The church of Christ on McDermott Road

Plans fall apart. Crops fail. Jobs are lost. Relationships break down. Families face hardships no one saw coming. Habakkuk came to realize life does not always go according to plan. Yet, in one of the most powerful statements of faith in all of Scripture, he chose to rejoice in God anyway—not because things always go […]

Eeternity is real, our opportunity is now, and the mission of Jesus belongs to all of us. In Luke 16, the story of the rich man and Lazarus shows the contrast between the way people live in this life and the eternal realities that follow. Through Christ, God offers eternal life instead of eternal destruction, […]

God’s word —his instructions, rules, and wisdom—should be stored up in our hearts. Jesus is the ultimate example of someone who embodied the word of God, who had the word stored up inside of him. Like Jesus, we should also embody the word. This doesn’t mean just learning facts about Bible stories, but applying the […]

1 Corinthians 15 is Paul’s response to the claim that God will not raise the dead from their graves. Many people in the ancient world (and in today’s world) mocked that idea. However, Paul used the resurrection of Jesus to prove that resurrection has already begun. What God did for Jesus, he will do for […]

One of the few things the New Testament says about where Christians go when we die is that we will be “with the Lord.” In the disembodied state of death, we will apparently be with the Lord in the heavenly paradise. Even though this is not our final state, it should give us an incredible […]

Other tombs were temporarily emptied, when people were raised from the dead. However, death eventually took each resurrected person back to the grave. Until Jesus, it seemed that death eventually won against everyone. Jesus, however, completely conquered death. He was raised never to die again. Because of his sinlessness, death had no claim on him. […]

Fear and the flesh go hand in hand. Those who live according to the flesh—according to earthly markers of status, belonging, and righteousness—are slaves of fear. For the first-century Jew, that may have meant circumcision and dietary restrictions. For the first-century Greek or Roman, that might have meant wealth and honor. In the twenty-first century […]

The long-term vision of McDermott Road is to “present everyone mature in Christ” and our daily mission is, “helping people become more like Jesus.” So, what are you doing to support that vision and mission? What is your personal role and responsibility within the body of Christ? How are you becoming more like Jesus? How […]

If our mission is to become more like Jesus and help others do the same, we must familiarize ourselves with some of the spiritual dangers and obstacles to receiving and obeying the message of Christ. In his parable of the sower, Jesus explains three different enemies that keep a person from reaching fruitful maturity in […]

Our plan for “helping people become more like Jesus” is to prioritize faith, hope, and love; as well as practice spiritual training, support, and service. This is the path of discipleship that has been practiced for 2,000 years. So, when someone commits themselves to partnering with McDermott Road in gospel work, we encourage them to […]

Like the apostle Paul, our vision is to, “present everyone mature in Christ.” In other words, we want as many people as possible to know, follow, and become like Jesus. We strive to make sure everything we do—from our Sunday morning worship to our youth group games—supports this goal. We exist to encourage and model […]

The church in Antioch was a special kind of church. It was the kind of church we want to be. It was the kind of place where, “a great many people” believed, were added to the Lord, and were taught. These new believers were from various ethnic backgrounds and nationalities. What they had in common […]

Luke records an amazing phrase about the church in Jerusalem, “There was not a needy person among them.” Through generosity and self-giving love, they made sure everyone’s needs were met. People sold houses and land in order to feed and clothe others. The ministries we are doing today are an attempt to carry on this […]

When they were walking in the Spirit, the first-century church was truly a family. Luke wrote that they “had all things in common.” Which means they shared nearly everything, their homes, money, food, and lives. They were not devoted to their own individual pursuits, but to their common goal and mission. In many ways, our […]

The book of Acts is a book of constant motion and constant growth. Individuals grew more and more like Jesus, congregations grew in number, and the boundaries of God’s global kingdom grew. The Holy Spirit was the One bringing this growth, empowering the church to take the message about Jesus “to the ends of the […]

Following Jesus is not for the faint of heart. Paul compares it to fighting a fight and a running race. He tells Timothy he will need to be sober-minded, endure suffering, and work hard. This difficult calling is not just for apostles and preachers, but every follower of Jesus. That said, Paul also makes it […]

Paul’s positivity was about faith in Jesus, not about naive optimism. Paul was no fool and was under no illusions about the state of the world. He knew people were going “from bad to worse.” However, he wanted Timothy to remain encouraged and persevere faithfully and fearlessly. All around the world we can find reasons […]

When Paul wrote this letter, he was in prison. Likely, this was his second Roman imprisonment. He was bound with chains and waiting to be executed. He had every earthly reason to be pessimistic about the future. It would have been easy to believe the Good News would never successfully spread throughout  he world and people would never accept […]

As we start a new year and consider all the unknowns that lie ahead, it’s natural to feel afraid or anxious. We might even be tempted to begin the year timidly. However, in 2 Timothy 1 Paul encouraged Timothy to be fearless and faithful, embracing the spirit of love and self-control that has been given to all of […]

Peter’s conclusion to his final letter will be our conclusion to a year of thinking about our salvation, purification, sanctification, and justification. God’s mercy and patience—along with his coming judgment—should cause us to ask ourselves, “What sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness?” Are we living the lives we were saved to live? […]

When Jesus was born, “a multitude of the heavenly host” announced the Good News to shepherds, saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.” This announcement changed the world. Nothing could ever be the same again. Heaven and earth had come together in a whole […]

During the Christmas season it is not uncommon to walk into a store or turn on a movie and hear the Good News about Jesus being proclaimed in song. Everywhere we turn, we hear “tidings of comfort and joy.” What an amazing blessing that is to hear our Savior’s story being sung in the public […]

One of the major themes of the Bible is “peace” (shalom). We love the idea of peace and we want peace. However, left to our own devices, we all have a tendency to destroy peace and create chaos and conflict. Thankfully, the work of Jesus brings true peace into the world, a peace that passes […]

Every generation of God’s people has handed the baton of praise to the next. We have picked up the baton from our parents’ and grandparents’ generation. There is an unbroken song of worship and adoration that goes back to the beginning of time. Now, it is our turn to praise God and teach our children […]

To “glorify God” or do something “to his glory,” means spreading God’s fame and good reputation in the world. Praise should be evangelistic. Praise should wake people up to the fact that God is better than their idols. We sing and speak about God’s goodness and faithfulness, because the world needs to hear how good […]

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16

We praise God in anticipation of his protection and salvation. Because we can look back and see all the great things God has done, we can learn his character and trust his steadfast love. Praise helps bring us peace, because we are exercising our trust and reminding ourselves of what God has done for his […]

Scripture: Matthew 6:19-24

When we think of what it means to be “saved,” we often think about “forgiveness.” However, we have tried to emphasize this year that salvation is about so much more than forgiveness. When God saves us, he rescues us from danger and humiliation, restoring our dignity and honor. What God did for David, he more […]

We will examine Jesus’ guidance to the disciples regarding the gift of The Spirit. For the disciple, a purposeful life is a Spirit-filled life. We will consider the role of The Spirit in our lives and ways this passage can serve as a guide for reflection on our discipleship. (Scripture: John 14:15-17)

Scripture: 1 Peter 4:7-11

Religious people with wealth and power have often fallen into the trap of believing they could exploit the poor and vulnerable for their own profit, while keeping God happy through religious rituals. This was the situation during the days of Micah. The people of Israel were warned to repent and told that God was coming […]

Scripture: Titus 1:5-16

In the book of Ruth, we get to see justice and righteousness in the flesh. This is not a book of dry teachings about caring for widows, immigrants, and the poor in the abstract. This is the story of actual righteous people who leveraged their own wealth and well-being to do justice. Ruth acted with […]

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 4:1-5

The word “Deuteronomy” literally means, “Second Law.” The second generation after the Exodus from Egypt was about to enter into the Promised Land, but they needed to be reminded of the Law. They needed to be reminded who they were supposed to be and how they were supposed to live. They were reminded several times, […]

Scripture: Ephesians 2:1-10

Leading up to the destruction of Sodom, God reflected on his promises to, and partnership with, Abraham. God chose Abraham to, “Command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice.” God went on to allow Abraham not only to know his plans for Sodom, […]

Scripture: Titus 2:11-14

Sometimes it is confusing to hear, we are “saved by grace,” “saved through faith,” or saved by “believing,” but also told baptism saves us. The biblical authors were very clear that we are saved because Jesus died on the cross, because God is merciful and loves us, but they are also clear that we are […]

Scripture: Matthew 21:33-46

It is not uncommon for people to say they are Christians, love Jesus, read their Bibles, and pray daily, but not want any part of church or organized religion. Sometimes this is because the church has disappointed them, hurt them, or just failed to excite and motivate them. In spite of our many shortcomings, the […]

Scripture: Leviticus 25:13-28

It is popular to think every nice, kind, and decent human being will spend eternity in heaven. However, that is not the Christian message. The Christian message is that only those who follow Jesus will be saved. Many wonder how that could be “Good News”? It sounds to some people like God is vindictive and […]

Scripture: Genesis 3, 6, & 11

We cannot expect people to believe the story the Bible tells unless the Bible is a credible witness. Our Bibles are a translation based on thousands of Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic manuscripts. Those manuscripts are not the original texts written by the author, but were copied by countless scribes. This process the Bible has undergone […]

Scripture: Genesis 2

Paul throughly understood the thinking of both the weak and the strong. Paul began his letter promoting peace by telling the Torah-observant Jews, who judged the Gentile world as wicked and sinful, they were essentially correct in their judgment. However, in condemning the Gentiles for their unrighteousness, they were also condemning themselves. The weak judged […]

Scripture: Acts 27