Showing 31 - 40 of 158 resources
Topical Scripture: Matthew 13:24-30 You know things are tough when Starbucks is losing money. The iconic coffee chain reported this week a net loss of $678.4 million during the quarter that ended last month. Revenue declined 38 percent from the same period the prior year. I could depress you quickly with statistics about the pandemic, […]
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God on a Donkey Matthew 21:1-11 Dr. Jim Denison Bruce McIver was pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church here in Dallas for thirty years. When he retired, he then published Stories I Couldn’t Tell While I Was A Pastor and a sequel. If you’ve not read them, you’ve missed a delightful blessing. Here’s my favorite story […]
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Topical Scripture: Matthew 8:1-17 It has been a stressful week in the news, to say the least. I flew back from Israel last Saturday night, the day after a US drone killed Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani. We were all a bit relieved when we landed safely in the US. Airstrikes against our troops on […]
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Grace vs. Grades Dr. Jim Denison Matthew 20:1-16 Thesis: Life’s motivation should be gratitude for grace, not performance to earn it John Claypool has long been one of my favorite preachers. In his now-classic treatise, The Preaching Event, he describes the preacher as a “gift-giver,” one who gives to others the gifts he has received […]
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Grades vs. Grace Matthew 5:1, Galatians 3:23-29 Dr. Jim Denison Do you remember the story of Prometheus, the god who gave fire to mortals? For his transgression he was chained and tortured by Might, Violence, and Hephaestus, servants of Zeus. And so the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus makes Hephaestus say to Prometheus, “Such is the […]
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Great Risk, Great Reward Matthew 5:10-16 Dr. Jim Denison Today’s Bible study has but one point: Jesus rewards most fully those who pay a price to follow him. The greater the cost, the risk, the sacrifice, the greater the life, the joy, the peace, the reward. We progress in proportion to the fare we are […]
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Handle Hard Times Matthew 5:10-12 Dr. Jim Denison In a recent interview, General Norman Schwartzkopf was asked if he thought we should forgive those who helped perpetrate the atrocities of September 11. His answer: “I believe that forgiving them is God’s function. Our job is simply to arrange the meeting.” Many Americans resonate with his […]
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Happiness Where You Least Expect It Matthew 3:1-17 Dr. Jim Denison I’d like us to begin with a survey. Time magazine recently explored the subject of happiness, and included in its report a tool devised in 1980 by a psychologist named Edward Diener. It rates your happiness compared with the rest of us. Answer these […]
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Have You Been Changed By Christmas? Matthew 1:1 Dr. Jim Denison Time magazine recently named SpaceShipOne the “Coolest Invention of 2004.” This is the privately built and operated aircraft that made world headlines when it traveled into space last October. Now its inventors are planning to be in the space-tourism business by 2007. All with […]
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He Who Has the Gold, Makes the Rules Matthew 7:12 Dr. Jim Denison I mentioned last week that I teach Men’s Bible Study because I have stories I can’t tell on Sunday. Some of you wondered what I meant. Here are some stories which get close to the line. “Cash, check or charge?” the clerk […]
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