Who do you say that Jesus is? If Jesus were to be here with us, he would have asked in this way, “who do you say that I AM?” We call Him Lord and Savior; we call Him the Son of God and Son of Man; we call Him the Messiah. Some called Him carpenter’s […]

With the ascension of Jesus and outpouring of his Spirit upon the church, we find ourselves living between the 1st and 2nd comings of Christ. At his first coming, Jesus won the decisive battle of the war against the kingdom of darkness. Now, God’s kingdom is advancing throughout the world, bringing forgiveness and joy to […]

The kingdom of God, under the saving rule of Jesus Christ, is the reality to which all history is headed—a new heaven and earth, and a redeemed humanity experiencing the blessing of fellowship with God and one another forever. But this kingdom is also a present reality. The saving rule of Jesus is experienced today […]

Many Christians and churches today seem only to care about bigger numbers, emotional experiences, and especially “signs and wonders.” We think we need these things to convince the world that the gospel is true, that Jesus is alive, and that our church is successful. Yet while our God continues to be a miracle-working God to […]

The first part of the book of Acts ends with Stephen’s death and the persecution of the Jerusalem church. However, the attempts of Saul and the religious leaders to destroy the Christian church only served to bring about the fulfillment of the words of Jesus spoken in Acts 1:8, as believers were “scattered throughout the […]

The world tells us that the good life is to be found in financial security, physical fitness, beauty, sex, loving relationships (however we define them), and other comforts. To be sure, these things can bring us happiness. Yet many of us know that such happiness is fleeting. True satisfaction is always one job, drink, or […]

In Acts, the power to heal was given by the risen Lord Jesus to his apostles to lay the foundation of the church (Acts 2:43; Eph. 2:20). These miracles were redemptive signs that accompanied the preaching of the gospel and validated their message. And like all signs, they pointed to something else; they pointed to […]

Having just mentioned the prayers, the signs of the apostles, and the church’s gatherings in the temple (Acts 2:42-47), Luke then focuses on a specific event concerning one sign, two apostles, a time of prayer at the temple, and a lame beggar. But why tell this story? First, this sets the stage for the next […]

Throughout Luke’s gospel, the advancement of the kingdom of God has evoked one of two responses: acceptance or rejection. In the healing of the crippled woman in Luke 13, we see both (v.17). Immediately following this miracle, Jesus gives two parables to explain how, despite opposition, the kingdom of God would spread and make an […]

The Bible repeatedly affirms that there is no neutrality when it comes to God and his kingdom. In Luke 11:23 we read: “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (see also Matt. 6:24; Rom. 6:16; James 4:4). In the healing of the mute man and the […]

The feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle recorded in all four gospels. This sign not only shows us Jesus’ compassion towards the crowds and his divine power to multiply the food, but—like every other miracle Jesus performed—points us to why he was sent into the world. In John’s gospel, speaking to the crowds […]

What are we to do when faced with trials, suffering, hardship, sickness, or death?  How are we to respond when God’s timing and purposes seem to be the complete opposite of what we expect from him? The interweaving stories of Jairus and the woman with the issue of blood both point us to our compassionate Savior and what it […]

“Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?” (Luke 8:25). Having just witnessed Jesus rebuke the wind and the waves, the disciples posed this question among themselves. They knew that controlling the forces of nature and calming the raging seas are activities that only God himself could do (see Psalm 107:28-29). But […]

All throughout Scripture, we are given glimpses the promise that one day sin and death will be no more. In the Old Testament, we see hints of this future hope through different characters, prophets, and events, all of which point to God’s final answer to the sting of death and the power of sin: Jesus Christ, the […]

In the Old Testament we read of how God graciously called Israel to his be his chosen people. They were to teach all the surrounding nations about their holy and loving God by their covenant faithfulness to his word (Ex. 19:4-6). However in the New Testament, Jesus appears as  the true and better Israel who came to redeem a […]