EPHESIANS 1:1-14 Adapted from a sermon by Sherman Malachi Tjiong What do we praise God for? For the food, for good weather, for a good day and good health? We give thanks for peace of mind and a meaningful life.
Praising God, The Father Who Elects
“Salvation is from the Lord”
When it comes to matters pertaining to life and death, every religion has its answer to the universal problem of sin and how to deal with it in daily life. Christianity is the only religion that deals with the problem
Live by the Sword, Die by the Sword
“All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword” (Matthew 26:52). It is interesting to think about how the ancient gods are all long dead. Not that they were ever alive, of course, but they had the illusion
The Origin of Hope
What is the origin of hope? This was a question I asked my children during family worship this past week as we were reading through the account of the Fall in Genesis 3. As we began discussing Genesis 3:15, I
The Pentecost Sermon – Peter teaches the Deity of Jesus
While there are many things we may learn from Peter’s sermon on Pentecost (Acts 2:14-41), let’s consider today how he implicitly teaches that Jesus is God. He did not declare it as bluntly as we often do today, perhaps because
How Pastoral Training Should Be Done
If we were to survey church leaders around the world and throughout history about the best way to train pastors, what do you think they would say? Would there be a consensus about how it should be done? Would they
Where Do We Go Now? Three Streams of Revelation
How do we hear from God? Where should we look for authoritative revelation from God about what to believe and do? In the 16th century, those questions were hot topics and they are no less crucial and relevant for the church
Worship: Me, We, God in Trinity (part 2)
Note: This is part 2 of a two-part blog post on the topic of worship. For the first part, click here (part 1) “Show me a church’s songs, and I’ll show you their theology.” – Gordon Fee In part
Pray for Those Who Pray
Civil unrest erupts in a nation: Pray for that nation! A group of people are being smuggled, exploited, or otherwise oppressed: Pray for that group! Something bad has happened to a plane or ship: Pray for that vessel! A disease,
When You and Your Mission Agency Head in Opposite Directions
In the world of missions today, it is rare to find a missionary who is solely funded by their home church, let alone sent out by their home church with respect to who directly funds their ministry. Even the Southern