Chiangmai Christian Fellowship

Chiangmai Christian Fellowship

How are we to understand and prepare for the return of Christ? Jesus will return and bring sudden and total judgment upon the world. When He comes there will be no time to prepare, it will be too late for change. So, we must prepare now for His coming judgment. Jesus has been teaching that the Kingdom is now available to those who will seek for it and enter by faith. The Kingdom comes with the Kin...

The Kingdom of God is the rule and reign of God through Christ. The Kingdom of God in place at creation, was overthrown at the fall. Jesus reclaimed His reign and established the Kingdom by overcoming the challenge to His rule through His suffering on the cross. Thus, all who come to Christ in faith enter into life in the Kingdom, as we are set free from the Kingdom of Darkness, and are made us ci...

God offers His grace and kindness to all, but not all receive the full benefit of eternal salvation. What sets apart the one who is truly saved? It is not enough to have general faith in God, or even a supernatural experience. Saving faith is a faith that brings us to a personal encounter with Jesus. One who knows they are in desperate need of God’s mercy, and seeks God’s help through Jesus. THis...

Jesus returns to instructing His Disciples about how they are to conduct themselves as His followers. The emphasis in this passage is specifically about their responsibility to help each other walk and grow in holiness, purity, and the exercise of faith. There are very real threats to the life faith - temptations that can not only lead us into sin, but can shipwreck our faith. Woe to the person, w...

Jesus returns to instructing His Disciples about how they are to conduct themselves as His followers. The emphasis in this passage is specifically about their responsibility to help each other walk and grow in holiness, purity, and the exercise of faith. There are very real threats to the life faith - temptations that can not only lead us into sin, but can shipwreck our faith. Woe to the person, w...

Life has it’s dark times. It’s not so hard to trust God when all is well, but in the dark times, the life of faith can be seriously tested. We may wonder if God has forgotten all about us, or we may doubt His very love and goodness. But, this is not only a problem when we are facing trials and great difficulties. The truth is that the future is always a black hole of darkness. It is completely unc...

When it comes down to it, what lands one person in heaven and another in hell? Aside from the issues of God's election and His Sovereign work to bring us to Himself, how can a person who knows the Bible and appears to be a good person, end up in hell for all eternity? Jesus teaches here that our eternal destiny is determined by what we do with the the revelation of His Word. But it's not enough to...

What is the connection between the Law and the Gospel? Now that the Kingdom has come and we live in the age of grace, what place does the Law have in our life? The Pharisees held to the most strict adherence to the law, and yet they were so far from the truth - it seems that there is little value in the commandments. So, what do we do with the Law as when we live by grace?

The love, grace, and fatherly compassion of God are truly remarkable toward His children! He loves us, just like He loves Jesus, as dearly loved sons - a love that defines our relationship with Him and reveals volumes about His very nature and character. The main point of this story is that all of heaven - all who are His friends and family, are to join in the joy of heaven at the outworking of Hi...

What will really change us, so that we are no longer either Prodigals, not Elder brothers, but true sons? It is only as we learn to continually celebrate God's grace and mercy that we really will change the destructive patterns of our life and learn to live as true sons. True sons are those who: turn to God alone to meet our needs - trusting in Him and His perfect love to care for us; live with th...

No one is truly good before a perfect and holy God. So, all humanity is lost. But they are not just lost - they are lost to Him! We have wandered away, far from Him. But, we are of great worth and value to God. He will go to great length to 'find' the lost and bring them home! And when He is able to bring back what was lost, there is great joy and rejoicing, a joy that God intends to share with th...

What does a Christ follower look like? What is a Disciple? A disciple is one who is following Jesus. Jesus teaches that following Him and being saved by Him are one in the same thing. If salvation is a free gift, how can following Him be a condition or requirement of salvation? While there is nothing we can Do to be saved, there are plenty of things that would prevent us from turning to Jesus for...

Who will eat at the great Banquet in the Kingdom of God? To the Jews the banquet is a picture of the final state of salvation, the fulfillment of all God's promises of eternal life. It was what they all hoped for at the resurrection of the dead - to be welcomed to the Banquet table in the Kingdom. They were confident they would sit at that table - as they were certainly the kind of person that God...

Chiangmai Christian Fellowship

Why can't everyone be saved? Salvation is available to all, but only some will make it into the kingdom. Jesus here gives three reasons why many will not make it: 1) there is only one way to be saved - through Him, 2) the door of opportunity does not last forever, and 3) if people rejected God's loving offer of Jesus as God's way of salvation, they will be lost forever.

Elijah was a man who was no different from any of us in his nature (human and fallen), but he was also a righteous man who had great power and effectiveness in prayer. It is clear that God listened to the prayers of Elijah, because Elijah listened to the voice of God! Thus, the ability to pray with great power, is the result of a life that is fully tuned in and responsive to the voice of God. A li...

How can we become people who have great power in the outworking of our prayers? The power to restore the sick and to bring forgiveness to the sinner? We will have great power and effectiveness in prayer when we learn to pray like Elijah. He was a man who was no different from any of us in his nature, but he was in constant conversation with God, and out of that conversation God revealed His will a...

Chiangmai Christian Fellowship

Where do we turn when life gets difficult? We may face obstacles, problems, and sometimes even impossible situations where it seems there is no way out. What do we do when it seems there are no good answers, or the way out seems impossible? We know we are supposed to trust in God, but it is often much easier to trust in other, more tangible sources of help. We can trust in God's power and promises...

What is the Kingdom of God and what does it matter to my life here and now? We have a hard time understanding what any Kingdom is, much less the kingdom of God! We often think of God's Kingdom in terms of heaven - a place where we will go live some day. But, Jesus gives a much different picture of God's Kingdom. The Kingdom is the unexpected work of the Gospel that brings us into God's presence he...

What is the appropriate and necessary work of the Kingdom? Luke has been showing at many levels how Jesus is bringing the Kingdom. But, the Kingdom Jesus brings is not the kingdom the religious leaders were looking for. In fact, they are increasingly opposed to Jesus and His ministry. In this passage Jesus demonstrates how the values and resulting ministry of His Kingdom are drastically different...

How should we live in light of Jesus second coming? We must live in constant anticipation of His return, as if He were to return very soon, so that we will be fully prepared to meet Him face to face, and thus to receive the His commendation and not punishment. We will be prepared because we are expecting Him and live as if we will see Him today. We will be taking care of the flock He has put in ou...

What should be the main pursuit of our life? Jesus states in Luke 12 that life is not about our material wealth or the comfort of our possessions. He also says that life is not even about survival and meeting our most basic human needs. So, what then is to be the chief pursuit of our life? The driving reason for our existence? Jesus teaches here that the main pursuit of life must be life the Kingd...

There are all kinds of things in the world that can threaten our very existence. The universal response to these threats is anxiety. The result of anxiety is that it prevents us from truly following God or doing His will. Worry drives us to live to care for our daily needs and comfort, rather than seeking God’s Kingdom. Jesus teaches here that we are not to worry about the basic needs of life, nor...