Synopsis: Ecclesiastes gives the competing visions of a life well-lived. A life "under the sun" is one of never ending accomplishments leading ultimately to frustration because a life focused only on earthly things can only bring vanity. A life lived "above the sun" with a God-centered view is life fulfilled and complete.

Synopsis: Today's passage is an extended meditation on the topic rest, based on Psalm 95. It is a continuation of a warning about the danger of missing this rest, but also describes something of the nature of our rest and the weapon of God's word that helps us learn to rest.

Synopsis: Israel’s wilderness wanderings warn us of the danger of developing a hard heart.

Synopsis: The command to “consider Jesus” is a theme that occurs repeatedly in this book. It is the need of those who are facing the severe persecution threatening these original readers, and it is our need as well.

Synopsis: Although 2 Timothy is one of the pastoral epistles, it does not just pertain to those in church leadership positions. This letter was written by Paul during his final imprisonment, with the reality that death was imminent. Unlike the other pastoral epistles, this one is more personal, having less to do with church order and more to do with final instructions for Paul’s spiritual son, Timothy. The striking thing about this book is the overall lack of lament and sadness at the apostle’s current state. Instead, we see a picture of a man who does not see a potential death sentence as invalidating his years of service. He does not see death as a failure. In the midst of the greatest time of struggling and suffering one could go through, Paul gives us a visceral picture of hope. In our passage today we will see Paul’s gratitude for three aspects of the gospel as it is lived out and not merely studied. Paul is grateful for the heritage that followers of Christ have, as this message of hope is passed from one person, from one generation to another. He is grateful for the reality of power, real power, found in the gift of the Holy Spirit. Finally, he is grateful for the certainty we have that Jesus Christ is in control and He has already won!

Synopsis: The author encourages us to stay true to Christ by reminding us that it is only through Christ that we will be able to achieve God’s intended purpose for humanity.

Synopsis: Today’s passage contains the first of many warnings in Hebrews against falling away from Christianity, commonly referred to as apostasy. Such apostasy normally happens not through overt rejection but through the more passive means of neglect and slowly drifting away.

Jesus began his ministry with this command: “Repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15-16). What is repentance? The Bible talks of repentance as both the way we come to Christ and the way we stay near him.

But for something so central, there seem to be a lot of misconceptions. Hosea helps us clear these up, and shows that the path of repentance is the very path of life.

The prophet Habakkuk lived during a time when he witnessed the rapid moral decline after the death of Judah's last good king. Like many Christians today, he lamented the growing apostasy around him and cried out to the Lord, asking how long this would go unchecked. The answer given to him by God highlights both His sovereignty over all things and His mercy towards His people, even in judgement. The result is one of the most beautiful statements in scripture about trusting in the Lord when everything else around you seems to be falling apart. When you live between trusting fully in God's sovereignty and in His mercy displayed through Jesus Christ, you are free to experience real peace.

Hebrews 1 states a theme that will appear throughout this book. That theme is the very practical lesson that the suffering Christian must above all listen to the voice of God which comes to us in its final form through Jesus.

Synopsis: We cannot fix all the world’s problems. But we can point people to the one who can. Our mission is to lift up the Lord Jesus, who alone can bring about the world we were created for.

Synopsis: When the choice is between unimaginable joy and unimagined horror, why would anyone not choose to receive the joy and life that comes through faith in Jesus?

Synopsis: The resurrection of Jesus, celebrated every Sunday but especially on this Easter Sunday, changes everything. We see in this passage that it changes both our future and our present.

Synopsis: Peter’s second sermon in Acts is preached following the healing of the man born lame. Many come to faith in Christ following this sermon, and we learn here about some elements of effective evangelism.

Main Point: In this passage, the Apostle Paul is going deep into our identity in Christ. Who you are, and who you think you are, drives your thoughts and your actions. For Christians, being united to Christ is the most important thing about us.

Synopsis: We are concluding our series on the mission of the church with four sermons in Acts, two by Peter and two by Paul. These sermons, the first of which we are looking at today, show us what the apostles understood Jesus to mean in the mission he had given the church.

Synopsis: In Jesus’ prayer for his church, he prays for unity that is modeled on the unity within the trinity, saying that such unity will lead to evangelistic effectiveness.

Synopsis: In order to understand the mission of the Church, it is necessary that we understand how all things will end. Today’s passage shows us the end of Babylon, which stands for the kingdoms of this world.

Synopsis: As we pursue our mission to lift up Jesus and make disciples for him, we can expect to encounter opposition from the evil one. In today’s passage, Paul explains how we face this opposition with the Lord’s strength instead of our own.