Let’s look at Jesus’ teaching on prayer in the Sermon on the Mount
Friday, August 17, 2012, Part 2
“In this manner, therefore, pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name’” (Matthew 6:9).
IDEA: Speaking to God as Father, as Jesus taught us, reveals a great deal about our relationship with God.
PURPOSE: To help listeners realize what it signifies when we can speak to God as Father.
They Are Watching
A professional football player’s team was having a terrible season, losing week after week. A reporter asked him how he stayed motivated to play hard and give his best even though his team lost almost every game. He responded, “My dad is watching that game. My mom is watching that game. You better believe I’m going to do my best!” He recognized that there was more at stake than just winning or losing. People were watching, and that reality always drove him to do his best.
Song Review: Surrender by Jeremy Camp
By Daniel Gordon Ang, 20, Indonesia Surrender is a special word. Most of us have a vague agreement on what it means and entails, but we might have different feelings about actually doing it. For those of us who were perhaps raised in a Christian household and environment, or have been spiritually stagnant for some [...]
God’s immense love as our heavenly Father
Thursday, August 16, 2012, Part 1
“In this manner, therefore, pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name’” (Matthew 6:9).
IDEA: Speaking to God as Father, as Jesus taught us, reveals a great deal about our relationship with God.
PURPOSE: To help listeners realize what it signifies when we can speak to God as Father.
Plugged In
My wife was working at home on her computer recently when she suddenly noticed her laptop battery power was low and the computer was about to shut down. The computer was plugged in, though, so it shouldn’t have been using the battery. Following the laptop cord to the extension cord, she finally noticed that the extension cord was actually plugged back into itself instead of the wall outlet! She looked at me, amused, and said, “There’s a devotional in there somewhere.”
What it means to embrace God as our Abba Father
Wednesday, August 15, 2012, Part 4
“In this manner, therefore, pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.’” (Matthew 6:9)
IDEA: When we address God as Father, we do so because Jesus who spoke to God that way invited us to do so.
PURPOSE: To help listeners to be motivated to pray because they are talking to God who is their “father.”
Hopes And Dreams
In 1960, everyone in the high school I attended participated in Project TALENT. For several days, we took tests that surveyed our aptitudes in academic subjects. In addition, we were asked to express our plans, hopes, and dreams for the future. What we didn’t know was that we were among 400,000 participants from 1,300 schools in the largest study of high school students ever conducted in the US. None of us involved in the study could have imagined how our lives would turn out.
Dreams
By Cora Cheung Everyone has their dreams and aspirations. Everyone knows how to dream—and wants to dream. As a child, Aaron Hotchner loved to dream. It took him somewhere else—somewhere where he belonged. His family wasn’t exactly like what most people thought it was. They thought his family had: pushy parents, an extremely well behaved [...]
The way various cultures pray and the freedom we discover when we pray from the heart
Tuesday, August 14, 2012, Part 3
“In this manner, therefore, pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.’” (Matthew 6:9)
IDEA: When we address God as Father, we do so because Jesus who spoke to God that way invited us to do so.
PURPOSE: To help listeners to be motivated to pray because they are talking to God who is their “father.”
It Will Be Worth It All
We wondered why a friend of ours kept traveling to Hobart, Tasmania. Recently she invited us to join her there. From the airport we drove over a bridge and through the city and suburbs. Nothing outstanding—but we kept on traveling. After a few difficult hairpin turns that took us slowly and sharply uphill, we saw the outline of the coast below. Still quite ordinary looking.
The sacrifice Jesus paid in order for us to have an intimate relationship with God
Monday, August 13, 2012, Part 2
“In this manner, therefore, pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.’” (Matthew 6:9)
IDEA: When we address God as Father, we do so because Jesus who spoke to God that way invited us to do so.
PURPOSE: To help listeners to be motivated to pray because they are talking to God who is their “father.”
Tear Down That Wall!
The Wall. For people living in East Germany over 50 years ago, those two words were the only ones necessary to describe the barrier erected on August 13, 1961. That date marked the beginning of the construction of a concrete barrier that separated East and West Germany. Eventually, the wall became nearly impenetrable—secured with barbed wire and armed men. But in 1989 the wall was torn down, removing the barrier between the countries.
Interview: Elana Meyer
Elana Meyers began the sport of bobsled in 2007, making the national team during her rookie season. In 2008 she won her first World Cup medal, a bronze with driver Shauna Rohbock. She followed the performance with a gold medal at the inaugural World Cup in Whistler, Canada. At the 2009 World Championships, Meyer pushed with driver Shauna [...]
Doubts And Faith
Can a believer in Jesus who has occasional doubts about matters of faith ever be effective in serving the Lord? Some people think that mature and growing Christians never question their beliefs. But just as we have experiences that can build our faith, we can also have experiences that cause us to temporarily doubt.
Eyes To See
My first glimpse of the Promised Land from the hills of Moab was disappointing. “Did this look a lot different when the Israelites got here?” I asked our guide as we looked toward Jericho. I was expecting a dramatic contrast from the east side of the Jordan. “No,” she answered. “It has looked the same for thousands of years.”
