Introduction to For Such A Time As This
The book of Esther is a strange book in that it is one of two books in the Bible where God is not mentioned by name. Many people have been bothered by that fact, and some have even questioned whether or not it should have been included in the canon of Scripture....
Introduction to For Such A Time As This
The book of Esther is a strange book in that it is one of two books in the Bible where God is not mentioned by name. Many people have been bothered by that fact, and some have even questioned whether or not it should have been included in the canon of Scripture....
Now We See
If you lived in America in the 1980s and 1990s, you may remember when we rented movies (VCRs in my childhood) at Blockbuster. Many of the stores had posters that, on the surface, looked abstract or geometric, but they contained hidden 3D images. I’d stop to stare and,...
Announcing Our Next Study!
Has the world seemed like it’s crashing down all around you? Do you feel like you’ve been hit with one storm after another? Have you begun to wonder where God is in the midst of all your heartbreak? Has your suffering caused you to doubt that God sees your...
The Light of the World
Our front porch light burned out a few years ago. Soon after that, the floodlight above our garage also burned out, and it seems they don’t make that model anymore. Did I mention that we live in Eastern Europe on a dirt road with absolutely no city lights? Darkness....
To Know Jesus is to Know God
Social media has created some blurred lines and confusion within our society. We can "follow" people that inspire us, while technology allows us the ability to watch lives unfold through a screen we keep in our back pocket. Over time, as we watch the highlight reels,...
Unmet Expectations
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God!” –John 6:68–69 What kind of choices did you make today? Too many to count? What time to wake up. What to...
The Bread of Life
One of the things I’ve always loved about Jesus is how He rarely answered a question in the way people expected. Throughout the Gospels, we see people coming to Him wanting a list of do’s and don’ts or a specific answer, and Jesus rarely delivered. And yet, although...
Walking on Water
Who doesn’t love an action-packed movie? The kind that keeps you on the edge of your seat, where you dive from one scene into the next. As the suspense builds, the thrill runs deep! I kind of get that sense when reading John’s gospel. Jesus and His disciples had...
God Can Do a Lot with a Little
The story of Jesus feeding the five thousand is a familiar and well-known miracle of Jesus. It’s also the only miracle of Jesus that is recorded in all four of the Gospels. In this passage, there’s a lot we can learn about the nature and heart of Jesus. While there is...
It’s Never too Late to be Healed
Have you been in a place for so long that you feel like there is no way out? That you are too far gone? That you are a lost cause, unseen by God and overlooked by others? In John 5, there is a story of a paralytic, a man who could not walk. He had been paralyzed for...
Believe and Go
“Then the father realized that it was the very time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live,” and he himself believed along with his entire household. Jesus did this as his second miraculous sign when he returned from Judea to Galilee.” –John 4:53–54 This man came...
Living Well
I wonder, are you like me and enjoy an intriguing drama series on television? The tension builds when the writer slips in a seemingly irrelevant or easily missed detail which actually turns out to be key to the whole story! Well, we find this near the beginning of...
Becoming Less
“The Father loves the Son and has placed all things under his authority. The one who believes in the Son has eternal life. The one who rejects the Son will not see life, but God’s wrath remains on him.” –John 3:35–36 I’ve never been great at group projects. Whenever I...
The Choice We Make
If I was asked to guess the most famous verse in the Bible, I would say John 3:16. It is the only verse that a work colleague has ever asked me to quote over lunch. He’d been watching a sports game over the weekend, saw a sign with John 3:16 on it, and asked me what...
Signed, Sealed, Delivered
In the 1970’s an American musical genius named Stevie Wonder released a catchy tune titled “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.” The title of the song was taken from a legal term for the contractual deed indicating the validity of a finalized business transaction. A formal...
Turning Water into Wine
“This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him." –John 2:11 Jesus’ mother knew who to turn to when there was a problem. In Jesus’ day, running out of wine at a wedding...
Do You Know Who Jesus Is?
“Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel!” –John 1:49 How would you describe Jesus? In our reading today, we meet Nathanael, who wasn’t convinced of who Jesus was. His friend Philip came to share the great news of finding...
The Chosen One of God
“I have both seen and testified that this man is the Chosen One of God.” –John 1:34 Whether you’re intimately familiar or new to the story of Jesus, we can learn a lot from the account of John. Both declarations in today’s Scripture are important: I have seen Him. ...
The Word
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. The Word was with God in the beginning. All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and the life was the...
Introduction
John’s Gospel is a full account of the ministry of Jesus. However, his account is different from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. While each Gospel account clearly displays Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah of the world, each account highlights different...
An Unexpected Calling
In the Bible we find many people who received an unexpected calling from God. Many of these people were caught by surprise and many had never before considered the task they were given. They responded in many different ways, some with fear (Gideon), some with...
Our Security For Eternity Translations
The Our Security for Eternity Bible study journal is currently available in 22 languages, with more in process! Our Security for Eternity for Kids is available for download in 11 languages! Help us spread our translations around the world by sending this information...
Materials Now Available!
We are one week away from our next study, Our Security for Eternity! We begin the Our Security for Eternity Bible study on Monday, March 7 and we couldn’t be more excited to dig into God’s Word with you! We're thrilled you've joined us to study the Gospel of John, as...
Announcing Our Next Study!
One of the biggest and most humbling questions in life is what happens when we die. We long for peace, for certainty to know that, even though our lives on earth will end, there is something more. But how can we know for sure? How can we be certain death is not...
An Eternal Perspective
I grew up in a Christian family and knew, from a young age, Christian truths. One of the teachings I’ve learned is the call to worship God. I have always understood this as a kind of grateful attitude towards God and an expression of it during a prayer or worship....