Is This Life All There Is?

Jim Leffel

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Paul encourages the Thessalonians by reminding them of the hope and confidence they have in life after death. He calls on them to comfort one another with this truth. Believing in life after death has tremendous impact on how we live. Confidence, joy, freedom, and fulfillment are a few results that come from having this hope. This truth challenges us to ask ourselves if we are confident in what happens after death.\r\n

God's Heart For People

Dennis McCallum

Jonah 1-4

Jonah was a prophet who initially ran from what God called him to do. After some discipline and repentance, God uses Jonah to show characteristics of His heart: 1) His love goes out to needy and confused people, and 2) God has a lot more compassion than we do. This book can lead the readers to consider if they have answered the call to reconcile the world to Him that God has given all believers.

Fear

Gary DeLashmutt

Jonah 1-4

Fear is a universal and inevitable part of the human condition. Letting God teach you how to fight through your fears will lead to freedom from enslavement to fear, increasing confidence that God will be with you no matter what befalls you, and increasing ability to help others trust God with their own fears.

Jesus Stills the Sea

Jeff Gordon

Hebrews 1:1-2

Jesus performed supernatural miracles and walked on water to show his disciples that he was God. God is powerful and in control of nature, when we put our trust in Him we can be secure that He is in control.

Freedom and Slavery

Gary DeLashmutt

Hebrews 1:1-2

A key contrast throughout scripture is freedom and slavery. The Bible stands against human slavery, while focusing on the real freedom God offers to other forms of slavery, including to the law, sin, and other people's judgments of us. God offers us the chance to become slaves to Christ, serving him from gratitude for what he did on the cross. As we live more and more for Christ, we experience increasing freedom from being enslaved to selfish desires and ways of life.

The Woman Caught in Adultery

Dennis McCallum

John 8

We are all deeply sinful people who do not deserve God's grace. When God chooses to forgive us for our sins, He puts no stipulations on it. God's grace gives us freedom from sin and the motivation to love other people. The grace and forgiveness come first. It is only then that we can have the power to effectively love other people.

Freedom from Slavery: A Lesson from the Life of Saul

Lee Campbell

1 Samuel 9-28

Often, our hiding, manipulation, insecurity, and emotional outbursts are due to fear. The life of Saul, Israel's first king, was characterized by these things, resulting in poor leadership and a sad spiritual life. Because Saul was unable to put his trust in God's faithfulness, he lived his life enslaved to fear. We learn that freedom from enslavement to fear is possible through putting our faith in God and his unlimited power. A testimony from Kim Gulyassy is included.

Love and Freedom

Dennis McCallum

1 Corinthians 10:23-29

Paul called the Corinthians to sacrifice some of their freedoms for the conscience of a younger believer. God's moral imperatives are clear in scripture, but some moral choices seem grey and unclear. We shouldn't draw moral lines that God hasn't drawn himself, but in a spirit of love it is good when we lay down our freedoms for the benefit of another person.

Mental Transformation (Part 2)

Dennis McCallum

Ephesians 4:13-14

God has given us His Word as reliable truth that we can continually turn to. When we act on God's truth and study His Word we begin to grow into mature believers. God's Word feeds us like milk feeds a baby, moving us towards maturity.