In the old tales, if they were sending people out on a quest, they always gave them special gifts with special powers. That’s what Jesus is doing in John 14—he’s sending his disciples (us) out into the world. The night before he dies, Jesus is givin...
God sent Jesus into the world to say the things he said and do the things he did — and it got him killed. Now Jesus is sending us into the world, and we should probably expect at least a hard time. In John 14, Jesus gives us gifts for the journey, gi...
Philip asks Jesus for something I think most of us can identify with. He asks Jesus to actually show them God. And at this, Jesus is exasperated. Philip’s saying, “We believe in God, but it’s hard. So give us just one view, and that will be enough f...
Trouble will come. And because we’re going to have trouble, Jesus says he wants to give us something so that our hearts are not troubled by the trouble. John 14 begins and ends with Jesus saying, “I don’t want you to be troubled.” So what is it that...
To live a Christian life is much more transformative than just trying to live better. If you’re a Christian, you are a living stone in the temple of the Holy Spirit, and you are a holy priesthood called to do sacrifices to the Lord, because you’re re...
The Christian understanding of freedom is at complete loggerheads with what our culture tells us. And I’d say most of us as Christians have trouble understanding it ourselves. An extremely important concept for understanding the Christian life is th...
Living the Christian life is not a matter of willpower and self-effort. Because of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we have the potential for radical and organic growth and change. 2 Peter talks about moving from selfishness to unselfishness, from ensl...
The book of 1 Peter is probably more about suffering than anything else. It might be the only book in the New Testament completely devoted to the subject of suffering. And it shows us that going through trials, troubles, and sufferings is one of the...
When we become Christians we don’t just turn over a new leaf, we’re spiritually raised with Christ and his resurrection power comes into our lives. And so, what does such an empowered life look like? We’re called to be holy, but this is a difficult t...
Jesus’ resurrected power is in our lives now. Even though we are not yet bodily resurrected, Christians are, according to Ephesians 2, raised with Christ and knowing the power of his resurrection. What does that mean? What does it mean to live that k...
When we unite with Jesus Christ, his resurrection power comes into our lives. Even though we believe we’ll be resurrected in our bodies at the end of time, there is already a spiritual resurrection that happens to us now. What does that look like? ...
Jesus’ resurrection isn’t supposed to just change history—it’s supposed to change you and me. The New Testament everywhere says we should expect to encounter the risen Christ. And that’s how our lives are changed. Peter is a case study for us, becau...
Easter is too marvelous for words, but we’re going to try. Luke 24 is an account of the resurrection: from the morning when the empty tomb was discovered, to the middle of the day when Jesus appeared on the road to Emmaus, to the evening when Jesus...
For centuries now, on the Sunday before Easter, the church has observed the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem just days before he was crucified. It’s called Palm Sunday. What does Palm Sunday mean? It means Jesus is king, and it’s impor...
Christianity gives us resources to help us live in a world that’s hard to live in. And in Luke 5, we see a resource we wouldn’t immediately think of as one — that is, that when Jesus calls us, he sends us out into the world to serve. Serving other pe...
