Marriage and Beyond

How to raise an emotionally intelligent child

By the BabyCenter editorial staff

Toddlers bring new meaning to the word “mercurial.” One moment your child is king of the world, running around full of glee; the next he’s a raging bull, crying in utter frustration and hurling his toys across the room. Like many parents, you may find it hard to know just how to respond during these trying times. Continue Reading »

* Jeff’s message outline yesterday at our worship service.

AN UGLY SIDE OF CHRISTMAS?

Matthew 1:21 “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”

1 John 3:5 “But you know that He appeared so that He might take away our sins. And in Him is no sin.”

1 John 4:14 “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.”

1 Timothy 1:15 “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”

The dark and ugly side of Christmas is _SIN____

1. What is sin?

1 John 3:4 “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.”

2. What is sin like?

Sin is d_efiling__

1 Kings 8:38; Zechariah 3:3; 11:8; 20:43

2 Corinthians 7:1 “Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.”

Sin is d_efiant_

Leviticus 26:27; Psalm 12:4; Jeremiah 2:31

Jeremiah 44:17 “We will certainly do everything we said we would…”

Sin is i_ngratitude_

Acts 17:28

Matthew 5:45b “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”

Sin is humanly i_ncurable_

Jeremiah 13:13; Isaiah 1:5

Sin is h_ated_ by God

Jeremiah 44:4b “Do not do this detestable thing that I hate!”

Sin is h__ard work__

Jeremiah 9:5; Psalm 7:14

Ezekiel 24:12 “She (Jerusalem) has wearied Me with toil.”

3. How many people does sin affect?

Romans 3:23; 5:12; Job 14:4; Psalm 58:3

Psalm 51:5 “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”

4. What are the results of sin?

Sin causes evil to o_vercome/overpower_ us

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”

Sin brings us under the d_ominance_ of Satan

John 8:44

Ephesians 2:2 “In which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.”

Sin makes a person an o_bject_ of God’s wrath

Ephesians 2:3b ”We were by nature objects of wrath.”

Sin d_amns_ people to hell

1.78 per second

107 per minute

6,390 per hour

153,000 per day

It’s a puzzle how people can get so complicated and react in all various crazy ways when all they’ve got is all the wrong concept and understanding of things. I have had a hard time coming up with a title for this entry but I refuse to linger on getting ahold of what to call it. Maybe later I’d get the title edited of sorts. But for now I just hope to post this and remind myself that for as long as the human specie exists, hang ups and questions will remain. It just makes me all the more thankful that there is a God to go back to when confusions and the craziness of life gets in the way. He has answers to all of life’s questions. They may not always be as tangible and as logical as we might hope they’d be. But life is good, great even when we’re in tune with Him. And the relationship that we personally have with Him will grow depending if we choose to nurture it. Relational christianity is what I call it. All the other what-have-you’s are just plain deceptive substitutes.
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