The Devotional Life

Ben Foust
Mark 1:32-39

Psalm 32 says, "You (God) are my hiding place." Every Christian needs to develop a devotional life where they retreat regularly to connect with God. The Christian life is a constant launching out in service and ministry and returning back to recharge, to retreat to safety, to be reinvigorated to launch out again. Having a 'secret life' is a game-changer for our ministry, our relationships and our spiritual vitality and longevity.

Being a Good Friend

Conrad Hilario
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

Some Christians believe that they don't need community to grow with God. King Solomon refutes this unbiblical idea. How can a person alone keep warm, or defend himself when overpowered? A chord of three strands is not quickly broken. After His acts of creation, God said, "It is good." But He saw Adam was alone and said that was not good so he made Eve to be his companion. God designed us to be in relationship with Him and other believers.

Chapter Four

Chris Hearty
Ecclesiastes 4:1-12

King Solomon considered the oppression the powerful exert over the earth and saw the meaninglessness of justice apart from God. He saw people either try excessively to achieve or the alternative, just give up trying. He saw the perils of being alone in this world. Solomon warns trying to live a life apart from God leads to oppression, discontentment or loneliness.

Raising Our Kids in Community: Priorities and Fears

Liz Sweet
Ecclesiastes 4:1-12

God's highest priority is love. Secular research even agrees that friendships, forgiveness, and volunteering creates healthier and happier lives. People living in community with others have less stress. People at the end of life often regret not spending more time with loved ones. You will never regret investing in your children, nor teaching them to love. Community is a source of God's love and a provision for us and our children.

Can Our Achievements Bring Satisfaction?

Scott Risley
Ecclesiastes 4:4-12

Even though King Solomon was the most accomplished ruler of all time, in the end he found all his accomplishments to be meaningless apart from God. He found that in spite of all his extraordinary accomplishments, he was alone. He was at the top and had no one to share it with. He discovered it was better to have less and a friend to share it with because "two are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed."

What Is Important in the End?

James Rochford
1 Peter 4:7-11

Peter warns that the end of all things is near. The unbelieving world lives without hope because they think this world is all there is. Death results in a terrifying oblivion. But believers can live a fruitful, meaningful life her and now because we know that there is a reward waiting for us when we die to this world. We can invest in that which is most important, God and other people, while we are here on earth because we know the glories awaiting us in heaven. We know that what we do here on earth has profound effect for eternity.

Friendship and the End of the World

Scott Risley
1 Peter 4:7-11

Peter teaches that since the end of all things is near, we should draw near to God in prayer. As the end nears, we will need our relationships to endure the suffering that will follow. We should draw near to others in fervent love, serving, being hospitable and using our spiritual gifts to build up the Body of Christ.

Christ-Centered Community

Conrad Hilario
1 Peter 4:7-11

Knowing that our time on earth is limited, Peter calls on believers to be in close, Christ-centered community with one another. By having a fervent love and exercising our spiritual gifts for one another in Christian community we demonstrate to a watching world that is drowning in loneliness and alienation the grace and glory of our God.

Marriage God's Way

Chris Risley
1 Peter 3:1-9

During the Greco-Roman period that this passage was written, women had no rights at all. Peter is actually elevating the view of women by the mere fact he is writing directly to them. No rabbi would do that then. His call for them to submit to their husbands was not to subjugate them but to avoid upsetting the entire social and economic system. By flaunting their new-found rights, they needlessly risked alienating all unsaved men. Peter calls women instead to win their unbelieving husbands to Christ by their exemplary behavior. Believing husbands are also called to show honor to their wives.