Posts with the category “sunday-rewind”

Often, we run across articles critical of the local church. In this day of high-powered online ministries, the church can seem out of date. However, feeling like family is something you cannot produce...  Read More

Last Sunday we journeyed through Matthew 6:25–34 and 1 Peter 5:7, learning our Lord’s direction for relief of our anxieties. Two words: cast and seek! First is cast from 1 Peter 5:7: “Cast your cares ...  Read More

Prayer is one of those vital aspects of the Christian life that we all agree on; but we wrestle, not with its importance but with how to allow it to really get a foothold in our daily lives. It is the...  Read More

“One who is full loathes honey, but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.”Proverbs 27:7 The full soul passes on the Lord like pumpkin pie after gorging ourselves on turkey and potatoes: “No...  Read More

I was blessed and helped in our study Sunday as we walked through the end of this wonderful Gospel of John. Prominent in these final passages were familiar terms for us at Calvary. Our vision statemen...  Read More

After boasting in his commitment to Jesus (John 13) and then denying Hims (John 18), Peter finds himself sitting with Jesus around a fire with six other disciples. Jesus turns to Him and eventually re...  Read More

After the resurrection, Jesus manifested Himself to seven of His disciples. Several of them were expert fishermen, and they had followed Peter as we went fishing—something familiar, something they kne...  Read More

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”John 20:29 Believing is seeing, and seeing stimulates believing if you believ...  Read More

When you are being considered for a job, the last thing you want to hear is “unqualified.” It means you don’t have what it takes to do the job.In our message Sunday we saw Jesus begin to commission th...  Read More

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”1 Peter 5:5b–6 (ESV) I find it fascinating to study these accounts of the death and resurrection of Jesus found in John’s Gospel. The death and re...  Read More

I remember, years ago, a large denomination was removing songs and hymns that talked about blood. They felt these were antiquated and needed to be left behind, as they felt their culture had moved for...  Read More

In our “Road to the Cross” journey in the Gospel of John, Sunday we went through the civic trial before Pilate. In this passage, we see the complete failure of the civic authority (Pilate) to do what ...  Read More

“The nations rage and the people plot against the Lord and His anointed!”These words are from Psalm 2 and describe the age-old rebellion of mankind against the Lord, Who is creator of all things. This...  Read More

Our salvation, forgiveness, and spiritual blessings, are “not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit! says the Lord of Hosts” (Zephaniah 4:6 ESV).Last Sunday, at the darkest moment of Jesus arrest d...  Read More

His disciples asked Jesus a critical question, “How should we pray?” And His answer began with, “Pray this way, Our Father…” (Matthew 6:9 ESV).In the most important area of communication in our whole ...  Read More

As we behold the glory of Christ, we grow a distaste for all other glories. We are bornwith a heart that hates the glory of God and craves the praise of man (John 5:44). It isthe nature of our flesh t...  Read More

“We must not conceive of prayer as though it were an overcoming of God’s reluctance; when in fact it is a laying hold of His highest willingness.”—Richard Trench, 1807-1886 All believers have probably...  Read More

So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. John 16:22 Jesus continues to love and shepherd His followers right up to t...  Read More

I don’t know who coined that phrase, but we have all felt it from time to time.And it is a terrible feeling.If anyone in history should have felt impending doom, it was Jesus, during John 16 and his f...  Read More

The steadfast love of the Lord is better than life, but is it better than money? In the abundance of our worldly goods, sometimes it can seem that we value our money more than our lives: when the mark...  Read More

Our study last Sunday in John 15:12–17 introduced an old theme of “loving one another” along with a newer theme that Jesus calls us His friends. We saw that this word friend He uses means “an affectio...  Read More

You sit across from your spouse, looking at and listening to them. Eyes are focused. Ears are engaged. Yet, in your mind, you are not engaged. Silently, perhaps you are planning your day, or fixing so...  Read More

"[E]very branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit." John 15:2 (ESV) I find it fascinating and counterintuitive that Jesus teaches us here that, if we’re growing spiritually, ...  Read More

"Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it."John 14:13–14 (ESV) Jesus made these remarkable statements j...  Read More

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” – John 3:8 I have so enjoyed think...  Read More

"Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.... Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul." Psalm 66:5, 16 (ESV) I lo...  Read More

In our study Sunday, we saw how God reveals Himself first with simply the name God and, from here on, mostly with the name Father.In the context of having troubled hearts, understanding that our God i...  Read More

Last Sunday’s study was on John 14:1–9 and is in the setting of the now eleven disciples and Jesus.He exhorted them to continue believing and trusting in God but to also trust in Him. But He also tell...  Read More

Peter's conversation with Jesus in John 13:36–38 is both touching and convicting—for Peter and for us.On one hand, Jesus takes time allowing Peter to interrupt Jesus' discourse on love to address Pete...  Read More

A new commandment I give to you,      that you love one another: just as I have loved you,      you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples,      if you ha...  Read More

The total control of Jesus and His troubled spirit are two sides of the same mountain. It is hard for our minds to grasp. If He has total control, why would His spirit ever be troubled? Or, if His spi...  Read More

Last Sunday’s study on John 13 and Jesus washing the disciples' feet caused me troubles.The passage itself was clear enough, but I always try to have a grasp on the big picture as well, and this passa...  Read More

As Christians, we favor the statement that we are committed.In a general sense, this seems to be a very good thing. “Our world needs more commitment,” we hear often with an affirmative nod.But as we l...  Read More

In our passage Sunday we saw Jesus calling the people to believe in the Light while He was there (John 12:36).This is really the grand theme of the Gospel of John, as it states in John 20:31: "[B]ut t...  Read More

“Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” Romans 4:25 ESV The cross is there…It stands forever as a reminder of our great need and guilt. God knew all...  Read More

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. (John 12:24, ESV) Upon His triumphant entry into Jerusalem on ...  Read More

Sunday’s study of Mary’s adoration of Jesus—the scene of anointing His feet with expensive ointment and wiping them with her hair—was so moving! We can’t make a direct application to it, as He is not ...  Read More

Seeking our own glory blinds us to the glory that truly satisfies—namely, the glory of Christ. The most spectacular miracles that one can take in through the naked eye, like a dead man raised from the...  Read More

Most of us desire fairly good health, stability in work and housing, and a culture that supports all of that. Being reasonable, we understand that there are things that come up that hinder some of the...  Read More

Years ago, Facebook took over the term friend. It became something you made or dropped with the click of your mouse.However, over the long haul, the word friend was a noble word which spoke of a relat...  Read More