Romans 8:28-30 is often used to support the doctrine of predestination, which is one of the fundamental characteristics of the Calvinist Christian view. Predestination is the belief that God does not just know all who will be saved, but ordains (decides) who will be saved. The people who will be saved are called the “elect”.
Read MoreWe’ve all been in waiting seasons, when you’re somewhere you maybe no longer want to be, dreaming of someday. Or maybe you’re content with where you are, but your heart also longs for a different season, whether that’s a new job, graduating college, moving, falling in love, healing, starting a family, or becoming a mother. That feeling of longing and eagerly expecting something is what this week’s study is about.
Read MoreHomosexuality. This is a topic very close to my heart. God granted me the privilege of building friendships within a gay theatre community. I was able to talk to many men and hear their hearts and struggles. God granted me the privilege of an unusual friendship with a Christian young man (not a part of the theatre ) walking the journey of finding his sexuality in Christ and surrendering his sexual tendencies to Christ.
Read MoreBeing adopted into someone’s family is life changing. In the Roman times, a childless couple could adopt a son, making him their heir. This was a deliberate decision a father would make to have someone carry on his name and inherit his estate. As a result, the child’s old debts would be canceled, he would receive a new name, he would be set to inherit all of his father’s wealth, and his father would become responsible and liable for the son.
Read MoreSomeone once pointed out something interesting about this passage of Scripture. Shiphrah and Puah are mentioned by name. The King of Egypt is not. Do you know why?
Read MoreThis week’s study focuses on two parallel lives, the root of each stemming from either living according to the flesh or according to the Spirit. Whatever you live according to is determined by what you set your mind on: the things of the flesh or the things of the Spirit. To set your mind is more than just thinking about something though, but instead, it implies a deeper focus on something - to become preoccupied with it, to let your attention and imagination be captured by something.
Read MoreWe’ve all experienced that sinking feeling when you’ve messed up yet again and did the thing you told God you wouldn’t do anymore. You know you shouldn’t have, and for a while, you did so good, but then a hard day or something triggers you and the flesh wins out. And in that moment, the enemy will tell you that you’re the only one like that; like everyone else has it figured out but you’re the only one constantly struggling. Yet, here we have Apostle Paul saying, “For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” So, if a man like that struggled with this too, where do we find the hope? Let’s study that this week.
Read MoreUp to now, Paul has repeatedly talked about how we don’t live by the law anymore. Such teaching had the same reaction back then that many Christians do today: religious rules are bad, so we don’t need the law anymore. Such thinking then leads to wanting to live however we please. So, where does the law fit into a Christian’s life? Let’s study that this week.
Read MoreThis week, Paul brings in another analogy to explain our relationship to God and sin: marriage. Let’s study how Paul connects these things.
Read MorePaul makes a big statement in this week’s passage: you’re either slave God or sin. In today’s world of a watered down Gospel, some people may try to tell you that there’s a middle ground: that you can live as you please without being a slave to God or to sin. Let’s study what the Bible has to say about this.
Read MoreIn law school, one of the first things you learn is that it is just as important to know opposing counsel’s arguments and case law as it is your own. You need to anticipate their every possible defense and know every piece of law that could support the other side’s argument.
Read MoreDying eggs. Baking a ham and whipping up fluffy salads. Picking out the finest pastel dress from your closet and maybe a matching hat. Hiding those eggs for little kiddos to find (or maybe just your friends). Picking up some chocolate bunnies and sugar-coated marshmallow chickies to nibble on for weeks to come. Despite their fun and entertainment, the accessories of Easter can take a lot of work and attention. It is easy to get wrapped up in all of these activities and forget what Easter is.
Read MoreThis week, we’re going to get to the heart of the Gospel that for many continues to be a paradox: how could the death of one man provide salvation to an entire world?
Read MoreOne of the questions that drives many people away from God is a variation of: “Why does God allow suffering?” Because our human mind doesn’t understand why a good God would allow bad things to happen, especially to those who are called His. The last few weeks, we’ve been talking about righteousness and justification. This week, we begin to dig deeper into the fruit of what it means to be justified before God and what type of character is produced through suffering.
Read MoreAs someone who loves the water, the baptismal brought familiar comforts. The gentle pressure of the water hugged me and wrapped the robe around my body and legs. I submerged into the silence and emerged to the words, “raised to walk in newness of life.”
Read MoreMy single season lasted for over a decade, so through my twenties, this passage is one that I came back to often when I needed to have my hope renewed. Because Abraham waited 25 years to see the fulfillment of God’s promise to him - as the years passed and his and Sarah’s bodies aged beyond child bearing, Abraham had to choose to believe against every type of impossibility. So, that’s what we’re going to study today: how to believe when all your hope is gone.
Read MoreI would like to consider myself a woman reasonably gifted with words. I normally know how to string sentences together, but I also tend to talk way too much and too often (even making a career out of it!) so perhaps I’ve just had a lot of practice. My greatest God-moments, though, are when He is working in a way that I can’t explain or write down, and He gently whispers to me, “Rest in Me, instead of needing to define Me.”
Read MoreIf there is ever a time to be holy, it’s during Holy Week. It’s a time to repent and reflect on the most transformative week in history. We respond to the week with remembrance and reverence. But before we approach the week with efforts to attain our highest level of holiness, we need to reflect on our call to holiness: not only what it means to be holy, but how we are to be holy.
Read MorePaul knew his audience - we see that as he regularly references the Jewish law and, this week, he brings in Abraham and David, both of whom would have been acclaimed as founding fathers for Paul’s intended audience. Like a lawyer presenting his case before a jury, Paul builds on his earlier points by bringing in influential witnesses to prove his points. So, let’s see if we can follow Paul’s case here.
Read MoreAfter making his point that none of us are righteous in our own right before God, Paul concludes this chapter with a reminder about pride and identity. To boast means to rely on something that gives you confidence to do something or to behave in a certain way. It is the thing that makes you say: I am a somebody because I have that. I can do this because I am this. What you boast in usually becomes your identity and what you fundamentally rely on.
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