March 17, 2025
Yours Is the Glory
Jesus teaches us how to pray, not as a burdensome duty but as a loving response to the Creator who invites us to call him “Father.”
Articles for tag: Lord’s Prayer
March 10, 2025
Lead Us Not into Temptation
If we live for a while in Temptation Desert, the Lord’s goal is to build our character, loyalty, and ability to serve. He is pulling for us to win, not setting us up to fail.
March 4, 2025
Forgive Us Our Debts
Do we seek God’s forgiveness—both for sins we have willfully committed and for hidden faults that are hard for us to see? And do we extend forgiveness to others, whether they intentionally did something wrong or they sinned without even realizing it?
February 24, 2025
Our Daily Bread
Jesus said to pray, “Give us today our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11), and every part of that sentence has something to teach us.
February 17, 2025
Your Will Be Done
Discipleship requires surrender—ceasing our battle of the wills and voluntarily submitting ourselves to the Lord.
March 18, 2024
The Good Stuff
In the moment, it was hard to see that some "good stuff" was happening . . .
January 11, 2021
Jan 17 | Reverse Rewards
The practice of faith is always public and private. If the practice of faith is only public, then it is hypocritical. If the practice of faith is only private, then we miss the community aspect of it.
January 11, 2021
Jan 17 | Discovery
Study Questions for Groups — In what ways are a person’s motives important to how they practice their faith?
March 24, 2020
E91 Helping Members Live by Faith, Connect with God
East 91st Street Christian Church in Indianapolis is closed until further notice, but it is continuing to serve in both expected and unexpected ways. “At times like these, we have a choice,” associate minister David Faust told theindychannel.com. “Do we live by fear, or do we live by faith? We’re choosing to live by faith.” In addition to livestreaming a Sunday morning worship service, church volunteers offered prayers for individuals in cars during a drive-through Communion kit distribution at the church’s main entrance on Saturday morning. The church has also helped produce the first of several planned devotional videos geared
February 27, 2020
Genuine, Fervent Prayers . . . and the Alternative
S. S. Lappin served as editor of Christian Standard from 1909 to 1917, and he then wrote hundreds of articles for the magazine until his death in 1960. Here are excerpts from an essay he wrote about prayer. _ _ _ Praying and Saying Prayers Bible prayers are brief but they are genuine and fervent. Ours are too long and we “say” them By S. S. LappinMarch 2, 1940; p. 7 . . . When prayer becomes self-conscious it ceases to be a prayer; it is merely saying a prayer. A certain Pharisee could not make the grade with his
March 12, 2017
OUR MINISTRY TO REFUGEES: “My only memory is war”
By Aaron Thomas “In front of us was the Turkish border, and their soldiers were shooting at any refugees they could see. Behind us, we had ISIS,” said “M,” a Syrian refugee describing his flight from Syria and attempt to sneak across the Turkey border. “This is what the media doesn”™t show,” he continued. “The media shows people coming over on boats. The hardest part is getting out of Syria because Turkish soldiers are shooting at anyone trying to cross their border, and ISIS will kill us if we go back. One night, a woman and her baby running next
January 19, 2015
Carpet Splitting
By Brian Jennings As a young man still in Bible college, Chuck Thomas was invited to preach at First Christian Church in Gotebo, Oklahoma. The church was searching for a new preacher. Chuck accepted, and drove to the small town the following Sunday. Chuck noticed the church (both the building and the people) seemed split down the middle. Both sides had their own Communion table, and their own elders, who separately prayed and served their half of the congregation. This strange division bewildered Chuck and his wife, Anita. A friendly family invited them over for Sunday lunch. After eating, Chuck
January 9, 2015
A Healthy Church Helps Make a Healthy Community
By Nate Bush The gospel is powerful (Romans 1:16). The gospel”s power to change a heart on the spot never ceases to amaze. A healthy church must embrace the power of the gospel in preaching and personal evangelism, but for a church to be healthy she must also embrace the purpose of the gospel. The gospel”s purpose, or its end, is the restoration of the redeemed world. Embrace the Purpose of the Gospel Jesus is going to make everything new (Revelation 21:5). One day Jesus is going to bring complete restoration to the material world (Romans 8:20-25). Although we
January 10, 2012
In Just One Year: Love Your City
Nothing challenges us to think about changing times more than the transition from one year to the next. On this first day of 2012, we asked six Christian leaders to think about the church a year from now and to draw a picture of our progress””and our problems””then. * * * By Jon Ferguson Last fall my family moved to the north side of Chicago””we love this city. We love Chicago for its sports teams, architecture, and history, but most of all, we love Chicago for its people: hard-working, unpretentious, and good-natured””as long as you don”t take their parking space
August 16, 2011
Who”s the Hero?
By Teresa Welch During my 15-year tenure as a children”s minister, I was proud of how much Bible content the children learned. But now I wonder if that was enough. Whether it was through Sunday school, kids worship, youth groups, or summer programs like church camp and Vacation Bible School, I knew children were learning the Word of God. However, as I reflected on those years, I saw a problem. Sometimes our efforts to make sure children were learning the Word of God didn”t lead them to learn about God. Certainly we taught about the number of stones David collected
August 8, 2010
Safe, to Lost, to Saved?
Read Jeff Faull’s response to this article _______________ By John Mark Hicks What is the relationship of our children to the kingdom of God? Within the Restoration Movement we have historically held that children are safe (without sin) until they reach the “age of accountability,” at which time they own their sin and become sinners (guilty). At that point, as I generally understand the theology, children are not only unsafe but also outside the grace of God. They do not belong to the kingdom. Consequently, children (ranging from ages 9-13 generally) are instructed about baptism, their sin, and their need
April 12, 2009
This Is the Church”s Moment
By Ethan Magness The fifth chapter of 2 Samuel records three pivotal events in the life of David and the history of Israel. First, David is acknowledged as the king of all Israel. Saul and his legacy are rejected, and David is established as the unquestioned ruler. Politically he has arrived. Second, David conquers Jerusalem and establishes a new capital. Geographically (and strategically) he has arrived. Third, David defeats the Philistines. From Gibeon to Gezer he strikes down the powerful Philistine army. Militarily he has arrived. He has one more important task. He must retrieve the ark of the covenant
March 15, 2009
FROM MY BOOKSHELF: For Presiders, Preachers, Prayers, and Other Leaders
By LeRoy Lawson Clinton J. Holloway, Lest We Forget: Meditations at the Meal of Remembrance (Cold Tree Press, 2008). August 2008 featured selections in Christian Standard from this collection by Clinton Holloway of meditations on the Lord”s Supper. This helpful book responds to a need many a presider feels when trying to offer a fresh thought before the worshipers partake. Some of Holloway”s offerings are refreshingly original, others more predictable, and yet others will spark your own imagination. Each focuses our attention on the reason for our worship. And, to one who has sat through””and even been guilty of presenting””sometimes
July 22, 2007
10 Things any Church Can Do to Enrich Worship
By Shockley Flick Here are 10 suggestions that may bring a fresh spark to your worship services. As you read through them, choose one or two that appeal to you and plug them into this Sunday”s service. New additions to your service or even slight changes will help trigger the mind to be open to a fresh look at the Savior. Pray Each week ask the Lord to change lives. Recruit volunteers to walk through the seats before the service, praying for those who will be coming. Ask the choir/praise group to pray for the first four people they see
July 2, 2006
Reconciliation and the Restoration Vision
By C. Robert Wetzel It happened to be Remembrance Day when I visited the Church of Christ in Coventry, England. It was now 30 years after the guns of World War II had been silenced. During the worship service that morning an elder shared his memory of that catastrophic night in November 1940 when the German Luftwaffe carpet-bombed this city of 600,000 people. If it was not the first saturation bombing it was certainly the most devastating up to that time. As the elder talked about the suffering, there was no bitterness in his voice toward the Germans; only a
