When God Calls

Dennis McCallum

Exodus 1-4

In the first four chapters of Exodus, God reveals who He is. He is distinct form humans. He is the eternal and unchanging I AM. He is who He is, not who we want Him to be. He is personal, and even has empathy. He pursues a plan of rescue for His fallen creation, humans. He calls us to join Him. He makes the large out of the little.

Forget None of His Benefits

Mike Sullivan

Psalms 103

In this Psalm, David calls on himself, God's people and all of creation to praise God. C.H. Spurgeon says this Psalm peaks "overtop the rest." Because God's compassion and grace are inexhaustible and He offers mercy we don't deserve, we must forget none of His benefits. If we neglect giving God the praise He deserves, we risk becoming an ingrate who is increasingly deceived and more easily overwhelmed. But for those who revere him, His lovingkindness is from everlasting to everlasting.

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.

Living Stones

Dennis McCallum

1 Peter 2:4-9

Neither the temple not the tabernacle were ever believed to actually be where God resided. It was meant to be a way to teach the people of God's plan to rescue them though a substitutionary sacrifice. Now that Jesus has come and made that sacrifice for us, we have become the temple where God does reside. Each believer is a unique living stone fitted in just the right position to build the "wall." As each stone fulfills its role in resting on the foundation stone of Jesus and supporting other stones above it, the spiritual community of stones working together declares to the world the awesomeness of God.

God's Building Project

Scott Risley

1 Peter 2:4-10

Peter calls his audience to commit themselves to the Christian community that God is building, that is the church. The church is not a place or an edifice built by human hands but is the people of God coming together in in living, breathing community. The only way to join this church is to believe in the one God sent to save us from our sin, his son Jesus Christ. The purpose of this body of believers is to tell everyone all that God has done through his son Jesus.

Three Myths about Church

James Rochford

1 Peter 2:4-10

Three myths about church are: the church is a beautiful or boring building, to become a Christians I need to join a church, and the purpose of the church is to sing songs. The church is not a building or a place but it is it's people. Joining a church membership roll does not make one a Christian. The church is the community of people who have placed their faith in Jesus to forgive their sins. The primary purpose of the church is not to sing songs but to share Jesus' message with a hurting world.

The Secret of Contentment

Chris Hearty

Philippians 4:10-20

Contentment can never be achieved by always getting what you want. It must be learned through practice. Paul had learned the secret to contentment regardless of his circumstances, whether good or bad. He learned this through the Holy Spirit who strengthened him. Paul connects the state of contentment with the act of giving. When we are content, with or without, we are not afraid to give generously because we know God will provide for us. Paul calls this trusting generosity worship, a pleasing and fragrant offering to God

Jacob and Leah

Paul Alexander

Genesis 29

The story of Jacob and Leah is a sad tale of idolatry. Jacob put his love of Rachel ahead of his love of God and gives up fourteen years of free labor to his father-in-law to have Rachel. Leah thought bearing sons to Jacob would make him love her. In the end, Leah realized she needed God's love more than Jacob's.

Paul's Greatest Secret

Dennis McCallum

Philippians 4:10-20

Paul's greatest secret was having learned to be content in all circumstances. He didn't learn this secret in one momentous moment but it came to him over time, bit by bit. God had to stress his faith in order to make it grow. Growth comes in the areas of life when no one is watching. Your little steps of faith grow over time and you learn to to trust God with the bigger things. When we learn to trust God with our money and start giving it away as a "sweet-smelling offering" God will reimburse us. Just as the Philippians had no idea their simple monetary gift resulted in untold number of people benefitting from the prison epistles Paul wrote, we have no idea how our giving freely may be used by God to bless people we have never met.