March 10, 2025
Sharing in Christ’s Death
As we participate in this sacred commemoration of the Lord’s death, may each of us pursue a more intense involvement in the sufferings of Christ.
Articles for tag: Philippians 2
September 1, 2023
The Fine Print of Relationship: God Has Always Fulfilled His Covenantal Promises—and He Still Does
By Marty Solomon “Trust me.” Those aren’t popular words these days. We’re waking up to the reality of institutional abuses, cultural messaging, and half-truths. Simply put, we don’t trust anybody but ourselves. God has always invited his creation into a place of trust. Hebraic thought talks about this using words in which we place great theological stock: belief, trust, hope, faith. These words speak of the dynamic relationship between God and his creation. From the opening chapters of Scripture, God invited humanity into a place of trust—trust in the goodness of creation, in his acceptance of and provision for you,
April 1, 2021
Unity Matters: Two Essentials We Need to Experience Oneness
Words are powerful, especially a person’s final words. A loved one’s final words impact us for years to come. In the same way, the final words of Jesus will continue to impact us until he returns. Jesus not only spoke seven separate times from the cross, but in his last hours, he offered up a prayer that included us. A careful reading of Jesus’ longest recorded prayer (John 17) reveals Jesus prayed not only for his followers then, but for his followers now. Quite literally, Jesus prayed for us. And he asked God for only one thing on our behalf—that
August 15, 2020
The Attitude that Makes the Difference
A Lesson from Stephen About Doing Church in a Time of Chaos By Caleb Kaltenbach UFOs . . . Harry and Meghan stepping away from the royal family . . . Carole Baskin . . . murder hornets . . . the Golden Gate Bridge making music . . . Zoom-using 95-year-olds . . . America, the land of homeschooling. . . . If you had asked me a year ago what all of these things would have in common, I never—in a million years—would have guessed 2020. Until this year, you probably didn’t say “in-person gatherings,” “flatten the curve,”
June 14, 2020
Sex, Religion, & Politics
Learning from Our Restoration History—and the Civil War—How to Fight Well By Steve Carr An adage suggests there are three subjects one should not bring up in public conversation: sex, religion, and politics. In this article, I throw caution to the wind and bring up all three, while pursuing how political issues have impacted the Restoration Movement. One of the mottoes of our movement is, “In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, love.” In the traditional understanding of this proverb, nonessentials refers to those extra-biblical topics not specifically mentioned in Scripture. While politics would seem to fit in
June 24, 2019
Lesson for June 30, 2019: Speak Up by Being His Children (Philippians 2:12-18)
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. 5 (weeks 25-28; June 23–July 14, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Aim: Speak up by holding out the Word in your life. ______ By Mark Scott Words matter. God used them to create the world (Genesis 1:3). Jesus used them to give life to the world (John 6:63). The apostles used them to save the world (Acts 11:14). That being said,
August 11, 2018
The State of Racial Reconciliation in the Church
An interview with Sonny Smith, lead pastor of Detroit Church By David Dummitt In a February 1957 message for the National Council of Churches’ observance of Race Relations Sunday, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote, Racial segregation is a blatant denial of the unity which we all have in Christ. Segregation is a tragic evil that is utterly un-Christian. . . . Every Christian is confronted with the basic responsibility of working courageously for a non-segregated society. The task of conquering segregation is an inescapable must confronting the Christian Churches. King’s bold words speak to churches today as clearly
November 16, 2017
Incarnation and Resurrection
By Teresa D. Welch Strips of cloth, angels, a man named Joseph, a bed, spices, an angel”s “do not be afraid” message, and a group rushing to tell others the good news. In the context of December, with decorated trees and carolers singing “fa-la-la-la-la,” you most likely associated those items with the story found in Luke 2: “And she [Mary] gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed in him a manager” (v. 7). But these elements of the Christmas story also appear in a different story about Christ. The story of Christmas reminds
December 11, 2016
Mystery, Model, Hope
By Chad Ragsdale Difficult to comprehend, frustrating to explain, the fact that God became flesh is central to our faith. And he did it through the birth of a baby to a virgin. Sometimes I wonder what Christmas at Job”s house would have been like. Holidays can be especially difficult for families living in the wake of tragedy. The songs, parties, and decorations might have the opposite of their intended effect. Rather than inspiring goodwill and joy, they only amplify loss and grief. So try to imagine living through Job”s unimaginable loss while also navigating the joy, festivity, and family
December 9, 2013
Twelve Pictures of the Incarnation
By Ethan Magness Both in my life and in the larger ministry of Mountain Christian Church, we are making strides to embody the incarnation as an intentional ministry strategy. We are seeing new modes of ministry emerging at the level of churchwide strategy, group engagement, and individual action. As we look around, we see pictures of Jesus enfleshed in the world he loves. Don”t be confused by how simple these strategies may be. Incarnational ministry is pretty simple. We just show up and live where Christ”s presence is needed. We see a picture of the incarnation when . . .
January 7, 2013
Lesson for January 13, 2013: Imitating Christ (Philippians 2)
This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. ______ By Sam E. Stone Paul”s epistle to the Philippians reads more like a personal letter than a theological treatise. Today”s text (chapter 2), however, ranks as one of the most significant passages in all the New Testament regarding the coming of God”s Son to earth. It is filled with practical lessons for us as well. Humility Required Philippians 2:1-4 When the apostle says, “If you have . . . these qualities,” he is not questioning whether or not the
January 8, 2012
In Just One Year: Momentous Change and Possibility
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 Douglas A. Foster First, I think the church as a whole will continue moving toward an outward focus that seeks out and cares for the marginalized, powerless, homeless, dirty, and helpless. We, the church, will increasingly see the “least of these” as the impelling reason for our very
January 2, 2012
The First Step Toward Unity
By Mark A. Taylor Christian unity, like so many other grand doctrines of the Bible, is something none of us would repudiate. Just as all of us are for love, joy, peace, patience, and self-control””just as all of us would lift up the ideas of mercy, grace, or forgiveness””all of us, if asked, would agree we”re for unity. But deciding to discuss unity is something else. When I talk about unity, my notions of it are challenged. I must sit across the table from a fellow believer who disagrees with me and yet acknowledge that I want unity with him.
November 12, 2011
In Awe of Jesus
By Joseph C. Grana II I always had trouble relating to Jesus. I believed he was the Christ, the son of the living God. I believed in his virgin conception, sinless life, miracles, and his bodily resurrection. I loved him, worshipped him, and served him. I just could not relate to him. As God, he always had a leg up on me. I could not be like him. I could not live up to his standards. I could not be perfect. I worshipped him because he was the Christ. I could not relate to him because he was the Christ.
September 1, 2010
Growing Like Jesus: Wisdom You Can Touch
By Eddie Lowen (Eddie Lowen was among eight Christian leaders asked to share what helps them mature just as Jesus did. Lowen, a member of Standard Publishing”s Publishing Committee, is senior minister with West Side Christian Church, Springfield, Illinois.) ___________________ A television commercial for cars.com depicted a fictional young genius named David Abernathy during several phases of his life. In the first scene, as a newborn, David shocked the obstetrician who de- livered him by reaching up to shake hands with him! As a preschooler, David amazed his parents by using graphs and PowerPoint slides to successfully negotiate a later bedtime.
November 15, 2009
Growing Leaders in a Young Church: Interior and Exterior
By Steve Cuss I used to believe that a good-hearted pastor with a strong work ethic and a vision from God could lead a thriving local church. Four years into my own journey, four churches around us have closed their doors. In order to thrive, I”ve learned to focus on the interior life of the leader and the exterior structure of the church. Your Interior Life Baptize your calendar!“”I”m convinced my calendar is a pagan””possibly even a devil worshiper. It can run my life ragged if I”m not careful, keeping me so consumed with details that I neglect my fundamental
