True Belief

You hear false claims all the time, in both politics and religion. Falsehoods often find a ready audience. “The time is coming,” says the Scripture, “when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but they will accumulate teachers to suit their own desires.  They will turn away...
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Leap of Faith

Faith is far more than an intellectual conclusion that God exists. It is a decision to trust in God, even as we cannot see clearly and may yet feel doubts.
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Leap of Faith

To believe in God means far more than accepting that God exists. It means to trust in God. Abraham believed in God, that he would have many descendants through whom the whole world would be blessed, even though he was childless and old. He was convinced that God was able to do...
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Why Is God Hidden?

God must be in some sense veiled from view for human beings to have freedom. Is this why there can be no overwhelming, unavoidable “proof” of God?
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Why Is God Hidden?

If God seems hidden from view, it is in part because God is beyond human comprehension, and even more because if God appeared in full glory it would overwhelm human beings. But most of all, God is unseen because people turn from God and ignore God. Yet God gently reveals God’s...
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God’s Word Is a Light

We know who God is because God has revealed God’s self through His Word.
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God Is Good

There is a “universal moral law” – a shared human concept of the good, which has its necessary origin in God, the source of all goodness.
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God Is Good

Why do people have a sense of morality, a conviction that there is right and wrong? People act as though there is a moral Authority, establishing good versus evil. This is exactly what the Bible declares. God is the ground of all goodness, and God gives to all people a moral...
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The Spirit Bears Witness within Us

We can know the reality of God through the inward experience of God’s Spirit.
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The Spirit Bears Witness within Us

In countless ways and places and times, people have experienced the presence of God. “The Spirit bears witness within us,” says the Scripture, “that we are children of God.”  (Romans 8:16) Such deep and universal experience testifies to the Reality of God. But what about those...
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The Artistry of God

All of creation bears witness to the reality of God as the Master Artist.
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The Artistry of God

Why is it that when people look at the natural world, they marvel at its beauty? We are struck by the artistry of it all. Science can help us understand the processes by which the world took shape. But the only explanation for its artistry is that there is an Artist behind it all...
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In the Beginning God

God is the necessary origin of all things in the universe. Is that pure faith, or is there support for that?
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In the Beginning God

Is this a mindless universe, here by pure chance? Or is it the product of a Creator? The more we know about the universe, the more amazing it appears. The fundamental laws of physics seem to be set just right to produce a universe that can sustain life. Many scientists have...
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Where’s the Proof?

The Ontological Argument—God is not a proposition to be proved but a reality to be encountered. But there are many elements in the world which point to the reality of God – beginning with the very idea of God that is implanted in the human mind.
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Where’s the Proof?

Is there proof for God? The Bible says that there signs of God all around us; and Jesus performed many signs during his ministry. But when pressed for an obvious, incontrovertible sign, or proof, Jesus refused. He knew that when people demand proof for God, they are putting...
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Why Believe?

Where does belief come from? Belief arises out of a fundamental awareness of the Reality of God.
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Why Believe?

Since the dawn of time, human beings in every place and culture have been religious. They have sensed a divine Reality behind and beyond all things. They built worship centers that were more prominent than anything else they built. Why have human beings had this fundamental...
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God’s Plan for the Human Race

What is in store in humanity’s future?  God has a marvelous plan!
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God’s Plan for the Human Race

We may find ourselves in dark and distressing times, but the Bible says that God has a plan. It is a plan to give us a future with hope. That plan unfolds through Jesus Christ, who triumphs over evil and death. The plan unfolds further through us, as we put our trust in Christ,...
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Find the Pearl

To what are you devoting your life?  Is it worth spending your life for?  Jesus leads us to find “the pearl of great price” – the prize worth more than all else.
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Find the Pearl

Jesus told a parable about a trader looking for fine pearls. He was searching for the best. Jesus urges us to do this spiritually – to seek what is of ultimate worth. The trader found a pearl of extraordinary value, and when he did so, he gave everything that he had in order to...
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Family of Faith

God works through all sorts of families, to enable new generations to have faith. Sometimes God works through two devoted parents, like Joseph and Mary. Sometimes God works through one believing parent, like Eunice, the mother of Timothy, who was raised by his mother in faith,...
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Family of Faith

How will new generations come to faith? The Scriptures mark out a clear plan.
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The Real You

The ancient Greeks said, “Know thyself.” We sense that knowing our true identity is a key to life. But how do we do that? The Bible points the way.
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The Real You

What is your true identity? Are you just a material creature in a meaningless world? Are you what others think you are, which may be less than wonderful? Are you the sum of all the very imperfect things you have done? Or are you who God says you are? “The Spirit of God bears...
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Hope for the World

Is there hope for planet earth? Are we just adrift in the universe, or does God have a plan for all creation? The Scriptures bring a stunning message of hope for the world.
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Hope for the World

The Bible begins with the origin of all things: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth . . . (Genesis 1:1) The Bible concludes with a vision of the destiny of all things: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth . . . (Revelation 21:1) God has a plan to le...
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The Goal of Life

Does life have a purpose? What is your highest goal in life? The Bible gives us a vision for our destiny.
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The Goal of Life

Lots of motivational speakers and financial advisers will encourage you to “keep your eye on the goal.” But what exactly is the goal? The great problem for many people is that they do not know what the goal in life is, or they have unworthy goals that actually lead nowhere. Jesus...
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Your Divine Destiny

The Bible says that you are “predestined.” Does that mean that God has determined your future? Or is there a destiny offered that you choose to fulfill? This is the beginning of a sermon series entitled “Fulfill Your Destiny – Entering the Future God Intends.”
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Your Divine Destiny

We have been destined according to the purpose of God who accomplishes all things according to His counsel and will. Ephesians 1:11 You have a God-given destiny! This is the powerful proclamation of the New Testament. In an age when so many think that life is simply random and...
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Go Fishing

The entire story of Jesus’ public ministry – from the first call of the disciples to Jesus’ resurrection and sending forth of the disciples — is bracketed by two fishing stories. These signify our calling to become “fishers of people.” When we truly encounter the Risen...
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Go Fishing

In today’s political climate, people are constantly denigrating others, and putting the most favorable light on themselves. In a news report, you can often tell what channel is telling the story, because they put a positive spin on “their side.” How different is the Biblical...
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The Fizzled Fig Tree

Jesus once cursed a fig tree. What was that all about? Jesus was actually bringing a very important message to us, and to the world.
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The Fizzled Fig Tree

Make a difference! Change the world! We have a longing to make a positive impact on the world around us. When we pursue that longing, we answer the call of Jesus, who summoned his followers to be “light” and “salt” for the world, and who said that we are here on earth to “bear...
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Wine Tasting

Whatever we are dealing with in life, Christ can bring about transformation.
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Wine Tasting

Did you know there is wine tasting in the Bible? In the gospel of John, at a wedding feast, the chief steward tastes some wine which, unbeknownst to him, had come from water which Jesus had just turned into wine. He calls the bridegroom and says, “Everyone serves the good wine...
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The Picture Becomes Clear

Many people believe in God without really grasping what faith in God means. The picture becomes clear in Jesus.
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The Picture Becomes Clear

When I see small print, it is very blurry. But when I put on reading glasses, everything becomes clear! I find this to be a good image for what happens when we “put on Christ” (Romans 13:14). The picture becomes clear. Blurred spiritual vision is a problem in every age. People...
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The Dazzling Vision

Sometimes we wish we could get a perfectly clear vision of God. We long for a “mountaintop experience.” But real knowledge of God may happen in other ways.
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The Dazzling Vision

Sometimes people have thought that the way to come to know God is through intellectual inquiry—the philosophical path. Others have felt that the way to God is through a spiritual enlightenment—the mystical path. But while there is value both to intellectual inquiry and devotional...
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The Miraculous Meal

Can God provide for our need? Can we make a difference for the needs of others? When we have faith in Christ, the results can be much bigger than we thought possible.
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The Miraculous Meal

One of the most prominent themes of the Bible is that God uses ordinary people with small resources to do great things. An inspiring example of this is in the story of the “feeding of the 5000,” when a boy offers his fives loaves of barley bread and two fish, and Jesus empowers...
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Faith Finds a Way

To what lengths would you go to help someone you love? Is Jesus a part of your plan? There is power in what Christ can do!
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Faith Finds a Way

One of the most beloved stories in the gospels is the story of the friends who were carrying a paralyzed man to Jesus and who, upon finding the way blocked, managed to get to Jesus by digging a hole in the roof and lowering the man on ropes! The story illustrates several key...
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The Outcasts Are In

What sort of people are acceptable to Jesus? Jesus’ answer to that question is different from the usual.
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The Outcasts Are In

Religious hatred is repeatedly in the news; we constantly hear of acts of violence in the name of religion, occurring across the globe. Such behavior is nothing new—human beings have often directed prejudice and hate toward “the other”—but it is directly challenged by Jesus....
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Follow Me

Discipleship is not just believing in Jesus, but stepping forth in a journey with Jesus – trusting in Christ, growing in a relationship, and becoming involved in risk-taking mission.
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Follow Me

Many people today would say that to be a Christian means that you believe in Jesus, or that it means you are nice to your neighbor. Yet when Jesus encountered a group of fishermen by the Sea of Galilee, he did not say to them “Believe in me,” or “Be nice.” He said, “Follow me.”...
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