Click for a PDF version Monday Read Revelation 18:4-7; Zechariah 8:6-8, 12; John 4:35-36 Next Sunday is Glenkirk Church’s annual congregational meeting. Pastor Tim will speak on “The State of the Church” during that day’s services. The Church’s condition—at Glenkirk, nationally and globally—is therefore the emphasis of this week’s devotionals series. We live in...
Click for PDF version Monday Read Romans 3:21-26; Romans 1:21-25, 28-32; 1 John 5:11-13 How can God send good people (those “kind, moral and generous; faithful Jews, Muslims, Buddhists …”) to hell, where they’ll face eternal damnation and torment? This week we examine some leading issues which unsettle believers. Today’s featured question tops the...
Click for a PDF version Monday Read 1 Peter 5:8-13; 2 Corinthians 1:3-11; Job 36:15 Suffering prevails across cultures and circumstances. It’s a leading basis for skeptics’ rejection of God. Yet even mature, faithful Christians struggle with it, particularly when “good people” suffer. Some fall into the entitled “I deserve better!” trap, underrating the...
Click for PDF version Monday Read 1 Peter 5:1-5; Philippians 2:1-10; Matthew 11:28-30 “I am gentle and humble in heart.” (Matthew 11:29) At the beginning of chapter 5 of Peter’s first letter in the New Testament, he counsels leaders to be humble, like Jesus. Humility is part of His core character. But how can...
Click for PDF version Monday Read 1 Peter 4:7-11 Preparation for Suffering Peter, having told us in the first six verses of chapter 4 what “living for Christ” does NOT look like (“evil human desires,” “doing what the pagans choose to do,” etc.), now switches to the positive in telling his readers to be...
Click for PDF version Monday Read Acts 9:1-19; Philippians 4:13 Jesus’ Power Gives Us Strength! This is Vacation Bible School (VBS) week at Glenkirk. Each devotional this week parallels that day’s VBS emphasis. Our overarching theme: Jesus’ power is everywhere! We start with the story of Saul of Tarsus—who became the Apostle Paul, the New...
Click for PDF version Monday Read 1 Peter 4:1-6; 1 Peter 3:18; Matthew 26:36-45; Philippians 2:5 In this series on 1 Peter, our theme is “Forged in the Furnace”: living out our Christian faith in and through suffering. In 1 Peter 4:1, the penman references Christ’s suffering for us during His First Coming. This...
Click for PDF version Monday Read 1 Peter 3:8 Doing Life Together in Tough Times In the midst of a polarizing culture, the body of Christ needs extra help and encouragement from the Holy Spirit to maintain our togetherness, a closeness that stands in stark contrast to the world around us. Up to this...
Click for PDF version Monday Read 1 Peter 2:11-12 Christian Life in Society—Foreigners and Exiles In today’s text Peter urges his readers to live as “foreigners and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11). Having spent more than 16 years living outside the U.S.A. and having visited 20 other countries, I can identify with the metaphor of...
Click for a PDF version Monday Read 1 Peter 2:4-5; Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 2:19-22 People sometimes ask sarcastically, “What’s the meaning of life?” Hopefully, as believers our answer differs dramatically from others’—even from how we might have answered as pre-Christians. A thoughtful, contemporary American might respond: “Be kind and enjoy life.” A 1st century...
