Over the past year, we’ve noted on a number of occasions that if we were asked to summarize the teaching of the 39 books of the Old Testament in a nutshell we would do well to use the summary Jesus himself taught, namely: Love the Lord your God with all …
In this morning’s passage we continue to see how the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Israel, manifests himself as the one true God not just over Israel but over all of the created order and over all nations. Naaman is a commander of the king of …
This morning we come to the last of the Elijah stories in our series in which he passes his prophet mantle—literally—on to his spiritual son, Elisha. As our passage opens, Elijah’s prayer that the LORD take his life, which we looked at last week,[1] is about to be answered. In …
This Father’s Day morning—and once again, a Happy Father’s Day to all who are fathers!—we have yet another snapshot into the life of Elijah, God’s prophet, and his ongoing confrontations with the wicked king of Israel, Ahab, and his ruthless Canaanite queen, Jezebel. The passage opens with Ahab telling Jezebel …
This morning we continue to consider how the LORD used Elijah to confront that evil power couple, King Ahab of Israel and his Phoenician queen, Jezebel. In this season of planting gardens—Ron and I recently put in our vegetable garden—we see the drama in our morning’s passage revolving around Ahab’s …
Last week in considering I Kings 18, I mentioned that there was a three-year drought sent by the LORD due to the disobedience of his people. In this morning’s passage we see that even Elijah, God’s prophet, is affected by the drought but we also see that in the midst …
In a way this morning’s passage is an appropriate one for us to consider this Memorial Day weekend for on Memorial Day we as a nation remember those from various branches of the military who have died in active service for our country. The freedoms these women and men died …
Our passage this morning is a brief psalm, or sacred song, credited to King David. This psalm is a psalm of praise and the first item of praise is none other than God himself. In essence this is a psalm from an earthly king who is awe of the heavenly …
Last week we considered Luke’s account[1] of Jesus’ ascension to heaven forty days after he rose from the dead, during which period he appeared to many of his disciples and even once to a crowd of 500. After presenting various of these post-resurrection appearances on Easter Sunday, Luke closes his …
Today is not only Mother’s Day—and a very happy Mother’s Day to all who are mothers!—but in the church calendar it’s also Ascension Sunday or Jesus’ last day on earth in bodily form when, before the eyes of his disciples, he ascended or rose to heaven. Technically the day of …
