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"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lampand put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:14-6). My husband and I raised our family in ...
Keep Reading"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lampand put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good worksand give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 5:13-16 NIV). If you attended college, do you re...
Keep Reading"You are the salt of the earth" (Matt. 5:13). When Jesus called His followers "salt of the earth," what did they make of that? What should we make of that? Jesus didn't explain the symbolism between salt and our lives. So let's talk about salt, shall we? We hear "salt of the earth" today to mean we're hard-working, reliable, down-to-earth folk. Perhaps that derives from ...
Keep Reading"You are the light of the worldlet your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 4: 14,16). What do you want to be when you grow up? If you're a young student, I'm guessing you're naming off some profession, like a doctor, fireman, astronaut, or Youtube mega-influencer superstar. Maybe you're in high school...
Keep Reading"You are the salt of the earthYou are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:13a,14a). Nineties kids: raise your hand if you owned a copy of The Lion King on VHS! (A moment for Gen Z and Alpha to Google "VHS") :) For those of you who didn't spend the entirety of summer 1994 watching it on repeat, the plot of The Lion King in a nutshell is this: Simba is the crown prince of...
Keep ReadingBut because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ evenwhen we were dead in transgressionsit is by grace you have been saved (Ephesians 2:4-5). You want it. But you don't always get it. You try to take it. But then you lose it. And just when you think you have it, things get out of it. Control. I want control. I'm one of those p...
Keep ReadingFor we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). The good news just keeps coming. This past Sunday, we declared, "He Is Risen!" Jesus has conquered the grave. By His selfless sacrifice, we have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light. We were once dead in our s...
Keep ReadingFor it is by grace you have been saved, through faithand this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of Godnot by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:8-10). I'm definitely not a green thumb, but I love having plants in my home, especially my favorite ...
Keep ReadingGod saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago (Ephesians 2:8-10 NLT). For the past 6 or so year...
Keep ReadingAs for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins following the ways of the spirit at work among the disobedient gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath ... For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephes...
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