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Brad Hoffman

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Hear, O Israel

At the heart of God’s commandments is an all-encompassing desire to love and honor God as the one and only God. Another way to say this is to say that the center of God’s commandments is God himself. We see this in what has been referred to as the Shema.…

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Authentic Ministry

Paul provides a glimpse of his ministry among the Thessalonians that shows us what authentic ministry looks like. Let’s see what we can learn from his example as he describes this for the Thessalonians. We’re using content from the CSB Life Connections Study Bible to shed light on his example…

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Your Kingdom Come

The Lord’s Prayer, as it has been commonly referred to by Christians for centuries, is an example of how Jesus instructed his disciples to pray. Instead of drawing attention to themselves with public prayers or trying to get God’s attention through vain repetition, followers of Jesus are to pray to…

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A Community Shaped by the Cross

How does Paul’s message of “Jesus Christ and him crucified” form and shape the communities of those who follow Jesus? What can we learn from the examples we see in Scripture? Richard Hays unpacks the significance of Paul’s message of Christ crucified from 1 Corinthians for contemporary teachers and preachers…

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Is All Vanity? The Puzzle of Ecclesiastes

The opening sentences of Ecclesiastes are probably among the most depressing opening sentences of any work of literature, ancient or otherwise. “Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity” (Eccl. 1:2). There doesn’t seem to be too much of a point to anything and one wonders…

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Living in the Light

There’s a clear difference between believers and unbelievers, a difference that is as stark as that between black and white, light and darkness. The source of this difference is God himself, since he is light and there is no darkness in him at all. John tells us that this difference…

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Commentaries

Worship in the Early Church

Periodically throughout the book of Acts, Luke provides updates on the church’s unity, growth, and worship. One of these glimpses occurs in Acts 9:31. R. C. Sproul unpacks this glimpse in the Expositional Commentary Series under the rubric of worship. Let’s see how he describes the worship of the early…

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Running to Win

How would you describe Paul’s approach to evangelism? Intense words like zealous or courageous or fearless may immediately come to mind. Those are definitely good descriptions of his approach to evangelism, but have you considered how Paul describes his approach? He says that what marks his approach to winning others…

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Bible Study Tips

Hearing and Doing

The apostle James often exhorts his readers with stark contrasts. For example, he contrasts the man of faith with the double-minded and unstable one who doubts (1:6–8). Or he contrasts our sinful desires that lead to death with God’s good gifts that lead to a new birth (1:14–18). Another contrast…

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