People need hope, compassion, and belonging. But this world can be a lonely and brutal place. Many become ostrasized by society and are treated as loathsome. However uncomfortable it makes us, we need to reach out to them in Christlike love; telling them about Jesus’ mercy, forgiveness, acceptance, and redemption.
Author: James Callen
Work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer (part 2)
The Holy Spirit is a permanently indwelling, continually active, Helper in the life of believers. He protects us, comforts us, leads us, equips us, teaches us, and grows us more in Christlikeness. How does He do that? This study looks at some of the ways the Holy Spirit works in us, for us, and through us.
Work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer (part 1)
If you are a believer, at the very instant you repented and received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit came to dwell within you. And He took up permanent residence, to teach and equip you to walk in Christlikeness. This study touches on some of the helping ways the Holy Spirit works in lives of believers.
Could the disciples James and John have been first cousins of Jesus?
Bible accounts do open up the possibility that James and John might have been first cousins of Jesus, but we don’t know definitively. This possibility is raised by comparing the four gospels and looking at the women who were nearby when Jesus was crucified.
Who does God say I am in Christ?
The holiness, sovereignty, and majesty of God can sometimes make it seem like He is too far removed from us; or cause us to question whether we’re a disappointment to Him. While our perception and feelings about ourselves are powerful and seem real to us, they aren’t reality. Reality is who God says we are in Christ.
Part 2: A study of Jesus’ reaching out to the Samaritan woman at the well
Jesus didn’t look on the woman at the well as an adulterous sinner who was deserving of where she was at in life. He saw someone who was hurting and downcast. He saw her as a person in need of undeserved forgiveness and merciful salvation. For Jesus, she was like that lost sheep who the shepherd went after and searched out.
Seeking after the lost: A study on Jesus’ reaching out to the Samaritan woman at the well (Part 1)
Prejudices and biases are common among men. These evils can creep into individuals or even congregations. But followers of Jesus should seek a pure heart with a genuine burden for the lost. For that, we need the Holy Spirit to work in us, revealing to us our ungodly attitudes and rooting out impure motions and motives.
Jesus never sinned. Why, then, was Jesus baptized?
Jesus didn’t need to be baptized in repentance of His sins because He never sinned. Yet, because He came into the world to give His life as a ransom for many and take upon himself the sins of man, it was appropriate for the Son of God to be baptized as the Son of Man, symbolizing His advocacy of those beseeching God’s mercy.
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