baptism (29)

Ian

Good Gone Bad

Mark 12:1–17; Matthew 10:5–7; Matthew 17:24–27 Within the context of Jesus’ earthly ministry, the primacy of the remnants of the Israelites cannot be denied. Jesus calls them the “lost sheep”. Their place is significant to God, for they are even called by God’s name (2…

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Ian

Salvation Balance

Matthew 16:13–17; Romans 10:6–14 In the US, individuality is all the rage, and it has been since at least 4 July 1776. Individuality is not a bad thing, automatically. While there are many aspects to our faith that are indeed communal (and must remain that…

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Ian

Graveside Dancing

Psalm 30; Hosea 13:4–14 Yesterday was the birthday of my stepfather. He passed away years ago. For whatever reason, this year his birthday hit me kind of hard. He and I had our good moments. We had our bad moments. Just like any parent-child relationship.

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Ian

Disciple, Baptize, Teach

Matthew 28:16–20; 1 Corinthians 1:14–25 One of the measurements of a church’s growth is the annual number of baptisms. If we were to review the church’s (and, by this, generally all American churches), the percentage is not particularly great. It certainly does not meet the…

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Ian

Seashell Summer

Matthew 3:1–13; Mark 10:35–40; John 13:1–11; 1 Peter 3:18–22 (read online ⧉) What is one thing you think of when it comes to Summer? How about a Summer trip or vacation? Today is the first day of Summer. Today is also National Seashell Day, in…

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