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Saving Grace by Way of the Holy Spirit
The center of Wesley’s theology is the grace of God, which is the redeeming activity of divine love. , Wesley called the study of grace “practical theology,” or living out our Christian beliefs in our daily lives. Practical theology is not only the study of a particular faith. A non-Christian can be a theologian, and some of them are. But practical theology is what every Christian should practice: to understand how God has saved us through Jesus Christ, and to live out our new life in love and service to God and others. Grace Grace is central to the Christian life. Grace arises from the love of God, if God…
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Letters to the Revelation Churches, Part 1
John wrote the book of Revelation while in exile on the Isle of Patmos. The letters to 7 churches occurs early in the book. Churches were not buildings; church building didn’t start until the early 200s AD, and John wrote around 90 AD. All of these churches took place in people’s homes or in public places, including the outer court of Jerusalem’s Temple (Acts 2:46) or in Rome, public places that were probably warehouses or apartments. Most of them were in people’s homes; usually the homes of the wealthy or well-to-do because they would have the room. This explains why James was so mad about rich people getting treated specially…
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Hope: My Faith Is Built on Nothing Less
“For in hope we were saved. Now hope that sees for itself is not hope. For who hopes for what one sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance.” (Romans 8: 24 – 25) The word “hope” is a lovely word. But what do we hope for? “I hope that dress goes on sale.” “I hope I win $20 on my lottery ticket.” “I hope my car makes it.” “I hope she calls.” “I hope the stock market turns around.” But that definitely doesn’t sound like the kind of “hope” the Bible is referring to! In fact, hope is one of the three…