In an instant, the ordinary lives of the shepherds were infused with the extraordinary news of great joy from the angels – God’s promises are now being fulfilled in the infant Jesus.Mark Middlekauff

The society we live in proclaims: “It’s your body, do whatever you wish with it.” And the Corinthian culture was just as hyper-sexed as ours, even more so. But the gospel changes everything for us, including how we view our bodies and use them to...Mark Middlekauff

Holidays like Christmas are made special by the people we get to share them with. Unfortunately , these same people can also bring tension, conflict, and agitation. Agitation may be unavoidable, but Paul shows the Ephesians how we can respond beautifully.Trevor Nauta

At the end of his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul gives three commands: rejoice, pray and give thanks. Why does God command us to pray? Because we need to be commanded, and he commands not to burden but to bless.Mark Middlekauff

Christians can suffer from gospel amnesia, that is, we forget who we are in Christ. Paul confronts the Corinthians in how they have not lived out who they are already in Christ Jesus. And Paul helps them to recover their gospel identity.Mark Middlekauff

Finally, in chapter 5, Paul lays into the church in Corinth with a heavy, but loving, hand. The church had been neglecting a most important mark of a church, church discipline. Paul calls the church out for their failings, but also calls them to a...Mark Middlekauff

The church in Corinth will be stuck in immaturity unless they come to embrace Paul’s authority over their lives. So too us. Jesus has established authority in his church, but will we recognize our great need for godly authority or will we reject it.Mark Middlekauff

The church in Corinth was wrongly elevating its leaders based upon worldly expectations and desires. So, Paul challenges them in order to get them to evaluate how they evaluate, so that they would develop a gospel way of judging things, especially...Mark Middlekauff

Paul elevates our understanding of the church. The church is nothing less than the temple in which God dwells on earth and it is built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. And Christ is building his church through his people!Mark Middlekauff

We Christians are pretty good at noticing spiritual immaturity in others; we are slow to recognize it in ourselves. In this passage from 1 Corinthians, Paul shows his readers that spiritual maturity is a gracious work of God, therefore we must grow up...Mark Middlekauff

An amazing biblical truth is that the very wisdom of God is given to God’s people by the Spirit of God. And that God freely gives his wisdom. But the Christians in Corinth had a maturity problem that caused them to not access the wisdom of God for...Mark Middlekauff

As Augustine, Luther, and Calvin guarded and reformed the Church, we must watch over and be continually renovating our hearts and minds.John Rantal

We often think we should handle small problems ourselves and let God take care of the big ones, or that God helps those who help themselves. Psalm 121 teaches us that our true help comes from the Lord, the Creator who sustains everything. This message...Twaambo Moyo

God’s wisdom and God’s power appear foolish and weak to this fallen world. And yet, this simple, seemingly foolish message—that God’s son died on a cross for our sins—is God’s powerful wisdom that saves all who believe.Mark Middlekauff

Paul addresses an issue in Corinth where members of Christ’s body were divided over earthly leaders. There were divisions and quarrelling instead of unity in Christ Jesus. But Christ alone is to be our highest good, for he alone is able to care the...Mark Middlekauff

Jesus has called the church to be disciples who make disciples, for discipleship is how we grow in Christlikeness and manifest his glory and his kingdom on earth! And since discipleship is Jesus’s top priority for his church, discipleship is the top...Mark Middlekauff

Christians are not Pharisees. But Christians often live with Pharisaical tendencies. That is, we can live as if we are saved by grace but need to live by works to maintain our acceptance before God. In this parable, Jesus helps his people to rest in...Mark Middlekauff

What we see in all this is that Jesus is more than we ever imagined he could be.Jay Harvey

The God of the Old Testament often gets characterized as a judgmental, overbearing, unreasonable God, but a closer examination of the events shows that He is the God of unwavering promise and commitment to His people and promises. It is because of His...Jeffrey Jou

Our natural sinful impulses cover us like grimy, decrepit clothing. When we cast off our old self and put on the new self, our new clothing of humility and love will transform every personal relationship in the joy of the Lord. But changing clothes...John Rantal

One of the Bible's most beautiful depictions is God's covenant loving-kindness. We see this in the Old Testament through His gracious dealings with His people, and it is ultimately fulfilled in Christ, who invites us to experience the...Twaambo Moyo

The Christian life is marked by perseverance because as we all know life is full of opposition, challenge and unforeseen circumstances. The Lord offers real strength for our journey that we can call and rely upon daily. This passage teaches us how...Josh Crane

Isaiah ends his book on the topic of worship. You don’t need to be religious to worship, for everyone worships. Intrinsically, all people worship something or someone. And since we become like what we worship, for our health or for our harm, God cares...Mark Middlekauff

Part of the human condition, though we fight to resist it, is that we are hopeless unless God intervenes in our lives. We don’t just need a little bit of good luck; we need a massive intervention from God. In this section of Isaiah, God shows just how...Mark Middlekauff

Often, when we read Old Testament narratives, the temptation is to imagine that we are too far removed from the characters to relate to them. However, wisdom dictates that we are not so different after all. In fact, by reflecting on their history, we...Twaambo Moyo

While a just God must judge all evil in the world, His judgments stem from an unfathomable love for His people, aimed at restoring us from the sins we fail to recognize.Peter Rhee

In our lucid moments as Christians, we admit that there is a wide chasm between the abiding life Christ calls us to live and how we tend to live. We say we want God in our lives, but we don’t want too much of God in our lives. Isaiah prays that the...Mark Middlekauff

We spend a lot of time focused on the external; we build resumes, exercise, eat well, try to dress well, and on and on. Christ comes to us today focused on one thing: our hearts.Andrew Barber

Many people reject God being angry. “God is love,” they insist. Isaiah shows us that yes, God is love, but he is more than just that. In fact, because God loves so well, he must and will judge this world.Mark Middlekauff

Contrary to popular opinion, God is a happy, joyful God. And by his gospel and through Jesus Christ God is spreading his joy to the world.Mark Middlekauff

Guilt and shame are powerful messages that shape how we live our lives whether we’re conscious of it or not. These messages can often be crushing and can prevent us from living a life of joy and freedom. But where can we find the true cure for all our...David Lee

In a world where many often feel alone and left to our own devices, the gospel promises us that we have a loving Father who is ever present, completely committed, and always guiding us through the hardships in life.Peter Rhee

God’s revival includes the complete renewal and renovation of the entire universe. In this passage, Isaiah presents the before picture of the world as it is now, and the after picture of the world as God will remake it. God desires that his people...Mark Middlekauff

God’s plan for this world is nothing short of world-wide revival and eternal perfection. In this passage in Isaiah, we see that the church is to be like a model home which displays what God’s future world will be like. And so, we must repent of any...Mark Middlekauff

God is passionate about bringing revival to this earth and to his people. And his people are in great need of revival. In this section of Isaiah, the LORD reveals how are hearts are to be prepared for revival. Revival comes to those with contrite...Mark Middlekauff

In this passage Paul captures the imagination of his readers by showing them what it means to have the mind of Christ—the sovereign God who took on flesh as the humble servant. The suffering God who plunged to the depths of sorrow and death to seek...Abhishikth Babu

God has made everything to be wonderful for his people, so that our proper response is to live a life of joyous wonder and praise. And yet, our hearts and minds can become numb to the gospel. Thankfully, God know this and encourages us through the...Mark Middlekauff

Spiritual blindness keeps you from seeing the reality of Jesus making a difference in your life. Spending time with scripture is the cure to spiritual blindness. Sundays spent in corporate worship accelerates spiritual growth.John Rantal

It’s amazing! Roughly 700 years before Christ, Isaiah writes of him. In this famous passage Isaiah foretells of Easter. He shows us the life and death and resurrection of God’s servant, our savior.Mark Middlekauff

The question "Who is Jesus?" elicits a spectrum of responses, from teacher to miracle worker, from Son of God to sacrificial Savior. Yet, amidst these diverse responses, His kingship is often overlooked or misunderstood. In this passage, we...Twaambo Moyo

Christians often live on a treadmill of good works. It causes us to believe that if we had a quiet time in the morning, that God would be more willing to answer our prayer. Thankfully, Paul shows us a different life – the Therefore Life in God’s...Mark Middlekauff

The allure of amassing wealth is connected deeply with what money promises each of us. And yet, it doesn't always deliver. Alternatively, when we delight in the generosity of God, we can use money properly instead of money using us.Mark Middlekauff

Often the people of God complain that God seems to be asleep on his throne. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is the people of God who need to be awakened, not God. We must awaken to the fact that our God reigns.Mark Middlekauff

Isaiah reminds what we already know - the world is dark. He wants us to listen for the voice of the Lord in the darkness and obey him. But we are prone to “light our own torches” instead of sitting in the dark, listening for the voice of the Lord.Mark Middlekauff

The spiritual condition of the people of God in Isaiah’s day was that of despondency: low spirits with a sense of hopelessness and despair. And they thought God was nowhere to be found. But nothing could be further from the truth. With great love and...Mark Middlekauff

How can we know God will not abandon his people, even if they struggle with sin and lack a zeal for God? How can we know God won’t kick us to the curb? Because our salvation is not rooted in our faithfulness, but it is rooted in the glory of God. God...Mark Middlekauff

Christians have a beautiful and glorious calling from God to herald the good news. We live out this grand calling smack dab in the middle of the confluence of God’s sovereignty and mankind’s responsibility.Mark Middlekauff

Christians have a distinguished and difficult calling from God – Ambassadors for Christ. God is reconciling the world to himself, and he has entrusted this message of reconciliation to his ambassador people.Mark Middlekauff

To most people on earth, the gospel is both foolish and offensive. And yet, Paul declares that he is not ashamed of the gospel, for the gospel is the power of God that brings salvation to all who believe.Mark Middlekauff

The word ‘gospel’ literally means ‘good news’. In Christ Jesus we have received the greatest of news – salvation and new life in Christ. Here Jesus, the Light of the World, tells his followers that they too are the salt of the earth and light of the...Mark Middlekauff