September 3, 2025
Preaching is a living transaction between the preacher and those who are listening; the words we speak must represent that truth. So, when you sit down to prepare a sermon, write for the ear, not the eye.
December 22, 2024
Church planter and minister Brent Bramer shares a memory from childhood of a family tradition that took place on Christmas Eve.
September 23, 2024
Worship in heaven is on-going. It never ends—and never gets old.
March 11, 2024
It’s creepy if a stranger looks directly at your face. In some situations, though, the best way to communicate is eyeball to eyeball. . . .
November 1, 2023
By Gary L. Johnson We make choices from the time we get out of bed until long after the sun sets. Some choices are simple and some are more serious, ranging from what clothes we wear to whom we marry. Weighty decisions are difficult, while simple decisions are made with little thought or effort. “What the World Needs Now Is Love” was a hit song in the mid-1960s, but that sentiment holds true in today’s era of conspicuous conflict. But will we choose to bring actual love into the corner of the world we call home? In a TED Talk
April 24, 2023
Jesus was on the rich young ruler’s side. Jesus was pulling for him. . . .
March 27, 2023
Mark devoted one-third of his Gospel to the Passion experience of Jesus, and the first event in that experience was the triumphal entry into Jerusalem. . . .
March 13, 2023
When you find yourself in low places—morally, physically, relationally, or circumstantially—the God of grace is able to repair your “broken walls” and restore what seems ruined (Amos 9:11). . . .
March 1, 2022
By Wes Beavis Christian faith and science are not mutually exclusive. Unfortunately, secularized culture is convincing younger generations they must decide between the two. I constantly tell young people not to believe the secular voices that declare you must choose either science or faith . . . or worse, that if you are a Christian, you are by default a nonscientific Neanderthal. As both a follower of Christ and a clinical psychologist, I have developed a passion for discovering places where Christian faith and scientific discovery intersect—and there are countless intersections! For example, when the rich young ruler approached Jesus
October 18, 2021
In what ways is the New Covenant more personal, internal, and relational than the Old?
November 26, 2018
Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 12 (weeks 45–48; November 11—December 2, 2018) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Aim: Confess areas of one’s life in which Christ has not been given total allegiance as Lord and pray for mission work in areas known for “magic” and other demonic activity. ______ By Mark Scott In December we celebrate the incarnation of Christ. Jesus came into the world for many reasons (Luke 19:10;
October 28, 2018
By Michael C. Mack “If you make disciples, you will always get the church. But if you try to build the church, you will rarely get disciples.” This quote from Mike Breen jumped off the page as I read his article, “Why the Missional Movement Will Fail,” several years ago. Apparently many others also found it compelling; the last time I checked, the article has more than 20,000 shares online. As a discipleship and small groups guy, I’ve read lots of articles and have been involved in many discussions about whether churches and groups should emphasize discipleship or being “missional”
October 23, 2018
By Tom Claibourne Jesus’ eyes must have been quite similar to ours, but he didn’t always look at things the way we do. He saw things from an eternal perspective. Therefore, when Jesus walked out of Nazareth to begin his ministry, his eyes saw things we usually do not see. He saw the spiritual battle that rages between God’s angelic hosts and Satan’s demonic forces. He saw beyond the surface. Jesus saw people’s hearts, along with their needs and potential. When others saw filthy, sinful women (Luke 7; John 4 and 8), Jesus saw women who had taken some wrong
November 16, 2016
By Jim Tune Jesus twice asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” It seems an odd question. The first time Jesus asks it, he”s talking to disciples James and John. Their answer isn”t good. They want prominent places in God”s kingdom. “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory,” they say (Mark 10:37*). Jesus knows they still don”t get it. I sigh, because I know I”m infected with the same desire sometimes. Who among us isn”t tempted by prominence and glory? A short time later, Jesus asks this
August 12, 2016
By Victor Knowles In 1983, President Ronald Reagan issued a proclamation establishing the first National Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. (It will be observed next on Jan. 15, 2017.) This day calls attention to the cause of the unborn and to the precious gift of life itself. Life is a sacred gift from God, but it was not considered so in the time of Christ. The Anglican priest and poet G. A. Studdert-Kennedy (1883″“1929) writes in his famous poem “Indifference”: When Jesus came to Golgotha they hanged Him on a tree, They drave great nails through hands and feet, and
May 16, 2016
Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri, and has held preaching ministries in Missouri, Illinois, and Colorado. This lesson treatment is published in the May 15 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott My close friend J. K. Jones said, “I spent the first 40 years of my life as a child trying to be an adult. I am thinking of spending the last 40 years of my life as an adult trying to be a child again.” There is
March 7, 2016
Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri, and has held preaching ministries in Missouri, Illinois, and Colorado. This lesson treatment is published in the March 6 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott Affluenza complicates simple faith. Affluenza is a sickness caused by too many material possessions. While everything created by God is good (2 Timothy 4:4), and while God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3), there probably is such
January 5, 2016
By Mark A. Taylor It”s tough to be a child in America these days, especially if you”re one of the children described by statistics like these: “¢ One in 45 children in America experience homelessness each year, a total of 1.6 million children.1 “¢ More than five children die every day as a result of child abuse, and about 80 percent of these are under the age of 4. A report of child abuse is made every 10 seconds.2 “¢ One-third of American children””a total of 15 millions””are being raised without a father. Nearly 5 million more live without a
April 10, 2015
By Robert F. Hull Jr. Sometimes we do not see the wealth of our own church practices until we worship with people whose practices differ from ours. From Easter to Pentecost you will hear in many churches, especially those in the Anglican, Lutheran, and Catholic traditions, the words “remember your baptism.” If you were to worship in some of these churches, you would even see a large vessel of water brought in as a visual reminder of baptism. It is especially during the season when we focus on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus that the baptistery and the table
December 1, 2014
By Michael C. Mack Remind your youth that Jesus came into the world to serve (Mark 10:45). Here are five ideas you can use to serve others together: 1. Give the Gift of Cookies. Youth expert Bill Nance (billnance.org) shares this idea: Set aside three hours one evening. Tell all your teens to bring in some homemade Christmas cookies. Sort them into plastic bags and label each one with something like, “Merry Christmas from the First Christian Church youth!” Divide up a nearby neighborhood (or apartment complex or nursing home, for instance) and have the students go two-by-two to the
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