Viewing entries tagged
humility
Sometimes, it can feel as if we’ve messed up too much to share in the hope Christmas brings. This message looks at Manasseh’s story and shows how God’s love can reach us when it feels like we’re beyond hope.
2 Chronicles 33:1-13
When life feels overwhelming, it’s easy to question God’s decisions or imagine we could do better. This message looks at how God confronts that attitude in Job and helps us to step back, see our limitations, and prepare for the day when we’ll meet Him ourselves.
Job 40:1-9; 42:1-6
Assumptions usually cloud our judgment, but when we see people struggling that’s even more true. Zophar’s counsel to Job tore him down because he made assumptions about his friend’s past, his future, and God’s ways. This message looks at how we can avoid his mistakes and bring humility to the comfort we hold to.
Job 11:1-15
In laying out the requirements of church deacons, Paul makes it clear that the character of the one serving matters far more than their skills, connections, or accomplishments. This message looks at the people who serve to build the church and the blessing they experience for doing so.
1 Timothy 3:8-13
Every parent wants the best for their child. But when we push the wrong values on our children, we do them more harm than good. This message looks at Jesus’ vision for our lives.
Matthew 20:20-28
Nobody likes to argue but sometimes it feels unavoidable. Just trying no to get angry doesn’t seem to work. This message looks at some practical steps you can take to engage God and reorient yourself to the situation in a way that releases your anger and helps diffuse the conflict.
James 4:1-12
We live at a time when Christianity is facing increasing criticism and dissenting from our culture’s values brings consequences. Stephen’s martyrdom provides principles that dispel the myths that we have about how to cope when opposition looms.
When division around us grows and people begin to take sides, it’s easy to forget that we’re called to be a people of love. This message looks at how to show love when loving doesn’t come easily.
So much of our lives can be traced back to a hunger for acceptance. We devote ourselves to people and causes to show that we’re worthy of acceptance. And we fixate on things that we’ve said or done that might threaten our acceptance. But how does God see us? How can we know if God will accept us? What standard does He use? This message looks at one of Jesus’ famous stories about a Pharisee and a tax collector and considers what it teaches us about our yearning for acceptance and the grace God offers us.
We all have times in our lives when we feel like we don’t measure up. In the life of Solomon, he realized as a young king that the shoes of his father David were just too big to fill on his own. This message looks at what we need to do in these moments, the importance of humility before God, and what true wisdom looks like when it is applied.
We all consider ourselves rational, open-minded people. The reality is, however, that we’re often not interested in listening to certain truths and can go to great lengths to avoid them. As Nietzsche said, “People don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed.” This message looks at some of the obstacles to confronting the truth and how to overcome them.
We all face the pressure of powerful people in our lives; governments, bosses, and popular classmates, but how should we respond to the pressure? Jacob, in Genesis 33, provides us a helpful example, showing us that God’s people walk the path of humility, generosity, and obedience.
How do you respond to God’s blessings in your life? Some people take them for granted. Other people try to even accounts with God. But the Bible paints a different picture of how we can honour God for His grace in our lives. This message looks at a Syrian general’s response to God’s healing and teaches us how to respond to God’s grace.
Sometimes we look to God and it feels like He’s turned His back on us. Other times we struggle to understand why He doesn’t do what we ask Him. This message looks at God’s dealing with a Syrian general who wanted healing and shows that there are good, divine purposes behind some of our disappointments with God.
Most people have a sense that they need something for God to revive them. But it’s just not clear what that something is. Today’s passage looks at the heart of a revival that began under a king named Josiah. From him we learn that it’s the impact of God’s Word, and in particular the attitude with which we respond to it, that brings the grace that we need to see God’s revival in our lives.
The path toward true greatness requires rethinking what it means to be great. We can do this by laying hold of the help and example of Jesus who was greatly honoured, precisely because He was willing to humble Himself.
Some people will look to Jesus, but try to approach Him as a peer, on their own terms. They pick and choose the teachings that they already agree with. This message looks at a group of people who chose to accept Jesus’ hard teachings and in so doing found life and hope that wouldn’t have otherwise been possible.
