2 Thessalonians

Don’t Waver

October 8, 2026 by Tim Sherfy

The Christian life is hard. In the best-case scenario, people will ridicule and ostracize you from social groups. (Matthew 5:10-12; 1 Peter 4:4) You will always be an outsider. (John 15:18-19; 1 Peter 2:11) Worst-case scenarios involve torture and death in gruesome manners. (Matthew 24:9; Hebrews 11:35-38) Following Jesus is not for the squeamish or fainthearted. Being a Christian isn’t for everyone. It is only for those who see Jesus as being worth any sacrifice and worthy of every kind of mockery and torture. (Luke 14:26-33; Philippians 3:7-8)

We are the few and the called, but that’s not something to be proud of. We did nothing to earn this privilege. (Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Timothy 1:9) It is only by God’s grace that we are called to this life of service and sacrifice and ultimately to immense joy and life everlasting. (1 Peter 5:10; Titus 3:6-7) If you want to live for Jesus, take up your cross and don’t waver. (Luke 9:23-24; 1 Corinthians 15:58)

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Obedient to Christ

September 14, 2026 by Tim Sherfy

What if I told you there was one thing you could do that would make every choice and decision so obvious that you would never have to second-guess yourself? There is one habit you can cultivate that makes everything else in your life easier and less stressful. The best part is that you already know what it is and how to do it.

The key to always knowing what to do and living with less stress and more joy is to always be obedient to Christ. (John 15:10-11) When we live in the habit of obedience, we will always know what to do because it’s the thing that is consistent with Christ’s character and glorifies Him. (Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 5:8-10) Things only get blurry when we put our desires before His desires for us.

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The Mercy of God

September 3, 2026 by Tim Sherfy

How much time do you spend thinking about the mercy of God? If you are like me, not enough! God is holy, and His standard for our lives is holiness. (1 Peter 1:15-16; Leviticus 19:2) Not one of us can measure up to that. Every one of us has sinned and fallen short of the standard. (Romans 3:23) The penalty for such failure is death. (Romans 6:23) Those are God’s rules, and if we don’t like them, then we don’t understand what it means to be holy.

Holiness cannot tolerate sin because if it did, that holiness would be lost. (Habakkuk 1:13; Psalm 5:4-5) As sinful beings, we then have no hope of escaping God’s judgment. (Hebrews 9:27; Romans 2:5-6) No hope, that is, except for the mercy of God. He loves us so much that He made a way to deliver us from His just wrath and punishment. (Romans 5:8-9; Ephesians 2:4-5)

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I Need God Now

August 24, 2026 by Tim Sherfy

When facing a crisis, have you ever said, or heard someone say, “I need God now?” It’s true we need God in times of chaos and trouble. It is also true that we need Him every other second of life. Without God, even for the smallest moment, the entire universe would collapse upon itself. (Colossians 1:16-17; Hebrews 1:3) There is no part of life that can survive except for the sustaining hand of our Creator. (Acts 17:24-25; Job 34:14-15)

We don’t just need Him when times are tough; we need Him at all times. This is a shift we must all make to mature in our faith. There is not what we do and what God does; He does it all. We are powerless to affect anything in this life without the providence of God’s power and His will.

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The House Is on Fire!

June 29, 2026 by Tim Sherfy

Imagine waking in the middle of the night hearing someone shouting, “The house is on fire!” There are few things more frightening and gut-wrenching than that. Fire is ravenous and unflinching. It destroys everything in its path without care or prejudice. In a flash, a lifetime of work and savings is gone, and in the most tragic cases, people lose their lives.

I’ve never lived through a house fire and can only imagine the devastation one must feel the next morning. It’s one of those events, like tornadoes and hurricanes, that bring neighbors together regardless of how well they knew each other before. No one wishes such horror upon someone else.