Christ Died, Was Buried, and Rose Again Our Scripture Memory Challenge has been leading us through the wonderful message of the gospel. We've learned that we are all sinners (Romans 3:23), that sin brings death but God offers eternal life (Romans 6:23), and that God demonstrated His love by sending Jesus to die for us (John 3:16; Romans 5:8). This week, we come to the very heart of the gospel: the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. “Christ died for our sins in a

Christ Died For Us This week’s Scripture Memory Challenge verse is Romans 5:8. Over the past several weeks, we have been exploring the wonderful message of the gospel. Romans 3:23 reminded us that we have all sinned. Romans 6:23 revealed that the wages of sin are death, but that God offers the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Last week, John 3:16 reminded us of the incredible love of God that moved Him to give His only Son. But how do we know that God loves us? And

For God So Loved the World This week’s Scripture Memory Challenge verse is one of the most familiar and beloved verses in all of Scripture: John 3:16. Many of us learned these words as children, but their familiarity should never cause us to overlook the wonderful truth they contain. Over the past two weeks, we have been learning about our need for salvation. Romans 3:23 reminded us that we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. Romans 6:23 then revealed the consequ

The Wages of Sin and the Gift of God This week's Scripture Memory Challenge verse is Romans 6:23. Last week, Romans 3:23 reminded us that everyone has sinned and fallen short of God's glory. We have all failed to live according to His perfect standard. But what are the consequences of our sin? And is there any hope for us? This week, Paul gives us both the sobering answer and the wonderful hope of the gospel: "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal

Our Problem: Sin This week’s memory verse is Romans 3:23. This is a foundational verse for our Christian journey and marks an important turn in our Scripture Memory Challenge. So far, our attention has focused mainly on who God is and why He is worthy of our love. Knowing God is the ultimate goal because Scripture is His story. But unless we also understand who we are in comparison to Him, we cannot fully appreciate all that He has done for us. What We Have Learned So Far Gen

Why We Sing Singing has always been an important part of Christian worship, but have you ever stopped to consider why we sing? Congregational singing is not simply a way to begin a worship service, or fill the time between other parts of the service, or only to prepare us to hear the sermon. Scripture gives singing a much greater purpose. Paul writes: "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and

Love the Lord with All Your Heart As we continue our journey through Scripture, we have been learning more about who God is. We have seen Him as Creator, as the eternal Word who became flesh, as the One whose glory is displayed in creation, as our loving Shepherd, as perfectly holy, and most recently, as merciful, gracious, patient, faithful, forgiving, and just. As we come to Deuteronomy 6:5, the focus shifts from what God has revealed about Himself to how we should respond

“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Psalm 90:2). Before time existed and before light broke through darkness, God already was. Not lonely. Not incomplete. Not waiting for creation to fulfill Him. Download a printable PDF version of the Blog. This is the foundation of everything that follows in Scripture. God has always existed and depends on nothing outside Himself for His exis

The Big Picture: God at the Center from Genesis to Revelation is about learning to see Scripture as one unfolding story and, above all, learning to see God at its center. Throughout the series, one question will guide us: What does this reveal about God? Rather than beginning in Genesis and making one long journey straight through to Revelation, we are going to approach Scripture in several passes. We'll travel from Genesis to Revelation more than once, looking at something d

We often open Scripture asking questions like, “What does this mean for me?” “What am I supposed to do?” or “How does this apply to my life?” Those are important questions, but I’m becoming convinced that they shouldn’t be our first questions. Before we ask what the Bible says about us, we need to ask a much bigger question: What does this reveal about God? The Bible begins with four simple words: “In the beginning, God…” (Genesis 1:1). And when we reach the final chapters of