Buffalo City Church

Caleb Drahosh \\ Jesus, being followed by a huge number of people, resolved to feed the whole crowd. The disciples found a boy who had five loaves and two fish. Jesus quickly multiplies the meal and distributes it to all the people; there is even an excess. Jesus takes something simple and small and brings about astonishing results. Out of Jesus’ fullness He gives faith and out of His fullness He...

John Baumgartner \\ As Christians still tempted to our old sinful ways, it’s easy for us to look at God's commandments as burdens we need to carry. But in reality, He has given us all these commands to show us a way of living life bearing the family resemblance to Him as His children. We can be free to live as He has called us to only if we understand the love He has for us as our Father.

Caleb Drahosh \\ All of Scripture contains hints and shadows and whispers about Jesus. The Jews didn't understand that just like John the Baptist spoke of Jesus, so Moses wrote about Jesus because Jesus and Scripture are inseparable. Jesus even goes as far as to say that those who do not receive Him do not love God. We come to know Jesus through Scripture––He is seen everywhere in God's Word––and...

Caleb Drahosh \\ After Jesus heals the man by the pool called Bethesda, we're told why the Jews were persecuting and seeking to kill Jesus: Jesus was doing work on the Sabbath and claiming to be equal with God. Jesus has the full ability to correctly discern the intent of the Sabbath because He is equal to the Father and is therefore the Lord of the Sabbath. And so the Sabbath is given to us as a...

Caleb Drahosh \\ Jesus makes his way back to Cana in Galilee and meets an official whose son is sick. The man asks Jesus to come and heal his son, but Jesus instead says, "Go; your son will live." The man believed in Jesus' word and returned to find his son recovering. Jesus, the God-man and the source of life, sends His Word out and it perfectly accomplishes its purpose of giving life and establi...

Caleb Drahosh \\ When the Samaritan woman returns to her town, we see that she immediately tells others about Jesus. The other Samaritans ask Jesus to stay, and He does for two days. Through the woman's testimony many believe, and through Jesus' word, many more believed. Through these things, spiritual nourishment comes to those who are followers of Jesus. The harvest is ready now. Your spiritual...

John Baumgartner \\ In this text, Peter is going to give commands to these Christians, but his first word “therefore” indicates that the commands are based upon what God has done and not meant to earn something from God. If Jesus has saved you, you keep His commandments. You are not earning your salvation. You are living as if your salvation is real, because it is real.

Caleb Drahosh \\ After Jesus' conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, the disciples return and are surprised to see Jesus talking to a woman. Why would Jesus spend time talking with someone who could not advance His message and His mission? But they missed the point. The Samaritan woman was transformed. She left everything and ran to tell others. When a miserable sinner is saved, it is...

Caleb Drahosh \\ When Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well, He offers her something that no one else can. Despite her background, despite her law-breaking, despite being incredulous, Jesus' offer is not rescinded. Jesus the Messiah mercifully extends eternal soul-satisfaction to a miserable sinner.

John Baumgartner \\ In this text, Peter is helping his readers to understand the majesty of God’s plan and stand firm in it even in the depth of suffering. He does this by causing us to consider the way Jesus suffered and the glory He received. Everyone who lives after the Gospel has been revealed stands in the privileged position of knowing in full the message of salvation that Prophets and Angel...

John 4:1-6 – Wearied from the Journey: How Jesus' Humanity Tells the Truth About the Irreducible Importance of the Cross Caleb Drahosh \\ As Jesus' following grew, He drew the eyes of His opponents. And so Jesus decided to travel back to Galilee. Jesus' journey from Judea to Galilee required a stop at Jacob's well to recover strength. When Jesus, the Word, took on flesh, He experienced what we exp...

Blaze Culliton \\ In 1 John 1:5-10, the Apostle John explains that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. And as further explanation of what it means for us that God is light, John tells us that He does not cast out those who walk in the light, He stands ready to forgive, and He is not a liar (and in fact, cannot lie). As followers of Jesus, we walk in the light by glorifying God and conf...

Caleb Drahosh \\ In this text, John the Baptist's disciples point out Jesus' growing following. But John reminds them that his (and their) job is to point away from himself and toward the Christ. Jesus is the One who is from heaven, He brings truth as its source, and has been given all authority. For John, the goal is to make much of Jesus because Jesus is worthy to be made much of. What do we mak...

Caleb Drahosh \\ Jesus Christ entrusted His work to others who He shared His life with and told them to do the same. The Christian life is not only taught, it is also caught from faithful brothers and sisters in Christ who seek to do spiritual good to others. Christians should continually be investing in others with the goal of becoming more like Jesus.

Caleb Drahosh \\ There is no greater burden than that which was laid upon Jesus Christ on the cross; He bore the sins of all of those who call upon His name. In response we are called––when a brother or sister is caught in the web of sin––to bear one another's burdens. By doing so we fulfill the command to love one another.

Caleb Drahosh \\ Living, healthy things grow, and it's no different for Christians. Christians are given life through the work of Christ on the cross and then Jesus gives Christians gifts so that they might grow up into godly maturity together. The effect is that the body of Christ––on display in the local church––develops and is built up in love.

Caleb Drahosh \\ Christians are called to fellowship first by devoting themselves to one another through meeting one another's needs in full acknowledgement that Jesus has met their greatest need. True fellowship is found in having God given resources in common with brothers and sisters in Christ with the goal of taking the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Caleb Drahosh \\ Every Christian is called to put himself/herself in total subjection to others. Everything that God has given you (your time, treasure, talent) is not for you, but is given to you to demonstrate love for God. You demonstrate love for God by using all the gifts He gives to you to serve others at all times.

Caleb Drahosh \\ If through Christ we have been welcomed into God’s family, around His table, and into intimate relationship with Him, then the proper response is to welcome one another similarly for the glory of God.

John Baumgartner \\ Life comes with all sorts of trials and difficulties. This is true for Christians and non-Christians alike. In fact, as the Apostle Peter writes in this letter, Christians face more trials as a result of their faith. But God has a purpose in every trial He gives to His children. He is doing His work of purifying ourselves and our faith—so that we would no longer rely on our own...

Kalen Heller // There is only One who can faithfully bring forth and establish justice to the nations—and it is not you or I. The Servant that Isaiah speaks of in chapter 42 is none other than Jesus Christ, the Chosen Son of God. Even now, He is establishing justice in the earth and is doing so in a way that is contrary to the way of mankind: quietly, faithfully, and effortlessly. Christ will not...

Caleb Drahosh \\ In these verses Jesus makes it clear that His mission was to save God's people and not condemn them. But those who refuse to believe are already condemned. When the fulfillment of God's plan of redemption is revealed in Jesus, people either run to the light or retreat into darkness.

Caleb Drahosh \\ John 3:16 is arguably the most well known Bible verse in all of Scripture. It comes right in the middle of Jesus' teaching to the Pharisee Nicodemus and––in this one simple verse––Jesus points out the danger of death that comes through sin. But there is hope: God sent into Jesus into the world out of love. And for what purpose was Jesus sent? To give life that would come through H...

Caleb Drahosh \\ In John 3:9-15 Jesus declares to Nicodemus that He has the authority to speak about heavenly things, or the things of God. This authority is His because He is the only One to come down from heaven. Every other teacher—and every other person for that matter—who came before Him got their start on earth. Jesus has no origin and heaven is His home. Because He has this authority, He re...

Caleb Drahosh \\ In John 3:1-8, a man named Nicodemus comes to Jesus full of curiosity. Jesus explains to him what must occur in a person to see and enter into the kingdom of God––you must be born again, or born from above. Nicodemus doesn't understand, but Jesus explains only the Spirit can bring about spiritual life and further clarifies that children of God are "born, not of blood nor of the wi...