For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 Today, we gather as the Bride of Christ to celebrate His victory over death. This Sunday is glorious, and because of what Christ accomplished on the cross, we can cry out, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” Jes

And both the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” Luke 15:2 In the English language, one word can have many meanings. Take love, for example. I love pizza, my dogs, my kids, my wife, and God, but I don’t love any of those the same way. Biblical Greek has seven different words for love to convey different meanings. The four most familiar words are as follows: 1. Eros, which refers to romantic or sexual love. From it

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 1 John 4:1-2 The phrase en garde is French, which means to be on guard, a call to a fencer to adopt a defensive stance in readiness for an attack or bout. Christians need to be alert to the false teaching that t

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change And though the mountains shake into the heart of the sea: Psalm 46:1-2 Fear. All of us have experienced that emotion. It is such a powerful emotion that it can freeze a person in their tracks. I have witnessed victims of crime that were so fearful they could neither run nor fight. Yet, the Bible makes it clear that Christians have nothing to fear. I want

And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has in us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 1 John 4:16 This past Sunday, a progressive, woke, and social gospel commercial played during the Super Bowl. It showed people washing the feet of people who would be seen as outside of the concern of others. The truth is that all people, no matter what they believe or how they act, are in need of salvation through Jesus Ch

Instead, be kind to one another, tender-hearted, graciously forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has graciously forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32 Forgive. It is something that every Christian understands. We are thankful that God has forgiven us of all of our past, present, and future sins (1 John 2:12; Hebrews 10:10, 14, 17, 18). When you acknowledged before a holy God that you were a sinner, repented of those sins, and believed in your heart that Jesus is Lord, your

O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? 1 Corinthians 15:55 You can't run from it, you can't hide, you can’t make a deal with death, it will find you. It will come for all of us. Christian and non-Christian. Rich or poor, young or old, no one is immune from the power of death. However, there is a gap as wide as the deepest ocean between what happens to those who belong to Christ and those who have rejected Him. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, drilled t

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 Throughout history, there have been people who counterfeit the original and people who impersonate others. Some people will pose as veterans for benefits and favors only veterans deserve. It is called stolen valor and is a crime only if the person tries to financially benefit from saying they are a vet

Oh, fear Yahweh, you His saints; For there is no want to those who fear Him. Psalm 34:9 At first, it seems uncharacteristic of God that He would command his followers to fear Him. We must understand what fearing God means. It does not mean being afraid of Him. All believers are called to fear Him, but we have no need to be afraid of Him. In fact, if you are afraid of God, you don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior. A non-believer needs to be afraid of God, very afraid. Jesus war