We just began a new study over the whole Gospel of John. And so naturally, we are in the prologue. These first 18 verses of John’s Gospel are known as some of the richest parts of the Scriptures. It has been said that while John’s prologue uses the most basic vocabulary of the New Testament, it also includes the deepest truths of the New Testament.

For that reason, I decided to preach one introductory message as an overview before we start walking through it. You can check out the message here.

Here are 13 Characteristics of Jesus from the Prologue of John:

1. Jesus is God. (verse 1)
2. Jesus is the Son of God. (verses 1-2)
3. Jesus is the Creator. (verse 3)
4. Jesus is the Life. (verse 4)
5. Jesus is the Light. (verses 4-5)
6. Jesus has Witnesses. (verses 6-8)
7. Jesus is Rejected. (verses 9-11)
8. Jesus is Received. (verses 12-13)
9. Jesus is a Human. (verse 14)
10. Jesus is Glorious. (verse 14)
11. Jesus is Gracious. (verses 15-17)
12. Jesus is the Truth. (verses 15-17)
13. Jesus Makes God Known. (verse 18)

Our church is already benefitting greatly from this study. Jesus is inexhaustible, and so there is no greater subject to learn about than the Lord Jesus Christ. We look forward to more and more from John’s Gospel in the coming weeks.

For many parents, the decision on where to send your kids to school is one of the biggest and heaviest choices in all of the parenting years.

We have been consistent in encouraging parents to seek the Lord and do what they think is best for their child and their home. To be clear, this is a very complex situation and there often is no easy solution. Parents should not feel pressured into how they decide to school their children.

Every town is different. Every school is different. Every transportation situation is different. Every home is different. Every child is different. In 2024, it is often not “apples to apples” when comparing situations. Every setting and context is unique. For these reasons, we need the Lord’s wisdom and guidance when making this decision.

For many, homeschool has proven to be a good option. For many, private school has proven to be a good option. And for many, public school has proven to be a good option.

In this article, I am not suggesting what anyone SHOULD do about school. We know that there are many variables and factors in choosing an education path. And we are glad to see many parents and students happy & comfortable with their school involvement regardless of which type of school they have chosen.

With that being said, Here are 3 Reasons Why You COULD Send Your Kids To Public School:

1. GOD IS WORKING THERE
   If you have not heard of the numerous efforts going on in public schools, then I want to encourage you. God is doing so many things on so many campuses. Teacher Bible studies; Staff prayer meetings; Coaches Bible studies; Good News Clubs; First Priority meetings; FCA- Fellowship of Christian Athletes; Mentoring Programs; and so many others.
   We know of teachers who pray for their students and classrooms on a regular basis.
   We know of coaches who bring in community leaders to lead team devotionals.
   We know of teachers who are leading other teachers to know the Lord.
   We know of teachers who are leading extracurricular programs where they are mentoring students to grow in faith and leadership.
   We know of many students who have come to know Jesus in a real way and then have been baptized in a local church because of some effort and relationship that happened in the public school setting.
   While political discussions keep insisting “that they took prayer out of schools,” We are seeing prayer in classrooms and fields and locker rooms and cafeterias on a daily basis. There are many, many things to be said these days about public schools. One of the things we want to say is that it is clear that God is working there.
2. THERE ARE OTHER CHRISTIANS THERE
   While my first point assumes this, I really want to emphasize it even further. There are lots of other Christians already in the public schools. If you were to decide to go to public school and make it known that you are follower of Jesus, I trust that you could find some other like-minded people there too.
   – For many people, other school options are not really an option for them. For various reasons, they cannot homeschool and they cannot do private school. And so they send their kids to public school.
   – For many Christians in the school there has not been any organization in their school to get involved with.
   I know of a school that recently began a Christian organization in the school. This group was intended for students, but at the first meeting there were 8 teachers/administrators who attended to express their support and their faith. This was a clear sign to the 2 adult staff leaders that there were other Christians in their school who were eager to be involved in something of this sort. In fact, those 8 teachers did not even all know of the other Christians that were there.
   – Also, there are many who intentionally work in the public schools so that they can be a blessing and light there. They are intentionally there because they want to make a difference. It has been my experience that nearly every public school has some Christians working in it, and they love to connect with other Christian students, parents, and teachers there.
   – Yes, there are Christians in the public schools. There is a lot of support and encouragement and joy to be found by uniting with other Christians there.
3. BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIPS AWAIT THERE
   I know that awesome friendships are made everywhere. This article has not said anything negative about other school settings. Again, there are lots of good options to choose from. We know happy people in all school settings.
   This third and final point is simply a healthy reminder of all the beautiful friendships that await in schools. There are many, many kids entering school each new year, and each new day, longing to make a friend. There are playgrounds and clubs and teams and lunch-tables and after-school-activities that allow kids to connect and form friendships.
   -In my life, I have been a part of about 50 weddings. And at most weddings when we are hearing about how the bride or groom met their bridesmaids and groomsmen, it so often goes back to a friendship formed from school. Friendships are made over bus rides and ball teams and group projects and so many other things. Yes, I know that those friendships can happen in any school setting. Of course they do, and we praise God for that. We are thankful for good friendships formed in any way. But my point is that there are many good and beautiful friendships formed and waiting to be formed in the public schools. As we emphasize often – the best way to have a friend is to be a friend – the public school provides the opportunity to form some good friendships. Beautiful friendships await there!

To wrap this article up, I want to say again that I do not know what is the best option for you and your children and your family. Nor do I want to attempt to tell you what to do. We know lots of families that love their homeschool group and education, and we rejoice in that. We know lots of families that love their private school and education, and we rejoice in that. I am not suggesting what you SHOULD do. This article seeks to share why you COULD possibly send your kids to public school. May the Lord in His goodness lead you as you navigate the parenting years and the education/school decision.

Night 2 of our Parenting series at church was focused on Discipline and Training. You can check out the entire message here. We looked at two passages from God’s Word – Proverbs 3:11-12 and Hebrews 12:3-11.

Here is the outline from that message:

1. Do Not Think Badly About Discipline
   God disciplines His children. Discipline is a good thing. Discipline seeks to work-out the wrong, and Training seeks to work-in the right. Understanding that there are consequences in life is a very important part of growing up.
2. Discipline is Loving
   To not discipline and train our children is to not love them fully. It is hurting the person. Not disciplining the person is causing them to be worse. It is causing them to continue going in a wrong direction. Correcting and re-directing a child is the good and loving thing to do.
3. Discipline Works
   We could go on and on with countless examples of where discipline and training have worked and benefitted the child.
   When I was a young child, my mom caught me talking badly and then she took me to her bathroom and washed my mouth out with soap. Literally. And after me choking for a bit, she said “If you talk like that again, we will do this again.” And I never had to have my mouth washed out again. It worked.

Hebrews 12:11 says “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”

God knows what is best. God’s way is the best way – even in raising children. Discipline works, and we are grateful for God’s word on the topic.

Night 1 of our Parenting series at church was focused on Time. You can check out the entire message here. Here is the outline from that message:

1. The IMPORTANCE of Time
   We must see that relationships are created and formed by time together. We cannot emphasize enough the value of spending time with our kids. As we spend good quality time with our kids, God creates lasting love and trust in those relationships. There are 24 hours in a day and 168 hours in a week. That is a lot of hours, And yet we need to find the time to be with our children. Our time raising our children moves quickly, and they will be grown and moving out before you know it. Now is the time, to value time with our children.
2. The INTENTIONAL Time
   We cannot wait for opportunities to come up for us to develop relationships with our kids. We must be intentional to create that time. Time in the car. Time at meals. Quanity time as well as Quality time.
   I recently saw a family with 3 children that have been walking to church. They only live about 1 mile away. The drive would only take a few minutes, but the walk takes about 15 minutes. So I asked the dad about this. Here is what he said: “My girls are growing up fast. And I am trying to slow our lives down. Walking is a good way to slow life down. So we walk to church together, and that gives us good quality time together.” That is being intentional with time, and I am certain will prove to be a good strong relationship builder for that family.
3. The INFLUENCE of Time
   The influence of time spent together built up over the years will prove to be so massive. God uses parents to shape kids. And it is the time spent with parents (for better and for worse) that influences the children.
   Parents need to understand just how influential they are in the lives of their children. For the glory of God and for the sake of Christian discipleship, may God use the influence of parents to make faithful followers of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 5:15-16 says “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time …”

It is our desire to make the best use of our time as we invest in our children.

I  am impressed at how much the Bible speaks toward parenting. We don’t hear enough about it.

Why is that?

Perhaps it is because parenting is such a loaded subject for Christians. Not only is parenting challenging, it is also complicated. And not only is parenting challenging and complicated, it is also sensitive. For these reasons, Christians have not looked to God’s word enough (and therefore haven’t learned enough from God’s word) to have a solid, Biblical understanding about parenting. The result is that the topic is often neglected and avoided. Thinking about our church specifically, this is concerning. We cannot afford to have this many children around and for us to not be ultra-focused on training, equipping, and assisting parents in this beautiful God-given endeavor!  So we have decided to be proactive and go heavy on discussing the topic of family and parenting.

By the time we get to the end of February, Lord willing, we will have devoted six full church services and messages to the study of parenting. That is about 6 hours total worth of Bible teaching. It is our prayer that the Lord will bless this work, and that many mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers will be helped as they labor to love and disciple the young people underneath them. We have been praying for this Focus In February series. 

To be clear, the 6 services are: 1) Sunday evening, January 21: Matt McBroom preached on the stewardship of the family. 2) Sunday morning, February 4: I preached on “How God Uses Parents to Shape Kids.” 3) Sunday evening, February 4: I taught on “Time” in regards to Parenting. And then the next 3 Sunday evenings will be on Parenting as well. For a total of 6 services. 

If you are in the parenting stage of life or if this subject is simply of interest to you, we hope that you will listen/watch these messages. We trust they will be very beneficial to you.

I said earlier that I am impressed at how much the Bible speaks toward parenting, so I want to point out a few examples:

In Genesis 22:5 Abraham says, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship.” What a strong little statement! Parents, we need to speak to our kids in this way. When has a parent ever said to their kids, “We are going to worship.”?

In Exodus 13:8 God says, “You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me.’” Again, when have you heard parents telling their kids what the Lord has done for them?

In Exodus 20 when God gives the Ten Commandments, one of the commandments is to honor mom and dad. Honoring your parents is so important that it made the Ten Commandments. Do not kill. No other gods. No adultery. In the middle of these laws from God to govern His whole creation, He included, “Honor your father and mother.” We need to see that the parent/child relationship is that critical.

God’s Word is profitable, and we are prayerful that these messages will bless our families and homes.

(Also, I have recently written about 3 Common Mistakes in Parenting. You can check that out here.)

At our church, we have embarked on a focused study on Parenting. With a growing nursery, kids ministry, and youth ministry, we felt now is the time. Over the next few weeks, I hope to post several articles on relating to parenting.

For now, here are 3 Common Mistakes Parents make with their children:

1. HOW WE WERE RAISED. It is a mistake to raise your children the same way you were raised. I hear parents say often “My parents raised me like this, and I turned out ok.” Or they say “it didn’t ruin me.” While we appreciate how parents have raised us, the goal is not merely to raise your kids to be like you. The goal is to raise your kids to be like Jesus. The aim is godliness and Christ-likeness in your children. The goal is to make disciples of Jesus in your home. Don’t settle! Aim to follow God completely in your home and with your children.
2. HOPE FOR THE BEST. It is a mistake to think that doing nothing will turn out well. Many parents have no real plan or strategy with their children. This is a mistake. If you just hope that your kid will turn out great, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. God wants us to be intentional in training and instructing our children.
3. LOOKING AT HOW OTHERS DO IT. It is a mistake to compare your parenting other parents. Every marriage, every home, every child, and every context is different. Comparing yourself to others will often distract you and discourage you. Now certainly there are lots of good examples out there to imitate, but all things considered you should not try to be like other parents. Seek the Lord. Honor Him. Follow His ways. Do your best walking by faith. Don’t compare yourself to other parents.

Ephesians 6:4 says for parents “to raise their children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” Avoiding these 3 common mistakes in parenting will help you with God-honoring parenting with your children.

He will be great!

“Hey, how was the concert last night” they asked.

“Oh, it was great! We had such a good time. We loved it.” They responded.

Greatness is a simply-profound way of describing something awesome!

Greatness can be describing the large size of something. Or greatness can be describing how something is very good.

In Luke 1:32 when the angel is telling the virgin Mary about the coming birth of her son, Jesus, the angel gives this simply-profound expression to the soon to be born Savior Jesus —> “He will be great.”

The message is to the mother, Mary. Her son will be great. And great He is!
In fact, he was great, he is great, and he will always be great. He is the eternal son of God. And just like “of his kingdom there will no end” so of his greatness there will be no end.

How great is Jesus?

To be fair, His greatness is inexhaustible. He is 100% God and 100% human.

And there is so much that could be said about how great Jesus is.

In the context of this passage with the foretelling of his birth, His authority and power and reign are in view. The Bible says He has a throne. The Bible says He will reign forever. And the Bible says He has a kingdom that will never end. That undeniably is greatness. He is great!

But His power and authority are only one of many ways to see His greatness. Another way to see His greatness is in the very reason that He came to us. In Matthew 1, when a different angel tells a different person the same message —> that the Savior is coming as a baby. There we have this clear explanation “for He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)
Here we see His greatness from a different angle. Not only does he have power and authority, He also is savior of sinners. He reigns as King, but He also serves as Savior. This is greatness! He is great!

As you enjoy this Holiday season, let me encourage you to think more upon how great Jesus is.
Remind yourself of truths like these:

⁃ He knows your every thought and move
⁃ He sees you where you are
⁃ He cares for you
⁃ He is always with you
⁃ He gives more grace
⁃ He is able to save to the uttermost
⁃ As far as the East is from the West, He has removed our sins from us
⁃ He will return one day
⁃ He loves the outcast
⁃ He cares about our needs and He provides for our needs
⁃ He forgives sins

Wow! I think I could just keep adding and adding to that list in thinking about how great Jesus is.

How about you? Remember this early Christmas statement. So simply-profound —> He will be great!

Over the last 3-4 months, our church studied the whole book of Nehemiah. It was so good for us. We received a lot of good feedback on the series. Many, many people saying they have never really studied the book of Nehemiah before.

You can go back and watch or listen all of the messages here.

One of the things we did in this study is that we were intentional to not reduce the book to just a study on leadership. While Nehemiah is a great leader, the book offers that leadership emphasis and also much more.

Another thing we did is we covered it all. Many studies in Nehemiah do not cover all 13 chapters. We took our time and covered all of it.

After completing preaching through every text, I preached this one final message. It was called “Takeaways from Nehemiah,” and you can check out that message here.

Here is a summary of that message:

1. THE WORK OF PRAYER
   While the story of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem is a well told story, what is often overlooked is his commitment to prayer. In every turn of the story, Nehemiah is found praying to God. While one can certainly see the work ethic and the teamwork as keys to the building of the walls, we must also recognize Nehemiah’s dependence on God and his faithful prayer each step of the way.
2. THE NEED FOR CONFRONTATION
   Most of us do not like confrontation, but we cannot ignore that God’s word teaches that sometimes it is needed. Jesus in Matthew 18 tells us to go to them. Paul tells Timothy and Titus to deal with it. In the book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah is willing to confront those who are dishonoring God. We must be willing to confront a sin issue when it is needed.
3. THE POWER OF INFLUENCE
   Influence is real. God uses people. Now we must be careful to never do work in only our own strength that doesn’t have the blessing and power of God in it. But with that said, Nehemiah’s influence was massive and obvious. You have all of Jerusalem torn down and discouraged. Nehemiah finally speaks up and says “Lets rebuild the walls,” and you see many, many people saying “yes, lets do it.” Certainly, if God wasn’t moving in that direction it could not have happened. Psalm 127 tells us “unless the Lord builds the house, those that labor, labor in vain.” But we also can say that were it not for Nehemiah’s influence, the walls would not have been built. God used Nehemiah to influence many people. God uses people for God’s glory!
4. THE STRENGTH OF TEAMWORK
   One of the biggest and best takeaways from the story of Nehemiah is the teamwork. Nehemiah did not do the work. Lots and lots of united people did the work. Chapter 3 uses the phrase “next to him” or “next to them” about 20 times to show that shoulder-to-shoulder and side-by-side they all worked together. The huge challenging project was completed because of teamwork. Teamwork is a beautiful thing. Teamwork makes the dreamwork. That is Biblical. We need other people in our lives. Other people need us in their lives.
5. THE SALVATION OF JESUS
   For as good as a read as the book of Nehemiah is, it sure ends on a sad note. Nehemiah was able to influence them, but Nehemiah was unable to change their hearts. This fascinating Old Testament book leaves us longing for a savior. Only Jesus can bring the lasting change to a person’s life. Jesus changes our hearts which in turn changes us from the inside out. While so much of Nehemiah points us to his good godly convictional leadership, the main emphasis of this book and story is that only God’s son can bring us salvation. Jesus is the true leader we all need in our lives!

Our church loved this study. And I personally have been inspired and strengthened by God through Nehemiah!

Jesus thinks differently about life and death.

The way he thinks about these heavy subjects is different than the way we think about them.

Life and death are such delicate topics – Heavy and emotional and sensitive and fragile and weighty topics.

This week our church had a 44 year old man pass away unexpectedly. His family is devastated. Our church family is heartbroken. We are all grieving.

Death has a powerful way of impacting us. Death will get you feeling things you have never felt before. Death will get you thinking about things that you have tried not to think about. And death will force you to deal with things that you have been putting off dealing with.

As we look to Jesus during this sadness, we see that He thinks differently than we do about life and death.

Death, as we often view it, is not that bad to Jesus.

In John 11, He intentionally takes his time in not getting to ill Lazarus. And then after he arrives and finds Lazarus has already died, Jesus says “whoever believes in me, even though he dies, he lives.” It seems to Jesus that Lazarus’s death isn’t that bad of a thing.

Along that same thought, Philippians 1 says “to die is gain” and also Psalm 116 says “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”

Jesus thinks differently about death. For His followers, death isn’t bad.

Also Life, as we often view it, is not that good to Jesus.

Don’t get me wrong, Jesus loves life. He is life. He is the life-giver. Matter of fact, He gives the most life – the abundant life. But what actually is life, and the key to life, and the satisfaction of life is just different to Him.

Jesus knows that it isn’t stuff that makes life thrilling. Not money or attention or status or sex or success or anything like that. None of that stuff is the key to life. None of that stuff satisfies people. Jesus himself is the key to life. Jesus himself gives life and satisfies the heart and soul.

John 1 says “in Him was life.” In John 11, He says the believer that dies actually lives. In John 10, He says he came to give life – abundant life. John 3:36 says “whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life.”

Jesus thinks differently about life. For His followers, life as the world sees it isn’t that good. Empty things aren’t the good life. What gives life meaning is Jesus. What makes life good is Jesus.

Life is hard. And as this emotional life keeps forcing us to think about life and death, may we learn from Jesus. May we look to Jesus for how to think about life and death.

Jesus thinks differently about life and death, and we should too!

It was the spring of 2003 and I had just graduated from college a few months earlier. Along with several college buddies, we loaded up in a van and made the long road trip from the Carolinas to Texas so that we could attend Passion’s big OneDay event.

Apart from the scary thunderstorms, Shane & Shane’s music, and John Piper’s message, there isn’t a lot I remember from that 3 day experience in the open fields of Texas. But one very clear memory is the watchtower in the center from which the Bible was read out loud non-stop. College students read continuously from the Word of God over the loud speaker. It had a significant impact on my young 23 year old self then, and it continues to be a life-shaping memory in my life now.

Fast-forward 20 years later to today, and I still find myself thinking deeply about the public reading of Scripture.

All throughout history the public reading of Scripture has been practiced and valued by God’s people. We see this throughout the Bible – in the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Moses on Mount Sinai. Ezra in Jerusalem after the walls are re-built. In the Gospels, Jesus reads from the Prophets. In the book of Acts, Paul and his companions read in the synagogues. In the book of Revelation, we read this “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it”. (Rev. 1:3)

And then we have in 1st Timothy 4, Paul’s encouragement to Timothy to “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture.”

All throughout history and all throughout the Bible, we see the Word of God being read publicly.

So where has that gone?

Even in churches now, so little Bible is read.

When was the last time you heard an entire chapter of Scripture read out loud? When was the last time you heard a large chunk of Scripture read? When was the last time you focused in just to listen to longer portions of Scripture being read out loud?

What a massive swing and a miss it is for ministers to be leading church services without the public reading of Scripture.

What an added blessing it would be to all worship services if the public reading of good-size-portions of Scripture were included. May we honor God and His Word in this way. May we obey the Bible in this way. May we be faithful to follow the Scriptures in this way. May we lead our churches in this way.

The Word of God is true and it is alive! May we value it. In our churches and in our teaching settings, may we value the Word of God. And may our valuing of the Word of God be evident and obvious by our public readings!