In today’s world people have all sorts of ideas about who God is and what he’s like. Into this context our confession of God as the Triune God (as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) clearly identifies which God we worship and believe in as Christians. In fact, the Church’s confession about the Triune God tells…
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You know the story. You have heard it many times, I am sure. Jonah the prophet becomes FISH FOOD. When we look at images of the story it actually looks pretty clean inside the whale, however I am sure that if you really think about it that wouldn’t be the case. Think about it…digestive juices,…
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A friend emailed this quote to me recently: “There are so many ways to move forward, but only one to stand still.” Sinful selfishness will have us standing still, full of hurt and bitterness, wondering why others aren’t more accommodating of us. The fruit of the Spirit shows us many ways to advance and live…
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Two people were running late for the bus. 1 person ran the whole way, never stopping to get there in time. 1 person strolled casually but prayed the whole way asking God for them to get the bus. Who do you think got the bus? Today we looked at the weird/crazy/ewww story of Jesus telling…
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“There is no room for prejudice or walls” Acts 11: 1-17 Have we put up walls around the church? Or do we offer the water of life? Is our life one that shares the source of living water, or Do we put up fences to protect our faith? Do we trust that God is still…
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The story of Elijah has all the hallmarks of a blockbuster movie! After a little research, I found that a few years ago there was talk of a movie in the making, but I couldn’t find any recent updates on how it was progressing. Elijah was a prophet who lived around 800 years before Christ.…
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While Paul waited for them at Athens… he saw… he was provoked… he discussed… he debated… he proclaimed Jesus and the resurrection… he called people to a radical life change… Acts 17-34. What do you do while you are waiting? I was waiting at the KL airport on my way to Vietnam. I met a…
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In the Shrek movies, Donkey doesn’t stop talking! In the Bible, Balaam’s donkey started talking to him. Here’s how it happened. God rescued his people Israel from slavery in Egypt. After 40 years of wandering, the Israelites reached the plains of Moab. They were close to entering the promised land. Now King Balak of Moab feared the…
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My Identity is in Christ, however, sometimes I still struggle with my brokenness and how I perceive myself. How can I reconcile that, is there hope for more freedom in this life? Michael Mavromatis Bible Readings: John 17:20-23, Luke 4:18-19, John 10:10 (NIV) Please check the website www.paravista.org.au for podcasts and video archives of weekly messages…
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Weird/crazy/gross is our topic for worship this term. We often see God as nice and gentle and the bible as safe…and definitely not gross. However, there is much in the bible that is weird/crazy/gross. It might sound obvious, but people in bible-times probably weren’t that different than us. Sometimes it took lots of chances or signs from God for them to believe Him…
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