1 Peter 5:12-14; 2 Peter 1:1-3:18 What is your first memory? Maybe a gift you got as a child, a family vacation, or an awards ceremony. In Peter’s second letter, he wants his readers to understand the importance of memories. We must remember the things we have been taught. In 1:12 Peter says his mission is to remind the church of the things they have learned, then in 1:13 he says he must refresh t...  Read More

1 Peter 2:4-5:11 Be ready to suffer. This is one of the primary lessons of 1 Peter. In the American church we tend to resist suffering, complain about it, and get angry at those who are causing it. Peter’s challenge is instead to rejoice in it, praise God during it, and see it as a blessing. These responses are very different from our natural reactions. Instead of rejoicing we probably grumble, bu...  Read More

Hebrews 13:1-25; 1 Peter 1:1-2:3 I want this now! Whether from the mouth of a young child in a toy store or from a grownup, we all struggle with this desire. One of the most vivid examples of this is Veruca Salt in the original Willy Wonka movie. She had a consistent focus on herself and an insatiable appetite for more. This attitude is never cute and never appropriate for God’s people. The end of...  Read More

Hebrews 11:1-12:29 Hebrews 11 lists the heroes of faith─Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab… Enoch was “commended as one who pleased God.” Sarah by faith bore a child in old age because she “considered him faithful who had made the promise.” Moses was mentioned because he chose to trust God rather than enjoying “the fleeting pleasures of sin...because he was looki...  Read More

Hebrews 8:1-10:39 Jesus is not only superior to all prophets, priests, and kings, but he also brought a superior covenant. A covenant is God's way of relating to his people and Jesus brought a new way of doing this. The old covenant, which is another way of describing the Mosaic covenant, is inferior to that of Jesus'. Through the new covenant God promises to "put my laws in their minds and write ...  Read More

Hebrews 4:14-7:28 As we continue looking at Jesus' superiority in Hebrews, we discover that Jesus is the superior priest. In at least four areas, he supersedes the work of all previous priests. First, he is better because he is without sin and thus does not need to make sacrifices for himself. Second, he is permanently in God's presence versus high priests who were only able to enter the Most Holy...  Read More

2 Timothy 4:19-22; Hebrews 1:1-4:13 Jesus is greater than everything. Playing a comparison game, Jesus is shown to be superior to angels and Moses. These may seem like strange things to compare to Jesus, but they are some of the central figures in the Old Covenant. For people wrestling to give up their old ways for the new, they had to understand how much greater Jesus is. Yet to embrace the great...  Read More

2 Timothy 2:1-4:18 Yesterday we discovered that we are all runners and today in 2 Timothy we discover we are all soldiers, athletes, and farmers. We are to be soldiers in the sense that we focus on the marching orders of our commanding officer, Jesus. For an army to function well, it must be a cohesive unit with a clear mission. As Christians, we are to be the same. We are to be concerned with thi...  Read More

1 Timothy 6:11-21; Titus 1:1-3:15; 2 Timothy 1:1-18 I hate running, while my wife loves it. I find every step to be arduous, while my wife finds it to be an escape and place of relaxation. According to 1 Timothy and Titus, we are all runners. No, we may not be on a track team, but we are all running towards something. In 1 Timothy 6:11, Paul tells Timothy to "flee from all this, and pursue righteo...  Read More

1 Timothy 3:1-6:10 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus are called the Pastoral Epistles because they heavily focus on what it looks like to be a leader in the church. As you look at the list of requirements in 1 Timothy 3, you may notice there is far more focus on character than competency. Who a leader is internally gets far more attention in this passage than what they do. We see that a leader's life is to ...  Read More

James 4:1-5:20; 1 Timothy 1:1-2:15 In a small group I attended, one of the people mentioned some advice they had received from a coach, which was, why take responsibility when you can blame others? As we joked about this in my group, the quote continued in a long line of foolish people like Adam and Eve who blamed others rather than taking responsibility for themselves. James 4:1-10 describes our ...  Read More

James 1:1-3:18 Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Sadly, this nursery rhyme is completely bogus. Words have power and can cause pain that lasts longer than any broken bone. James wants us to understand the power of words. Our tongue is compared to a rudder on a ship and a flame in a fire. Our words can cause great healing or destruction depending on how we use them...  Read More