The book of Ephesians paints such a beautiful picture of the church and one worth our perusal, especially in light of the FAMILY/Youth emphasis at PBL. By the mercy of God, He saved each one of us in the church.  God “made us alive together with Christ…and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ”…

For some books of the Bible, we need to read through the entire book to surmise the main theme or purpose of the writing of the book.  For other books, the writer states explicitly his purpose in writing.  The book of First Timothy is of this latter category.  Paul discloses the following:  “I write so that one will know how to conduct…

It is difficult to imagine how heaven rejoiced when the church began. Acts 2 describes that time when the most devout Jews from every nation under heaven arrived at Jerusalem and found a treasure they did not know existed. They thought they already had found what God had planned for them—the holy altar where sacrifices for their sins were made, the beautiful…

I remember seeing a sign posted so all those leaving the building could see it. It said something like, “Evangelism begins as you leave this building and extends to all the world.” There is no question that His words, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations” and “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Matt.…

Training children to sit and to behave in worship can be a challenge, but it is a challenge worth taking and mastering—for the child’s good, for your good and for the church’s good.  Children have been part of God’s assemblies since Old Testament times (cf. Deut. 29:10-13; 31:9-13).  To properly train them and nurture them in the ways of the Lord, children…

The Lord has promised us repeatedly that we will be winners if we will just trust in Him. John said, “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). He also described our faith as that key element which brings victory over the world (1 John 5:4). We truly are on the winning team.…

One of the fun things about Facebook is seeing pictures of kids, especially pictures of kids whose parents you knew when they were children.  It’s enjoyable to see eyes and smiles on the faces of children that look exactly like eyes and smiles from twenty or thirty years ago. What makes children resemble their parents so much?  That is not a hard…

Is it ever permissible to stop preaching to people about the love of God, the sacrifice of Jesus, the church of Christ, the plan of salvation or the glory of heaven?  Some of us would answer, “Absolutely not!  We must never stop preaching the gospel to anyone and everyone!”  It is true that our Lord has given us the task and responsibility…