life (519)

Ian

Grudge Walker

Genesis 33:1–9; Numbers 20:14–21; Psalm 137; Lamentations 5:1–22 How much of your extended family do you know? Second cousins, third cousins, and so on. Imagine knowing the descendants of your ancestors (approximately 20 generations gap). The brothers Jacob and Esau seemed to have been reconciled…

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Ian

I Hate You

Luke 14:25–35; 1 John 3:14–18 So, who do YOU hate? Your mom, dad, husband, wife, significant other, son, daughter, brother, sister, cousin, aunt, uncle…Really, who do you hate? Trump, Clinton, Bin Laden, and many others have been (or are) hated. It could be because of…

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Ian

Heart of Money; Heart of Mercy

2 Corinthians 8:1–15; 1 Timothy 6:17–19 Generosity is a good thing. A generous heart is a good thing. Paul encouraged generosity among the churches. The churches would care for one another as they were going through trials (famines, war, etc.). The graciousness of one church…

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Ian

Clothed in Rags

Psalm 94; Luke 6:27–36; 1 Corinthians 4:9–13 Bless your enemies. Except “bless” means something more than just be nice or even help them. “Bless” means to ask for God’s divine favor to come on them. We all want blessings, but we are being called to…

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Ian

Cause and Effect

1 Kings 16:29–33; 1 Kings 17:1–5; 1 Kings 18:10–18 Ahab blamed Elijah for the ongoing drought in Israel. Or, at least he could blame Elijah for the drought. Ahab knew that Elijah had declared that no rain would fall on Israel. Sounds like a pretty…

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