What would you do if you were starting a church from scratch? Would you dream up a creative architectural design for a building that would draw attention from the community? Would you focus on the gathering for worship and put together a certain kind of musical or artistic program? Would it be multi-cultural? What doctrinesContinue reading “How would you start a church? – Acts 2, Part 1”
Tag Archives: god
Does God hate your church’s worship (and how to find out) – Current Events Q1 2020 – Affordable Housing, Part 3
Has your church ever evaluated your worship services? How do you know what is good worship and what is not? What metrics do you use? Quality? Excellence? Professionalism? Attendance? Growth? Better yet, what metrics would God want you to use? As we continue our study this week on affordable housing, surprisingly perhaps, one Old TestamentContinue reading “Does God hate your church’s worship (and how to find out) – Current Events Q1 2020 – Affordable Housing, Part 3”
How to rip off labels stuck to you – Our Identity: Citizens of God’s Kingdom, Part 5
Have you ever been a part of a sports team that wears jerseys with labels on them? Usually a jersey has a team name, logo, and your player number. Some also include your last name and maybe a sponsor name and logo. NASCAR driver uniforms have, perhaps, the most labels of all. We, too, canContinue reading “How to rip off labels stuck to you – Our Identity: Citizens of God’s Kingdom, Part 5”
The Already, but Not Yet Kingdom – Our Identity: Citizens of God’s Kingdom, Part 2
Christians are citizens of the Kingdom of God now. What does that mean? How does our citizenship in God’s Kingdom matter now? The answer to that question is something called, “the already, but not yet”. We are a part of the Kingdom of God already, but that Kingdom has not yet come in its fullness. Continue reading “The Already, but Not Yet Kingdom – Our Identity: Citizens of God’s Kingdom, Part 2”
How to walk with the Holy Spirit every day – Our Identity: Temples of the Spirit, Part 5
If you are a Christian, you carry the Holy Spirit around with you everywhere you go. So what? What does that matter? How do we live out our identity as temples of the Spirit? It starts with confession and repentance for the sin in our lives. Admit it, and turn away from it. One ofContinue reading “How to walk with the Holy Spirit every day – Our Identity: Temples of the Spirit, Part 5”
Jesus wants us to have so much more than eternal life – Our Identity: In Christ, Part 3
What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear “eternal life”? Probably heaven right? Life after death. But that’s not the only way that Jesus talked about the new life that we can have in him. In John 10:10 he would go on to say that he came that people would haveContinue reading “Jesus wants us to have so much more than eternal life – Our Identity: In Christ, Part 3”
How to move out of the crowd and get near to God – Our Identity: In God, Part 5
Remember the parable of the princess who hid her identity, and never spent time with her father, the king? There’s more to the story. The princess was an adopted child of the king with all the rights, benefits and privileges of being in his royal family. But she did not actually spend time to getContinue reading “How to move out of the crowd and get near to God – Our Identity: In God, Part 5”
My six visits to a courtroom – Our Identity: In God, Part 3
I have been inside a courtroom for official court proceedings six times in my life. The first time was my fault. I was 17, very guilty, and scared to death. I’m not going into the whole story today. If you want to learn more, I’ve written about it here. The summary is that I wasContinue reading “My six visits to a courtroom – Our Identity: In God, Part 3”
The king and the secret princess – Our Identity: In God, Part 1
I want to tell you a parable. There was a king who wanted to have more connection with the people in his kingdom, so he decided to have a weekly briefing. At the briefing, reporters from various news agencies in the kingdom would come to the briefing, and they would talk with the king, andContinue reading “The king and the secret princess – Our Identity: In God, Part 1”
How to avoid assimilation and follow Jesus – Characters: Daniel, Part 5
A retired couple in my congregation told me about the time they attended a high school reunion, and their classmates, now all retired, each took turns sharing what they were doing with their lives. The sharing went all the way around the circle, and not a single person mentioned anything about serving the Lord. PerhapsContinue reading “How to avoid assimilation and follow Jesus – Characters: Daniel, Part 5”
Engaging Scripture 