Spring of Hope

Buy  my books   " Joy in the Journey "  and  " Song in the Night" on Amazon now 20% goes to missions               Experiencing sound quality issues?  Please Click here   Living Stones      1 Peter 2:1-10 Peter wrote letters to the people of faith in various parts of the world at that time. Many were persecuted for their faith and began moving from place to place. Some found established churches in Asia Minor, which is part of modern-day Turkey, and many were dispersed across that region. That is where Paul, Peter, and other apostles went to establish churches. Peter writes to all of them as one group, not to a particular church as Paul often did. He addresses them as 'elect exiles', which we talked about last Sunday. What is very interesting is that Peter gives the people of God many different identities. Scripture itself gives us multiple identities as God’s...

Buy  my books   " Joy in the Journey "  and  " Song in the Night" on Amazon now 20% goes to missions               Experiencing sound quality issues?  Please Click here   Elect Exiles      1 Peter 1 We have studied the prison letters that Paul wrote from prison in Rome, and now I want to continue with the Pentecost season. As you look at the calendar, it is the 12th day of Pentecost. The Church takes this time until the season of Advent, which starts in November, and ends with the celebration of Christmas. During this period, the Church around the world focuses on studying our doctrines, our faith, and how we can lead a holy and victorious Christian life in this world through the various teachings in the Bible. Peter, one of the disciples of Christ, wrote two letters in the Bible—First Peter and Second Peter. We can begin by looking at Peter’s letters, par...

Buy my book   " Joy in the Journey " on Amazon now 20% goes to missions  The world in which we live in today is filled with changes and uncertainties. Nations rise and fall, governments come and go, stock markets crash, economies fail, spouses file for divorce, children leave home, jobs are phased out, businesses go belly up, terminal illnesses appear overnight, beauty fades, fame flies out the window, money slips through our fingers like water, and people die unexpectedly. Changes happen without notice and uncertainties rule the life in this world.There are not many things that have certainty. Someone once said that there are two things in life that we can be sure of: death and taxes. People have figured out ways to avoid taxes but no one has ever figured out a way to avoid death. The probabilty of death is 100%. One out of every one person will eventually die. We may try to delay the inevitable through medicine and preventative measures, but sooner ...

Buy  my books   " Joy in the Journey "  and  " Song in the Night" on Amazon now 20% goes to missions               Experiencing sound quality issues?  Please Click here    Image of the Invisible God      Colossians 1:15-28 The Apostle Paul’s words in Colossians 1:15–28 take us into one of the most profound and awe-inspiring truths in the Christian faith: that Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God. In a world filled with questions about identity, power, and truth, Paul offers clarity by proclaiming that all things—seen and unseen—were created through Christ, and in Him, all things hold together. He is before all things. He is not just the firstborn from the dead, but the firstborn over all creation. That doesn’t mean He was created first, but that He holds the highest rank. He is preeminent. He is supreme. He is not only above creation—He is the very s...

Buy  my books   " Joy in the Journey "  and  " Song in the Night" on Amazon now 20% goes to missions               Experiencing sound quality issues?  Please Click here  Sufficient Grace     2 Corinthians 12:5-10 That last sentence Paul speaks in this passage—“For when I am weak, then I am strong”—sounds like a contradiction, doesn’t it? What do we call that in English? An oxymoron? I’ve heard that word mostly here in America. But that’s exactly what it is: “When I am weak, then I am strong.” That’s the message of Christ. Everything Christ preached seems to go against the way the world works. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are those who mourn. What? How is mourning a blessing? But that’s the way of the Kingdom of God—upside-down thinking compared to the world we live in. When we are weak, Paul says, we actually become strong. Why? Becaus...

Buy  my books   " Joy in the Journey "  and  " Song in the Night" on Amazon now 20% goes to missions               Experiencing sound quality issues?  Please Click here  An Unexpected Answer     In 1 Kings 19:1–10, we witness a moment of deep despair in the life of one of the greatest prophets to ever walk the earth—Elijah. This mighty man of God, who had just triumphed over the prophets of Baal in a dramatic showdown on Mount Carmel, suddenly finds himself running for his life. Jezebel, the wicked queen of Israel, vowed to kill him within twenty-four hours after learning how he had slaughtered her prophets. Fear gripped Elijah’s heart, and he fled to Beersheba, leaving behind his servant and wandering alone into the wilderness. There, under the shade of a solitary broom tree, he sat down, broken and defeated, and asked God to take his life. "It is enough now, O Lo...