Archive for November 2024
S238P10 – Difficult truths: the servants of God
Mt. 10:16-20 I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to…
Read MoreS238P9 – Difficult truths: the church in Sardis
Rev. 3:1-3 To the angel of the church in Sardis write: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I…
Read MoreS238P8 – Difficult truths: King Herod Antipas
Mk. 6:17-20 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” So Herodias…
Read MoreS238P7 – Difficult truths: the disciples of Christ
Lk. 8:22-25 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.…
Read MoreS238P6 – Difficult truths: King Belshazzar
Dan. 5:25-31 “This is the inscription that was written: mene, mene, tekel, parsin. Here is what these words mean: Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes…
Read MoreS238P5 – Difficult truths: the Roman church
Rom. 9:18-21 Therefore, God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist his will?” But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God?…
Read MoreS238P4 – Difficult truths: Peter
Mt. 16:23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” He knew that God had called him to a life much different than that of his parents, and he knew it from…
Read MoreS238P3 – Difficult truths: the Corinthian church
1 Cor. 11:17-22 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be differences among…
Read MoreS238P2 – Difficult truths: the teachers and Pharisees
Mt. 23:27-28 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the…
Read MoreS238P1 – Difficult truths: the Samaritan woman
Jn. 4:11-18 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this…
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