Florida Coast Church

In prayer, the natural counterpart of giving thanks is to make requests. Together, thanking and requesting help us live out the uniquely Christian combination of persevering with joy.

In the thanksgiving section of Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he recognized their faith and love, which were based on their certain hope.

In his final sermon in Haggai 2:20-23 , the prophet continued to show how God would shake things up in order to bring in his kingdom.

After showing the people in Haggai 2:10-19 that it is easier to get dirty than clean, God pointed the way forward to the only way to become clean before him.

After noting how little the people had accomplished, in Haggai 2:1-9 God told them to be strong because of his presence with them.

By being with his people in Haggai 1:12-15 , God stirred them up to return to him and receive the blessings he had promised in his covenant with Israel.

When our life is off center, the result is dissatisfaction. In Haggai 1:1-11 , God calls us to center our lives on him.

How should we get ready for the new heavens and the new earth? In his closing words in 2 Peter 3:14-18 , Peter lays out a simple plan.

In 2 Peter 3:10-13 , the apostle reminds us that in order to understand what life is all about, we need to read the last chapter.

In 2 Chronicles 20:1-23 , King Jehoshaphat sought the LORD, who delivered his people from a powerful enemy. Their rescue anticipated a greater deliverance by a greater king.

In 2 Peter 3:1-9 , Peter’s five answers to the false teachers’ scoffing tell us what it means for us that the Lord hasn’t returned yet.

In 2 Peter 2:10-22 , the apostle described the character, methods, and end of the false teachers, showing us the way to avoid returning to the slop.

In Romans 8:31-34 , Paul asked who can be against us, who can accuse us, and who can condemn us. The answer to all these questions is: No one!

From the six hours Jesus hung on the cross, we have seven brief sayings recorded in the gospels, each of which explains important aspects of the meaning of his death for us.

After defending true teachers in chapter 1, Peter began to expose false teachers in 2 Peter 2:1-10 . With examples from Genesis, he denounced false teachers and also showed us how to live in this world.

In 2 Peter 1:19-21 , the apostle explains what the Scripture is, how it got to us, and why we should pay close attention to it.

As he approached his death, Peter announced in 2 Peter 1:12-18 his purpose of ensuring that Christians would always be able to recall the truths of the gospel.

After and because God has given Christians everything we need to live, we should make every effort to supply what our faith needs in order to grow ( 2 Peter 1:5-11 ).

Second Peter 1:1-4  contains the startling statements that Jesus is God, God has given Christians everything necessary for godly living, and we share in his divine nature.

According to Ephesians 6:1-4 , children are to obey “in the Lord” and parents are to nurture children in the instruction “of the Lord.”  That is, the gospel is at the center of Spirit-filled family relationships.

Although some adults tried to keep children away from Jesus, he welcomed them in Mark 10:13-16 as models of how to enter the kingdom of God.

Psalms 127 and 128 beautifully describe God’s perspective on children, which we need to recover, not only for our own happiness but also for the well-being of the world.

In 1 Corinthians 7 , Paul reminds us that life is full of transitions from one state to another, for example, from unmarried to married to widowed to remarried. Therefore, we need to hold everything lightly, knowing that only one thing remains.

According to Ephesians 5:25-33 , Christ’s death not only revealed the meaning of marriage, but also calls husbands to follow Christ by laying down their lives for their wives each day.

After seeing the original pattern for marriage in the previous sermon, we now look at what went wrong in Genesis 3:16 and how Christ transforms marriage on the wife’s side in Ephesians 5:15-24 . (Husbands next week!)