Salem's New Testament Challenge

Jesus loves everyone. Every person has value and he longs to have a personal relationship with each one. Jesus does not look at our outward appearance, the color of our skin, the language we speak, the gender we are - he sees our heart. John 4 Jesus longs to make broken people - whole!

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3

Usually the focus of Jesus' miracle in this chapter is him turning water to wine, but a friend of mine shared a beautiful truth with me this summer. The first miracle Jesus performed to reveal his glory was at a wedding. Why is that important? The Bible compares all the people who believe in Jesus Christ (past, present and future) to the Bride of Christ and it declares Christ is the Groom. One day we will be united with him in his glory. No extravagant or royal wedding on this earth can compare to that wedding celebration between Christ and His Bride! Marriage is a beautiful gift from God, which God defined for us in Genesis chapter 2. Marriage should be a reflection to the world around us what true love looks like. Submission, love, sacrifice and respect are all aspects between both the bride and the groom. Ultimately it is because of Christ's faithful love to those who believe in him that allows people to love him in return. "We love because he first loved us!...

Question of the day is…“Who is your Andrew?”  Let me explain… Andrew had probably heard stories of the coming of the Messiah from the time he was a little boy. Then John the Baptist came on the scene and Andrew spent time listening to what he had to say. Andrew had to have liked what he heard. When John pointed Jesus out to Andrew, Andrew was ready to follow. Andrew and the other disciple went up to Jesus and were curious as to where he [Jesus] was staying. Try to picture in your mind what Jesus looked like when they asked Jesus this question. My mind will only let me see a huge smile and a very welcoming man. He said, “Come and you will see.” Once they got to the place Jesus was staying they spent the rest of the day with him. I don’t know about you, but I enjoy being around someone who makes me feel comfortable.  Sometimes we feel like we have so much sin in our life that God is looking down on us (we feel that way because we are looking down on ourselves)...

Today we read Luke's version of the resurrection and ascension. Something which really glared at me today was the word Eleven . There was one man missing to receive the news of the resurrection - Judas', the betrayer of Jesus. The eleven men remaining saw Jesus with their own eyes and all but one of those men would be killed for their belief in the risen Christ. All Eleven lived their life to share the truth of God's kingdom. The Eleven knew they would follow, Jesus - turning back from truth was not an option! Luke 24

What a spectacle! This chapter shows the power of many voices even if the message of the many voices isn't true. They took Jesus to the governor (Pilate), he found that Jesus had done nothing wrong, so he sent him to the king of the Jews (Herod). Herod did not find that Jesus was guilty, so he sent him back to Pilate. "He has done nothing to deserve death." Yet, the people's accusations were so loud and persistent that Pilate gave into their demands - Jesus was crucified! Two men were crucified with Jesus - one on the right and one on the left. One believed Jesus was the Messiah the other did not. One entered paradise with Jesus that day! May our prayer be, " Jesus remember me when you come into your Kingdom. " Jesus' response to that prayer will always be, " I assure you...you will be with me in paradise. " Luke 23

We are at the point in Luke's gospel where we see Jesus' last few days before he is crucified. Even though Judas had followed Jesus for three years, his loyalty was far from him and he was ready to make some money. He knew the religious leaders wanted Jesus gone and in his greed he helped speed the process along. In actuality God's perfect timing is taking place! "At just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." Romans 5:6-8 Jesus made it clear at supper that evening he knew who the betrayal was coming from. Yet, Jesus still ate with him. Jesus knew Peter would deny him, yet, he prayed for Peter that his faith would not fail. Even the guards who came to arrest Jesus were taken care of by him. One guard's ear was cut off by a zealous disciple and Jesus healed the guard. Living like and following Jesus' teachings looks extremely different from how the world tells us to act and react. May our lives reflect and...

People can only look at outward actions of other people, but God looks at our heart . God saw the widow's heart and knew her motivation - thankfully he sees our heart and knows our motivation as well. Father, may our thoughts and actions bring You glory! Sunday's message at Salem was about the aspect of generosity in our lives. If you didn't get a chance to be here or watch it already, I encourage you to take time to listen. Luke 21 Generosity Sermon

Chapter 20 is full of questions. The people came to ask Jesus questions and he then in return would ask them questions. Life experience has shown me that many times people ask questions because they are trying to defend their point of view or justify their behavior.  The religious leaders wanted to trap Jesus; they didn't like what he was saying, doing or teaching the people. Trapping him was their goal. What an impossible thing to do, because Jesus' questions always stumped them because their true answers would cause them to lose face with the people.  Jesus' questions brought to light the hypocrisy of the questioners. Their motivation was to bring glory to themselves and their traditions, not to God. May our lives point other people to the truth of who God is and always bring Him glory! Luke 20

God created human beings to have a relationship with each person who has ever lived and who ever will live and has always been the one pursuing us; He's not willing that anyone perish, but that all come to repentance. He was willing to enter time as we know it and become a human himself. In today's reading, Zacchaeus wanted to see him and Jesus wanted to hang out with Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus realized he was a sinner and after encountering Jesus, he wanted to make things right with the people he had taken advantage of financially. People like Zacchaeus ( all people, because all people are sinners ) are why Jesus came.  Jesus came to seek and save the lost ! Luke 19

In the parable of the religious leader and the tax collector, The religious leader felt he did all his "good deeds" on his own and praised himself. The tax collector realized who he was, a sinful person who needed God. The reality is this, we all need God, because we are all sinners. God alone deserves all praise! A child's faith is a wonderful example of what our faith in God should look like. A child knows they will be taken care of and not worry about all the details, because those who love them will take care of them. How much more does the Creator of the Universe care for and love His children!  Luke 18

In this chapter Jesus heals ten men who have leprosy. Only one comes to thank him and it happens to be someone who would be considered an enemy to the Jewish people. The man realized he could not have healed himself and he gave thanks to the one who could and did heal him! Lord, teach me to always be thankful for the mercies you give - may I follow the example of the one. God's kingdom is here, we cannot see it with our eyes, but it is still very real. There will be a time when this earth as we now know it will go away and God's kingdom will be established for all eternity. We need to build our lives on the firm foundation of God's Word and live our lives on purpose as we prepare for eternity with God. Father, open our minds to Your truths as we read and study your Word. In Jesus' name, Amen. Luke 17

" You cannot serve both God and money ." Where are your heart's desires placed? One thing is for sure, Jesus taught that our heart's desires cannot be both focused on God and His kingdom and the things of this world. Through the Bible, we see how God has interacted with human beings throughout human history: creation of the world, sin entering the world, and God's constant desire to bring people into relationship with Himself. He sent Moses, He sent prophets, but many hated and rejected them. This story of Lazarus and the beggar encourages us to think of eternity instead of just the hear and now.   God sent His one and only Son! We have such a privilege to have a relationship with Him and to learn from Him. I pray that our focus are the same desires, which Jesus has! Luke 16

Finding something we've lost - jewelry someone you love has given you, a wallet, a family pet - brings such peace and joy to a longing spirit. Yet there is such a greater joy when we are dealing with restoration with a person we love. God longs to bring those who are lost from Him into a loving, intimate relationship. May our hearts be as excited as His when those who have been so far from God are found! Luke 15

"You belong to Jesus not me, I just get the privilege of raising you," my dad told me often as I was growing up. When I became a parent, I realized just how much my dad's words were full of love and humility. We want to cling so tightly and try to protect our children from everything - we can even get to the point that we idolize our children or family members more than our desire to follow God. God loves our children and our family way more than we ever could - to place them in His care is the most loving thing we can do. Training our children to love Jesus and pointing our family members to Christ is the most loving thing we can do for them. God had promised to make Abraham into a great nation. Many years passed and still there was not even one child given to him and his wife. They took matters into their own hands and Abraham had a son, but it was not the son that God had promised him. Finally when Abraham was 100 years old, the promised son was born. Through Abrah...

People need Jesus! Sin has been passed down to all people, "For everyone has sinned, we all fall short of God's glorious standard." ~ Romans 3:23 Jesus was sharing the message that people need to repent, because people cannot save themselves. Salvation comes through Jesus Christ. No one can do enough good works to get to heaven - Jesus paid for our sin, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." ~ Romans 6:23 Following Jesus is not always easy, but it brings true contentment and a peace that we cannot know when we try to go through life in our own strength.  Luke 13

Our time on this earth is short in comparison to eternity. As believers in Jesus Christ our focus should be Christ and our relationship to him. It should be a moment to moment, day to day relationship, so when the tough times of life come we are prepared to meet them on solid footing. It's so easy to get caught up in what we will eat and what we will wear - that we can forget God is the one who supplies those things for us anyway. "But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. " Let's live life on purpose! Luke 12 Father, change our mindset, so our focus is on the things You care about. Thank you for supplying our needs! In the precious name of Jesus, Amen.

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. ~ Luke 11: 9-10 Following Jesus is not always easy, many times we have as many questions as we have answers. God desires that we are active in our relationship with Him. He desires that we ask when we don't understand, we may not always get the answers that we are looking for, but as we seek, God teaches us to trust even in the unknowns.  God has given us His Word and thankfully in America we are able to freely read and study His truths.  My prayer is that we never take that privilege for granted! Luke 11 Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us Your Word, so we are able to read it, hear it and study it. Allow us to grow in our faith and when we don't understand, let us actively be involved in searching for answers. In moments when we realize we wo...

In relation to Jesus, we talk about the twelve disciples who followed Jesus. It can be easy to miss the fact that Jesus had many more followers than the Twelve. In this chapter we see seventy-two other people who Jesus sent into towns to share the good news of the kingdom of God. The familiar story of the Good Samaritan is in this chapter. Did you notice the question the expert of the law asked Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Simply put, "Love God and love ALL others." Our actions don't save us, but our actions validate our message. What can we learn from the story of Martha and Mary? We need to lean into Jesus and not be distracted by all the things that want to pull us away from knowing Jesus on a deeper level. Luke 10

Many times Jesus' message was confusing to the people who were listening, because Jesus was talking about eternal things. Our lives should be lived in the light of eternity; these earthly things will pass away, but God's Word will last forever.  We can hold so tightly to things we are not able to keep. Instead, let's invest in things that will last for eternity. Luke 9 Dear Heavenly Father, let us seek You with our whole heart and share Your message with the world around us. In Jesus' name, Amen.