Monthly Archives: September 2022

Following Christ Today: Anger and Lust (Matthew 5:21-33)

How can the addiction to anger or to lust be broken? How can Christians experience the righteousness of the heart in these areas? We think through these questions based on Jesus’s extraordinary Sermon on the Mount.

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Our Father

In this message, we enter, explore, and savor the Lord’s Prayer, which is to say, the prayer he gave his disciples. And what a gift it is! We see in this first sermon that it is those who can call … Continue reading

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No Angst Over Declining Political Clout

What changes would the Republican Party make if Christians, who have been a key bloc within their base, could no longer deliver enough votes to compete with Democrats for national offices? How would the party react to a 12 percent … Continue reading

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Following Christ Today: The Righteousness of the Heart

This class session focuses on the righteousness of the heart and how it contrasts with expressions of anger and contempt. Anger and contempt have ravaged society and family. Our hope for the future lies in the righteousness of the heart, … Continue reading

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Becoming a Person Who Can Pray the Lord’s Prayer

When I was a boy, I wanted to be just like Mickey Mantle. In 1961, he had 514 at bats and he hit 54 homeruns. That means he hit a homerun one out of every 9 or so at bats. … Continue reading

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Don’t Use Religion to Impress People

One of the most influential teaching sessions in history took place on a mountainside – possibly because of the acoustics – and is known as the Sermon on the Mount. It is not a sermon in the modern sense of … Continue reading

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What Do You Want Me to Do for You?

H-E-A-R Journals are a regular part of the D-Groups – discipleship groups of 3 to 5 people – that happen at our church. D- Group members read the same Scriptures each week, try to understand and apply them to life, and respond to the truth they see. When they meet with their group, they share one of their journal entries from the week. Continue reading

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Power in Prayer (Mark 9:14-29)

“This kind comes out only by prayer.” Jesus said that about a stubborn unclean spirit, but there are many things in our lives that “come out” only by prayer: stubborn marriage problems, addictions, financial needs, and more. Learning to pray … Continue reading

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How Did Jesus Treat Women?

To read some Bible scholars, one would think that Jesus viewed women through a twenty-first century feminist lens. Other equally-well regarded scholars, seem to think that Jesus looked at women through a pre-Nineteenth Amendment lens. It seems to me that … Continue reading

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Living Out the Greatest Command (Following Jesus Today Class)

When asked what was the greatest of the Old Testament’s 613 commands, Jesus answered: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and … Continue reading

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