The church of Christ on McDermott Road

What Happened in the Old Testament and How It Leads to Jesus

It isn’t uncommon for us to “count our blessings” by comparing how much more material goods we have than others. We may even think this is a spiritually mature practice. We believe this creates gratitude in our hearts by comparing our relative wealth to the relative poverty of others. However, this is actually fostering materialism in our hearts by considering material wealth to be a sign of how “blessed” we are. Jesus does not encourage the wealthy to see themselves as comparatively blessed. In fact, he turns conventional wisdom on its head, creating a whole new way to count your blessings. (Scripture: Luke 6:20-26)

The world normalizes sinful behavior and shames those who does not abide by its standards. Not only is the world’s influence hard to resist, sometimes it is even hard to recognize it for what it is. Because the world’s influence is so subtle and pervasive, it is not uncommon for Christian people to be conformed, but still blindly think they are following Jesus. We must be vigilant and resolute to resist conformity. And we must be equally intentional about being transformed by the renewing of our minds. (Scripture: Romans 12:1-2)

What Happened in the Old Testament and How It Leads to Jesus

The world normalizes sinful behavior and shames those who does not abide by its standards. Not only is the world’s influence hard to resist, sometimes it is even hard to recognize it for what it is. Because the world’s influence is so subtle and pervasive, it is not uncommon for Christian people to be conformed, but still blindly think they are following Jesus. We must be vigilant and resolute to resist conformity. And we must be equally intentional about being transformed by the renewing of our minds. (Scripture: Matthew 7:1-6)

To what degree are we personally engaged in sharing Jesus with the world? Romans 10 says the people who bring good news have “beautiful feet.” So, we all need to ask ourselves what the Lord would say about our feet. (Scripture: Romans 10:8-15)

What Happened in the Old Testament and How It Leads to Jesus

James compares hearing “the word” to looking in a mirror. And just like looking in a mirror, the word can reveal our flaws. When we look in a mirror and see flaws, do we get angry? do we blame the mirror? do we just walk away and forget what we saw? or do we make the necessary changes? When God’s word reveals how your life is not what it should be, how do you respond? Does self-examination lead to spiritual transformation? (Scripture: James 1:19-27)

What Happened in the Old Testament and How It Leads to Jesus

The Christians in Corinth were putting Paul to the test, trying to make him prove his apostolic authority. At the end of the letter, he turns the examination on them, they need to examine themselves. We all have a tendency to examine, test, and scrutinize others. And we need to be reminded to test ourselves to see if we are really in the faith. This Sunday we will begin a yearlong process of self-examination. (Scripture: 2 Corinthians 13:5-9)