Posts by Graeber Road Church of Christ (Page 8)

In verses 12 -19 of I Peter 4, the apostle deals with the subject of suffering. Those who first received the letter were not to consider it a strange thing, but were to meet it with rejoicing (12 -13). No Christian should be ashamed of suffering if it is for being a Christian (16). Other lessons could be noted, but verse 19 might be overlooked. Goodspeed ’s translation has it like this: “Therefore, those who suffer by the will of…

We are busy! It doesn’t matter whether young or old, employed or retired, there is a LOT going on in our lives. Sometimes, we can feel overwhelmed and on the brink of burn out but just keep going on. Before that happens, or if that is how you feel right now, consider these concepts from scripture: 1. God rested. After six days of creating, God “rested” from all the work He had done (Gen. 2:2). That is, He ceased creating…

Acts 7:9 – “And the patriarchs, becoming envious, sold Joseph into Egypt. But God was with him and delivered him out of all his troubles, and gave him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt; and he made him governor over Egypt and all his house.” This is THE classic example of God thwarting men’s plans while having a far grander plan in mind. Genesis 37:28 should have been the last we heard of Joseph. Maybe…

In John 15, Jesus refers to Himself as “the vine” and calls His followers “the branches” (5). The purpose for this is clear (5b-6). A relationship to Christ must be maintained and fruit must be produced. Jesus could have stopped there. But, He wants the connection to be more than this. In John 15:9-15, He talks of love and friendship. These verses suggest some wonderful thoughts. First, we see evidence of His friendship. His friendship would be demonstrated in a…

We’ve all heard them! Pithy statements that cause us to stop, think, and mull over life and choices we make. A few “classics” include: Don ’t count your chickens before they hatch. Strike while the iron is hot. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. These kinds of witty, memorable statements, known as proverbs, offer wisdom for practical living. We use the pictures of unhatched eggs, hot irons, and chains to emphasize doing things at the right…

In early November, we had the blessing of going down to Corpus Christi to cheer our Bible Bowl participants on as they competed in a friendly tournament of Bible knowledge and study skills. The time there was special, and all of our kids did a great job! Let me share with you some key takeaways upon reflection of the event: God ’s Word is Inexhaustible. The section of scripture for the 2021 Bible Bowl was essentially the second half of…

Near the end of each year, or the beginning of a new year, it is not uncommon for newspapers, magazines, or television news programs to focus on highlights, events, and people who made news during the previous twelve months. Such reports may also include predictions about what will happen in the future. As you would expect, some of the predictions are way off track. Here is an example from one, some years ago. It was predicted that, by this time,…

One of the most disruptive things to me about COVID -19 has been the Lord ’s Supper. For more than forty years, I’ve had a structured meditation for the Lord ’s Supper. There are reflections while I’m eating the bread and another series of thoughts for the fruit of the vine. During the year, we’ve visited other churches that use the individual packages with the bread and fruit of the vine. In many of those, the one presiding provided very…