Eating is a form of thanksgiving and table fellowship is sacred. Jewish table grace went something like this: “Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.” When we eat we are acknowledging that God has provided for our needs. When we sit down at table […]
Peter, James, and John knew how to catch fish, but Jesus challenged them to fish for people. And when it comes to fishing, this principle applies: The smaller the net, the smaller the catch. Jesus cast a large net when he told his disciples, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on […]
Use one or both of these questions to introduce the lesson: 1. How many graduations, weddings, showers, and parties have you been invited to in the past three months? How did you decide which ones to attend? 2. How do you go about planning a party? How do you decide what to serve, how to […]
God is sovereign over his kingdom. He decides who gets in and who is put out. Still he invites, entices, and pleads with people to accept the invitation into his kingdom. It is his good pleasure to give his people the kingdom (Luke 12:32). But those who are invited must respond. Our text comes once […]
Have you ever heard of unpaired words? Language experts consider a word unpaired if it stands alone even though on the surface it looks like it should have a straightforward opposite. For example, “dismayed” has no corresponding opposite (“mayed”). Here are some more examples: If you’re not disgruntled, are you gruntled? Since disheveled means you […]
