Stephen’s witness ended with his death, but the story was just beginning. Acts 8:1-4 let us know martyrdom didn’t have the desired effect. First, martyrdom didn’t end the persecution, v. 1 … 1 “Now Saul was consenting More →
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“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6) Hunger is to crave or seek with eager desire, and thirst is to painfully long for things that refresh. Hunger and thirst are natural reactions More →
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“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:4) The word translated “mourn” is pentheo which means to grieve for the dead. Spiritually, it implies to grieve for the spiritually dead—mourning over sin; More →
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Someone wrote, “If you think you are too small to be effective, you’ve never been in bed with a mosquito.” Matthew 25:14-30 is about missed opportunity. First, God trusts His servants with resources—“The kingdom of heaven is like More →
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Matthew 21:33-46 records Jesus’ parable of the vineyard. It is the drama of a landowner who, having rented out his vineyard, sought his contractual portion of the produce. After sending workers to get his goods More →
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Matthew 21:18-22 is the record of Jesus and the fig tree event. Why did He curse it? Was He expressing frustration because He was hungry and couldn’t find anything to eat? We might do that but not Jesus. Consider More →
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In fulfilling the Great Commission, Jesus’ servants are expected to be faithful to their task until He returns for them or they join Him through death. Jesus Himself is the actual target of the hate and persecution suffered More →
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Sharing the gospel message does not mean that a majority will respond with genuine faith—true believers are a small percentage of people. And faithful Christians are a small portion of the true believers. In Matthew 7:13-23, Jesus gives the final More →
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What does spiritual maturity look like? If you are going to experience spiritual growth, you need to learn to recognize Christian maturity according to God’s design. J. Oswald Sanders said, “It is not easy to define, but you can tell when it is present.” More →
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“I have kept the faith.” If we could find the tombstone of Paul’s grave, that would probably be the epitaph. In his second letter to Timothy, the apostle wrote, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (v. 4:7) More →
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