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If we receive preaching in faith like this it will be impossible not to also receive it in love. We will be in love with the message that we hear: the message that a holy God saves sinners. We will love the God who not only offers this salvation, but also publishes it abroad and has it proclaimed to the whole world so that we can hear and believe. The famous words of the prophet about preaching are words of love: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news.

We need to spend more time in God's Word, not less. Dedicating a portion of our busy schedule, perhaps weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, is an important step in forming within us godly priorities. If we don't intentionally make the time for it, the time will be taken up by something else. We need to make our priorities align with God's, and group studies are a helpful tool to do just that.

Let us run toward heaven by keeping the eyes of our heart fixed on the One who is already there. The One who has already run the race and come in first.

So too in the Christian life we must prepare ourselves for what lies ahead. This is what it means to "count the cost" of following Christ. There's a price to be paid. It won't be easy. Discipleship requires endurance.

Trying to run the Christian race with sin clinging to us is like trying to run a marathon in a ballroom gown while carrying a backpack filled with bricks.

The Apostle Paul said, “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us” (Philippians 3:17).

"Come, Thou long-expected Jesus!" The opening line of this great Christmas hymn encapsulates the desire of every Israelite pre-Christ’s birth.  In fact, it’s a bit of an understatement.  Christ was certainly “long-expected”… but just how long had people been waiting for him?

Reformers argued that the church’s role was not magesterial but ministerial. The church wasn’t meant to lord authority over the Christian people, but rather come alongside them and support them in life through ministering the Word of God.

We can think that our sins or even our doubts have lost us favor with God. We want to be saved, but we're just not good enough for it. Friends: there is no such thing as wanting to be saved and not being saved.

Satan never stops his attempts to discourage the people of God, therefore we should never stop in our work of comforting and encouraging and exhorting.

Perhaps we have so fantasized and mythologized the life of Christ that we forget this fact. When we think of Jesus we think of halos and clouds and beams of light. No—Christ was a human just like you and me.  He had skin, hair, fingernails.  His voice changed, he grew out of his clothes, he would get hungry, thirsty. That “just five more minutes” feeling we get in the morning—Jesus knew all of that. 

The difference between authentic Christianity and some perversion of it is that the perversion will have the handprints of man all over it, authentic Christianity will only have the handprints of Christ. Real Christianity is only Christ.

But in all of God’s sovereignty is actually the proof of His goodness. He does what is good for His people and for His glory. A sovereign God who is not good is a terror. A good God who is not sovereign is an idol.

This is a meal that is not set for the world. It is a meal for God’s people, for those who are in Christ. Our sinful habits and behaviors can often overwhelm and discourage us to the point where we think we don’t have a seat at the Table. But ask yourself this: is Christ in me? Am I in Him by faith? If so, no matter what sin you are struggling with, then there's an open invitation.

When a Christian leaves home in the morning, he must remember he is at Christ's disposal; he is not to do as he pleases, but to be guided by rule, and for God's glory--not only in his duties or immediate conversation with God, but in his sports, business, and recreations.