Background of Christmas Merry Christmas! It’s a cozy group. The college students are away. Some familiar faces are back for the break, like Peter. It’s good to have you, brother. I have a two-part series about the meaning of Christmas. For today, I am going to explain a bit about the traditions surrounding Christmas and […]
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Matt 15: Religion is Outside In, Christianity is Inside Out (pt3 of 3)
21 Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon-possession.” 23 Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged […]
Matt 15: Religion is Outside In, Christianity is Inside Out (pt2 of 3)
What about the ordinances? There are 2 ordinances or traditions that Christ himself ordained for us to observe. One is the Lord’s Supper and the other is baptism. Catholics observe the Lord’s Supper every Sunday and many Protestants look at that and say, that’s just a meaningless ritual. So why bother observing it? Attending church […]
Matt 15: Religion is Outside In, Christianity is Inside Out (pt1 of 3)
Let’s start with a moment of silent prayer for the families who lost loved ones at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut where 20 children as young as 6 years old and 6 adults were killed this past week. Please turn with me to Matthew 15. These are the 3 different people who encounter […]
Matt 14 – Being Compassionate During the Holidays (pt3 of 3)
Why does Jesus want us to participate with Him in showing compassion? He was perfectly capable of healing the crowds on his own. Disciples had no power to heal. And Jesus could have easily zapped the stones and turned them to bread. But he doesn’t. Instead, he involves the disciples. Why? It’s because in the […]
Matt 14 – Being Compassionate During the Holidays (pt2 of 3)
Why is compassion important? Compassion is important simply because it’s important to God. If you don’t believe me, let me try to convince you. Here is just a small sampling of verses. Proverbs 14 21 “He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.” Prov 21 13 If […]