Love is such a hard concept to define; we decided to focus on the emotional connection that produces love. Find an emotional connection with your mate, and you and your mate will love each other. Since the Bible shows us that emotional connection is the essence of love (and so does science), this presentation delves into the components of it.
Research shows us that most of the problems between husband and wives stem from poor communication—misunderstanding each other, in other words. This may be hard to believe. But, after watching many couples attempt to communicate, I believe the research. This presentation offers a potent tool to smooth out communication and help couples meet each other heart to heart.
If we are smart, we know that we need someone to have our back. Scripture reveals that God knew that Adam was not complete when he created Eve to be a support for him. Adam needed help. We see that Adam recognized this and was happy about what God had done. Later in the NT, we learn that Adam (and all husbands) are also to have their wife’s back as well, each one supporting the other in the specific way that is most helpful. Consider, in this presentation, what that looks like in a God-Based Marriage.
While marriage is an everyday relationship, it also looks beyond this life to the goal a husband and wife can both attain in the Kingdom of God. This goal causes a God-Based marriage to become a spiritually beneficial relationship for both parties, as they support each other in spiritual things. For that reason, knowing that a husband and wife are “heirs together of the grace of life,” organizes marriage into a profoundly spiritual endeavor.
Jesus said that laying down one’s life for one’s friends was the greatest love of all. How does this apply to marriage, when the marriage is God-Based? It’s the most powerful aspect of a healthy marriage. Are you good that this kind of love?
Jesus told us his Father is a farmer. Our Father is growing a crop of beings for his kingdom. We are those crops. What’s the import of that? God has a plan and we are a part of it. He is tending to us, cultivating, planting, watering, weeding, and harvesting. In our age, disconnected from the land, this might not mean much to us, but if we want to know what God is doing, we would be wise to learn more about his farming efforts.
Jesus, in his spiritual brilliance, compressed the entire Old Testament into one sentence. We call it the Golden Rule. This rule operates behind the scenes in heaven and on earth. It’s not just universal, but also spiritual, then. How does it function in marriage? Is it vital or irrelevant?
Perhaps the most important organizing principle of marriage is the way God and Jesus conduct their own relationship. It’s a model for relationships across the entire creation, both in heaven and on earth.
God makes everything according to a plan, with organizing principles underlying each creation. He created marriage this way. If we know the organizing principles and follow them, it stands to reason that being married happily depends on the application of these principles in the relationship. This series aims to lay them out, all in one package for easy review, and to explain each one with examples and scriptures. We hope this can be helpful for premarital, newlyweds, as well as those who have been married for years.
Every spring in ancient Israel, God instructed the people to hold a harvest festival in which they ate unleavened bread. It was an annual reminder that their predecessors ate unleavened bread the night they fled Egypt, not having time to let their dough rise. Much later, the Apostle Paul, while writing about this festival, compares leavening to sin in the Christian life. He confirms that we also are to observe the Festival of Unleavened Bread—not only eating unleavened bread but also to become unleavened in our hearts, to strive for a sin-free life, as we strive to follow the example Jesus set for us
Most of us, no matter our religious or political affiliation, find it hard to watch the news. Most Christians know that God tells us to keep up with world events. However, due to the deepening political division in the United States, human bias colors reporting across the media spectrum. It is often hard to discern the truth. Is there a way to parse the news from a godly perspective? We think so.
Many people today think that it’s old fashioned to follow God’s rules about sex. Sexual promiscuity is a way of life for many single people. And many marriages and relationships break up because of infidelity. We would never try to convince anyone against their will that God’s rules are for our own good. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t explain how his rules, when applied, save people a lot of heartache, and even mental illness.
At the recent Winter Family Weekend, the church service included a symposium about depression. It stimulated a number of us there to consider what a person can do to stave off or get past depression. This presentation includes an expansion on one of the strategies for doing just that.
This series wrap-up, we examine the intricate relationship between faith, hope, love, and obedience to God. If we take the time to understand how that relationship works, it’s good news!
The Apostle Paul wrote, in I Corinthians, that faith, hope, and love were three abiding Godly attributes. What is the connection between faith and hope? Does hope increase faith? Does faith increase hope? An important topic if we feel hopeless.
Faith and Patience—both are fruits of the Holy Spirit, we are told in Scripture. God is pleased when we exhibit either or both of these characteristics. It is also true that either of these traits makes it easier to maintain the other. They are somewhat interdependent. Consider the issue further in Faith and Patience.
Did you know you can participate in your own faith development? In this presentation, we discuss biblically sound ways to grow in faith. We also explain the sublime relationship between faith, obedience to God, and godly love, and how the interconnection helps us grow in all three vital spiritual qualities.
The Apostle Paul said, “Without faith, it is impossible to please God.” If you are a Christian, that makes faith an important issue. If we have faith and please God by it, what does he do for us in return? What are the fruits of faith? Consider the topic more closely in this presentation.
In the Book of Revelation, God describes the first round of inductees into his Kingdom as “called, chosen, and faithful.” If God expects us to be faithful, that is, to endure to the end, what guidance does he provide to help us accomplish that goal? Are there things we can do to up our chances of hanging in until the end? This presentation offers four intentional strategies that may help.
God tells us that he is working a plan to draw all of us into eternal life with him. He describes the first round of inductees as “Faithful” in Revelation 17. Since faithfulness is one of the three primary descriptors, we can assume this is important to God. Could you be described that way? This new series details some of the elements of faithfulness and how to intentionally go toward them.
John the Baptist referred to Jesus as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The sins of the world we know about, but what about the lamb of God? Did you know there is a biblical festival for Christians that teaches us a lot more about Jesus and Christmas?
A friend asked me to produce a presentation explaining Christ’s return in a way that children could understand. This presentation is my effort at that—an outline with context. A timely presentation for the Festival of Trumpets, which falls on the first day of the 7th month. A day when ancient Israel blew the 7th Trumpet
Esau, we are told in scripture, sold his birthright to his brother Jacob for some lentil stew. Modern people often don’t grasp the value of a birthright as it was in Esau’s day—just as Christians today don’t grasp the value of God’s birthright gift to all his children. That’s why the apostle explains this life-saving lesson to us in the New Testament.
God tells us that the human heart is deceitful and wicked. Humans often are not truthful. He also tells us he desires truth in our “inward parts.” What a dilemma! Jesus further tells us that our problems in life, with others and with God, do not originate with our behaviors, but in our hearts. Yet when we try to please God, our focus is usually “being good”—on our behavior—rather than a change of heart. How can we sort ourselves out and become more aligned with God? One thing for sure, ignoring the problem, carrying on, muddling through, won’t cut it. It takes some focus—on our hearts.