By Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr.
Jesus drew large crowds as he taught and preached. Both Matthew and Mark tell us that Jesus spoke a parable nearly every time he taught. This makes perfect sense to us now. We are so familiar with the New Testament parables that we take for granted that at any given moment in Jesus’ teaching ministry, he was likely to offer a parable to make a point or deliver a message.
Read this week’s Bible Gateway Weekly Brief newsletter
⇨ Bible Gateway Weekly Brief
⇨ Newsletter signup
▼
Support Bible Gateway—Find the Resources You Need At:
⇨ FaithGateway Store
⇨ Christianbook.com
Order Resources in Bulk At:
⇨ ChurchSource
▼
⇨ See Bible News Roundup weekly posts
Get biblically wise and spiritually fit. Become a member of Bible Gateway Plus. Try it right now during a FREE trial period!
This is the two-hundred-fifteenth lesson in author and pastor Mel Lawrenz’ How to Live the Bible series. If you know someone or a group who would like to follow along on this journey through Scripture, they can get more info and sign up to receive these essays via email here.
No matter who we are or the position in life we occupy, we all value the wonderful privilege of freedom. But freedom is an easy ideal to voice, but a hard-won reality. Multitudes of men and women have gone to war and lost their lives to win the freedom of the masses. It is easy for us to assume freedom, and not recognize that there are people all around us who are limited and bounded even in so-called “free” societies.
How does cultivating a healthy fear of God liberate us from our fear of others, our fear of the future, and even our fear of death itself? What does the Bible mean when it says “fear God and do not be afraid”? How can we live with a fear of God that drives out the fear of everything else?
Bible Gateway interviewed Dr. Michael Horton (@MichaelHorton_) about his book, Recovering Our Sanity: How the Fear of God Conquers the Fears that Divide Us (Zondervan, 2022).
What is the message you’re communicating with this book’s title?
Michael Horton: The church in America today—I mean, the ones that uphold Scripture as the written and inerrant Word of God—are projecting a profile of Christianity that is totally at odds with what we find there. I include myself. We’re afraid of so many things. Many of them are legitimate concerns. But they’re badly ranked. God should be our number one fear. He’s holy, we’re not, and that’s a problem. If that’s solved, we have a secure place from which to address our daily anxieties.
By Craig Groeschel
I heard the voice of the LORD saying,
“Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”
Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” Isaiah 6:8
Years ago, I heard a pastor tell a story that I’ll never forget. This seasoned preacher described how each week, after the Sunday service, he’d stand by the door of the church to greet people as they left for their cars. He described the joy of hugging the grandmas and high-fiving the younger kids week after week. The pastor admitted openly that he loved when his parishioners would praise his message, complimenting him on how God used him to speak to them.
But then the pastor described an encounter he had with a guy, Matt, that he’d seen regularly at church but had never gotten to know well. Matt was probably in his mid-40s, graying slightly around the temples. Lines around his eyes indicated he might have had some challenging years in his life, but his warm smile and confident handshake led the preacher to believe that Matt was probably in a better season in life at the moment.
Then one Sunday after the service, Matt grasped both of the pastor’s hands firmly and said, “Pastor, I want you to know that my answer is yes. Now what’s the question?”
Read this week’s Bible Gateway Weekly Brief newsletter
⇨ Bible Gateway Weekly Brief
⇨ Newsletter signup
▼
Support Bible Gateway—Find the Resources You Need At:
⇨ FaithGateway Store
⇨ Christianbook.com
Order Resources in Bulk At:
⇨ ChurchSource
▼
⇨ See Bible News Roundup weekly posts
Get biblically wise and spiritually fit. Become a member of Bible Gateway Plus. Try it right now during a FREE trial period!
With nearly 3 million searches per day—more than 2,000 per minute around the clock—being generated by tens of millions of people in more than 200 countries and territories, search trends on Bible Gateway offer an impression of how people engage with the Bible on the world’s most visited Christian website.
The following map and chart show the cities that have the most traffic to Bible Gateway and the Bible passages people searched for in those cities over the last past 12 months.
This is the two-hundred-fourteenth lesson in author and pastor Mel Lawrenz’ How to Live the Bible series. If you know someone or a group who would like to follow along on this journey through Scripture, they can get more info and sign up to receive these essays via email here.
A small group of children see me taking photos of their school building and scamper to jump in front of the camera. Seven of them altogether, four boys and three girls. They giggle, hop about, squeeze in, arms around shoulders, to get in the frame. Each flashes a broad smile, one boy with a large gap where two front teeth used to be. Their school uniforms include navy blue shorts, blue gingham shirts, and white and blue striped ties. And how they laugh when I show them the digital images of them on the back of the camera.
By Michael Klassen and Thomas Freiling
Have you ever faced a mountain that seemed impossible to overcome? Perhaps you encountered a dilemma that required more than you could give. Is there a battle right around the corner that has you feeling ill-equipped?
The various mountains we face—
reinforce to us that we’re human. Yet mountain or molehill, these battles cannot be overcome without the intervention of a loving heavenly Father who alone possesses the ability to scale the unscalable.
Mountains are beneficial because they serve as reminders of our inability and God’s ability. The apostle Paul wrote that our God is “able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20 NKJV, emphasis added). Any power at our disposal comes not from the power resident within us, but the grace of God working through us.
Loading ...
