Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 122 Q.

Receive God's gifts by reading His Word. Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 3: The Written Word of God We confess that this Word of God was not sent nor delivered by the will of men, but that holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit, as Peter says. Afterwards our God— because of the special care he has for us and our salvation— commanded his servants, the prophets and apostles, to commit this revealed Word to writing. He himself wrote with his own finger the two tables of the law. Therefore we call such writings holy and divine Scriptures. Summary The Church has always been comprised of two distinct types of Christians: those who get it, and those who don't. Paul classifies these two distinctives as the strong and the weak. Strong Christians get that salvation comes by grace alone, through faith alone because of Christ alone and understand that these truths have massive implications in every aspect of life. Weak Christians are still Christians, in that they are just as saved as the strong Christians, even if they don't fully understand how or why and consequently don't apply these truths to life as they ought. Most of chapter fourteen and fifteen in the book of Romans unpack how the strong and weak ought to relate to one another in Christ's Church. Getting along was difficult for the newly founded churches when Paul wrote this, just as it is now, and will continue to be until Christ returns and puts and end to sin forever. But in the midst of this lesson in how we should be modeling Christ's selflessness in our interactions with one another, we get a big insight into God's purpose in compiling all sixty six books of the Bible. All of it - from the very familiar portions to the lesser known passages - all of it was written to teach you, "so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide, you might have hope (v4)." Notice that you don't earn this endurance and encouragement simply because you've read a bunch of ancient words. Rather, God gives you this endurance and encouragement (v5a); but neither does it just float down to you from heaven, rather, God gives it to you as you do the hard work of reading and understanding these ancient words. Dig Deeper Most of us skip over the initial pages of the instruction manual that came with the latest gadget - that is, if you even bother to read the instruction manual at all! You know the pages I mean: the ones that have paragraph after paragraph that begin with the words WARNING or DANGER in big, bold letters. We don't really need to read these words that a lawyer somewhere insisted be included because we know enough not to stick our finger into the sharp part or plug the thing in while we're sitting in the bathtub. The problem is we tend to apply the same attitude to large swaths of the Bible as well. Sure, we like the parts about Jesus or the stories of God's miraculous power on display, but on a percentage basis, those passages comprise a pretty small portion of the whole. The rest of it gets left unread, because we just figure it's either irrelevant or common sense that we'll figure out in some more practical way. You need to know that the whole Bible - both the New Testament and the Old, both the familiar and the obscure - all of was written so that as you read it, God can give you endurance encouragement. So if you want those things, commit yourself to the hard work of reading and understanding "everything that was written in the past to teach us (v4)." AAA Prayer (About) ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: "The God who gives endurance and encouragement (v5)" ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for these gifts that He gives you through His Word, and pray for the desire and ability to read more and more of His Word, "so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (v6)." ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Acts 2

Read / Listen Listen to passage & devotional: Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 122 Q. God gives them two overarching commands: 1) Pray for their new city, which is what grabs our attention

Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire (James 1:14 ESV) James 1:13-17 (NIV) 13  When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14  but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. 15  Then, after desire has conceived, it gives Canons of Dordt Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election 1 - God's right to condemn all people 2 - God

Cast all your anxiety upon God, because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6–7 (NIV) 6 Humble yourselves, therefore Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 13: The Doctrine of God’s Providence Jesus promises that He will do whatever we ask for in His name (John 14:13).

Canons of Dordt Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election Articles 1-11 Article 1: God’s Right to Condemn 7:25-29 - Many Schemes Ephesians 2:8 - The Gift of God Philippians 1:27-30 - Granted Psalm 95 - The ​ Article 7: Election Ephesians 1:3-6 - Before the Foundation Deuteronomy 7:1-10 - Set Apart John 17 14 - Christmas in March Galatians 4:1-7 - From Slave to Son Isaiah 53:6 - Herd Mentality 1 Peter 2:9- Today: Galatians 1

easy to feel pessimistic about the Church, but be encouraged by God's powerful, yet gentle whisper. 1 Kings 19 CONTEXT: Elijah just witnessed God send fire from heaven. 10  He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” 11  The LORD said, “Go out and stand 14  He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty.

Psalm 89:34-37(NIV) A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite. 1  I will sing of the LORD’s great love forever

Genesis 1:26–27 reveals that human beings were the pinnacle of God’s good creation because they were Following God’s lead in the creation act of Genesis 1, humans were tasked to work and rest. Genesis 1:26 points explicitly to the ruling aspect over all the other creatures. When Paul speaks of being created in the image of God in Ephesians 4:24, he then goes on in the rest ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: Read the New Testament in a year, a chapter a day - Mark 12

Genesis 45:1–8 (NIV) CONTEXT: Joseph, who had been sold into slavery by his brothers, only to ascend Listen to passage & devotional: Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 13: The Doctrine of God’s Providence Today: Matthew 1