He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17, esv). […]
When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet (Mark 5:21–22, esv). We have so many reasons not to pray. […]
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:9–10, […]
When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught” (John 21:9–10, esv). The disciples were destitute. After His resurrection, Jesus had appeared to them several times. Then, inexplicably, He was […]
“Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour” (John 12:27, nasb). One of the great hymns we sang two or three times a month in the church where I grew up was the old invitation chorus, “I […]
His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him (John 12:16, esv). We can all attest to the 20/20 nature of hindsight; that moment of looking back on a complicated, confusing situation and […]
We all stumble in many ways (James 3:2a, esv). Maybe you’ve noticed one or two flaws in a few of the Christians around you. (Just maybe.) But that’s not really so surprising, right? After all, we’ve got a few flaws ourselves. If the church is supposed to be a place where hope abounds—even with sin […]
And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need (Acts 2:44–45, ESV). One characteristic of God’s family is an inherent willingness to give. The believers in the early church “had all things in common” (Acts […]
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers (Acts 2:42, ESV). What is fellowship? We use the term loosely but often fail to think about what it means. Fellowship isn’t red punch and cookies in the church basement (though many of us grew up with […]
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. —John 4:23 John 4 includes some of the most influential verses regarding the discipline of worship – how better to understand whether or not […]