Posted by Pastor Pat on March 3, 2010
Read Ephesians 1:3-14
Throughout this short letter, Paul speaks of God’s superabundant activities flowing from Himself to His people. Such words as “rich, lavish, surpassing greatness, surpassing riches, unfathomable riches, surpasses knowledge and far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think” (1:7, 8, 18, 19; 2:4, 7; 3:8, 16, 18, 19, 20) are employed in an attempt to capture the magnitude of God’s person and work to redeem His people from sin’s debt and to adopt them as sons. All of this was written by Him into His story (1:4, 5, 9, 11, 21; 2:7, 10; 3:11).
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Posted by Pastor Pat on November 20, 2009
Read Ephesians 4:17-32
The intent of this article is to show how what we once were in Adam we no longer are, but still have. Paul’s point from the beginning of the letter all the way through chapter 3 is to note how those who were once in sin’s debt and alienated from God are now redeemed from sin and adopted into God’s family. He is their Father and they are His children.
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Posted by Pastor Pat on October 25, 2009
2 Corinthians 9:6
Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in every thing, you may have an abundance for every good deed;
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Posted by Pastor Pat on April 19, 2009
“Jesus said to her, ‘Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” John 20:17
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Posted by Pastor Pat on April 15, 2009
Read Mark 3:13-19
I find this statement intriguing. Why twelve, and why these twelve and not some other group or number? Although the purpose of God is knowable, it is not exhaustible. The intricacies of God’s purpose will forever be shrouded behind the veil of infinity. Even though we cannot exhaust the subject as to why God appointed these twelve to be with Him, it still permits us to note several salient features.
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Posted by Pastor Pat on April 3, 2009
The essence of the Christian life is the relationship His people have with Him. There is nothing else comparable to or capable of replacing this. No amount of form, asceticism, indulgence, discipline, method, structure, program, or religion can replace the centerpiece of the Christian faith which is a relationship between God and His people.
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Posted by Pastor Pat on March 19, 2009
Read Mark 1:12-13
“Calvin: Do you believe in the devil? You know, a supreme evil being dedicated to the temptation, corruption, and destruction of man?
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Posted by Pastor Pat on March 11, 2009
Read Mark 1:9-11
There is no greater statement in all of Scripture than the approval by the Father of the Son. The Father identifies Him as His beloved Son in whom He is pleased. All three gospels note this statement. The grammatical structure is equally telling as to the nature of this event. One grammarian gives us the following statement:
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Posted by Pastor Pat on March 4, 2009
The historical intent of Lent is to place the modern reader into the storyline of the Bible. If we consider the biblical storyline and three corresponding “holy-days,” it is perhaps easier to understand why Lent is notable. First, the season of Advent celebrates the foretold and pre-figured Hero’s arrival. In Advent, God’s Hero arrives. Second, the season of Lent celebrates the foretold and pre-figured Hero’s work. It is not simply the Hero’s arrival that fulfills the promise; it is His work. Lent notes the Hero’s work by marking Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. Finally, the season of Pentecost celebrates the expansive and continuing legacy that His church is left with as a consequence of the Hero’s work. Pentecost marks the certainty of God’s promise and story in the carrying out of His mission in and through the church.
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Posted by Pastor Pat on December 15, 2008
Ten times in Genesis 1 the biblical text records for the reader the statement, “And God said” (1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26, 28, and 29).
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Posted by Pastor Pat on December 14, 2008
Do we really understand what we have in Christ? I know we are Christians, but do we really know what that means? To be sure we are not Buddhists or Muslims or Hindus, but do we know what it means to be Christian?
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Posted by Pastor Pat on December 11, 2008
“A man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus.” Gal. 2:16
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