Five Ways to Honour Jesus as King
One of the great privileges of being an adopted sibling of Jesus is that the Throne of Glory is for us a Throne of Grace. What a joy to know that we do not need to hide our weakness from our king. His power is not against us, but for us.
How to Be Free from a Lingering Sense of Guilt and Shame
Although it is true that the sin of a believer is washed away once-and-for-all through a single act of salvation, there is another sense in which we must bathe our consciences regularly in order to maintain a sense of freedom and intimacy before God. How does a person do this? What is the process that we need to go through in order to be freed from a reoccurring sense of the shame and guilt of sin?
Three Ways to Maintain a Peaceful Heart
From beginning to end, the Bible mentions peace as one of choice blessings that the LORD reserves for his people. Yet, any honest Christian will admit that each day presents new worries that threaten to disrupt the repose of a heart resting in the love of God.
7 Ways to Daily Communion with Jesus as the Bridegroom
One of the marvels of the gospel is that it reveals Jesus to be the husband of the church. In saying this, we need to understand just how surprising this insight is. According to Paul, Jesus and the church are the ground, end, and fulfilment of what it means to be bride and groom. All other marriages are a pale reflection, at best, of the covenant between the Saviour and his bride.
Do You Want to Live the Book of Acts?
In February, we will be heading into a new study as home groups. Our curriculum will be a guide to the book of Acts called ‘Dangerous Faith’, which has been produced by Open Doors. My hope and prayer is that this study will unsettle us in a good and healthy way. In the West, we are too easily surprised by suffering, angered by opposition, and disheartened by cultural friction. We need a shift of perspective.
The Mind of Christ
HEC currently enjoys a remarkable spirit of unity and stability as a congregation. We should give thanks for this. As the Psalmist notes, it is a divine blessing when brethren dwell together in unity (Ps. 133). At the same time, we should not be naïve. A ship on the open seas will eventually encounter choppy water.
Three Lies that Keep Us from Enjoying the Love of the Father
The danger of this logic is that we begin to think that God’s love is dependent upon our love. If we falter in our feelings toward God, the relationship between us and Him crumbles. Thus, when we adopt this mindset, we lose our ground of confidence before God. Instead of knowing the security of being an adopted child, we feel the anxiety of an employee facing a daily performance review.
Love. The Only Explanation.
Given, then, that there were no positive additions to the experience of the Son, but only negative ones, why would he do it? Why would the perfect joy of divine life be relinquished in order to be publicly executed as a loathed criminal? There is only one answer. Love.
How Is Jesus ‘Everlasting Father’?
There is one passage that each of us will hear a dozen times over Christmas: ‘For unto us a child is born, for unto us a Son is given…And he shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace’ (Is. 9:6). There is a puzzle in this verse that a lot of Christians never pause to figure out. What does it mean that Jesus is ‘Everlasting Father’?
