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by: Gary L. Hutchens Concerning the resurrection the apostle Paul wrote, “Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty” (1 Cor. 15:12-14). If we read over this text quickly, we might not pick up all of the significance of what Paul said.
by: Gary L. Hutchens The resurrection of Christ from the tomb spotlights, like a laser beam, several important truths that demand recognition and attention. The resurrection is the focal point of the gospel and Christianity. Anyone could appear on the scene and claim to be “the Christ.” Anyone could identify himself as “the Son of God.” Anyone facing death could say he will come back from the grave. Anyone could make these claims. But Christ really did rise from the dead and come forth from the tomb, alive!
by: Gary L. Hutchens Many folks don’t like the restrictions, as they see them, placed upon their lives by the Bible. They see the teachings of the Bible as restricting them to having to color inside the lines. They view Christianity as a paint by numbers religion because of the structured doctrines that lay its foundation. Because they don’t want to be restricted, they don’t read the Bible, they rarely attend church services and God is pretty much not in their thoughts. These reactions are a natural result of such a mindset.
~Edited~ Have you ever just sat around a fire? It is incredibly therapeutic. A fire seems to bring out wonderful moments of reflection and conversation. Fires are beneficial in many ways with the heat, light, and mood it produces.
By: Gary L. Hutchens Sin is what separates a person from God. In Gen. 2:16-17, God warned Adam and Eve to not eat of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil…for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” When they disobeyed God and ate of the fruit of that tree, they entered into sin. God expelled them from the garden, separating them from access to the “tree of life” (Gen. 3:22-24). Thus, the natural processes that eventually lead to physical death were set into motion.
By: Gary L. Hutchens A human being needs hope. It might be found in a goal that a person is working to achieve. It might be in a desire he’s trying to fulfill. It might be centered in a relationship. It could be something that he sees as giving his life purpose. It could be a promise that someone has made that gives him hope. Whatever its source, a person will search for, and cling to, hope.
By: Gary L. Hutchens It has long been said that the most effective advertising is word of mouth! That does not discount the value and importance of standard forms of commercial advertising, such as television, radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards, internet, and so on… If there was no value to commercial advertising, newspapers would pretty much shut down, radio stations would go off the air and television spots on the Super Bowl would not be running in the millions of dollars per spot.
By: Gary L. Hutchens Two new outreach efforts have been launched here at Sunny Slope church of Christ. At the end of January we began podcasting all sermons and our daily radio programs. People throughout this nation and around the world can hear the word of God being taught everyday, for free! Anyone can go to our website at www.churchofchrist.com and click on the Subscribe To Our Podcast button and set up their smart phone or computer or both to receive the lessons automatically. There is no charge. The potential to reach souls with the gospel by this means is almost unimaginable.
By: Gary L. Hutchens Have Any Of These Thoughts Run Through Your Mind?
God Has The Answers! “I feel as though I’m all alone…” God’s answer?: “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Heb. 13:5) “But I’m afraid…” God’s answer?: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Tim. 1:7) by: Gary L. Hutchens As pointed out in the first article in this series there is no way to define goodness objectively without God. Any attempt to find a reliable standard of goodness without God fails. All human standards that might be suggested are subjective, based upon personal feelings at a given point in time. Feelings are different from person to person, and they change from point in time to point in time. True goodness is a constant truth that does not change, based upon our eternal God being the standard. The inability to define goodness without God is powerful proof of His existence.
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April 2019
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