Church Blog (Page 12)

When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large.…

Most of us probably do not know much about the intertestamental period. During this era, the Jewish people were dominated by one foreign power after another. First it was Alexander the Great, who conquered the Persian Empire, including Judea, along with everything else between Greece and India. But Alexander’s untimely death at only 32, with no successor, left his empire in disarray. Ultimately, it was divided among his generals, who fought a series of wars against each other, striving for…

For the last two years, we have been holding prayer meetings on Facebook Live during the week. We originally began them at the outset of the pandemic, when we could not get together at all for awhile, as a way to keep everyone somewhat connected and encouraged. We persisted in broadcasting Monday-Friday for the next year; as things began to open back up last Spring, including the resumption of our own Sunday and Wednesday evening services, we scaled them back…

We welcomed spring this past week. The temperatures are warmer, the grass is turning green, and the flowers are beginning to bloom. You have probably mowed your lawn for the first time this season in the last couple of weeks. We just planted a little vegetable garden in our yard. All of these signs of new life turn my mind to God as Creator. He is the source of everything that is. He is the Creator of the heavens and…

We celebrated St. Patrick’s Day earlier this week. This is one of those sort of second rate holidays in this country: we wear green, in some places we have a parade, and we eat things like Irish stew or shepherd’s pie or soda bread—we celebrate all things Irish, basically—but we do not really know much about it other than that. But St. Patrick’s Day was originally a commemoration of the life and death of Patrick of Berniae, who brought Christianity…

As someone pointed out recently, we eat together as a church a lot! We have been intentional about doing that more and more since we began to emerge from COVID restrictions. This week, Wes McAdams, the preacher at the McDermott Road Church of Christ, published this article that I thought spoke really well to the deeper meaning of these gatherings. I commend it to your attention, and urge you again to check out his blog, “Radically Christian,” for more deeply…

My parents came down this past week to celebrate my birthday with me. For years, our tradition has been for them to take me to a restaurant of my choice for dinner. We did that and had a wonderful time. But in selecting a place, because my mom has been talking for awhile about wanting to go visit Galveston, I considered going down there and having seafood. I even made a reservation at one place, but I was surprised that…

Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed… He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. – Psalm 2:1-2, 4 All of us have likely been following the Russian invasion of Ukraine to some extent. It seems that the world stands closer to the brink of World War 3—or even nuclear conflict—than…

Last Sunday evening, the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI, 23-20. That’s not a matchup that most people would have projected at the beginning of the season; it’s not even one that was likely at the outset of the playoffs. That unpredictability is part of what makes a football season so exciting. The Super Bowl was the long-awaited culmination of a journey that began, by one way of looking at it, some 5 months ago,…

Notwithstanding the fact that this article’s title will get a certain early 90s dance song stuck in the heads of some readers, the question is an important one. Tomorrow, we celebrate Valentine’s Day, which—rightly or wrongly—is associated with love. And we all know that love is of paramount importance in Scripture. God is love (1 John 4:16). We are commanded by Jesus to love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By…

We are in the process of preaching our way through the book of Acts this year. Last week, we looked at the first part of chapter 2; this morning, we will finish that up, studying Peter’s sermon. But as most of us know, this is where we find recorded the great events that transpired on the Day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit descended and filled the disciples who were gathered together, empowering them to speak in languages they had never…

Our sermon last Sunday morning prompted several people to discuss Judas afterward. They all boiled down to one thing: why did he do what he did? That question has fascinated people for the two thousand years. Judas Iscariot is probably the most notorious figure in human history. Every time he is mentioned in Scripture, we also find the notice of him being a traitor. He committed the most heinous crime imaginable, betraying the spotless Son of God for a handful…