Jesus’ First Miracle

In today’s Bible reading*, John tells us about Jesus’ first miracle. Jesus and His disciples have been invited to attend a multi-day wedding (as was common). Mary, Jesus’ mother tells Him that they ran out of wine. She doesn’t tell Him what to do. John doesn’t tell us what she expected Jesus to do. Jesus…

Using Spiritual Gifts for God’s Glory

Several months ago, we read through Paul’s letters to the Church at Corinth. We saw that one of the Corinthians’ biggest problems was their focus on themselves. They were consummate narcissists. As a result, the Corinthian church was extremely dysfunctional in the way it ministered to itself. In today’s Bible reading*, Peter echoes Paul’s concerns…

Elder and Overseer Qualifications

Similar to what Paul did with Timothy in 1 Timothy 3, he spells out qualifications for church leaders in today’s Bible reading*. Again, I don’t believe he’s giving a checklist as much as he’s giving guidelines and pointing out that being a church leader is more than just being well-connected in the community. Character is…