Tag: Chrisitan living

Four scenes showing the Last Supper, Jesus entering Jerusalem, carrying the cross, and crucifixion.

Summer Reruns: A Fresh Look at Generosity

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Jesus’ final week on earth before going to the cross was busy. He was in the temple almost every day teaching and preaching and engaging with the Jewish religious authorities who were trying desperately to undermine Him in any way they could. Amid all of this commotion, though, Jesus found a few quiet moments to just sit in the temple complex with His disciples, observing the passing scene. As He looked across the great courtyard, He saw worshipers pouring their offerings in the treasury box. The metal box with a trumpet-shaped opening made sure that the most obviously generous patrons of the temple were noticed and celebrated by everyone within earshot. What caught Jesus’ eye in that moment was not the large gifts of the wealthy, but the apparently insignificant gift of a poor, old widow. His comments to His disciples about the woman gave us a totally new way of understanding how God looks at generosity. They reframed what matters most when it comes to our giving. Let’s take a look at this story from Mark’s Gospel in a post from this date in 2021.

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One Is the Loneliest Number

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This past Sunday we covered one more load we carry when we try to do life apart from Jesus as we draw near the end of our series, A Heavy Load. This week we talked about the load of loneliness. Life was not meant to be lived alone. We were made for relationships. When we do life without Jesus, though, maintaining those relationships because entirely more difficult than it should be. Read on to find out why and how we can fix this.

One Is the Loneliest Number

Have you ever spent a significant amount of time alone? I don’t mean simply hanging out at home when nobody else is around for a couple of hours. I’m talking about a time when you didn’t have anybody around for an extended period of time. Honestly, Covid subjected a lot of folks to that in ways and times they were neither expecting nor for which they were prepared. And maybe you’re sitting there thinking how much you would like to have an extended amount of time by yourself because you can’t think of the last time you weren’t being constantly bombarded by people, but it’s a different animal wanting something like that because you can’t have it and being stuck alone because you can’t be around people like you want to be. Being alone…isn’t good for us. 

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