Theme of the Day: The First Will Be Last; The Last Will Be First When it comes to the difficult and uncomfortable topic of who goes to heaven and who goes to hell, it is natural to want to avoid the issue. One way we do that is to direct our attention to theoretical questions. […]

Theme of the Day: We Want Peace But God’s Word Divides We often divide humanity into groupings that are not really significant: this ethnic group versus that one, men versus women, wealthy versus the poor. Yet, every ethnic group is under God’s law. That law convicts both men and women of sin. Because of sin, […]

Theme of the Day: Focused Living Properly Values Heavenly Treasure Last week Jesus warned us against overvaluing earthly wealth. This week Jesus warns against undervaluing heavenly treasure. Last week, Jesus exposed the folly of greed. This week, Jesus exposes the folly of worry, even when faced with the prospect of having a shortage of earthly […]

Theme of the Day: Focused Living Properly Values Earthly Wealth Jesus wants focused followers. However, one of the things that can most easily get in the way of our focus is our earthly possessions. It is no surprise, therefore, that Jesus’ words so frequently focus his followers on wealth. Jesus’ followers don’t reject earthly wealth […]

Theme of the Day: Focused Prayer Seeks What God Wants for Us, Not What We Think We Want from Him In a sense, prayer comes naturally to us. We want so we ask. We hurt so we cry out. We are frustrated so we vent. We are blessed so we give thanks. So we sometimes […]

Theme of the Day: Focused Worship Seeks Service from Jesus More Than Service for Jesus We call worship a “service.” Which raises the question: who is serving whom? In answering that question, it is easy to focus on what we do in worship. “I set aside time in my week to come to church. I […]

Theme of the Day: Focused Love Finds a Neighbor Rather Than Avoiding One We tend to think of distraction and focus as opposites. If someone is focused, they are not easily distracted by random events and encounters. If someone is focused, every decision about how to spend time and resources is calculated. Apart from Christ […]

Theme of the Day: Christ Provides Ministers to Proclaim His Word Christ has not only given us his powerful Word. In his grace, he gives us ministers who proclaim that Word to us in whatever ways we need at the time: words of comfort, words of instruction, or even words of rebuke. They humbly assume […]

Theme of the Day: A Focused Savior Has Focused Followers There are different types of followers: the half-hearted versus the committed. Jesus is uninterested in half-hearted followers who shoehorn him into their lives only when their other pursuits provide time for the Christ. Jesus wants followers who are all-in… who love him above all things… […]

Theme of the Day: Through the Word, the Lord’s Reign Over Evil Advances Jesus still drives back Satan and his allies just as he drove out demons while he walked the earth. Even though we must wait for the day of Satan’s final banishment to the abyss, the gospel has the power to break Satan’s […]