What does Jesus expect from his followers? While it could be easy to simply receive the gift of salvation and then remain in quiet comfort, Jesus calls us to Kingdom work - using the resources, gifts and talents God has given each of us to step out of our comfort zone and make disciples. Are you ready to get to work for the Kingdom?
Jesus came to seek and save the lost. We all have people in our lives that are hard to love, and some are simply hard to even be around. But Jesus invites us to look past someone’s reputation and see them with compassion. The truth is, we’re all sinners in need of a Savior. Do you have a heart for people who don’t know Jesus?
Jesus came to the world with a clear mission: to seek and save the lost by becoming the perfect sacrifice for our sin. Even though the salvation of humanity was his focus, he also never lost sight of the individual, taking time during his ministry to show love, value and compassion for everyone who sought after him in faith. Through his love and sacrifice, we all find healing for our souls.
Dependence isn’t seen as a virtue in our culture, and yet Jesus held up infant children as an example of what God desires in His Kingdom. In our world full of comfort and wealth, we can easily fall into the trap of looking to ourselves for all our needs instead of being dependent on God. Jesus warns a rich young ruler not to put his faith in himself and his wealth, but to place his trust in Jesus instead.
Prayer is one of the most amazing privileges of the Christian life: the invitation to communicate directly with the Creator of the universe and Savior of our souls. So why don’t we pray more often? And when we do pray, is it to present God with our self-focused wish-list? Or are we approaching God regularly, faithfully and in a spirit of humility?
Jesus saves us from sin’s penalty and gives us a new life - that’s the good news of the gospel in the here and now. We should always remember to have hearts of thankfulness for that gift of grace. But Jesus also promises to return and bring the fullness of God’s Kingdom in the last days. Are we ready for that day? Or are we so wrapped up in the distractions of this world that we’ve taken our eyes off of the Kingdom to come?
We all sin. Sin is inevitable for every single person in this broken world. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for our sin means that we can be forgiven - that’s the heart of the gospel. But what about when someone sins against us? When someone in our life acknowledges their sin against us and repents, are we prepared to forgive them as we’ve been forgiven?
What is Hell? Is it a real place? If God is all-loving, why would He allow people to spend eternity in Hell? Most people avoid thinking about death, but the Bible is clear that an eternity awaits everyone. The hope we have in Christ is that through his death and resurrection we can be made right with God and welcomed into an eternity with Him by grace through faith. But for those who reject that gift of grace in Christ, the Bible gives us a sobering warning about the reality of Hell.
How do we faithfully manage the things God puts in our life? If we see the things we have - money, possessions, career, family - as only ours, we’ll end up living a self-focused life, grasping for those things, and striving to gain more. But if we rightly see those things as gifts from God to be used for His purposes and His glory, we’ll find joy in the management of them in the here and now, and we’ll look forward to an eternity where that faithfulness is rewarded.
God’s amazing love for His children is on full display in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son. Whether our hearts have gone astray like the younger son by living recklessly for ourselves, or our hearts have been hardened like the older son by our own self-righteousness, God’s love and kindness calls both to repentance, ready to welcome us home with open arms.
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