Luke 6:12-16: The Twelve Apostles
God’s ways are not our ways, and that is especially true when it comes to ministry. God uses all sorts of people that we would not expect. When you choose a president or prime minister you are looking for someone with an impeccable record, not so in the Bible. Where we have a winning formula for a leader, that type A personality that we think is the perfect recipe for success God uses different ingredients. This is very evident as we come to that part of the gospels where Jesus chooses His twelve apostles in Luke 6:12-16. Picture the...
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Spiritual Gifts: The Gift of Healing
Outline Modern views Biblical practice Introduction The pastor walked to the front of the stage while the band was softly playing and said, ‘The Spirit has told me that an anointing for healing is here tonight. If anyone wants to be healed come to the front and we will pray for you.’ Sitting in the front row was a girl with a birth defect sitting in a wheelchair. She had been born with five vertebrae missing. Two young men heard the pastor and saw the girl and went to the girl in the wheelchair and prayed for her and...
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James 2:14-16: Faith without works is dead: Reconciling James and Paul
Introduction: ‘The Bible is full of contradictions’ is one of the many things that unbelievers throw in our faces. My standard response is, ‘Show me one.’ This usually calls their bluff and reveals that they are only repeating things they have heard and using them conveniently as arguments but have no proof. It reveals an unwillingness to believe the truth and a willingness to believe anything against Christianity. And it also reveals a basic faith commitment to believing things without proof, which contradicts the naturalistic approach they supposedly disprove Christianity with. However, one of the things that some have...
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