Grace & Peace PGH

"This blessing is promised to those who 'die in the Lord.' And for a person to 'die in the Lord' requires that they lived in the Lord." — Nancy Guthrie

This week's sermon from guest preacher Derek Bates.

"We are not looking for figures by predicting specific persons in the future; rather, we are looking for images of dragon-like leaders at work in all societies and all times. They are puppets, whose strings are pulled by the dragon. Remember, these images are not about predicting the future, but about shaping our perceptions of the present.” – Scot McKnight with Cody Matchet

Today's open discussion.

"It is possible that people can refuse to believe [the Bible's] testimony, functioning as if Jesus' tomb has a No Vacancy sign hanging outside it. It is also possible that we verbally affirm the resurrection and still fail to be changed by it. The Spirit's work is essential. But when he works... the resurrection radically transforms our lives. The resurrection, the key to understanding the biblical story, becomes the key to our story as well, the key to a new way of understanding and living in the world." —Michael D. Williams

“From the expulsion from Eden, God’s people have been an expectant mother, awaiting the birth of the Seed who would champion their cause against Satan the liar, accuser, and murderer.” – Dennis E. Johnson

“The contribution of the Revelation to the work of witness is not instruction, telling us how to make a coherent apology of the faith, but imagination, strengthening the spirit with images that keep us ‘steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord’ (1 Cor 15:58). Instruction in witness is important, but courage is critical, for it takes place in pitched battle.” – Eugene H. Peterson

“…not because Christians in the late first century were actually innumerable, but because of John’s faith in the fulfillment of all the promises of God through Christ, the church is depicted as an innumerable company drawn from all nations.” – Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation, 77.

“Seven is the number of perfection, implying something done according to the divine design, the number of completion. Three implies the greatest or ultimate expression of something. So seven times three indicates triple perfection! These judgments describe the complete, perfect erasure of evil.” – Scot McKnight, Revelation for the Rest of Us, 110.

“Questions are never indiscreet, answers sometimes are.” – Oscar Wilde