The Greatness of the Love of God

Scott Risley
Psalms 103

Perhaps the greatest of all the praise psalms. Our delight in the Lord is incomplete until it is expressed, therefore, praise completes our enjoyment of God. On the other hand, when we don't spend time talking about God's character, we forget about His goodness. While neglecting to praise God leads to depression, expression of God's grace fills us with a joy that is practically inexhaustible. By proclaiming why God deserves to be worshiped, as well as the benefit we receive when we praise Him, David invites us to partake in praising Yahweh. \r\n

Why I'm happy to be with God

Dennis McCallum
Psalms 103:1-22

What should I be living for? There are things that we give lots of time and money to. What will the worth of our physical wealth and presence be when we are gone? God has revealed the outcome of our eternal life and without sufficient payment for our sins, we are destined to be apart from him for eternity. God has already finished His plans to redeem us, and that is through His son's death on the cross, which allows us to live eternally in His presence.

Meeting Up With God

Dennis McCallum
Psalms 86:1-17

Any relationship has two persons involved and involves interaction to some extent. Our relationship with God is one that we may be neglecting because we don't see him face to face, but it is by far the most intimate and complex one because He is our creator and we are made in His image. Some questions we can ask during our time spent talking and learning with God are: who are you talking to?; what is He like?; what has He done for you currently or in the past?; and what the answers mean for your life.

Preparing Our Minds for Action

Ryan Lowery
1 Peter 1:13-22

Because humankind has a natural inclination towards selfishness, a passive mental mindset leads to a self-centered life. In order to resist a culture that propagates these values, Christians must prepare and sharpen their minds. The grace of God stands against this paradigm and allows us to love others in a radical way.

Life with the Good Shepherd

Conrad Hilario
Luke 15:4-7

This Psalm unpacks a life under the intimate leadership of God. The Christian is welcomed into God's divine love, security, and purpose when they begin a relationship with Him. This psalm elaborates on what a walk with the Lord looks like in times of both rest and failure.

Passion and Leadership

Jim Leffel
1 Timothy 4:12-16

Christians are called to lead by example, and to view ministry as a gift and stewardship from God. In order to live out this call to leadership, we need to have a focused passion. This kind of passion requires commitment, initiative, and strategy.

Christ and Culture

Jim Leffel
1 Timothy 2:8-15

Many accuse the Bible of promoting negative cultural trends such as sexism. However, when interpreted correctly, the Bible upholds progressive and revolutionary cultural values that can form the basis for social change.

Fight the Good Fight

Jim Leffel
1 Timothy 1:18-2:7

The Bible describes a "good fight" for followers of Christ to advance God's purposes in a broken world. The goal of this fight is to battle using truth and love. In order to be successful, the church needs to be committed to praying for others.

Doing God's Work God's Way

Ryan Lowery
Nehemiah 5:1-19

According to the Bible, God values love above anything else. Love is essential to carry out God's work, but it can often be difficult and require sacrifice. Often, God allows difficult circumstances to bring up areas of character weakness where we have neglected the ethic of love. In order to be effective Christian workers, we need to follow Nehemiah's example of fighting to ensure that God's work is carried out with love as the guiding principle.