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Showing posts from January, 2020

Our Choices: Genesis 3.1-24

In the garden God gave us all we’d ever need, complete provision for our lives and the ability to choose what happens in our lives.   In Genesis 3 we see what happens in these choices.   We see how God has formed us and where He has placed us.   When we make these choices we have a tendency to say that I know what’s best for my life. I know what is best for me. (v.1) In Genesis 1 we see the serpent, a new character.    We are given a description about the serpent before we ever meet him.   In verse 3:1 the serpent is called crafty.   This is a warning for us ahead of time.   This tells us to pay attention to what the serpent is doing.   Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" Gen. 3:1 In Genesis 2, all that was just created God said was good.   God has provided beyond their wildest imagination.   The s

Church Planting Update: Redemption Heights in Philadelphia, PA

Click the link below to read a recent article about how one of our mission partners, a church plant,  Redemption Heights, is ministering on the campus of St. Joseph's University.  Prayers for Kinci Smith and the church planting team. https://www.sjuhawknews.com/students-participate-in-club-to-explore-faith-on-campus/?fbclid=IwAR194UbEN5XWkRQCKrq21Dw_jRWDr3K9-F6iqO4HS9llC0rJvco26ylzhyg

Origins: Genesis 1.1-2.2

One great question we all ponder is how did everything begin?   Most of us question this many times in our lives.   Even Star Wars asks this question.   This question appeals to the creative nature we have.   What gives meaning to everything in life?   Is Pluto really a planet or not?   We have great questions that hang over our lives.   Why?   It tells us who we are.   How do we live as a result of knowing the answer to these questions?                                           Romans 1 gives us the reasons people struggle.   We worship the creature instead of the Creator.   What’s the true origin?   We have a God of grace and power that gives meaning to everything.   Genesis tells us who we are.   Genesis gives us foundation.   It tells us who we have been and who we will be.   God gives meaning to everything.   All questions come back to this core: it is God who gives meaning.                          1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  2 Th

Hope of Nations: Luke 2.25-35

Welcome!  It’s January and it’s wonderful to celebrate a new year but sad to take down decorations, so I haven’t taken mine down yet.  We have one more Sunday of Christmas today.  What happens after the birth of Jesus?  Today’s passage is about 40 days after Jesus’ birth.  It’s about why Jesus came, why he was born and why it matters.  A mother would go to the temple and offer a sacrifice for purification.   Mary and Joseph lived outside of Jerusalem so they went to the temple.   They were close.   Mary will make a sacrifice and Jesus will be presented in the temple.   Mary and Joseph are trying to raise Jesus in the way they were called to do.   In the middle of this there’s a big surprise!   What we have in Luke 2 are stories about people who were part of Jesus’ coming to earth.   We are reminded why this story matters and what God was doing in people’s hearts in that day. Simeon heard from God.   How significant it is to hear from God.   If God is speaking in your life y