Shadyside Church of Christ
Episodes
The wounds of sin on the soul go deep. If untreated, these wounds continue to fester, to cause pain, and to haunt us. They ultimately render us ineffective in our service to the Lord and to others. Jesus encountered a woman who had many, grievous wounds on her soul, and He healed them, every one. Only He can do such a glorious thing! What of your wounds?
When Jesus ascended to the Father, the apostles were standing there gazing into heaven. Two angels appeared to assure them that Jesus would come back and to prompt them to get on with their Master's work. Perhaps we need a couple of angels to show up and remind us that Jesus is coming back, and that we need to get on with the task of proclaiming the gospel and tell the world of a coming judgment day. Our desire should be ...
We all like a good love story, even us guys if it's got some action in it. God made us to love. God is love, and the two great commandments are about loving God and our neighbor. And love is about relating to others. We all look for certain things in our relationships: to be understood, to be on equal footing, to have needs met, loyalty, et al. In becoming a man, a human being, Jesus exemplified all of these aspects of ...
When life is "treating us" bad, and we think that nobody cares, what do we do? You may be in such a situation right now! Most of us have been at some time. Scripture gives us the story of Leah who found herself in a very difficult and unenviable spot in her life. She kept trying to make the best of it, but things didn't improve. What did she do? More importantly, what did the Lord God do?
Jesus affirmed that "you shall love your neighbor as yourself" is the second greatest commandment (Leviticus 19:18). What does that mean? Some people interpret this as "love your neighbor as you love yourself", but no where in scripture is this rendered that way. In fact, some people are so totally self-centered they have a difficult time loving others, while some people loathe themselves, thinking they are o...
In lesson one of this two part series, we talked of old things which will not change in 2020. And we're glad they won't! But many things will be new in 2020, and we will need to live each day in anticipation with a keen eye and open mind to fully benefit from them. Each morning, the Lord's mercies will be new; He will be ready to bless and guide us through the day. God will provide new opportunities for service a...
Everyone looks forward to new things in a new year - new opportunities, new achievements, new possibilities. But some things won't change in 2020, and we should be thankful that they don't. They are old, well-tested and proven to be reliable. In this first lesson of two, we wish to consider some of these old things which will still anchor us in 2020…here’s Jeff.
Why was Jesus born in Bethlehem? Is there a reason He was born among the animals and laid in that manger? Why were the shepherds the first to be told of the birth of the Savior by angels themselves? God's rich salvation tapestry was all woven together on that night long ago - one on which He had been working for generations.
In war, soldiers and equipment are often redirected to plug a gap in the line of defense where the enemy is breaking through. Through the prophet Ezekiel, the Lord sought for a man to stand in the gap of Jerusalem's broken spiritual wall so He would have reason not to bring destruction upon the entire nation. No one was found worthy! Today, Christians are called by their Lord to stand in the gap in the battle against evil...
Everybody likes to go home. Whether it's after a long trip or just a day at the mall, we all look forward to going home. God knows about home - He invented it! Home is where you are accepted, you can be yourself, and you feel secure. Jesus is preparing a heavenly home for His people with all that's good, and where all the troubles of this life are gone. Best of all, He will be there! Do you want to go?
In life, we need to maintain the balance of what's important for the now-- while at the same time preparing for eternity. Our God is concerned about both since what we do today-- and how we do it-- affects our eternal future. He is God of the now and the forever, and as such He blesses us with what we need for both endeavors. David was well aware of all this as he so beautifully tells us in Psalm 16…here’s Jeff.
"If I Were the Devil" - The devil is a very real being whom scripture depicts as our adversary and an opponent of God and all that's good. Knowing what we know about people (ourselves included) and what the scripture teaches - if I were the devil, what would I do to destroy people's lives, families and churches, and turn them away from God? What would be the strategy to cause even Christians to lose faith and r...
The Bible records in Genesis the Beginning of this space-time world. But the Scriptures speak in many places of what was here before the Beginning, namely God and all that was associated with Him. And as we consider the characteristics and the character of God, we can plainly see them infused in His creation, especially in mankind who was made in His image. Much was going on before the Beginning
Episode 127…"Death in Two Acts" - When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, did they die? God had said they surely would, but Adam lived to be 930 years old! What's with that? To understand what happened with Adam (and with all of us), we need to understand that we are two-part beings made of both body and soul. God cursed Adam and said that he would return to the dust from which he came, but what of his soul? ...
(Episode 126) Jesus challenged His listeners (us today as well) whether they had a healthy/good eye or a bad eye. By that He meant whether we looked for what is good in people and the world or what is evil. With all of the evil and distressing distractions in the world, it is often difficult to see the good. This is a ploy of the devil to keep us distraught. We must learn to cultivate a good eye and to look for all that is b...
Our "two chairs" visual represents two worldviews. One is the atheistic naturalist view of reality, and the other is the theistic supernaturalist view. The first excludes God altogether, and the second has God at the center of everything. Each one of us will sit in one of these chairs and view life from one of these perspectives. A person's worldview is the "lens" through which that person sees everything...
Jesus and His apostles ministered to the whole person - people were fed and healed, and they had the good news of the kingdom of heaven preached to them. We seem to do rather well at taking care of the needs of the body, but often we neglect the soul. Some of Jesus' final words demonstrate where our prime focus must be - to proclaim the gospel to all creation. To fill the bellies of thousands and leave their souls empty i...
Life is filled with struggles of all kinds. We struggle within ourselves with choices and responses to life situations. We struggle with relating to others. We even struggle with trying to understand God, and why He does or does not do certain things. Jacob's life was one struggle after another. His life is a picture of the life of every believer. When he returned to Canaan, he wrestled with the angel - a snapshot of h...
Our giving on the first day of the week is often misunderstood. We tend to think our contribution is about material things and the rest of our worship (singing, prayer, Lord's Supper, etc) is about spiritual things. Nothing could be further from the truth! Our giving is a highly spiritual endeavor and is a reflection of our faith and trust in God who supplies our own needs. It is grounded in the grace of God which has b...
"Dishonoring God" - When one thinks about the cross, suffering comes to mind. But humiliation and shame were also part of being crucified. Hebrews (12:2) tells us that Jesus despised the shame of the cross so as to complete His work. But Jesus was dishonored and shamefully treated even before His actual crucifixion. We would do well to consider how He was dishonored so as to avoid doing the same thing to Him even now...
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