DNA: Love Does Not Boast
According to a story in the Grand Rapids Press, the owner of a small foreign car had begun to irritate his friends by bragging incessantly about his gas mileage. So they decided on a way to get some humor out of his tireless boasting, as well as bring it to an end. Every day one of them would sneak into the parking lot where the man kept his car and pour a few gallons of gas into the tank. Soon the braggart was recording absolutely phenomenal mileage. He was boasting of getting as much as 90 miles per gallon, and the pranksters took secret delight in his exasperation as he tried to convince people of the truthfulness of his claims. It was even more fun to watch his reaction when they stopped refilling the tank. The poor fellow couldn’t figure out what had happened to his car.

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DNA: Love Does Not Envy
The godly and highly respected Scottish preacher Andrew Bonar penned in his diary, “This day 20 years ago I preached for the first time as an ordained minister. It is amazing that the Lord has spared me and used me at all. I have no reason to wonder that He used others far more than He does me. Yet envy is my hurt, and today I have been seeking grace to rejoice exceedingly over the usefulness of others, even where it cast me into the shade. Lord, take away this envy from me!”

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DNA: Love is Kind

Ruth went to her mailbox and there was only one letter. She picked it up and looked at it before opening, but then she looked at the envelope again. There was no stamp, no postmark, only her name and address. She read the letter:
Dear Ruth,
I’m going to be in your neighborhood Saturday afternoon and I’d like to stop by for a visit.
Love Always,
Jesus

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DNA: Love is Patient
The Parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15:11-32 NIV)

Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.

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This week, Jeff Baker starts off our new teaching series, DNA, in which we seek to discover what makes God tick.  Listen as Jeff reveals how Scripture unravels the mystery of God’s DNA.

 

 DNA: God Is Compassionate (Part 1) [35:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This week, Bart Wilkins reveals 5 Life Disciplines that will help us use one of the three most important possessions we have: our hands.

 

 My Three: Hands (Part 3) [28:08m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

My Three: Final Greetings: Colossians 4:10-18
Today’s passage is Colossians 4:10-18.  Please join us in study.

Paul’s final greetings show us how individual churches should support and pray for each other, all as part of being one Body. Paul also encourages them to study and share the Word.  The churches in Colosse and Laodicea exchanged instructions and letters and it behooves us to do the same, to keep studying the Gospel and sharing what we have discovered there with those around us.  In the end, it is one of the functions of the Body to encourage the Hands to complete the works of Christ, it’s Lord and Head, regardless of any ‘chains’.

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My Three: Further Instructions: Colossians 4:2-9
Today’s passage is Colossians 4:2-9.  Please join us in study.

Our nerves serve as a line of communication between our hands and our minds, transmitting the commands of the mind to be carried out by the hands.  In the same way we need to be in constant communication with Christ, our Head, through prayer.  Give Him praise and thanks for what He has done for you.  Pray also that His message and His gospel can be heard by everybody in every corner of the world, so that they too can be saved.  Pray for the messengers themselves, the missionaries who have been commissioned to take the Gospel into the world. When was the last time you prayed for our pastors?  When was the last time you sat down to study the Word, seeking to gain the wisdom needed to answer the doubting Thomas’s you know and advance the cause of the Gospel?

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