Revelation is the divine act of God revealing Himself to man. God has revealed Himself through general revelation and specific revelation. Sometimes general and specific revelation are also referred to as natural and supernatural revelation. General revelation refers to the act of God revealing Himself to us in a general way. He has revealed Himself through the creation of the world and universe (Psalm 19:1). The Bible provides us with very specific information about God himself (Luke 24:27).

The story behind the Christmas hymn,

"Go Tell It on the Mountain."

God has often taken the weakest link and made it the strongest. King David was the least of his brothers. Yet he stood toe-to-toe with Goliath in the name of the Lord and conquered. Gideon was the least of his family and his family was the least of all the tribes. Yet Gideon fighting in the power of the Lord was victorious over the Midianites. Samuel, Moses, Amos, etc. all were insignificant nobodies and God used them and they accomplished great things. Christmas is about the fulfillment of God's promises to those who are insignificant.

It's time to throw off the status quo!

Most of Paul's writings to churches was to address some doctrinal issue or lifestyle. That is not the case with Ephesians. It was sent to encourage the churches in the area in their walk with the Lord. Paul had spent 3 years with the Ephesians and had meet with the Elders of the church. The Ephesians wept when they knew Paul was leaving for Jerusalem, knowing that they would never see him again (Acts 20:17-38). Now Paul is in Prison in Rome and writes the letter of Ephesians.

The concept of confidence, particularly self-confidence is something that is heralded by our society. Self-confidence is often tied to our self-worth but is too often grounded in things that are temporal and passing away such as looks, abilities, and money. When who we are, what we are here for and where we are going are grounded in Christ, then we have a confidence in ourselves that produces joy in all circumstances.

Jesus sermon text comes primarily from Isaiah 61:1-2. Jesus taught from this passage and explains to the people in Nazareth what he came to do. The six statements in this passage very aptly summarize Christ's earthly ministry and what He came to do. In the Hebrew, which Jesus was reading from, the word Messiah means "the anointed one." And so, when Jesus reads the anointing in the first part of verse 18, that is a clear reference to the Messiah. The rest of verse 18 and on into 19 tell us six things that the Messiah would focus on.

Chris and Katie are missionaries with Cru. They met during their seminary years at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary while participating in volleyball ministry. They have three beautiful children Avary, Aiden, and Oliver. They served as missionaries overseas with the IMB in the Czech Republic. After a year overseas, the Lord brought them home due to health complications with their third child, Oliver. Now they leveraging their lives for the Gospel by reaching college students and will be serving students on the eastern North Carolina college campuses.

As we approach another election, we will often wonder what is the believer’s responsibility to the government and to the society to which we live. Some think we need not get involved in such things as that since the Lord has that all worked out anyway and others can get too involved in the issues of this world and uninvolved in the kingdom of God.