The Word for Everyday Disciples with Dave DeSelm

Have you ever started a good work and not finished it? Maybe it was a New Year’s resolution that started well, but quickly faded. Or a home project that began with good intentions but was never completed. Well, let me give you some good news today. God has never done that. Whatever God starts, God completes. Our God is a Finisher. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, wrote: “…being confident of...

Grace and peace. With this simple phrase, the Apostle Paul opens his letter to the Philippians. In fact, it’s how he opens every letter we have recorded in Scripture. Grace and peace. Typically, letters of that day would have begun with the Greek word chairein: “Greetings!” But Paul uses two other words: charis – “God’s blessings!” and eirene – “harmonious relationships.” He is saying to these bro...

There was once a group of people - a church - who dared to live out fully the gospel that had been shared with them.  Two thousand years later, we still read of them and can learn from them how we, too, can more fully live out the good news of Jesus. They are the Philippians, and we first encounter them in Acts 16 when Paul responds to a vision of a young man from Macedonia begging him to come and...

Our world is a messy, broken place filled with messy, broken people. But if the birth of Jesus tells us anything, it tells us that God is not afraid of a mess. Born in a stable, wrapped in rags, and laid in a feeding trough, the Son of God began His life in a mess. Later, His life ended in a mess, wrapped in rags and nailed to a cross. In between, He mostly hung out with pretty messed up people, a...

In the last episode, we talked about Caesar Augustus, ruler of the vast Roman Empire at the time of Jesus’ birth. One of the ways he made governing this massive area more manageable was to establish local kings to rule on his behalf. At this time, there arose in Israel a young man who fit the bill perfectly. He was half-Jew, half-Edomite, born into a politically connected family, and hungry for po...

We will be looking at a very familiar portion of Scripture today, but I’d like to put a twist on it by starting with a verse that, as a recovering control freak, I’ve had to lean into again and again. It reminds me of who’s really in charge…and who’s not. “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” (Prov. 19:21) With that in mind, let’s look at Luke 2. It sta...

When the Lord brought His people out of slavery in Egypt, He promised to bring them up to Canaan – the “Promised Land.” But before they were ready to step into their inheritance, they had to spend time in the Land Between – the wilderness where God wanted to develop and mature them so He could display them to the world. However, after two years in the Land Between, they had yet to learn to trust a...

When you’re in the Land Between, the natural question we ask is, “How long? How long will I be in this hard place?” This question nagged the Israelites as they slogged through the wilderness, eventually leading to complaint. Their relentless complaining turned personal, and they blamed Moses for their woes. The accusations and criticism beat down on Moses until he couldn’t take it anymore. He hadn...

Sooner or later, all of us will find ourselves in the Land Between – a place of undesired and difficult transitions. We are ripped from normality and find ourselves in an unfamiliar world. The world of the unemployed, the suddenly single, the chronically ill. Everything has changed, and we are at a loss to know how to navigate this new terrain. The Israelites found themselves in the Land Between i...

We all know what it’s like to screw up. To go somewhere we shouldn’t have gone and done something we shouldn’t have done. When we do, we wonder, “Will anybody come and set things right?” It’s this longing that is answered in the attribute of God we’re going to look at today. God is gracious. Full of grace. From the Greek word charis , grace means helpfulness toward someone in need without receivin...

If asked to name the attributes of God’s character, most likely you’d say love, power, or wisdom. But the attribute mentioned more than any other in the Bible is His righteousness or justice. Here are a few examples:  “For the Lord is righteous and He loves justice.”  Psalm 11:7 “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and justice go before You.” Psalm 89:14 God is a righ...

Our God is all-powerful. King David tried to describe His power in Psalm 29. He likened God’s power to a ferocious thunderstorm that splintered trees and shook the earth. Yet as incredible and fearsome as that storm was, God’s power is even greater. And all who encounter it can’t help but tremble in awe and worship. But while most of us have no problem acknowledging the power of God, rather than m...

What does it mean that God is omnipresent - that God is everywhere. Omnipresence means that God is not confined to the limits of any particular space.  He is no less present in one portion of the universe than any other.  In other words, with equal truth and confidence, it can be said from anywhere in the universe, “The Lord is in this place.” Wherever you are, God is right there, right now. The G...

It has been said that what comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. If we have a faulty or limited understanding of who God is, it is not only dishonoring to Him, it’s devastating to us.  It is, in fact, at the root of nearly every one of our problems. But if you can come to grips with the attributes of God that we will be looking at in this series, you will...

Jesus was an immigrant. Have you ever thought about that?  Shortly after His birth, an angel warned His father, Joseph that Herod was seeking to kill the infant Jesus and that they should flee to Egypt.  So, in literally a life-and-death situation, Joseph quickly packed up his wife and young child and left his homeland for a place he’d never been before.   He doesn’t know anyone there. He doesn’t...

With the issue of immigration increasingly in the headlines nationally and with the reality of refugees in our own city and perhaps your neighborhood, I think the time has come for us to look at what the Bible has to say regarding the “strangers” among us.   I have no political agenda here and I am not touting any particular legislation. But I am charged to teach you “the whole counsel of God,” an...

In this series, we’ve been looking at a simple formula that will serve you well no matter your level of income.  GIVE. SAVE. LIVE on the rest. Taking our cues from God’s Word we’ve seen that we need to GIVE to God first. Then we should SAVE. To then “LIVE ON THE REST” not only implies a prioritization of these first two actions but also a limitation of your spending. Another way to say it is “livi...

If I were to ask, “Do you think that consistently putting some of your income into a savings plan is a wise financial strategy?”  Most people would say yes. But if I were to ask, “Are you doing that?”  Far fewer would say yes. Why don't we save? There are many reasons, some of them valid. But for all too many of us, we don’t save because we let present realities overshadow future possibilitie...

Our culture is driven by the desire to acquire. We see something, then we find ourselves wanting that thing, and before we know it, we convince ourselves that we need it. And in order to buy this stuff, we need MONEY. Fueled by our acquisitive culture, few, if any, escape the Money Monster’s grasp. But I want to share with you a simple yet practical formula for handling your money that has its fou...

In describing the journey of faith, the Bible uses the metaphor of a race. Each of us is running with the goal of finishing well. But though we are responsible for running our own race, we can’t ignore the fact that there are other runners around us. And if one of them falls, what should we do?  As James closes his letter, he calls us to look out for our fellow runners and to go after those who “w...

Does God still heal?  Can we...should we... pray for it?  And, if so, just how much faith does it take to get the miracle you’re looking for? Here in James 5, we come to the topic of sickness and healing. And while I can’t give a comprehensive teaching on the subject in one message, we do get some insight from this passage that can help us. Before we talk about healing, we need to lay a foundation...

Do you know what it’s like to endure mistreatment? Whether because of your race, gender, age, position, or experience, someone in authority or power treated you in a way that was unjust, unfair, or uncalled for. When that happens everything within you cries out for vindication or vengeance. That’s human nature. But Jesus shows a different way to respond when you’ve been done wrong. The Apostle Pet...

Money does funny things to people, doesn’t it?  Sometimes, however, what it does isn’t funny at all.  That’s why James offers some stern warnings to the wealthy.  Before you dismiss his words as not applying to you thinking, “I’m not rich!” Keep in mind that 1 in 11 people globally live on less than $2.15/day. If you live on more than that, you are richer than you think.  James addresses three sin...

What are your plans for the future? In James 4, the author uses the illustration of business people who make plans that will make them a lot of money. The problem James is addressing isn’t that they’d strategized or made plans. Indeed, the Bible speaks about the value of planning. (see Prov. 21:5) Rather James reveals three mistakes people commonly make when it comes to navigating the future. Mist...

All of us have taken on the role of judge. We’re not elected by the citizens or confirmed by the congress. We are self-appointed judges. We place ourselves on the bench and proceed to pass judgment on the observed behaviors of our family, friends, and fellow believers. James has some strong words to say about this tendency, giving a blunt warning to all of us. First, he speaks against slander . (...