January 31, 2014
by Matt Hayward
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Category:
Word of the Day
| Tags: Mark
Mark 1:30-31 Now Simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him (Jesus) about her. And he (Jesus) came and took her by the hand and lifter her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them.
When Christ saves or heals us he does it for a reason far beyond ourselves. He saves us so that we might serve him. This is exactly what we see whe...
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January 30, 2014
by Matt Hayward
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Category:
Word of the Day
| Tags: Matthew
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on hearth has been given to me."
As I was reading this extremely familiar verse the other day I was struck again that we go out into the world in the name of Jesus because of who he is. I am able to face whatever problem I come across because Christ has "all authority" over that problem. And in th...
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January 29, 2014
by Matt Hayward
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Category:
Word of the Day
| Tags: Matthew
Matthew 27:20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.
I just finished reading through the book of Matthew recently and was struck by the above verse. Only days before this particular verse took place the crowd had celebrated the arrival of Jesus on Palm Sunday, even in defiance of what the chief priests and elders wa...
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October 29, 2013
by Matt Hayward
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Category:
Word of the Day
| Tags: 2 Timothy
2 Timothy 3:16-17 All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16 is a banner verse for us so called Bible believing Christians. The question is however, do we actually believe this verse? Do we in our own liv...
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October 28, 2013
by Matt Hayward
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Category:
Word of the Day
| Tags: 2 Timothy
No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 2 Timothy 2:4-5
Am I willing to serve Christ as an active duty soldier? Or as an athlete competing for the prize? What does this mean for my life as a servant of Christ? The soldier and athlete are relent...
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August 8, 2013
by Matt Hayward
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Category:
Word of the Day
| Tags: Romans
I found out today that an acquaintance from work took his own life last night. He was in his early fifties and the few times I had worked with him he seemed "happy" and "normal". He is one of probably 5-6 firefighters this past year that have committed suicide. I did not know him well or any of the others, but from what I did know is that it was completely unexpected from ...
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August 7, 2013
by Matt Hayward
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Category:
Word of the Day
| Tags: Romans
Romans 1:1616 For dI am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is ethe power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew ffirst and also to gthe Greek.
School is back in session and along with that comes new teachers, friends and of course, homework. My son brought home a sheet explaining he had to create a Pennant with 5 things on that describe who he is in some...
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August 6, 2013
by Matt Hayward
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Category:
Word of the Day
| Tags: Matthew
Matthew 22:34-40The Great Commandment34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 37 And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 3...
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August 5, 2013
by Matt Hayward
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Category:
Word of the Day
| Tags: Ephesians
Ephesians 6:12-20 The Whole Armor of God
My wife and I have had the opportunity to teach the 1st-4th graders during second service for the next 3 months. In that time we are doing a several-week study on the the whole armor of God and this past week the focus was on Ephesians 6:15.
and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. NLT...
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August 3, 2013
by Matt Hayward
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Category:
Word of the Day
| Tags: Romans
Romans 7:17 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
For our entire lives, society and our own minds, teach us and lead us to do what is right. We are taught and think that if we change and follow the law we will have the ability to do the right thing. Nearly all religi...
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August 2, 2013
by Matt Hayward
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Category:
Word of the Day
| Tags: Romans
Romans 6:16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
Who is your master? You can only have one master, and it can't be yourself. If I try to be my own master, doing what I please, I become a slave to sin. Or, if I ...
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August 1, 2013
by Matt Hayward
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Category:
Word of the Day
| Tags: Romans
Romans 5:14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
When we read in Romans 5:14 that Adam was a "type", we should see that we have a real problem. "Type" can be defined as a model, pattern or example. Because Adam was or is these things, he is falling far short o...
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July 31, 2013
by Matt Hayward
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Category:
Word of the Day
| Tags: Romans
What is true Biblical faith? When it comes to faith, we hear all kinds of things that it may or may not be. We hear people say, "I have faith that everything will work out..." Or, "If you just believe..." Or, "If your faith is strong..." When we say things like this, what really is our faith in, what is the content of that faith or belief? If we read Romans 4 closely the c...
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July 30, 2013
by Matt Hayward
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Category:
Word of the Day
| Tags: Romans
Romans 3:23 is one of the better known verses of the Bible. But do we really believe it? it says, "all have sinned..." Do we really believe that we are sinners just like everyone else? If I believe this verse, I believe I am a sinner just like everyone else and have no room to boast or claim I am a better person compared to anyone else (see verse 27). Remember Romans 2 whe...
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July 29, 2013
by Matt Hayward
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Category:
Word of the Day
| Tags: Romans
Romans 1:16For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for the salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Why is it that we don't share the Gospel like we should? Or, why is it that we don't live out the Gospel like we should? Or, why is it we just can't get past some of these problems in our lives or others lives? I am ...
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July 29, 2013
by Matt Hayward
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Category:
Word of the Day
| Tags: Romans
Romans 2:3 Do you suppose, O man - you who judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself - that you will escape the judgement of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
What annoys you? What things do people do or what type of person just drives you cra...
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May 3, 2013
by Matt Hayward
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Category:
Word of the Day
| Tags: Luke
Luke 22
After three years of an unbelievable ministry full of miraculous healings, silencing his opponents strongest arguments, speaking transformational truths and often with masses of people following after him, Jesus concludes his ministry before the crucifixion with something I find shocking. These last words he speaks to his disciples are profoundly simple. Anyone ca...
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May 2, 2013
by Matt Hayward
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Category:
Word of the Day
| Tags: 1 Kings
1 Kings 12-13
The reign of Solomon is marked to this day by God's amazing grace in wisdom, prosperity and peace. In the background of all this prosperity though we can see, even from the very beginning a subtle root of sin taking hold. Back, at the very beginning of Solomon's reign we see him make an extremely wise political move when he marries the daughter of Pharaoh Ki...
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May 1, 2013
by Matt Hayward
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Category:
Word of the Day
| Tags: 1 Kings
1 Kings 10-11
It is very easy to get caught-up in political parties and our favorite politicians who of-course have the right point-of-view. And if our party or politician was just in control, life would be better. Well, after reading about Israel during the reign of Solomon, I sure wish I could vote for him. Solomon, the wisest ruler to have ever lived. So wise, that he ...
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April 30, 2013
by Matt Hayward
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Category:
Word of the Day
| Tags: 1 Kings
1 Kings 8-9
When it comes to extremes, God seems to have poured out an extravagant amount of grace upon Solomon's ancient Israelite kingdom. Solomon was the wisest person to have ever lived by God's grace, and through God's wisdom Solomon made his ancient kingdom likely one of the richest to have ever exist. Chapters 5 through 7 of 1st Kings goes into seemingly excruciati...
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April 29, 2013
by Matt Hayward
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Category:
Word of the Day
| Tags: Luke
Luke 20:27-40
Is there any question God cannot answer? Have you ever had any particular question or problem where it seems that not even the Bible could answer it? I sure have on many occasions, far more than I would probably like to admit. These questions and problems can nag at us for years, even lifetimes, and prevent us from growing in a meaningful and fulfilling way ...
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