Raising the Bar
Jesus Christ set the bar for leadership forever. And it wasn't the kind of leadership that lords itself over people or demands obedience and honor but the kind that gets on its knees to wash a sinner's feet.
Politically Incorrect (part 2)
Far too often we treat the Church like a corporation rather than a body of believers owned and led by Christ. Pastors have started adopting secular business strategies and models of leadership rather than biblical models. In this message Stephen challenges us to stop conforming to culture and start transforming it.
Politically Incorrect
Far too often we treat the Church like a corporation rather than a body of believers owned and led by Christ. Pastors have started adopting secular business strategies and models of leadership rather than biblical models. In this message Stephen challenges us to stop conforming to culture and start transforming it.
All or Nothing
As Paul begins his letter to Titus, a young pastor on this island, you discover several passions about Paul, the slave of God. We could call them slave traits - characteristics of someone who is all or nothing for the glory of Christ. In the opening lines of his letter to Titus, Paul says without any reservation, "God is my master and I am His messenger boy." For Paul, Christianity was wide open...it was indeed all, or nothing.
All or Nothing
As Paul begins his letter to Titus, a young pastor on this island, you discover several passions about Paul, the slave of God. We could call them slave traits - characteristics of someone who is all or nothing for the glory of Christ. In the opening lines of his letter to Titus, Paul says without any reservation, "God is my master and I am His messenger boy." For Paul, Christianity was wide open...it was indeed all, or nothing.
Passion
When Paul arrived at Athens, he commented on how religious the city was -there were statues of gods and goddesses everywhere. In fact, they were so afraid that they might have missed a god, they built an altar to the god they didn’t know about. And Paul introduced to them the God of the ages - the Creator God whose Son came to earth to redeem mankind, not only from rioting and riotous living, but empty religion. When one of the young protégés of the Apostle Paul began his ministry on the island of Crete - he was surrounded by religion and religious mythologies; he was submerged into a relativistic culture where lying and deceiving was part of the game. There were no virtues to win and vices didn't slow anybody down; it was every man for himself. And the answer certainly wasn't another religion. The answer was a spiritual reformation, bound up in the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's why as Paul introduces himself to the churches in Crete -through his letter to Titus - which is where I invite your attention to return - he informs both Titus and the churches that he is a very passionate man. In fact, he will describe himself with the kind of passions that will change a person's life - and his relationships - and his work ethic - and his perspective -and his life, in general. If the Christian ever hopes to impact his world - these passions must become our passions.
From One Slave to Another (part 2)
More than ever before the church is in need of going back to the biblical drawing board and answering the question - what exactly does it mean to be a Christian; to live and act like a Christian?
From One Slave to Another
More than ever before the church is in need of going back to the biblical drawing board and answering the question - what exactly does it mean to be a Christian; to live and act like a Christian?
Parenting the Perfect Child
If you combine the Gospel accounts, you discover 8 scenes that reveal truths surrounding Christ's birth and boyhood.
Missing!
There wasn't any Jewish calendar, in any home that didn't have a circle around the dates that marked the Feast of Passover. Jewish law actually required all the men, from 13 years of age and up, to attend three feasts in Jerusalem - Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. Custom allowed men who lived far away to attend only one of the three and Passover was typically the favored feast. /Adapted from Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Compassionate: Luke 1-13 (Victor Books, 1989), p. 32 The ceremonies would last 7 days. It's at this very moment in the Jewish calendar, which would have been late March and early April that Luke gives us another glimpse into the boyhood of Jesus.