Pastor Tim takes us to the question “What do justification and sanctification mean?” from the New City Catechism. We all need to think about what it means to have faith in the only one who can offer us true salvation.
How do we come before God when our prayers so easily become empty phrases, desperate demands, or distant formalities? In Matthew 6, Jesus says our Father knows what we need before we ask, then gives His disciples words for approaching Him: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”
In our sinful human nature we’re all hypocrites—quick to see the masks on everyone else, almost never on ourselves. Jesus meets that very tendency in Matthew 7:12 with a rule most people already know by heart: whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.
Grace saves us—we don’t deserve it, can’t earn it, and have no grounds to boast about it, as Paul makes plain in Ephesians 2:8–9—so what does it look like when a community of undeserving people actually lives that out together as the church God is building?
Life is sustained through the act of worshiping God. When we direct our attention towards Him, we distance ourselves from death. The reason behind this is that God represents life itself, and any divergence from Him ultimately leads to death.
We aren’t called to hold the goodness of God in, but to spread holiness by loving those around us. Even our enemies.
We think “rights” will make things right, but how does that fit being a follower of the One who gave up His rights?
Continuing our series Bad Attitudes, we turn to a story about two of Aaron’s sons and their reckless approach before God… and how we can fall into the same traps.
How do we understand God saying His Word will harden hearts? What does that mean for us?