Hiawatha church of Christ

      In John 13, Jesus taught His disciples saying, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” (John 13:34). The mention of a new commandment indicates the existence of a previous one. Jesus quoted this previous commandment saying, “And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:39; Leviticus 19:18) The old commandment was given to elevate the thinking of God’s people. They were not to look out just for their own interest, but also to be mindful of the needs of others. When one loves their neighbor as themselves, they will always seek their best interest and never do anything intentionally to harm them mentally or physically. Jesus is now raising the bar of excellence. Instead of loving our neighbor to the same degree we love ourselves, we are to love one another as Christ has loved us. When we stop and think about how much Christ loves us, we see that His...

    A standard is needed in virtually every aspect of life. One example is traffic. There is a standard telling us which lane to drive in. A standard defining what we do when the light turns red and when the light turns green. We could only imagine what traffic conditions would be like if everyone were able to choose to drive in a manner that best suited them. It would be chaotic at best. In matters of religion, we likewise find the need for a standard to live by. Our standard is the word of God. Without it, we would be left to guess as to how to please God. Fortunately, our God has not left us to guess, but has provided clear instructions as to how we please Him. Paul stated , “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete for every good work.” (2Ti 3:16-17) Everything we do in the Christian life is based upon God’s standard. When we all li...

Several years ago, I came across a sermon titled, “If I had but one sermon left to preach”. Unfortunately, it was just a title without any content. So, the content of the sermon was left to the imagination. As I thought about the sermon title, I wondered what kind of sermon should be preached if there was only one left. I thought about Moses and his farewell address to the people of Israel. I also considered Joshua and his farewell address. Both men used different expressions but had a similar theme. Their message was faithfulness to God. This is also reminiscent of the words of Paul who wrote, “For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, full pleasing Him, being fruitful for every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:9-10) One of resounding themes of the bible is the ple...

      Peter and the apostles were before the Sanhedrin once again. They were warned to stop preaching Jesus as the Christ. They said, “…And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!” (Acts 5:28).   Peter responded, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” (vs. 29) Peter and the apostles were bold in the face of adversity. They refused to surrender the truth of the gospel for the whims of the people. Instead, their focus was right where it needed to be, upon pleasing God. Today, there are still many enemies of the cross. They reject the teaching of Jesus and would like for it to be stopped. However, we too must be like Peter and the others who refused to bow to the will of the people and keep our focus upon pleasing our God. When it comes to pleasing God above pleasing man, we must be willing to go against the grain. Our society has drifted far away from the biblical standard. The word of God has been reject...