Today in our reading of Matthew, we come to the Lord’s prayer. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead … More Lord’s Prayer: more deliverance, more healing, more joy
Today we read Matthew 5:33–48. Here are verses 43-48: You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for … More Treasuring the reward of heaven empowers you to love your enemy.
Today we come to the first half of Acts 7, the story of Stephen. Here is a sermon from Acts 7, The Story of a Stiff-Necked People by John Piper. So in Acts 7:1 the high priest gives Stephen a chance to defend himself, “Is this so?” he asks. And Stephen does a very strange … More History as a defense
Today we read 5:17-42 in our Bible reading plan. But the high priest rose up and all who were with him, that is, the party of the Sadducees, and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the common prison. But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors … More God’s power- not ours
Today we read about Ananias and Sapphira in Act 5:1-16. Here are insights from John Piper, in a sermon “Be Like Barnabas, Not Like Ananias!” Ananias and Sapphira stand for the exact opposite, namely, people who have not really been changed on the inside by being satisfied with all that God is for them in … More John Piper: faking faith in the presence of God is a fearful thing.
Today we read Acts 4:1-22. In verse 12, Peter proclaimed, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Here are words from John Piper, in a sermon, “There is Salvation in No One Else” Peter pushed the universality … More One way … no other name
In our Bible reading we finish Acts 2 today. Verse 23 says, “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” John Piper, in a sermon,“Did You Kill the Lord of Glory?” I can hear a superficial cynic respond to this … More God’s Plan vs Pilate’s Plan
And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not … More Diversity of languages and Gospel-spreading
Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. —Acts 1:16 John Piper, in a sermon, What Judas’s Death Teaches Us About the Spirit, tells of the invincible purpose of the Holy Spirit: God wants us … More The invincibility of God’s purpose
Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. —Psalm 2:11 ESV Does this mean that our joy in the Lord is on shaky ground? Do we have reason to be afraid? This is not the only place in the Bible where we will see seemingly contrary commands. The Bible describes Christ’s … More Rejoice with trembling
