In talking with the Pharisee, Nicodemus, Jesus makes an amazing statement. He says that in order to have eternal life in heaven, you must be born again. Such a statement is mind blowing. Humanly speaking, it makes no sense. How can someone be born again? What does it mean to be born again? Thankfully, Jesus…
Jesus’ actions when He saw what was going on in the temple is a remarkable event in history. It is recorded in all four gospels. Though, here in the Gospel of John it is placed at a different time in the chronology of the life of Christ than it is in the other three gospels.…
The book of Genesis is placed as the first book of the Bible. It is the beginning of the Gospel. It is the first chapter in God’s redemptive story. Having an understanding of the book of Genesis is paramount in understanding the Bible as a whole. The word genesis comes by way of Latin from…
The purpose of the book of Haggai is to give a wake-up call to those who have fallen into a state of spiritual complacency. In chapter one we see a call to construction. The children of Israel became slack in the work of rebuilding the temple. The temple laid waste for 15 years while the…
The book of Haggai was written around 520 B.C. It was a letter addressed to all the people, though particularly addressed to Zerubbabel the governor and to Joshua the high priest. The purpose of the book is to encourage the people in completing the building of the Temple. The completion of the Temple had been…
We live in a very fearful world. Our minds are often filled with worries and fears. We fear the instability of our nation’s security. We fear the very real possibility of economic collapse. We fear what kind of world our children are inheriting. We are concerned for their future. Such fears are nothing new in…
Our text is one that is very interesting. Though it may appear that these verses are referring to the conversion of lost souls, it is not the case. This passage is referring to the need to correct believers who have erred or strayed from the truth. I believe that the ESV version has the best…
Prayer is an essential part of the Christian life. Prayer is our means of communication with God. Through the avenue of prayer, we can enter into the very throne of God and bring our petitions before God. This access that we have to God in prayer is made possible by the blood of Jesus. Read…
The first six verses of our text talks about the injustice of our world. Such evil injustice can weigh heavy upon followers of Christ. James specifically speaks concerning the injustice of the wealthy. There is certainly nothing wrong with being wealthy. However, there are those who are wealthy that will take advantage of those who…
There was a man in Boston who was entertaining a famous Chinese scholar. He met his Oriental friend at the train station and rushed him to the subway. As they ran through the subway station, the host panted to his guest, “If we run and catch this next train, we will save three minutes!” To…
Pastor Chris Noland 