Integrity In Christian Leadership by Edgar Bazan

Leadership is a critical key to the success of an organization. John Maxwell explains, “Everything rises and falls on leadership…leadership determines the success of the organization.”   If leadership is a key for an organization to thrive, Christian leadership is essential for the works of Christ being accomplished in the church and world. Thus, the essence of Christian leadership is its focus on what God is doing in

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Principles Of Protestant Reformation by Davis Chappell

For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, “The one who is righteous will live by faith.”   Romans 1:16-17 provides the thesis of

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Friends And Servants by Carolyn Moore

In the book of John, beginning at chapter 13, there is an interesting shift in how Jesus deals with the people he calls “friend.” First, he does this radical thing where he gets down on his knees and washes their feet. He wants to serve them and model for them what humility in the context of friendship looks like. With

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Three Essential Approaches To Suffering by Elizabeth Glass Turner

There’s an overwhelming amount of beauty and awe in the world – from midday eclipses to bounding monkeys in jungles to the perfect curl of newborn baby toes.  At some point, though, we all encounter suffering. Sometimes it appears as physical pain; sometimes it’s in the form of prolonged waiting; sometimes it’s mental or emotional distress. Sometimes suffering occurs through our

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John Wesley: Optimist of Grace by Kevin Watson

Henry H. Knight III’s John Wesley: Optimist of Grace is a book I would like to get into the hands of as many Wesleyan Methodist pastors and lay leaders as possible. Knight has written a remarkably accessible and concise introduction to John Wesley’s life and theology without sacrificing precision and nuance. As the subtitle suggests, the core theme of this book

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#notwithoutmychild by Elizabeth Glass Turner

Children Adrift: The Old Testament Now a man of the tribe of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed

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May All Your Plans Be Successful by Edgar Bazan

There is a prayer that I recently discerned to pray: God, may all your plans for me be successful. The rationale behind this prayer is that I want to position myself and do everything that is in my power to let God fulfill his plans in my life. Notice that I did not say “my plans,” but God’s. This is

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Faith, Defeat, & Expectation by Otis T. McMillan

True faith is demonstrated with obedience: what you cannot see, God does. “And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the

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Faith from the Inside Out by Priscilla Hammond

There are seven “Woe to you” statements in Matthew 23: Jesus was warning the teachers of the law and the Pharisees not to focus on outward things. Of ten trees we had removed from our property, we knew that one was damaged. An arborist saw the spot where it had been hit by lightning. We hadn’t seen it. Other than

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Let’s Go Fishing: How to Handle Empty Nets by Kelcy Steele

After this, Jesus appeared again to the disciples, this time at the Tiberias Sea (the Sea of Galilee). This is how he did it: Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed “Twin”), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the brothers Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. Simon Peter announced, “I’m going fishing.” When the sun came up, Jesus was standing on the beach, but they didn’t

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The Troubled Savior by Aaron Perry

“Do not let your hearts be troubled” (John 14:1-31). Imagine how the disciples are feeling in this moment. Jesus has just predicted Peter’s denial and another’s betrayal: they could hardly be a happy group. How would his words have been heard? Would they have been comforting? “Do not let your hearts be troubled.” Certainly more easily said than done. How

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Plenty to Eat: Turning to the Source of Life by Michelle Bauer

Have you ever had a day where you worried that you weren’t going to have enough? Enough love. Enough patience. Enough energy. Enough smarts. Enough food. Enough money. Jesus and his disciples had a day like that. Five thousand unexpected guests showed up for dinner and they were a long way from a grocery store. Just when everyone was about

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What Good Is a Dead Shepherd? by Jeff Rudy

The texts for this sermon come from Psalm 23 and John 10:11-18. In the middle of the Easter season every year is what some call “Good Shepherd Sunday,” which falls on the fourth Sunday of Easter. The revised common lectionary readings for this Sunday are always related to the image of the shepherd – Psalm 23 is the psalm all

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