People can be challenging, prompting thoughts of revenge. However, Jesus teaches us to love our enemies and pray for them, emphasizing humility and gratitude for the grace we’ve received. Understanding others’ struggles encourages compassion, allowing us to reflect God’s love and be a light, rooted in grace amidst difficulties.
Category Archives: Forgiveness
DEEP DIVE: The Prodigal Son
The gospel message is clearly found in the parable of the Prodigal Son that Jesus tells in Luke 15. The reality is this parable is so much more than just a “lost son.” This parable is about the compassion of the Father. These three videos are from a three-part sermon series on the Lost SonContinue reading “DEEP DIVE: The Prodigal Son”
Focus on Jesus
What reminds you of the joy Jesus brings? What helps you to focus on Jesus? Each month, I am privileged to take Communion to our Homebound people. As a pastor, Communion always means more each time I preside over the sacrament and each time I partake of the sacrament. Something is different this month. Division,Continue reading “Focus on Jesus”
What Does the New Testament Say?
This is Part 2 of Overview of the Bible Series. Click here for Part 1: What Does the Old Testament Say? If you could sum up the Bible in one word, what would it be? This may be tricky for some. Some may be thinking we can’t sum up the Bible in one word. IContinue reading “What Does the New Testament Say?”
Made in the Image of God
Created in the Image of God “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”[1] The imago Dei has been aContinue reading “Made in the Image of God”
Reaching Our Cities for Christ
Christopher Wright said it well, “We argue about what can legitimately be included in the mission God expects from the church, when we should ask what kind of church God expects for his mission in all its comprehensive fullness.” (Wright, 534) Alongside this line of thinking, another way to look at this is “I mayContinue reading “Reaching Our Cities for Christ”
God’s Story, Your Story: The New Testament
If you could sum up the Bible in one word, what would it be? This may be tricky for some. Some may be thinking we can’t sum up the Bible in one word. I think we can sum up the Bible with the word, JESUS. After all, in Luke 24, Jesus tells the disciples onContinue reading “God’s Story, Your Story: The New Testament”
No Perfect People Allowed
Note: This was the sermon preached on Sunday, July 5, 2020. Today, we move into a series to see how God uses people no one else would expect to carry on his mission in the world. We‘ll take a few examples of people from the Bible so we can know God better through his people.Continue reading “No Perfect People Allowed”
Knowing Jesus
I’m sure you have heard it said, “know Jesus.” I have often wondered what different people think when they hear something like that. How do you get to “know Jesus?” John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was asked, before his Aldersgate conversion, if he knew and believed in Jesus. His answer was, “I believe heContinue reading “Knowing Jesus”
Discovering God through the Book of Jonah (Part 4)
Do we see the world, people, as God wants us to see them? This post shows us some things we can learn about God in Jonah 4.
R Y A N S T R A T T O N 