June 17, 2024
June 23 | Discovery Questions
These Discovery Questions are for use with this week’s Lookout Bible Lesson, “Revealed in Writing” (Daniel 5:1-6, 13-30), by Mark Scott.
Articles for tag: Jerusalem
THROWBACK THURSDAY: Excerpts from 3 Essays About Pentecost
"It is my conviction that the day of Pentecost is the focal point in the history of the world," Wm. E. Sweeney wrote in 1929, ". . . that all the lines of history before that time converge to that great day, and that all the lines of history since that time have diverged." . . .
March 27, 2023
April 2 | Application (‘Mud on Your Coat’)
"In the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ triumphal entry," David Faust writes, "several details stir my curiosity. . . ."
February 6, 2023
February 12 | Courage to Take a Risk
When Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem, he set right to work. . . . Nehemiah was willing to risk it all to ensure that Jerusalem would be rebuilt so that one day the good news would come out of Zion.
April 11, 2022
April 17 | Application
If you survey a crowd about their favorite flowers, crocuses probably won’t make the list. They aren’t tall like sunflowers, elegant like orchids, or fragrant like hyacinths and lilacs. . . .
April 4, 2022
Passover
Today, we are about to do something that completes the third panel of the story. Our Communion time is our Passover. . . .
March 14, 2022
Welcoming Our Shame
By Stuart Powell By AD 32, the region of Judea had endured the shame of Roman oppression for a century. The Jews longed to see David’s kingdom restored but didn’t know how to make it happen. They dreamt of a kingdom where Jews ruled Jews and the Law of God brought perfect harmony in the Promised Land. The Jewish faithful opposed all Greek and Roman customs and mandates. They refused to offer sacrifices to the emperor, honor the false Roman deities, or willingly pay the tribute Caesar demanded. In response, the Romans ridiculed their faith and mercilessly killed any Jews
October 4, 2021
Flesh and Blood
As Paul was instructing the church at Corinth about the reality of the resurrection of the dead, he declared that our sin-stained physical bodies face a barrier to God’s holiness through which we cannot pass.
May 31, 2021
Crown of Glory
The only earthly crown Jesus ever wore was made of thorns. Yet it was through his suffering that Jesus received a spiritual crown no human eye has ever seen.
May 24, 2021
May 30 | City of David Founded
David’s reign would be centralized in Jerusalem and the presence of God would be located there as in no other city.
May 3, 2021
The Hen
The metaphor Jesus' used, “as a hen gathers her chicks,” surely got his disciples' attention.
April 12, 2021
Where Is Our Hope?
Where is our hope? Do we fear life's ugly circumstances will become our grave? We need to build our hope on what God promised through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross
April 1, 2021
The Roman Centurion:
Caught Between Kingdoms
The Words of the Roman Centurion When He Came Face-to-Face with the True Son of God Still Resonate His retirement drew near. He’d been serving Rome faithfully for 23 years. Now 43, he was ready to hang up his helmet. His decision to enlist with the Roman military had been a practical one. As a poor man’s son, he knew he needed a stable source of food and shelter. He often wondered what life might have been like had he chosen a different profession.* Had he been a farmer or fisherman, perhaps his closest friends would still be alive. Perhaps
March 8, 2021
The Gift of Grace
Have you ever taken God’s grace for granted? Have we forgotten that grace does not begin in us?
December 14, 2020
The Day I Visited a King’s Palace (Dec. 20 Lesson Application)
This “Application” column goes with the Bible Lesson for Dec. 20, 2020: Fulfilled through Promise (Matthew 2:1-15) ________ By David Faust While in Israel filming a documentary about the basics of the Christian faith, I visited Herodium, the palatial residence designed for King Herod’s protection and pleasure. By all accounts Herod was paranoid and cruel. He tortured and killed family members, servants, and bodyguards. Ironically, this ruthless ruler who destroyed so many lives was an innovative and prolific builder who oversaw the construction of enormous forts, palaces, water projects, and Jerusalem’s crown jewel, the Jewish temple. Herodium (also known as
August 15, 2020
‘I Will Bring You Back’
Lessons from the Babylonian Captivity for Modern-Day ‘Exiles’ By Arron Chambers During this pandemic, quarantine, and sheltering at-home orders, I’ve found myself drawn to Bible stories of liberation and freedom from captivity. We were created to be free—not isolated, alienated, held in captivity, or exiled indefinitely. Even so, such things happen, and it happened to the people of God during a period of 70 years we call the Babylonian captivity. They’d been warned. Warning In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, President Trump and a team of doctors gave daily briefings. Day after day they presented numbers and charts
August 3, 2020
Building God’s House
By Stuart Powell During the construction of the first temple in Jerusalem, Solomon received a message from Yahweh God: As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, observe my laws and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father. And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel (1 Kings 6:11-13). David designed the temple, Solomon built it, but God conceived the faith upon which Solomon’s temple stood. That temple in Jerusalem was one of a multitude built throughout
July 27, 2020
A Powerful Death
By Stuart Powell In his description of Good Friday, Matthew shared details about three events that corresponded with the time of Jesus’ death: At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people (Matthew 27:51-53). Why do we spend so little time pondering these three acts of God—the torn curtain,
July 20, 2020
The Servant of Slaves
By Stuart Powell How does Jesus enter our lives? In the same way he entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday—as a servant. Jesus’ disciple described it this way,“Say to the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden’”(Matthew 21:5, English Standard Version). Jesus’ arrival at Jerusalem, before his suffering, opened with a scene foreshadowed in Zechariah 9:9. As he rode the donkey colt down the steep slope of the Mount of Olives, passing by the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus redefined the relationship between
July 8, 2020
COVID-19 Compels Chitwood, 84, to Launch ‘Encouraging Word’ Videos
By Chris Moon At 84 years old—and after 62 years in ministry—Bob Chitwood is having no problem keeping up with the times. The pastor at Brownville Christian Church in Nebraska has been using the COVID-19 pandemic to take his church’s ministry to Facebook. Each week, Chitwood produces an 8- to 10-minute video he calls “An Encouraging Word,” where Chitwood shares a gospel principle at various locations around the tiny town of Brownville. He went to a local vineyard and winery and discussed Jesus as the true vine. He went down by the Missouri River to discuss the river of life.
