Arm Yourself with Readiness to Suffer

Ben Foust
1 Peter 4

Human nature apart from God will always pursue personal comfort and pleasure. But that is a recipe for disappointment. Christians have a category for enduring suffering because they are living for something greater than themselves. Peter instructs his audience to arm themselves with the willingness and expectation of suffering for the sake of the Gospel because they can entrust themselves to a faithful God.

Excellent Behavior:Suffering Unjustly Part 2

Ben Foust
1 Peter 2:18-25

Peter urged his listeners to show Christ to the world by what they do. When they suffered unjustly, they responded with good and not evil. They exchanged the favor of men for the favor of God and deferred justice to the One true Judge.

Freedom and Love

Ryan Lowery
1 Corinthians 8:1-13

Paul writes to the Corinthians about eating meat sacrificed to idols. He urged them to practice their freedom in Christ and eat the meat if they feel okay to do so, but to not eat the meat if it will stumble other Christians. The application in our lives is that we should have a willingness to sacrifice our own freedoms in morally gray areas in order to show love others.

The Tabernacle

Conrad Hilario
Exodus 25:1-8

The Tabernacle was a scale model of the heavenly reality. It communicated God's desire to have a relationship with His creation but that there were barriers that prevented them from drawing near to Him. The Tabernacle was a powerful symbol of how He would remove those barriers by the the work of His Son Jesus.

The God Who Dwells with His People

James Rochford
Exodus 25:1-28:43

The tabernacle from the Israelite's desert wandering was a picture of how God resolves the dilemma of how a perfect divine being, God, can dwell among morally flawed people, us. He sent Jesus to live with us as the perfect, sinless priest who offered Himself up as the perfect sacrifice.

The Tenth Plague

Conrad Hilario
Exodus 11:12

The powerful way God foreshadowed the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross by the tenth plague of the deaths of the first-born sons in Egypt is a prophetic reminder through the ages of God's desire to save us. God gave the Passover message to strengthen our faith in Jesus and to give faith to those who are not yet Christians.

One More Plague

Dennis McCallum
Exodus 11-12

The story of the Exodus where God rescues His people from the slavery of Egypt is a typology of God's bigger plan to rescue all of mankind from the slavery to sin. The details of the Passover Meal that commemorate the Exodus all point forward to the work Jesus would do to save us from judgment.

The Call to Transformtion

Jim Leffel
Titus 2:1-10

For a Christian, truth should lead to a transformed life that a watching, lost world deeply longs for. Every stage of life of a Christian, whether you are young or old, male or female, is an opportunity to allow God to bring about transformation that honors the Gospel, silences critics, and adorns the message of grace.

Treasure in Earthen Vessels

Mike Sullivan
2 Corinthians 4:7-18

God allows us to experience suffering to break down our self-reliance and let more of His aroma out. This process of Christ being formed in us occurs as we die to self and live for Christ. God sustains us with His power and He enables us to have greater spiritual impact on others.