Acts 28:1-31; Ephesians 1:1-2:22 Ephesians is a surprising letter, because, though it is written by Paul from prison, it is filled with recounting the good things which God has done on behalf of his people. Rather than focusing on the hardship of imprisonment, it recounts the grandeur of God's grace. Paul’s list of God's blessings includes: "every spiritual blessing in Christ," (Ephesians 1:3) bei...

Acts 27:1-44 Many people love following travel blogs. They love to read about others traveling across the globe and seeing exotic locales. Acts 27 is one of the original travel diaries, but rather than tweets about misplaced luggage or a delayed flight, we have a shipwreck. Paul is on a boat with 276 people whose doom seems certain. They ignored God’s warning that they were supposed to stay at Fai...

Acts 24:1-26:32 Paul sat in prison for two years for preaching the gospel. He did nothing wrong, yet would have been in atrocious, abysmal conditions for two long years. I am sure it would have been easy for Paul to give up, question why this was happening, or doubt the goodness of God. Instead, he resolutely continued to preach the gospel, the very thing for which he was in prison. As we see in P...

Acts 21:37-23:35 How comfortable are you in sharing your faith? Do you have a template or idea of what you should share? Acts 22 is a shortened version of Paul’s testimony. It provides a nice model for us to use to share our faith. Paul began by talking about who he was before placing his faith in Christ. Next, Paul spoke of when Jesus became real to him and the circumstances around which he place...

Acts 20:13-21:36 Give your life to Jesus and everything will be perfect. You may have heard someone claim this, but, though everyone should give their lives to Christ, it will not necessarily fix all the brokenness in our lives or the fallen state of the world. Paul's dedication to Christ only led to increased suffering for him. We saw in 2 Corinthians that his ministry was marked by hunger, shipw...

2 Corinthians 11:1-13:13; Acts 20:7-12 Why do you believe what you believe? It is critical to be able to answer this question; otherwise, you are prone to believe the latest argument you heard, whether it is true or not. At the end of 2 Corinthians, Paul argues why the church should listen to him rather than the super-apostles that have invaded the church. Paul points to his credentials of sufferi...

2 Corinthians 6:14-10:18 If asked whether you are generous, how would you respond? Most of us would probably say yes, but are we really? In Paul's second letter to the church in Corinth, he deals extensively with the idea of generosity. Paul says that true generosity is first a character trait and not just an occasional act. Generosity is marked by a consistent attitude rather than simply giving w...

2 Corinthians 2:5-6:13 Having a different perspective can drastically change our experience. If we go into a day thinking that it will be terrible, then it probably will be. On the other hand, if we recognize the difficulty and still choose joy, then we can walk in it. Paul gives us the perspective we need in 2 Corinthians. He says, “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting ...

Romans 15:1-16:27; 2 Corinthians 1:1-2:4 "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet" (Romans 16:20). It might seem like a paradox to say that the God of peace will crush someone, but for peace to be accomplished, evil must be vanquished. This image of Satan being crushed goes back to the beginning of the Bible. After Adam and Eve's rebellion, God promised that "he (the seed) will crus...

Romans 11:1-14:23 Why do you do what you do? As you consider your actions, what are your motivations? Most people tend to be motivated by feeling good, by the pursuit of comfort, and by pleasing people. God calls us to be motivated by what he has done for us. Paul spends the first eleven chapters of Romans detailing what God has done to deal with our predicament of sin. He finished this section by...

Romans 8:18-10:21 We are more sinful than we realize, but more loved than we can imagine. Tim Keller spoke of this reality many times during his ministry, and he ultimately got the idea from Romans. After Paul has spoken of the depths of our sin in the first few chapters of the letter, he takes us on a tour of God’s love. He speaks of God’s gift of the Spirit who “helps us in our weakness” (Romans...

Romans 5:1-8:17The Gospel and the Book of Romans is a message of bad news and good news. For us to fully embrace the good news, we have to first wrestle with the reality of the bad news, which is true of our world and true of us. Paul gives us a lot of bad news in Romans 5-8. We live in a world of sin, we have committed innumerable trespasses, and what we deserve is condemnation and death. This is...

Romans 2:1-4:25 Our world loves to speak of human rights and dignity. What gives us rights or value at all? The only sure foundation for these things is an eternal God. We are not valuable because we evolved or because others say we are important, rather, God tells us that every human has dignity, value, and worth. This beautiful truth is also complemented by the fact that we are all sinners. Paul...

1 Corinthians 16:1-24; Acts 19:21-20:6; Romans 1:1-32 When was the last time you shared Jesus with someone? Paul tells us that to do so is not an optional part of the Christian life, but it is an obligation. When we encounter God's grace, our automatic response should be to share this with others and to do so without shame. We may be afraid of hurting a relationship, rocking the boat, or not knowi...

1 Corinthians 14:1-15:58 What are we trying to communicate to people when we get into a spiritual conversation with them? It can sometimes feel overwhelming to know where to start and what to share. Paul helps us by boiling things down into that which is of "first importance" in 1 Corinthians 15. We are to make our main message that Jesus died for our sins and was raised on the third day according...

1 Corinthians 11:2-13:13 Understanding our identity is critical to living well. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul claims that every believer is part of the "body of Christ." When we place our faith in Jesus we are instantly connected to his body. Paul deals with two potentially wrong ways of responding to this truth. The first is to think we are not necessary. We may feel like we have nothing to offer and...

1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1 “Why aren’t you playing pool?” I asked my father this question at a Sunday school class party where he was the teacher of the group. I could not understand why my father, who was a good pool player, did not take on the other men. He quietly shushed me and later explained that Carl, a rough-hewn man in the class, had come through life frequenting squalid pool houses and did n...

1 Corinthians 4:1-7:40 When we look into a mirror, we see an image of ourselves, but do we see ourselves rightly? Some people look into a mirror and, due to body dysmorphic disorder or negative self-esteem, are unable to see themselves accurately. Similarly, Paul is concerned the church in Corinth is filled with people who cannot see who they are. He is afraid they are filled with stunning pride t...

Acts 18:24-19:20; 1 Corinthians 1:1-3:23We often interact with people who have had bad experiences in churches and, even if they have not, they have read about church scandals, issues of abuse, and foolishness that happened in churches. A few years ago, there was an article about a pastor who had berated his congregation for not helping him purchase a luxury watch he felt he deserved. Many people ...

1 Thessalonians 5:12-28; 2 Thessalonians 1:1-3:18; Acts 18:4-23We may feel like the only people saying Jesus is coming back are strange people on TV holding up placards, but the truth of Christ’s return is in the message of 2 Thessalonians. The reality of Christ’s return must be believed, shared, and acknowledged. There were some in Thessalonica who thought they had missed Jesus' return, but Paul ...