Read: 1 Kings 16:29 - 17:7
“For a time, God was no longer speaking to Israel. That was a greater judgment than the famine. For as we read in Deuteronomy 8:3, “[M]an does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” We cannot live without bread. But at a deeper level, we cannot live without the word of the Lord.”
Sermon Series: The Message of Elijah
Read: 2 Timothy 1:1-14
Text: Verses 8-14
“The Christian message is surprising and counter-intuitive in many ways. There are many things about it that are difficult to take. On the one hand, it is the most glorious message possible – a message of the forgiveness of sins, of acceptance with God, of eternal life, of the satisfaction of our deepest longings. But on the other hand, it is a call to suffering and death. Jesus himself tells us to count the cost. Jesus himself tells us that following involves self-denial and taking up our cross.”
Read: 2 Timothy 1:1-14
Text: Verse 10b
“The hope of eternal life is not the natural desire that most people have to escape death. It is not more of the same of this life. It is to enter into the fullness of life which is the enjoyment of worshipping and serving God. What that means is that if there is not something of that now already, we are not partakers of the eternal life that that we celebrate when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and the defeat of death that he accomplished.”
Read: Acts 1
Read: Psalm 5
Read: Daniel 1
“We are not defined by our desires. We are made by God and for God. The way to life and blessedness is the way of salvation in Jesus Christ, and the way of being, renewed in the image of Christ. That involves dying to self. It involves that for all of us, no matter what our particular struggles and inclinations are. Just giving into our desires is the way of death. One of the great themes of the New Testament is that in Christ it is possible to live a life that is pleasing to God – not perfectly in this life, but nevertheless really. The Bible does not hide the fact that this is sometimes very hard. But it insists that the Christian life is the life of blessedness and true well-being. There is no better way to live than the life that is the result of salvation in Christ – the life of submission to God – the life of love and service – the life of putting God’s will before our own.”
Sermon Series: The Ten Commandments
Read: 1 Kings 16:29 - 17:7
“There are a lot of warnings in Scripture. But these warnings are motivated by God’s grace and mercy and they all anticipate Jesus and his mission because it is in him that we escape the punishments that are the consequences of sin.”
Sermon Series: The Message of Elijah
