Wilderness Wanderings

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness… (2 Peter 1:5-6) Today's word is "godliness," and it takes us right back to yesterday's word of "perseverance."  In particular, it takes us back to the later section of this letter that Pastor Michael qu...

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance ( 2 Peter 1:5,6). Following Jesus is not a good carrier move. Refusing to be involved in shady practices can cost us promotions. When we refuse to gossip around the proverbial water cooler, colleagues do not warm up to us. Refraining f...

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control… (2 Peter 1:5-6a) Self-Control is one of the few virtues in Peter's list that lines up with Paul's Fruit of the Spirit.  It is undoubtably a good gift of God, but it can be a double-edged sword.  Much like our discussion of "knowledge" yesterday, the danger is that self...

Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness… For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge… For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will kee...

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge...

A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings!  The text of Matthew 5:33-48. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection! To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it  here on YouTube .  Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC:  immanuelministries.ca 1.       How does the Ascension of Jesus impact our...

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness… ( 2 Peter 1:5a). We are saved by grace through faith. Full stop. Read Ephesians 2:1-10 for the most pointed Biblical word on that. But grace does more than save, it also sanctifies. And sanctification requires our partnership. That is the way of God's economy. We have been given everything we need for it. Not that we will becom...

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:3-4) This set of verses picks up right where we lef...

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord (2 Peter 1:1-2). Today, we begin a journey through 2 Peter, in part, because someone recently asked a question about 1:5. Wilderness Wandering...

Brothers and sisters, pray for us. Greet all God's people with a holy kiss. I charge you before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers and sisters. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. (1 Thessalonians 5:25-28) Kissing people who are not my family is not something I do.  Or at least, it wasn't until I met my wife.  Now I regularly kiss friends and acquaintances as well.  ...

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24). Out of baseball's history comes this story: the game was tied with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. The batter stepped into the batting box and m...

An extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings!   The texts come from Matthew 5:27-32, from the New International Version of the Bible.   Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection!   To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it here on YouTube .   Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: imm...

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22) Like the "pray continually" command of yesterday, the "do not quench the Spirit" command of today has had a habit of rattling around in church conversations in a way that usually sounds accusatory and produces a great deal of guilt.  In pa...

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Yesterday, Pastor Anthony began his devotion by saying that Paul concludes this letter " by gathering up the letter's contents—repeating them in a flurry of staccato commands that speak very directly and practically to the life of the church ". The material...

Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody p...

So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He d...

Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you...

A Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings!  The text of Isaiah 40:21-31. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection! To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it  here on YouTube .  Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC:  immanuelministries.ca       What does Isaiah 40:31 invite us to focus our...

This agrees with what the Lord has said. When the Lord comes, many of us will still be alive. We tell you that we will certainly not go up before those who have died. The Lord himself will come down from heaven. We will hear a loud command. We will hear the voice of the leader of the angels. We will hear a blast from God's trumpet. Many who believe in Christ will have died already. They will rise...

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14) These are perhaps some of the more well known words from the book of 1 Thessaloni...

And do everything you can to live a quiet life. You should mind your own business. And work with your hands, just as we told you to. Then unbelievers will have respect for your everyday life. And you won't have to depend on anyone (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12). Yesterday's text encouraged the church to grow in the discipline of love. Christian charity always includes practical stuff like providing mea...

Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all of God's family throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more… (1 Thessalonians 4:9-10) There is a similar pattern here to what Paul said about sexuality in yesterday's devotion.  It goes something like...

As for other matters, brothers and sisters, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to co...

An extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings!   The texts come from Matthew 5:17-26, from the New International Version of the Bible.   Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection!   To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it here on YouTube .   Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: imm...

Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you. May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones. (1 Thessalonians 3:11-13) Paul more o...