An Imprecatory Psalm

Gary DeLashmutt

Psalms 58

Imprecatory psalms that call down judgment on evil-doers may cause discomfort in modern readers and tempt them to avoid those psalms. But then one would have to excise a significant portion of Scripture. But taking a closer look, one sees that in Psalm 58 that David does not seek personal vengeance but that God would intervene to uphold His reputation. David desires the wicked rulers would repent so they can take refuge in God. Reaping the consequences of evil behavior is an act of God's love designed to bring us to repentance so we can receive forgiveness.

Messiah's Glorious Kingdom

Gary DeLashmutt

Psalms 72

While King Solomon is praying for his own ability to reign properly, he is also alluding to the ultimate reign of Messiah. King Messiah's reign will be marked by God-given moral integrity and wisdom. It will bring unparalleled peace and prosperity. It will be world-wide and everlasting. It will fulfill God's promise to Abraham that all nations will be blessed through him.

Final Judgment

Mike Sullivan

Revelation 20:11-15

Many people, Christian and non-Christian alike, are uncomfortable with the idea of final judgment, or hell, but it is a reality. Hell is necessary because sin is a reality that must be dealt with. God loves people and sin hurts the people God loves. Because God values free will, he honors our choices. Because God is righteous and just, he must punish sin. Because he is loving, he offers an alternative to hell for anyone who chooses to receive the forgiveness Jesus offers through his death on the cross.

Have the Same Attitude as Jesus

Conrad Hilario

Philippians 2:5-11

The person of Jesus demonstrated that he was both fully human and yet still fully divine. He chose to set aside his divine abilities to live as a human so that he could fully experience all the things we experience. The work of Jesus on the cross was necessary because real forgiveness is costly suffering. The one who forgives bears the cost of the sin. God humbled himself to identify with us and die for us.

A New Start

Gary DeLashmutt

Genesis 8:20-9:29

After the cleansing of the flood, God makes a new promise to never again judge the earth through a flood, not because He thought man could be righteous, but because He would offer a sacrificial substitute for their sins. With this promise, He also gives new instructions that demonstrate the value of human life, and, through Noah's family dealings, makes new predictions about how He will work through human history to bring people to Him, including each one of us.

Evidence of Evil

J. Warner Wallace

Genesis 8:20-9:29

One evidence for the existence of God is the reality that transcendent, objective moral truths exist. Through personal examples and through our own justice system, there emerges a transcendent, objective being to whom we are obligated, above even the current law itself. If moral truths do not come from individuals nor from groups, they are either an illusion or an evidence for a creator God. The persistent presence of evil and injustice causes us to turn toward an objective source to define evil. As we explore the idea of evil, we begin to explore the character of God and how a loving and all-powerful being could allow evil to exist in our world.

David: The Heart of a Shepherd

Jim Leffel

1 Samuel 22:1-2

David is on the run from Saul and finds refuge in a cave. Many people joined him there. We'll look at similarities of how hurting people were drawn to David in the same way that hurting people are drawn to Jesus as well as the Church.

God's Truth About the World's Oldest Oppression

Paul Herbert

Luke 7:36-50

When Jesus interacted with prostitutes, he showed mercy and compassion instead of contempt and judgement. This practice of prostitution still enslaves many women today, and in this workshop Judge Paul M. Herbert provides a different perspective on this practice. We must shift our perspective from drawing a hard line between human trafficking and prostitution, something we are able to do once we examine the stories and statistics behind women who fall into prostitution. This workshop ends with a testimony from one of the very women who found redemption from this lifestyle.

The Paradox of Love in Justice

Pat Reeder

Luke 7:36-50

In our culture today, there is a paradox of God's love and justice. ?How could a loving God send people to hell?? is a familiar question we are confronted with. It leads one to question God's love and the true nature of hell. The key to unlocking this paradox is not to change the definition of God's love or the nature of hell, but to understand that our culture has: 1) completely given up on the concept of sin, and 2) has a clumsy concept of justice.