Weekly words of encouragement

Jesus Sympathizes With Our Weaknesses – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Heb. 4:15 (ESV) The Son of God did not just hold on to all his divine powers when he became a human. He emptied himself so that he could experience the weakness (compared to God) of being human. He did this so that he could sympathize with us! Isn’t it amazing that the Son of God had so much desire to sympathize with us that he became like us? So now, in our union with Christ, we are connected to Jesus who knows what it is like to be tempted as we are. This includes the temptation to fear, unbelief or despair when our life is filled with pain. Jesus knows the temptations of our pain and he cares. Continue Reading →

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The Reward Of Choosing Rejection In Our Society

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Pharoah’s daughter found the Jewish infant Moses and adopted him as her son. But when Moses grew up he chose to keep his Jewish identity rather than his Egyptian identity. Obviously, Moses’ life would have been much more prosperous and enjoyable if he had chosen to be related to the Pharaoh of Egypt. But something even better gripped his heart. He wanted to be part of the people of God. He was “choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.” (Heb. 11:25, ESV) This is where Moses’ story becomes our story and guides us to Christian living in an unchristian culture. Moses believed that belonging to God and fellowshiping with His people had to be superior to belonging to Pharaoh and his people. But this was a dangerous idea. The Jewish people were oppressed and God called Moses to free Continue Reading →

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Using Relationship Principles For Powerful Evangelism – Part 2

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Last week we looked at Part 1 of two posts on “Using Relationship Principles For Powerful Evangelism” We went through the attitudes towards relationships that many unbelievers have. Since many of these attitudes are compatible with Christianity we see that they are point of connection that we can bring up with our unsaved friends. Last week we started a sample talk that someone could give  on the subject of relationships. (If talking one-on-one obviously it should include more questions and be more interactive.) We focused on attitudes that seekers might have. Today we continue that talk with an explanation of how those attitudes fit with Christianity. “In the same way that you know that a loving and respectful relationship with your friend is a good thing maybe it is also a good thing to have a loving and respectful relationship with God. Perhaps there is a parallel between the two. Continue Reading →

Weekly words of encouragement

We Participate In Jesus – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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“We have come to share in Christ” Heb. 3:14a (ESV) The Greek word for “share” in this verse means participate, or be a partner. We actually participate in Jesus. Think how incredible this is! We love Jesus for his unsurpassed life on earth. We love his wisdom and love and compassion. He is the one we worship. And in spite or our faults, we are privileged to share in Jesus. This is yet another biblical mystery that even though we can’t fully understand we continually grow in the reality of it. We participate in Christ’s righteousness, in his power, in his love and in his light. We see the same idea in John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (ESV) Reflection: Put your name Continue Reading →

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Using Relationship Principles For Powerful Evangelism – Part 1

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Somehow I got into a debate online with someone who was complaining about God ordering the death of some people in the Old Testament. We went back and forth until finally I explained that the root reason for God’s judgment was that the people were destroying relationships. They had embraced a destructive culture even to the point of sacrificing infants to their idols. The other person didn’t respond to my comment. What could he say? Usually when we think of apologetics in evangelism we think of presenting evidence related to facts of the Christian faith. But sometimes apologetics relates to values or ideas that listeners already embrace. For example, when Paul evangelized gentiles he did not use the same ideas that he used with Jews. When he spoke to gentiles in Athens, Greece he talked about general ideas about God that many gentiles already had, such as the idea that Continue Reading →