CTK Blog
How to Choose the Right Church For You
The Fall is a time that many people start to think about returning to church. Especially if you have school-aged kids, the rhythms of life, school, and activities are starting to fall back into place, and you’re thinking this could be a good time to add church back to your life. How do you choose the right church for you?
Love Your Neighbor
In Matthew 22:36-40 Jesus teaches us how to read the 10 Commandments. He explains that the 10 Commandments, and all the Law and Prophets generally, should be read like this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. A second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Don’t Be Afraid
The psalm recognizes that the world we live in is full of things that go bump in the night. David, the author of this psalm, had understandable reasons to be afraid. As Israel’s king, he faced enemies, foes, and powerful armies. Yet he was not afraid. “Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear,” he states. How can this be?
The Ten Commandments and God’s Grace
The Ten Commandments are some of the most famous verses from the Bible. Yet, they are also some of the most misunderstood. Often we read them and think: this is how I get to God. We view them as a ladder; we see them as rungs we need to climb to get to God. However, when we read these commandments in the context of Exodus, we’re reminded that obedience is a response to God’s grace, not a requirement to receive it.
Jesus Our True Friend
The people closest to us have a significant influence on the kind of people we are becoming. Their examples and words are shaping us, for better or for worse. So, if we are concerned about the direction of our lives—and I believe we all are—then we should prayerfully cultivate and seek out friendships with those who point us to Jesus and show us how to walk with him.
Christians are Pilgrims
Whether we grew up in the town in which we currently live or just moved there makes no difference in Christ. In this world we are exiles, foreigners, and pilgrims because we belong to another world, the one that is to come.
Read Looking to Jesus
Early in the Christian life we come to realize two things about the Bible: 1) it is essential to our faith, and 2) it is also a strange and wild book. Thankfully, Exodus teaches us how to read the Bible. As a church, we are now well into this book, and in recent weeks we have encountered three chapters that especially help us understand our Sacred Text: Exodus 12, 16, and 17.