John Piper takes us back to a time that many see as the golden years in our country’s history. It is the 1950s, before when many believe that our country lost its Christian moorings to the social chaos of the 1960s. But that is not how John remembers that time. Piper sees the 1950s very …
Tag: sin
Tuesday, September 22
Psalm: 78:1-39 Meditation 1 Corinthians: As if to underscore yesterday’s reading in Matthew 5 about sin, the situation here is far more serious and worse: flagrant sexual immorality is rampant in Western society – no one sees anything wrong with it. The mantra "if no one is getting hurt then there is nothing wrong” represents …
Monday, September 21
Psalm: 77 Meditation Matthew: I think Jesus wants us to know just how insidious sin is. Here we see that sin is much more than things we do or do not do – sin appears to be stamped or emblazoned on our souls. Because one doesn’t do something does not mean he has not sinned. …
Going Deeper: August 9
Read 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 together. Watch the sermon video (available at pacificunionchurch.org/churchsmall) Listen. Why is the Christian life compared to race? Why is self control and doing things our body does not want to do necessary for running this race? How is self-control connected to faith, hope and love? Respond. What specific sins and addictions …
Wednesday, July 1
Psalm: 130 Meditation Acts: The sin spoken of in this passage is called “simony” in “honor” of the scoundrel who thought the gift of God could be had for a price. This is a subtle and insidious sin. (Isn’t all sin insidious?) Simon wanted a sense of power for he witnessed the power of the …
Fasting
There is a dramatic scene at the end of the book of Jonah where an entire city, the city of Nineveh, is confronted with the news that God is about to destroy them. How do they respond to impending judgment? They declare a fast. The king decrees that no one, not even their animals, is …
Tuesday, June 9
Psalm: 62 Meditation Luke: I’ve always thought it was interesting that Jesus knew Zacchaeus’ name. Someone must have old Him (no matter). Because Zacchaeus was a tax collector he was regarded as a collaborator with the Romans. Strike one. He was rich, probably from ill-gotten gain. Strike two. He was viewed as a sinner. You’re …
The Fruits of the Spirit
Listen. Listen to the prerecorded Children’s Message together. You can find it at pacificunionchurch.org/churchsmall Review. How did trying to play soccer without any rules show Pastor Nate that freedom is NOT doing whatever you want? Lesson. Do you guys want to know what freedom is? To find out we have to learn what freedom is for. …
The Lord’s Prayer
Prayer is one of two daily spiritual practices that are key to keeping spiritually fit. We learned in our last post that prayer is a two-way conversation with God that involves both listening and speaking. We already covered silence as the listening aspect of prayer, this week we will look at our part of the …
First Sunday in Lent
Memorize these verses as a family: Psalm 32:3: When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. Psalm 32:5b: ...I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord” -- and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Listen. Talk with your family about times that you did something wrong …
