Too Helpful?

Is it possible to be too helpful? Can our helpfulness actually make life more difficult for others? Yes, if we’re being bothersome, intrusive, smothering, manipulative, or controlling. If the help we are giving is driven only by our own anxiety, we may be just trying to help ourselves.

Day 4: No Greater Love

Bill and his wife were driving through the Rocky Mountains when a near-miss with a truck caused their car to swerve off the road and plunge into the Colorado River. After scrambling out of their sinking vehicle, they frantically treaded water in the swift current. A truckdriver, who had seen the accident, ran ahead along the shore and threw a…

How do we respond when Jesus says to do good without expecting any reward?

Thursday, April 5, 2012

“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:1).

IDEA: Christians should be seen doing good works (Matthew 5:16), but they must not do good works in order to be seen (Matthew 6:1).

PURPOSE: To help listeners see the powerful witness of good works done to please God and that are seen by people.

How motivation impacts the ways we serve

Tuesday, April 3, 2012, Part 2

“Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven” (Matthew 6:1).

IDEA: Christ values what we do for His approval.

PURPOSE: To help listeners think about their religious actions and what they want them to accomplish.

The Name

What is it about a name that makes it so special to us? I began thinking about this after talking to a teenager as we stood outside her church in Black River, Jamaica, one Sunday morning. She asked, “Would you mention my name in Our Daily Bread?” I asked her if she had a story to tell, and she said, “No, just mention my name.”

Can God Trust Us?

By Oluwaseun Fayemiwo, Nigeria “Because of the miraculous signs Jesus performed at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in Him. But Jesus didn’t trust them, because He knew human nature. No one needed to tell Him what mankind is really like.” —John 2:23-25 Is it possible to enjoy a relationship with someone where there [...]

Ordinary Versus Extraordinary

For more than a century, the pinnacle of golf has been to score 59—a score that had been recorded only three times in PGA Tour history before 2010. Then, in 2010, Paul Goydos scored a 59—only to be equaled a month later by Stuart Appleby’s 59. Consequently, some sportswriters speculated that the most coveted achievement in golf was now becoming commonplace! It’s amazing to see two 59s in the same season, but it would be a mistake to begin to view this as ordinary.

Who Do We See?

For many years, Allen Funt’s Candid Camera television program delighted viewers by using a hidden camera to catch the often hilarious reactions of ordinary people to unexpected situations. Their approach, according to his son Peter was: “We believe people are wonderful, and we’re out to confirm it.”

Find helpful insight for our lives in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount

Thursday, March 29, 2012, Part 2

Matthew 6:1-18

IDEA: Why we do good deeds matters to God.

PURPOSE: To help listeners realize why the motives for what we do matters to Christ.

Trust Me

When I was a little girl, my aunt and uncle took me to Lake Michigan. While some of my cousins ventured far out into the waves, I played close to shore. Then my Uncle Norm asked me, “Can you swim?” “No,” I admitted. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll take you out there.”

Find practical applications for today in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount

Why we do good deeds matters to God.

To help listeners realize why the motives for what we do matters to Christ.

One Beautiful Moment

One snap of the shutter, and there it was . . . one beautiful moment captured in time for eternity. The late summer sun reflected in the breaking wave made the water look like liquid gold splashing onto the shore. If my friend had not been there with his camera, the wave would have gone unnoticed, like so many others that have come and gone, seen only by God.

The Real Thing

A church in Naperville, Illinois, is basking in excitement about its brand-new bells in the belfry above its sanctuary. When the church was built many years ago, they didn’t have the money to purchase bells. However, for its 25th anniversary they were able to raise the funds to hang three bells in the vacant space.

Avenue To Power

When Tarah was in high school, she had a growing fear that she would someday battle a serious illness. So she began to pray—asking God to spare her from this imagined illness. Then she reached a turning point in her thinking, and she yielded her future to God no matter what.

Sharing Space

The number of people who run a business out of their homes is in the millions. But some have found that working alone can be a little too lonely. To give these lonely ones a community, “co-working” spaces have been designed. Large facilities are rented out where people working by themselves can share space with others.