuing the meat of the message with the second part of the body of the letter, verses 7-11. Next week, we’ll…
Jubilee
Allow me to ask you a strange question. Do you know how to say the Hebrew word for “ram’s horn”? And you will tell me that you didn’t know Hebrew. But I will bet you know more Hebrew than you think. Because the Hebrew word for ram’s horn is where we get our word, “Jubilee”. For a long time, I heard pastors and Sunday School teachers make references to the Jubilee, but I am even embarrassed to say I didn’t…
Let’s Start the Walk
This Sunday, we will be continuing in our series through “The Postcard Epistle.” Last week, we started by diving deep into the first three verses. That whole sermon was definitely more on the head knowledge side of things, but I hope that you found it helpful in understanding just how rich scripture is and how much is there. In understanding the context of the book we saw that, most likely, the Elder was John the Apostle, the son of Zebedee,…
Lessons in Humility
It was a quiet Saturday evening. Elena was reading to me and I was playing with my long Covid hair. I had been feeling anxious to cut it for quite some time. As she was reading, I was grabbing locks of my hair and pretending to cut it with my fingers. I interrupted her reading and said, “I think I’m going to cut my hair tonight.” She just nodded as if to say, “Sure, that sounds like a good idea.…
An Introduction to the Postcard Epistle
This Sunday we are beginning a slow, four-week sermon series through one of the shortest books of the Bible: 2 John. It’s a book that is so small (about 245 words and only 13 verses!) that I’ve titled this series, “The Postcard Epistle.” You may be wondering why we seem to be jumping over 1 John and going straight to 2 John, and the reason for that is really two-fold: Unlike other books such as 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians,…
Omnipresent
The Bible says God can see us in our inner room when we pray to him secretly. Matthew 6:6 says, “But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” I have a secret room. Ask my wife or children about my secret room in the house, and they would know what you are asking…
LifeWay’s Theology Test: The Book of Jesus
On Sunday, May 2, I preached a message that helped summarize the whole year of teaching that we have walked through together. We’ve called it, “The Book of Jesus.” I issued a challenge to our church family to test our knowledge and core understanding of what God tells us about himself, what we can know about ourselves, and most importantly, why and how Jesus plays into the whole story. Why is the Bible totally about Jesus? Why would we need…
How to Read Your Bible (Part 10)
Today I bring you the final tip, Tip #10, in the “How to Read Your Bible” series. Scroll to the end for a full explanation of each previous tip. TODAY’S FOCUS—TIP #10: BE A rEADER FOR lIFE! Far more important than reading through the Bible in one year (which is a wonderful goal) is to continue to make God’s Word a book of life for you forever. Read it fast sometimes. Read it slowly sometimes. Read sections of it repeatedly sometimes. Read…
Women of Valor
Last week Billy finished up our series on the Book of Jesus. We were reminded of the foundational truths on which we build our lives. In the last few weeks of the series we learned how Jesus, after perfectly reflecting God in humanity, handed off his mission to us. We, as the church, have been restored so that we can reveal God to others. This coming Sunday is Mother’s Day. It’s not necessarily a biblical or Christian holiday, but it…
Omniscient
Last week, our 11-year old son made a presentation for his homeschool co-op. Of all the famous people on whom he could have chosen to present, he chose Neil Armstrong, the first man who walked on the moon. We will never forget that moment. July 20, 1969, was a day that made us proud as Americans. Astronauts are some of the brightest people in our country. Already very bright, they sit through hours and hours of in-class learning, followed by…
A Test from the Book of Jesus
Many of our college students from LifeWay are in finals week right now. They are collecting all the information from the class notes and all their readings from the year, and they are sitting at a desk or a computer and having the lay out the mounds of information they have learned over the whole semester to prove how well they know the subject. Well, this coming Sunday morning, May 2, I am finishing the year of teaching that we…
How to Read Your Bible (Part 9)
Today I bring you Tip #9 in the “How to Read Your Bible” series. Scroll to the end for a full explanation of each previous tip. TODAY’S FOCUS—TIP #9: It’s All About Jesus This entire school year we have been in a teaching series that we’ve called, “The Book of Jesus.” Why that title? Because if you remove Jesus from any of the storyline of the Scripture, you just have ancient stories. The Bible, all of it, points to Jesus. Whether…
Omnipotent
You probably know this already but there are some people in the world who can lift way more than their own body weight. Amazing. Are you one of them? In this world, there are those who can lift. Then there are those who can really lift. In the World’s Strongest Man competition, competitors lift five round stones in excess of over 350 pounds, onto high platforms. They pull buses, train cars, fire trucks, even airplanes, across a 100-foot course. A…
How to Read Your Bible (Part 8)
Today I bring you Tip #8 in the “How to Read Your Bible” series. Scroll to the end for a full explanation of each previous tip. TODAY’S FOCUS—TIP #8: rEAD aLONE On Good Friday this year, we had small groups of people read the Holy Week story out of John 17, 18 and 19 out loud around the room. It was powerful. Hearing the Word of God read aloud with others in this kind of setting is an incredible experience, and…
Why are You Looking Into the Sky?
As you get ready for Sunday’ teaching, I am asking you to read ahead in two places: Luke 24:45-53 Acts 1:6-11 As you heard Scott J. teach last Sunday morning, the book of Acts is actually “Luke Part 2.” Luke finished the story of Jesus’ earthly life, and then continued it with the story of the work and mission of the Church in the book of Acts. This whole year we have been teaching a series called, “The Book of…
Let’s Talk About Biblical Inerrancy (Part 2)
Let’s Talk About Biblical Inerrancy (Part 1) Which brings me to my question: Must one uphold the Doctrine of Biblical Inerrancy in order to be saved? What do you think? This may surprise you but in my humble opinion, the answer is No. The Bible clearly says that salvation is through believing in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior from our sin (Romans 4). Therefore, it is not necessary for one to uphold the Doctrine of Biblical Inerrancy for…
How to Read Your Bible (Part 7)
Today I bring you Tip #7 in the “How to Read Your Bible” series. Scroll to the end for a full explanation of each previous tip. TODAY’S FOCUS—TIP #7: Use Bookmarks to guide your reading and Pray for the World This tip to reading your Bible is actually a bridge into learning to read God’s Word combined with spending time praying. If you have followed the pattern of reading from four locations in the Bible (as stated above in Tip #2),…
Easter is Over—I’m Going Fishing!
That’s the statement (in the title above) Peter made in the days after the Easter resurrection of Jesus. I think when we have a tremendous time of failure in our lives, we will often say something like this: “I am just going to do something else and try to take my mind off of the failures that are mine.” Peter was a fisherman by trade. That’s what he was doing when he met Jesus the first time (see Luke 5).…
Let’s Talk About Biblical Inerrancy (Part 1)
Have you heard of the Doctrine of Biblical Inerrancy before? The word, “inerrancy” simply means without error. Therefore, the basic idea of biblical inerrancy says that the Bible is without error. But this definition doesn’t quite help us very much because it still can mean so many different things to so many people. One says it means the Bible is pure. The Bible contains no impurities. Psalm 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words; As silver tried in…
Christmas or Easter?
Have you ever heard anyone say, “How many shopping days are there till Easter?” Do you buy gifts for your spouse, your family, or your siblings for Easter? Do you install lights on the roof of your house for Easter? Do you book your flight months ahead to be home for Easter? Does your workplace have an annual Easter party? How many Easter parties will you go to this year? Let’s be honest. To people of this world, Easter just…
From the Lowest Possible Place to the Highest Peak
Getting ready for Easter Sunday — John 20 I don’t believe that, humanly speaking, you can get any lower than the events of Good Friday. In fact, even calling it “Good Friday” seems bizarre. There was nothing good about a thrown-together courtroom and trial to convict the totally innocent Jesus to a brutal death on a cross. To top it off, almost all of those who had sworn they would stand by Jesus to the bitter end actually ended up…
Good Friday Home Communion Fellowship
Tomorrow, we will not meet at LifeWay Church for a traditional in-person Good Friday service. Rather, we will meet in very small gatherings at homes throughout our city for a more intimate Good Friday Home Communion Fellowship. Kindly select a host from this list, call to let them know ahead you would like to join them in their home, take down the exact home address, and ask what time you shall arrive. Actual fellowship begins at 7 p.m. on Friday,…
Foot Washing Service
This Sunday, March 28, starting at 6 p.m., we are having a Foot Washing Service at LifeWay Church. According to John 13, many years ago one day, Jesus got up from the dinner table, took a towel, and began to wash the feet of his disciples, a job performed only by the lowliest house servants in the 1st century. But it was no problem at all for Jesus, the disciples’ Teacher and Lord. He did it so they too may…
How to Read Your Bible (Part 6)
Today I bring you Tip #6 in the “How to Read Your Bible” series. Scroll to the end for a full explanation of each previous tip. Today’s Focus—Tip #6: Treat weekends as worship and preparation As stated in Tip #2, I like to read from four locations from the Bible and I encourage you to consider the same. But I also recommend that you consider this method for the 5 days of the work week, then treat the weekends differently.…