Articles for tag: redemption

Redemption Drawing Near

(This Communion meditation originally appeared on our website in December 2011. Advent is this coming Sunday, Dec. 2.) By Robert F. Hull Jr. Millions of Christians around the world celebrate this coming Sunday as the beginning of Advent, the first of four Sundays of preparation for the grand festival of light we know as Christmas. No matter how often we have observed Advent, for many of us the first Sunday still comes as a shock, for its focus is on the second coming of Jesus, not the first: People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on

September 17, 2018

Mark Scott

Lesson for September 23, 2018 | Redemption: Christ Includes Me (Ephesians 1:3-14)

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. 10 (weeks 37–40; September 16—October 7, 2018) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ The Bible lessons now follow a scope and sequence prepared by Christian Standard Media. For more information, click here. ______ Lesson Aim: Give thanks to the Lord for the riches of his grace and a heavenly inheritance. ______ By Mark Scott Kenneth McFarland was the “Zig Ziglar” of the 1950s and 1960s. He

September 10, 2018

Mark Scott

Lesson for September 16, 2018 | Justification: Christ Liberates Me (Romans 3:9-26)

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. 10 (weeks 37–40; September 16—October 7, 2018) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ The Bible lessons now follow a scope and sequence prepared by Christian Standard Media. For more information, click here. ______ By Mark Scott Here is the bad news: we really need a savior. Here is the good news: Jesus is a wonderful Savior. The only solution to sin (the last two weeks’ lessons)

August 13, 2018

Mark Scott

Lesson for August 19, 2018: Christ Is Preeminent (Colossians 1:9-23)

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. 9 (weeks 33–36; August 19—September 9, 2018) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Beginning this week, the weekly Bible lessons are based on a scope and sequence prepared by Christian Standard Media. For more information, click here. ______ By Mark Scott Our oldest son had a T-shirt that read, “There are two things you can be sure of: (1) There is a God. (2) You are

August 7, 2018

Value Statement

By Joe Harvey Some people are collectors, some are not. Some folks consider themselves too practical to spend time building a collection of coins, cards, stamps, or other treasures. If they don’t have a practical use for something, they sell it, donate it, or throw it away. Noncollectors just don’t understand the remarkable prices people pay for collectibles—like baseball cards. A Babe Ruth card from 1914 is reportedly worth $517,000. Another baseball card, featuring Hall of Famer Honus Wagner, is worth $2.8 million. People say collectibles can be valuable if they are rare, in demand, authentic, and in mint condition.

February 1, 2018

New Testament Theology & Bible

Naysayers at the Cross

By Ronald G. Davis Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!” In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him (Mark 15:29-32). The two chief

December 17, 2017

The Merry Makeover

This essay originally appeared in the December 2012 issue of Christian Standard. ___ By Daniel Schantz It was the worst of times for children. Charles Dickens, a handsome man of 31, trudged up the steps of Number One Downing Terrace, a tall brick house surrounded by flower beds. He was returning from his morning walk. Often he walked 10 to 20 miles a day around London. One day he would walk through the rich neighborhoods. The next day he would pass through the rookeries, or slums, whereÂ as many as 30 children lived in one room, with no bathing facilities. The

August 9, 2017

When I Come to the Cross – Images of Sorrow and Joy

By Jackina Stark Scholars have suggested two details about the cross that I have found intriguing. One has to do with where the cross might have been placed. Some suggest it was not erected at the top of Golgotha but at the base. This is in keeping with crucifixions taking place in busy thoroughfares, but it puts the cross too close to an unconcerned, gawking public for my comfort. It puts it, for that matter, too close to me. The second detail some scholars suggest is that Jesus might have been hung only a few feet above the ground. The

June 23, 2017

Christian Living

Slowly Savored

By Rick Chromey From mainstream Starbucks and neighborhood bistros, the local coffee cup has evolved into a symbol of connection, companionship, and community. The coffee experience is about family and friends, because great coffee naturally takes time. The beans must be roasted and ground. The coffee is percolated, heated, and even specially flavored. And, of course, every cup is sipped and savored to the last drop. Consequently, coffee is the perfect nonalcoholic drink of choice. It”s the ideal beverage for gathering because great community also happens with time. Friendships are grounded and grown. Relationships emerge through connection and communion. In

January 22, 2017

Worship Worship & Prayer

A Comprehensive Review

By Becky Ahlberg “When I survey the wondrous cross, on which the Prince of glory died, my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.” Isaac Watts penned those words in 1707. He was a masterful preacher and poet and was known for writing hymns as part of his sermons. This particular hymn has lasted more than 300 years precisely because it captures the ethos of the cross for each of us personally. Watts was known to have three “rules” for writing: make it personal, make it sensuous (as in appealing to the senses), and

January 20, 2017

Church Life

An Occasion for Unity

By Ronald G. Davis On the same occasion Jesus put in place this memory meal, he prayed fervently for the unity of those who would assemble around his table. Sadly, this table has often divided those “who believe in him,” the ones for whom he prayed (John 17:20). Churches have had significant and insignificant disputes about the Lord”s table. There have been disputes over who should be at the table. Over which believers should be present. Over what the emblems should look like. Over how often the emblems should be available. Over such small matters as to when in the

July 30, 2016

Discipleship & Spiritual Formation

It Just Keeps Getting Better

By James Book I met Jackie when I began my ministry with First Christian Church of Kissimmee, Florida, in May 2011. Her father was a military man who became very violent and abusive toward her from the time she was 10 years old until she later moved out. Jackie worked full-time while attending high school, graduating in 1975. She married the first man to ask her in 1978. Jackie shared with me that she felt so worthless and unloved that she literally sabotaged her own marriage. She got a job shortly after the wedding and started having an affair with

July 14, 2016

Discipleship & Spiritual Formation

From the Mess to a Message of Hope

By Dave Stone Lindsay Knight remembers the hopelessness. It stalked her as a college student, when she had seen too much and been loved too little. It was in the back of her mind as she chased self-worth in being pretty, thin, a good athlete, popular, and successful. After a long string of abusive, destructive relationships left her homeless, alone, and broke, she took the one “yes” she found””to work at a local strip club. It didn”t take long for her to see life at the club wasn”t so glamorous””she didn”t make a lot of money and she didn”t like

July 11, 2016

New Testament Theology & Bible

Lesson for July 17, 2016: God Set Things Right (Romans 3:21″“31)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the July 10Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ Every so often we notice a high watermark in the Bible. After all, the Bible is not flat. Certain passages of Scripture are quite telling and microcosms of the whole story of the Bible. Some examples might include Abraham”s test of faith in Genesis 22, the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15, or the

January 1, 2016

Meditating on Love: January 1

By Becky Ahlberg Friday, January 1, 2016 Read Hebrews 1:1-3.Â This passage brings the story of the incarnation full circle. We have come through another year to remember Jesus” birth with calls to hope, peace, joy, and love. I hope your Christmas celebration was meaningful. And now as you head into the new year, clean up the leftovers, return gifts, and put away the decorations, never forget that his coming, though a gift to you, was a sacrifice for him. I pray that the depth of that sacrifice moves you beyond the quaint story of a manger and hay. Never

December 14, 2015

Lesson for December 20, 2015: Dedication of the Firstborn (Exodus 13:13″“15; Luke 2:22″“32)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ 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 December 13Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ There is an old downward spiral to sin that goes like this: If you hesitate, you will contemplate; if you contemplate, you will negotiate; if you negotiate, you will participate; and if you participate, you will desecrate. But maybe we could say that with the coming

November 20, 2015

Condescension that Brought Redemption

By Victor Knowles Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death””even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:6-8). Communion is an incredible story of condescension. The Christ, the Son of the living God and the creator of the cosmos, condescended first to a lowly manger and then to a rugged Roman cross. It never happened

August 14, 2015

Christian Living

Reaching Down the Throat of Evil

By Steve Wyatt Bill was walking with his 10-year-old daughter and her small dog. Without warning, a neighbor”s pit bull rushed at his daughter”s dog. Bill quickly lifted his daughter and her pet to the roof of a nearby car, but the pit bull jumped onto the car”s hood and then onto its roof and savagely grabbed the smaller dog by its left hind leg. Bill saw the pit bull release its powerful jaws in an attempt snap at the neck of the smaller dog, so he reached into the pit bull”s mouth and grabbed its tongue. The dog bit

December 21, 2014