COV LIFE BLOG
Laugh!
Read Genesis 21:1-7 It happens just at the time God knew it would and should. You hear it in the middle of Advent, a whole string of notes that just come along and untie you: “Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.” Notes like an echo of laughter. Like children throwing back their heads and letting laughter, this oxygenated grace, cascade […]
| SHARE: |
|
Advent 2013 – Christ’s Coming Brings Victory Over Satan
Jesus became man because what was needed was the death of a man who was more than man. The incarnation was God’s locking himself into death row. Christ did not risk death. He embraced it. That is precisely why he came: not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom […]
| SHARE: |
|
Philippians 2:1-11 The Incarnation of Christ Brings Hope for the Nations
In stark contrast to men, who are striving to gain power and prestige, we find the Second Person of the Godhead, who was willing to lay aside self-interest in order to save men. We can hardly imagine what a concession it would have been for our Lord to have left Heaven, where myriads of […]
| SHARE: |
|
Revelation 5:9-10 Why Unreached People Groups?
God’s great goal in all of history is to uphold and display the glory of his name for the enjoyment of his people from all the nations. The question now is: Why does God pursue the goal of displaying his glory by focusing the missionary task on all the peoples of the world? How does this […]
| SHARE: |
|
Battle Discontentment with Community
If you struggle with contentment, I would encourage you to watch this short 2 minute video (Community Costs). Being a part of a church plant is not easy. Some of us have moved away from family to be here. Some of us have moved away from friends that we have history with to see the […]
| SHARE: |
|
Isaiah 6:1-8 Why the Nations?
Now who’s the object of Christianity? God is. And everything is made to center around Him. God doesn’t bless us to center on us; He blesses us for His sake. He pours out grace and salvation on us for His sake. Who of us would be so arrogant as to think that we are […]
| SHARE: |
|
Acts 15 – The Purity of the Gospel in Salvation by Grace Alone
The Apostles did not believe in self-righteousness. The creed of the world is, “Do your best and it will be all right with you.” To question this is treason against the pride of human nature, which evermore clings to salvation by its own merits. Every man is born a Pharisee. Self-confidence is bred in […]
| SHARE: |
|
Acts 14 Faithfulness to Follow Christ Amidst Opposition
The Apostles had finished their work in the Antioch of Pisidia in a great storm. Can that be true, a sweet word of God, which so violently impassions men and divides quiet cities into hostile camps? It would seem as if the heavenly word would surely bring heavenly peace along with it, and seal […]
| SHARE: |
|
Acts 13:13-52 God is Working in All of History
Don’t take this kind of narration of history for granted. Let it strike you as strange as it really is. Is this the way you tell stories about what happened? When you tell somebody about the past, do you say, “God did this and God did that and God did that and God did […]
| SHARE: |
|
Acts 13:1-12 Worship, Prayer, and Fasting as Precursors for Missions
Observe carefully the definiteness of this declaration as to the activity of the Spirit: “The Holy Spirit said.” He made known His will to these people, so that they had neither doubt nor uncertainty in their minds. Moreover this is not the picture of a Church choosing men to be sent forth on missionary enterprise. […]
| SHARE: |
|
