Tag Archives: Teaching

A HUNGER FOR THE TRUTH

Photo by Stefan Kunze on Unsplash

And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

– Acts 2:40-42

When any person comes to faith in Christ, the question inevitably becomes, what now?  The book of acts describes the culture that these new converts had created for themselves to help them grow in their faith.

Learn From A Good Teacher

These early Christians suffer the same dilemma that all Christians face when they make the initial decision to follow Christ:  they must learn how to move forward.

One of the key factors to spiritual growth is good biblical teaching.  One of the best ways to learn the ins and outs of the Christian faith is to find a good teacher.  That’s why these new converts attached themselves to the Apostles and their teaching. Continue reading →

28 WAYS TO EXPERIENCE GOD | #21: DON’T COMPARE

28 WaysIf you want to Experience God in your life, you can’t be caught up in comparing yourself to others.

We do this in two distinct ways.

Sometimes we can look at a person who seems so much more “spiritual” than us. We see their highlight reel and compare it to our lowlight reel. This leads to doubting our faith, doubting our talents, doubting God’s ability to do something in our lives. Continue reading →

MORE PARTIES TO PLAN

FindingWonderA frustrated Pastor tried something new one Sunday morning. He dared his congregation to live like Jesus 100%. He challenged them to love like Jesus in every way, not holding back at all. He was surprised that the response was so enthusiastic. He left church feeling like something special had happened.

One week later, he reconsidered the whole idea. He heard that his church members were hanging out in bars and on the streets. One family had invited a prostitute to live with them. The youth group threw a party for patients of a drug rehabilitation clinic. Some of the church members quit their jobs and had been sleeping in the local shelters. The men’s Bible study group volunteered to hand out water at the local gay pride parade. The women’s prayer group cleaned the toilets of a local strip club. The senior ministry hosted a party for poorest block in the neighborhood. The Pastor even bailed a few of the church members out of jail on Wednesday evening. It seems they had been arrested for turning over tables in the book store of the largest church in town.

The Pastor received so many calls from religious groups and city officials in the area that he feared he could lose the respect of the local power brokers. At first he considered retracting the dare this coming Sunday. It would be the smart thing to do. He could keep his job, the town could go back to normal and maybe this would all go away.

But after more thought, he got up to the pulpit on Sunday and said “Finally, I see the body of Christ, Let His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”. Everyone was silent as he walked off the stage and headed to the back of the room. He turned to the congregation with tears in his eyes and said “what are you waiting for; we have more parties to plan.”

Questions To Consider

1. Would things mentioned in the parable happen in our lives if we acted more like Jesus?

2. What is one thing that would change in your life if you decided to live like Jesus did?

3. Is it realistic to even consider living like that?

Written by Tom Wise. © Finding Wonder 2013