Digging in Deeper: 2 Peter 1:3-4

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“His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

For the last few weeks, I have been taking my congregation (and you as well) on a journey to understand how to read the Bible a little better than they did before. This has mostly been Christianity 101 type of stuff, and the next two parts of the series will be no different. I had been planning on this series for a few months and was pretty excited about it. Engaging with the Scriptures and encouraging followers of Jesus to do that in their own lives is something I’m pretty passionate about. But personally, I don’t always practice that passion as well as I feel it. As I fell asleep last night and when I was lying in bed for a bit this morning before getting up, I was thinking about what I would be writing about today. Leaving for the office a little later, I still didn’t know. Then God did what God has a knack for doing and gave it to me in a rush. We’re going to spend a little bit of time this morning engaging with the Scriptures together and seeing in action why doing it can make such a difference in our lives.

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Morning Musing: Hebrews 2:10

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“For in bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was entirely appropriate that God – for whom and through whom all things exist – should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

How do you make something better? You have to work it and work with it. Great improvement doesn’t come overnight. Not even small improvement does. It comes one step at a time…often one hard step at a time. Sometimes, the harder a road something has been through, the better it has become. This isn’t a guarantee my any means, but perfection doesn’t often come without suffering. This applies to just about everything…including Jesus according to the author of Hebrews here. Let’s talk about it.

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Something Special

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“And the King will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

We live today in a world in which changing jobs is a fairly regular thing. It is not uncommon, though, for people to change not merely jobs, but whole careers. There are literally millions of job openings around the country today because people are quitting their jobs at a record pace in order to get a new one somewhere else making more money. The whole country is feeling the effects of the chaos this is causing. Historically speaking, though, this idea of not doing one thing your entire life is new. It is becoming rarer and rarer to find someone who has pursued one path for an entire lifetime. It is even more unusual for someone to do that well. Milestones like that are worth acknowledging. This morning, we are taking a detour from our journey through Hebrews because I have one such milestone in particular that I’d like to share and celebrate with you. Today is the 40th anniversary of when my dad started practicing law.

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Digging in Deeper: Hebrews 2:8b-9

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“For in subjecting everything to him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. As it is, we do not yet see everything subjected to him. But we do see Jesus – made lower than the angels for a short time so that by God’s grace he might taste death for everyone – crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What is it that makes Jesus so great? That, perhaps more than just about anything else, is the question the author of Hebrews is seeking to answer over the course of his letter. While there are several good answers to the question generally and three in particular to which he gives the lion’s share of his attention, we see his arguing for one here that may not be something we think about all that often. Let’s dig in to what he’s talking about this morning.

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From One to the Next

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This week was Mother’s Day, and a happy Mother’s Day to you. This week also finds us continuing in our series, How to Read the Bible. What does Mother’s Day have to do with Bible basics? That’s exactly what we’re going to be talking about. Thanks for tuning in.

From One to the Next

Moms are a pretty amazing thing. Did you know that? Dads are important too. In fact, they are essential when it comes to turning out kids who are well-rounded, emotionally healthy, and set up for lifetime success. But there’s just something especially significant about moms. And not just moms either. God made women with this unique ability to nurture that men don’t have. Let me give you an example. If one of my boys gets a war wound of some sort, I think they pretty much all know what they’re going to get if they come to me. They’re going to get a once-over visual inspection, they’re going to be told they’re fine, and they’re going to be sent back out to play again. If there’s blood, we’ll deal with that a little differently, but otherwise they’re pretty much going to get told to suck it up and keep going. Sometimes, though, an injury needs a little bit more care and compassion. It’s not that I don’t care or have compassion, it’s just that I don’t default to those…because I’m a guy. God didn’t build me like that. He did build moms—and women generally—that way, though. 

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