Maturing Through our Trials

James 1:1-15 New International Version (NIV) 1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings. Trials and Temptations 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your […]

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Matthew 14:25-32 New International Version (NIV) 25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. 27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t […]

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What’s Jesus Doing on His Birthday?

Philippians 2:5-11 New International Version (NIV) 5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, […]

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Repentance Must Lead to Resolute Obedience

Nehemiah 9:38 New International Version (NIV) The Agreement of the People 38 “In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it.” Nehemiah 10:28-29 New International Version (NIV) 28 “The rest of the people—priests, Levites, gatekeepers, […]

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Lesson from Christmas Story

Luke 2:21-38 New International Version (NIV) 21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived. Jesus Presented in the Temple 22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph […]

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Surpassing Worth of Knowing Christ

Philippians 3:1-11 New International Version (NIV) No Confidence in the Flesh 3 Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. 2 Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. […]

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Our Soul Needs a Future

Isaiah 40:6-8 New International Version (NIV) 6 A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. 7 The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people […]

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Four Types of Soil/Soul

Mark 4:1-9 New International Version (NIV) The Parable of the Sower 4 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. […]

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Repentance is the way to return to God

Nehemiah 9:1-12 New International Version (NIV) The Israelites Confess Their Sins 9 On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and putting dust on their heads. 2 Those of Israelite descent had separated themselves from all foreigners. They stood in their places and confessed their sins and […]

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2 Trees

Jeremiah 17:5-10 New International Version (NIV) 5 This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. 6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They […]

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