The Rock Church

Daniel Was Greatly Loved and So Are We

A while ago, I decided to read my Bible cover to cover. As I read through the book of Daniel, I took my time. I want to encourage you with one application I gleaned from Chapters 9 and 10.

In chapter 9 verse 2, He writes, “I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.” I appreciate how he understood God’s Word and believed Jeremiah’s writing to be reliable. He believed that God would keep His Word. What he read he believed. What he believed he applied.

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A Servant’s Heart

When you’re asked to help someone move, serve at church, or take someone a meal, what is your first reaction? Is it, “I don’t want to do that, I serve enough already. Someone who doesn’t already serve can do it.”? Maybe it’s, “Well, if nobody else does, I will.”? For some, it might be, “I’d love to! I thought you’d never ask!”?
 
The Bible is clear, we need to adopt the heart of a servant. We need to humble ourselves and make a habit of considering others better than ourselves. Consider Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

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Christmas

Well, it’s that time of year and tomorrow we’ll celebrate Christmas! We’ll celebrate in our own ways and for me, it’ll be my 35th Christmas. Each one of them has been different. Some have been memorable and detailed in my mind, some have blended together and some of them I don’t remember
at all.

No matter how you celebrate (or how many you’ve celebrated), each Christmas is a reminder to us that Jesus came to this world and dwelt among us. It’s an opportunity for us to remember that He came to save us.

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Exercising the Gift of “No”

We’ve all lived it and we’ve all seen it. A child doing something they shouldn’t be doing and the parent telling them to stop. The child either pretends not to hear (or shoots a look of defiance) before going back to what their parent told them not to do. What happens next? 

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The Wrong Bread

After six years of dragging a hose around the yard to water our lawn, my wife and I decided to make our summer project be to install a sprinkler system. We saved up our money and I spent months learning what I needed to know to design and build my own sprinkler system. I bought bits and pieces on classified sites in order to cut the costs. I repeatedly drew my little plot of land with different trench layouts, head types, brands, sizes, etc. I wanted the most consistent and efficient system I could afford.

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Let Your Guard Down

A few months ago, I was able to attend a conference sponsored by The Gospel Coalition. Some of our pastors joined other pastors in our region for three days of teachings, seminars, break-off conversations and hours of planning. There were 8,000 people from all over the world there — some of the most well-known theological minds of our day. It was huge. It was overwhelming. It was exhausting. 

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Good Works

I was cleaning out the basement a few weeks ago and ran across an old journal. From the few pages I read, it would seem that all I ever did back in 2007 was think about Jesus, talk about Jesus, read about Jesus and write about Jesus. There was a lot of good going on in my life back then. I had just married Ashley, I was a first-year apprentice electrician, I was cranking through the Bible, deciding where I stood on heavy, theological positions, writing down prayers, leading people to Christ and playing in one of the worship bands at The Rock Church. 

One thing that stuck out to me in that old journal was a prayer that I had written down. It was for a co-worker named Joe. I prayed that God would save his marriage, reveal Himself to Joe and that Joe would become a Christian. I didn’t even know Joe all that well; I don’t remember praying for him. It took me by surprise to see how full of faith I was back then! I hate to say it, but I don’t pray for all of my co-workers like that anymore. Seeing that journal kind of knocked me back on my heels. It made me feel ashamed that I’m not doing as many things for the Lord as I used to. 

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Hard Work and Time

A few summers ago, my family and I stayed with one of my wife’s relatives on an Ohio farm. It was a rather large farm at over one hundred acres. Early one morning, the kids were out playing in the yard and the farmer asked if we wanted to take the kids for a tractor ride while he fertilized the crops. When it came time for my daughter and me to go on the tractor, I talked to the farmer about how long he’d already been out in his field that morning. We talked about how much work goes into farming a lucrative crop, some of the problems that a farmer faces with planting too early or too late, etc. It was clear to me that the success of that man’s farm was proportional to the time and work he put into it. 

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Betrayed

Have you ever been betrayed by a friend or family member? How about a co-worker or classmate? Maybe you’ve felt betrayed by someone you didn’t even know? I’ve been forsaken or betrayed many times in my life.

I took a guitar class when I went to college; I needed the credits and figured it would be an “easy A”. One of my classmates was an amazing, classical guitarist and we became friends. We decided to do a classical guitar duet for our final project; I bought a guitar and grew the fingernails on my picking hand for a few months. We had the duet memorized and it sounded great. Two weeks before the final, however, my friend stopped coming to class. He didn’t show up for the final, so I had to play what was meant to be a duet all by myself. Because he didn’t show up, I didn’t get an A in that class. Not a big deal, but I was forsaken by my friend nonetheless. 

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Authority

This week, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in a narrow 50-48 vote. He will now take his seat next to the other eight Supreme Court Justices in our nation’s highest court. Some people are encouraged, some are disappointed, some are protesting, and some don’t care. Donald Trump is the President of the United States of America; it seems like at least a few times a week we hear about something he tweeted, said, wore, or did. Again, some people are happy, some are mad, some are protesting, and some don’t care.

How should we, as Christians, respond to our government leaders and those in authority over us? In 1 Timothy 2:1-2, we can glean some instruction from Paul. He says, “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” What exactly does that mean for us? How do we respond?

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