Love As You Have Been Loved

The supper ended. Jesus rose from the table and proceeded to shock everyone in the room. The Apostles were stunned as their Master donned the garb of a household servant. He now wore a towel around His waist. He carried a basin full of fresh water. He bowed before each...

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The Light of Forgiveness

A woman was caught in the “very act” of adultery and brought to Jesus. She was thrown at His feet right there in the Temple, in the house of mercy. A number in the mob there had started to gather stones to throw at her. Tragically, as we read through...

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The Way of Honor

“Honor your father and your mother that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12). Honor your father and your mother — tucked right into the Ten Commandments are these words that carry a significant God-promise. I believe that the...

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Two Goats

The most holy day of the year for the Jew is Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It occurs in the midst of a 10-day period of introspection and repentance. We find the description of its religious requirements in Leviticus 16. One aspect of this celebration is the role played...

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Meant for Good

“You meant evil.” It was Joseph who said these words in the book of Genesis. After more than a decade, he finally came face to face with the brothers who had cast him into a pit and turned him into a slave. They thought to kill Joseph, but then decided...

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Mastering Sin

Bill Alderson, Baltimore We are introduced to the concept of sin early in the Scriptures, in Genesis 3 with the fall of Adam and Eve. Their reaction to their sin was to hide (verse 8). Then in chapter 4, Cain has a face to face run-in with sin and his...

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Welcoming the Prodigal

Bill Alderson, Baltimore One of the most recognizable of Jesus’s parables is the Prodigal Son. Most of us have heard messages on the subject of a restored relationship with the Father using this parable as its text, but what if this particular lesson was intended to address the Jews? Since...

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