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Answer: Yes
At the start of this chapter Paul asks: Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? The answer is yes. If you're a Christian you probably thought that answer yes because…
Created over 2 years ago
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Metaphorically linking arms
When I read these verses I got an image in my head of a massive group of Christians all linking arms and standing their ground against a group of nasty, overly zealous riot police. Paul encourages Christians…
Created over 2 years ago
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The reason for being alive
Paul talks here about his very reason for being alive is to spread the good news about Jesus. If all Christians live like this we would probably see some very different practices in our church. I think…
Created over 2 years ago
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Preaching so people will like me
As somone who gets the chance to preach every now and then I can relate to the people Paul is criticising here. I often have to check myself before I get up to speak and remind myself that this is an…
Created over 2 years ago
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Prayer - always could do better.
I'm always challenged by how much Paul seems to pray for people who aren't himself. I pray regularly - pretty much every day, but Paul's prayers appear more selfless in their focus. I will generally pray…
Created over 2 years ago
Philippians 1:3 (NLT), Philippians 1:4 (NLT), Philippians 1:5 (NLT)
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Honesty
I don't think these verses are particularly profound, I just really appreciate the honesty. "Some people doubted" a very humble attitude from the author. It's also one firmly based in reality - people…
Created over 2 years ago
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When it's okay to lie...
This is one of the few occaisions in the bible where it appears to be okay for a believer to lie. I have often wondered about those extreme circumstances - like being tortured for information that would…
Created almost 3 years ago
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Heard it before... or have I?
I've heard verse 20 heaps of times: "For where two or three gather together as my followers,s I am there among them." But do yourself a favour and read the verses that come before. Puts a bit of a different…
Created almost 3 years ago
Matthew 18:18 (NLT), Matthew 18:19 (NLT), Matthew 18:20 (NLT)
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If you really believe something, you'll act like it.
I like this method of judging the genuineness (real word?) of someone's faith. We can say all sorts of things about what we believe but the real test comes when we have to put them into action. For example:…
Created about 3 years ago
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Milk = the gospel basics
This is similar to Paul in 1 Cor 3. However it seems that the writer of Hebrews is concerned that they need to keep hearing about repentance and forgiveness. I sometimes feel the same way about myself.…
Created about 3 years ago
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Watch out for empty sacrifices
Hebrews does a brilliant job in it's explanation for a lot of the OT laws. It shows that the spirit of the law still holds authority for us but that we are not tied down to it because of what Jesus has…
Created about 3 years ago
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Jesus is happy to be interrupted
Did you notice how Jesus isn't frustrated by being interrupted? In fact he insist on sticking around and investigates the woman who had touched him. Despite this imporant religious leader needing him…
Created about 3 years ago
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Paul as Tim's mentor
Here's a few things I picked up about Paul's mentoring relationship with Timothy: 1:3 He urged him - particularly to protect correct teaching. 1:18 He instructed him - in how to live a life of faith.…
Created about 3 years ago
1 Timothy 1:3 (NIV84), 1 Timothy 1:18 (NIV84), 1 Timothy 2:1 (NIV84), 1 Timothy 3:1 (NIV84), 1 Timothy 4:6 (NIV84), 1 Timothy 4:9 (NIV84), 1 Timothy 4:12 (NIV84), 1 Timothy 5:1 (NIV84), 1 Timothy 5:3 (NIV84), 1 Timothy 5:21 (NIV84), 1 Timothy 6:11 (NIV84)
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Legalism kills the church's ministry
It's interesting that despite Jesus being far greater than the temple and the law that we Christians still try and impose as many OT style regulations on our churches as possible. We regulate and lay…
Created about 3 years ago
Matthew 12:1 (ASV), Matthew 12:2 (ASV), Matthew 12:3 (ASV), Matthew 12:4 (ASV), Matthew 12:5 (ASV), Matthew 12:6 (ASV), Matthew 12:7 (ASV), Matthew 12:8 (ASV), Matthew 12:9 (ASV), Matthew 12:10 (ASV), Matthew 12:11 (ASV), Matthew 12:12 (ASV), Matthew 12:13 (ASV), Matthew 12:14 (ASV)
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Is temptation good for the soul?
Jesus actually enters the wilderness to BE tempted. This is perhaps an example of a story that is not necessarily a model for us to follow. Jesus can put himself in the firing line for temptation but…
Created about 3 years ago
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John the Baptist - a big important character
It would be easy to ignore JtB. He's only given a couple of short passages and then later gets his head cut off (pretty horrible when you think about it). I recently realised that he was actually Jesus'…
Created about 3 years ago
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Fulfillment of prophecy is Matt 2's main point?
It occurs to me that we don't really need to know a lot of the information in Matt 2 except that it shows us how many prophecies Jesus fulfilled even when he was an infant still pooing his pants. There's…
Created about 3 years ago
Matthew 2:19 (ASV), Matthew 2:20 (ASV), Matthew 2:21 (ASV), Matthew 2:22 (ASV), Matthew 2:23 (ASV)
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Jesus = royalty
I don't often think of Jesus as royalty. Usually when I think of royalty I think of Princess Di conspiracies and cousins sleeping with each other. But when royalty is at it's finest - noble leaders who…
Created about 3 years ago
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Illegitimate child
At first it might seem a bit confronting that Jesus was conceived outside of wedlock (generally frowned upon in Christian teaching). Even though it was technically legit because of the whole Holy Spirit…
Created about 3 years ago
Matthew 1:18 (ASV), Matthew 1:19 (ASV), Matthew 1:20 (ASV), Matthew 1:21 (ASV), Matthew 1:22 (ASV), Matthew 1:23 (ASV), Matthew 1:24 (ASV), Matthew 1:25 (ASV)
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Kristina's talk on this chapter.
http://www2.shaccommunity.org.au/wipeout (http://www2.shaccommunity.org.au/wipeout) Kristina did a talk on this chapter for our youth group. Just a short one but a good intro to reading this section.…
Created about 3 years ago
Kirk Mackenzie
- kirkace
- Melbourne