Posts with the category “good-work”

Highlight The story of Jesus’ disciples picking grain and eating it on the Sabbath is told in each of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Synoptic because they are similar and retell the same stories).  Read More

Highlight Jesus claimed “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (vv. 27-28). This statement from Jesus, placed God back at the center of the Sabbath, which is where He should have always been.  Read More

Highlight At this point in Jesus’ ministry, the Pharisees’ feathers were already ruffled by Him and His teaching. This specific instance of working on the Sabbath seemed to be where they began plotting how to get rid of Him.  Read More

Highlight A few things to note. The Egyptians mixed chopped straw and clay to create bricks and ensure a sturdy, more pliable product. Ancient Egyptian brick making and daily quotas were meticulously followed and ruthlessly maintained.  Read More

Highlight Deuteronomy is part of the Torah, or the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, which is also often referred to as “the Law.” Moses is traditionally thought to have written these books. Which as the majority of the books hold the laws and commands God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai, makes the most logical sense.  Read More

Throughout this series we have been talking about the Biblical perspective of work. Thus far, we have learned - God is a worker, and because we bear His image, we too are called to work. Next, work is not a curse…but it is cursed. Then Pastor Marcus talked about how as Christ followers, our world view should not be focused on separate secular or sacred things.  Read More

Psalm 92 is a thanksgiving psalm praising God and acknowledging all that He has done for you. It was traditionally read during the Sabbath as a way to focus your heart and mind on God.  Read More

Highlight The author of Hebrews is unknown, but the audience is known. The letter of Hebrews was written to Hebrew Christian likely before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. This is important to understand for this chapter, and for each time you read Hebrews, because it is saturated with Old Testament references.  Read More

Highlight If you, like me, did not grow up in the country around animals, you might not know what a yoke is. Full transparency, I did not understand why Jesus was talking about eggs when I first read this when I was young.  Read More

The Israelites were enslaved in Egypt for over four-hundred years. Then the Lord sent Moses to rescue His people and take them back to the land promised to their father’s Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is in this exodus from Egypt and trek to the Promise Land that God meets His people on Mount Sinai to instruct them in the way they should live.  Read More

Highlight God’s story of creation is a beautiful telling of how He brings light and life into the chaos and empty space. Scholars say that the climax of the creation story is day six, when God creates “mankind in our own image” (1:26). Which makes sense, because the story of man is recounted again in Genesis 2 - authors repeat what they find important. Yet, if we only look to the climax of the creation's story, we miss an immensely important gift - rest.   Read More

Throughout this series we have been talking about the Biblical perspective of work. Thus far, we have learned - God is a worker, and because we bear His image, we too are called to work. Next, work is not a curse…but it is cursed.   Read More

Highlight Jesus’ words are not always easy to hear. Not all of his parables or teachings were liked back then, and the same is true of today. This teaching in particular is tough because Jesus plainly tells us that there are people who will spend eternity with Him, and there are people who will spend eternity apart from Him.   Read More

Highlight Joseph’s life and work was dedicated to God. It was not easy, nor did it always seem good. To recap - his brothers beat him then sold him into slavery, he was wrongfully accused of sexual harassment, sent to jail for many years, and yet then he rose to power in Egypt as the number two over the whole nation  Read More

Highlight The story of Esther is set in Susa, Persia when King Xerxes reigned. Jerusalem had been destroyed over 100 years before, and a wave of exiles had returned to begin reconstruction and completion of the temple  Read More

Highlight Ruth’s story in relation to Israel's history is set in the time of the Judges. The Nation is living in the promised land, but only occasionally following God. They are mostly living to please themselves (Judges 17:6). It is in this context that we meet “a man from Bethlehem” (Ruth 1), his wife, Naomi, and their two sons.  Read More

Highlight We are pre-exposed to think of slavery in the context of the horrific Atlantic Slave Trade of the 1500s-1800s. Or the grotesque sexual slave trade that is currently running rampant in our world today. While both of those are views of slavery it is not the context of slavery the Bible speaks about. In Harrison’s sermon at our Henderson Campus this weekend, he explained the context of slavery in the ancient world and the context that Paul was speaking into.  Read More

Welcome to Week 4 of the Good Work Reading Plan! This reading plan is designed to partner with Compassion Christian Church’s sermon series of the same name, which you can find information about right here. It is our prayer that through this series you have begun to view your work in a different light. Thus far, Marcus has talked about God’s design for work. How God Himself is an author, designer, craftsman and has created us to bear His image in this shared opportunity to work.  Read More

Highlight Peter writes this letter to Christians who were forced to flee Jerusalem after being persecuted for their faith in Jesus. He would have likely been writing during the reign of Emperor Nero, who was notorious for his persecution of Christians. Through all of this, Peter still encourages christians to live such a Godly life that exemplifies His love.  Read More

Highlight Our passages this week are pointing us to how our work should be worship for the Lord. In today’s passage from Philippians, read 2:5-11 a few times. Let the reality of Jesus being fully God choosing to put on human flesh and live His life on earth with His creation.  Read More

Highlight Each church or person Paul writes a letter to is going through different situations. Yet, Paul is often telling them similar things. Each of his letters carries the similar principle - as you are now under the authority of the Lord Jesus, live that truth (vv 1-2). Being under the authority of Jesus means you live your life according to His example - meek, humble, serving others.   Read More

Highlight “‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others... So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (vv 23-24, 31). Work - whether a paid job or the simple everyday task for your family and friends - should be done for God’s glory and with others in mind. That is what Paul is saying to the church in Corinth.  Read More

Highlight The beauty of reading the Bible is remembering the original context of each book and how they relate to the larger theme of their culture. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth about many different topics, but here in chapter 7 we see what feels like a random section of life advice between married couples and unmarried people.  Read More

What’s the first question you ask people when you’re meeting them for the first time? Right after their name it’s “What do you do?”, right? If it’s not right after it’s definitely in the top three. Why? Because whatever it is that we ‘do’ takes up a lot of our time. It’s defining in so many ways. It occupies our resources, our thoughts, our talents. For many of us it becomes core to who we are and how we perceive ourselves and our place in the world (positively or negatively).  Read More

Highlight The Jews were an enslaved people, oppressed by the Roman Empire. They did not get to choose their work. Work itself was a tangible expression of the intrinsic evil of the systems that constrained them.  Read More

Highlight Paul's letter to the Colossians addresses how Christians should live in light of their new identity in Christ. Because of Christ, we are no longer enslaved to the curses of sin, we have new life.   Read More

Highlight Ecclesiastes 3 is famous for its poetic reflection on the different seasons of life. Solomon acknowledges that there is a time for everything, and that God has made everything beautiful in its time.   Read More

Highlight Ecclesiastes is traditionally attributed to Solomon, a king known for his wisdom. In Ecclesiastes 2, Solomon reflects on the futility of various pursuits, including work, when they are disconnected from a relationship with God. Ecclesiastes 2:22-23 says, "What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless."  Read More

Highlight Genesis 3 recounts the fall of humanity. Adam and Eve disobey God's command by eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This act of disobedience introduces sin into the world, resulting in various curses, including a curse on work. In Genesis 3:17-19, God tells Adam, "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.  Read More

Welcome to Week 2 of the Good Work Reading Plan! This reading plan is designed to partner with Compassion Christian Church’s sermon series of the same name, which you can find information about right here. What’s the first question you ask people when you’re meeting them for the first time? Right after their name it’s “What do you do?”, right? If it’s not right after it’s definitely in the top three. Why? Because whatever it is that we ‘do’ takes up a lot of our time. It’s defining in so many ways. It occupies our resources, our thoughts, our talents. For many of us it becomes core to who we are and how we perceive ourselves and our place in the world (positively or negatively). Maybe you love your work or maybe you loathe it, but whatever the feeling, there it is.   Read More

Highlight Our passages this week are pointing us to how our work should be worship for the Lord. In today’s passage from Philippians, read 5-11 a few times. Let the reality of Jesus being fully God choosing to put on human flesh and live His life on earth with His creation.   Read More

Highlight We have seen God’s original intent for creation in Genesis, now Revelation 21 describes the new heaven and new earth, the ultimate restoration of creation after it is marred by sin. Written by the Apostle John, Revelation is a vision that reveals the culmination of God’s redemptive plan.  Read More

Highlight In this detailed account of the Garden of Eden, we get a picture of the first home of humanity. It describes the garden as a place of beauty and abundance. The Garden of Eden was also a place of work.  Read More

Highlight When God decides to make humans He says he’s doing it “so that they may rule” over all he has made. Tim Mackie, in his teaching on the “Theology of Work” suggests then that “work is not a curse but a divine gift”.  Read More

Highlight Isn't it interesting that the first ‘worker’ we see in the Bible is not a human, but God himself? Genesis 1 is the opening chapter of the Bible, setting the stage for the entire biblical narrative.  Read More

Welcome to Week 1 of the Good Work Reading Plan! This reading plan is designed to partner with Compassion Christian Church’s sermon series of the same name, which you can find information about right here. What’s the first question you ask people when you’re meeting them for the first time? Right after their name it’s “What do you do?”, right? If it’s not right after it’s definitely in the top three.   Read More