In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was a man who was punished by the “gods” to spend eternity rolling a large boulder up a hill that always rolled back down to the bottom just before he could reach the top. At times, we’ve all felt like Sisyphus, pouring money and years and energy into the pursuit of things that remain tantalizingly out of reach no matter how hard we went after it. Futility is an ugly sort of word that speaks to us of frustration, waste, hopelessness and despair.
In this message we continue our study through the eight miraculous signs of the book of John by taking up the account of the feeding of the five-thousand in John 6. This is a rich story and one that is full of weighty significance for the church today.
This morning as I was organizing my thoughts and preparing the message I felt prompted to pray the following prayer over our church family:
Heavenly Father,
If we are sleepy, wake us up.
If we are wandering, pursue us.
If we ar…
The purpose of this sermon series, in which we are studying the eight miraculous signs of John, is to see and understand Jesus more clearly. When we describe ourselves as “Christians,” Christ-followers, we are saying that He is the target at which we are aiming our lives. You cannot hit a target that you cannot see very clearly. So the purpose of studying these signs is to bring our target, Jesus, into sharper focus in order that our hope in Him would be more sure and we might follow Hi…
Hebrews 11:1 famously defines faith as being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see, and 2 Corinthians 5:7 calls us to walk by faith, not by sight.
We’ve all heard the expression that “seeing is believing,” but when we come to the Bible, which talks a great deal about the nature of belief, it seems to say that faith which is most honoring to God is not born of our natural sight but rather a Spirit-Given confidence in the Words of God.
***There was an issue with the audio recording of this message. Please refer to the sermon notes for a transcript.***
John concludes his Gospel account with language that almost teases and torments the modern Bible reader by mentioning the existence of many stories about Jesus that went undocumented by himself and the other Gospel writers.
In the final verse John wrote these tantalizing words,
“Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. W…
In this message we open God’s Word together in Matthew 25. Here in the latter portion of this scripture we are given a glimpse through the words of Jesus into the final judgement. As Advent Christians it has always been part of our heritage to look at the soon and coming return of Christ, the question is…are we prepared?
Pastor Tate shared a few weeks back about being part of a society today that loves lists. Lists like “Top Ten Habits of Millionaires” that would suggest if only yo…
Sue Hansens died on February 12th of this year. It was not an unexpected death, but even so when it came the news was bitter. It’s strange to say, but the first emotion I felt upon receiving the news was not sadness but rather loneliness. Sadness quickly followed but for a split second loneliness stood alone in my heart.
I was Sue Hansens’ pastor for several years in Florida. In my mind’s eye I picture her coming into the church stooped over, sometimes leaning on a walker, and …
Hermeneutics is a big seldom-used word meaning the study of the methodological principles of interpretation (as of the Bible.) In other words, it’s the science of how to study the Bible. One hermeneutical principle that is sometimes very helpful in guiding Bible students in understanding any given topic is the principle of first mention.
The principle of first mention says that, to understand a particular word or doctrine or idea, we must find the first place in Scripture that it o…
To me one of the most fascinating things about the created order that God set up in the Garden of Eden was that Adam and Eve needed to eat at all. To my mind perfection would be marked by a complete absence of need. However, even in the perfection of the garden they got hungry and when that happened they would satisfy that need by eating from the many trees that God had provided for them there. The need was met wonderfully, but it still existed.
On the night Jesus was betrayed he instituted the sacrament of communion saying, “Do this in remembrance of me.” Communion is, in part, a call to remember, but memory can be a tricky thing for the Christian. Our memory is sometimes our friend, but other times it accuses us and fills us with shame. Our memory of past sins and failings can distort our view of Jesus making him appear as a distant judge more than a loving savior and so it is significant that Jesus’ command for us to remember hi…
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