Shadyside Church of Christ

Just what was this early kingdom community like? It was growing, and this generated some problems which had to be resolved. It was empowered by heavenly, supernatural power: miraculous healings, the word of God, prayer and the Holy Spirit. People were drawn to them in seeing their unity, their caring for one another, and in hearing their message of the resurrected Christ. As we continue today in t...

The new community took their Lord seriously and went out with His message. But it didn't take long for them to receive opposition. The religious leaders of the Jewish establishment felt threatened by the power displayed in the healing of the lame beggar and the power of the message of a resurrected Jesus of Nazareth whom Peter says they crucified. So they threaten the apostles not to teach in...

How important it is for any group, country or organization to stay true to the purposes for which it was brought into existence and the beliefs upon which it was founded. The early church remained focused upon their Master Jesus and began immediately to live according to His words. In keeping with Jesus' command they begin at once to fulfill their purpose as "light of the world" and...

The kingdom of heaven had both earthbound and supernatural beginnings. On Pentecost (Acts 2), three significant Old Testament prophecies were shown to be true and fulfilled - the coming of the Holy Spirit on all flesh, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and the establishment of a new covenant community (the church) in which there was true forgiveness of sins. The roots of the church run deep...

Our series continues to remind us of our historical and heavenly roots. From the mountain top experience of Jesus' ascension the apostles return to the confines of an upper room. Here they are faced with the new reality. Jesus is gone having left them with a promise and the command to wait. They must replace a traitor who was among them. They are only about 120 in number. What is there left t...

The kingdom of God, the church, had a beginning. God established it and set it in motion with definite purposes and organization to further those purposes. In this series of lessons, we want to revisit the beginnings of the church of Jesus Christ to be reminded of both its historical and heavenly foundations. In this day and age when evil seems to be making such great advances, we must be certain...

The human family is one of God's greatest gifts to us, but He has an even greater gift for us that that. He has His own family into which we can be adopted. This adoption as "sons of God" is more than some kind of spiritual symbolism, but is a reality of life in the kingdom, a genuine happening. Consider this: Jesus is the only begotten Son of the Father, but all other sons are adop...

Shootings in schools and churches; aborting of over 300,000 babies in this country every year; sexual abuse and immorality everywhere; lack of civility and the use of profanities and vulgarities in every media; et al - What has happened? 50, 40, 30 years ago, such was not the case. When God and His word are rejected, man replaces Him with himself and his own philosophies. The result - disaster!! N...

Joy in God's people is a theme throughout the Bible. They rejoiced that the Lord was their God and because of all His goodness toward them. It seems, though, that this joy in the Lord is lost on the church today. We are sober, solemn and somber, but are never full of rejoicing in our God and His Christ. Peter gives us more than good reminders why the Christian should rejoice with "joy in...

We like choices, and God gives us plenty of them. From foods to eat, flowers to plant and enjoy to different kinds of pets, the Lord has given us many options. There are even other options like places to live, jobs to hold, schools to attend, channels to watch, etc. But some things none of us can avoid, even though many of us try. We must all come to grips with these non-optional aspects of life....

Often we want to show someone that we truly care about them but don't know exactly what to do or what to say. We end up being upset with ourselves thinking we could have done more or been more encouraging. Sometimes we don't do anything! Jesus whole life is an example of loving others so we need to look carefully at how He went about it. Here's a little memory clue: L - A - T - T -...

Whenever something is billed as "free," it might be free to the recipients, but we can be sure that somebody paid for it. People go to soup kitchens for a free lunch, but someone supplies the food, the building, the work of preparation, etc. There is a cost involved. God invites people to come and receive the "free gift" of life eternal. This gift is free to those who will acce...

King Hezekiah faced two seemingly hopeless situations in his day. One was on a national level, and the other was very personal. But he turned to the Lord God in prayer, and God heard him and answered him with two amazing deliverances. Hezekiah believed that prayer can change things. Perhaps we can learn some lessons about prayer from Hezekiah.

Today's church needs to start thinking like its God - to think small! One day matters. One hour matters. One minute matters. One good deed matters. One good word matters. One word of comfort matters. One uplifting word matters. One soul matters. One person matters - no matter their background and current "baggage." One soul seeker matters. One kingdom worker matters. One matters

They said that John the Baptist and Jesus each had a demon. Paul was accused of being out of his mind. When you don't think like the world, believe like the world, or act like the world, the world will call you crazy, stupid, weird and a whole lot more. You might lose friends, job, position and get ostracized from your group. We are warned not to fear men nor what they can do to us. Are you g...

Scripture tells us (so does secular history) that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified by the Romans, nailed to a cross. But the Bible also tells us that some other things were nailed to Jesus' cross when He was. What are those things? Do they have anything to do with my salvation? And if they do, how do I avail myself of them? Hmmm?

We celebrate just about anything these days from sports victories to birthdays to National Donut Day. But we Christians tend not to celebrate our spiritual victories very much, and that is a mystery. However, the greatest celebration ever is yet to come, and that will be when Jesus returns, raises the dead in Christ and lifts us all into the air to be with Him. It will be a reunion with those gone...

A lawyer asked Jesus about inheriting eternal life, and Jesus directed him to the scriptures. He identified the correct commands - those which had to do with loving God and one's neighbor. But this lawyer asked about who was his neighbor so that he might make himself look good by loving those particular people. Jesus masterfully turned the tables by telling the parable of the good Samaritan t...

Jesus called Himself gentle and humble in heart. And He also showed Himself to be just that in giving up divine privileges to become human. He was born into a lowly family and grew up a carpenter. He owned no property and accumulated no wealth. When He rode into Jerusalem and was hailed as a great prophet, He was on a donkey. He died the death of a criminal. Truly surprising for the Creator of the...

In removing the Aaronic priesthood of Moses, God ushered in a better covenant by a priesthood which would continue forever - Christ Jesus was ordained a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Under this new covenant, sins could be totally removed (forgiven) because the sacrifice was none other than Jesus Himself, the Lamb of God. Disciples of Jesus are privileged to serve as priests although they...

We continue in this series with a brief look at the priesthood under the law of Moses. Aaron, Moses' brother, and his sons were chosen by the Lord to be priests and they underwent a seven-day consecration ritual to set them apart for God's holy service. The law was very specific about the duties of the priests and the various sacrifices which were to be offered. But the priesthood became...

Since Adam & Eve sinned in Eden, there has been a need for a "go between" with God and man. God Himself provided for such a "go between" in the work and person of a priest. It was God who established the office of a priest and designated his purposes, duties and responsibilities. From early in Genesis, the work of the priest was performed, the most striking example being th...

God's Book regularly reminds us of the brevity of life, and that there is much to be done in the time we are allotted. Not meant to be a "downer," this is just to impress upon us the reality of life. We humans, however, tend to put things off and think we have "all the time in the world." Scripture affirms such is not the case, and that we need to get busy with what we nee...

It is said that no one can prove the existence of God. This may well be true, but God has left more than enough evidence, even very powerful witness to His existence. From the wonders of complex design and the intricate structures in the cell to the convicting power of Holy Scripture to the Person of Jesus of Nazareth both crucified and resurrected, the witnesses all testify with boldness and auth...

Why do we do some of the things we do? Have you ever asked yourself that question? Why did you by that home gym now collecting dust in the basement? Why did you buy that oversize truck which gets 9 miles per gallon? Sometimes we have no good answer. When it comes to our souls and spiritual lives, we need to have good reason for what we do. Paul suffered great and numerous hardships for the cause o...