Author: Chris Hankel
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Our Love for People—Romans 9:1-29
Have you ever been wrongly accused of something? How did you feel about those who were accusing you? Whatever you’ve been through, it probably doesn’t compare to the story of David McCallum, who was wrongfully convicted of kidnapping and murdering 20-year-old Nathan Blenner when he was 16. After being arrested in 1985 along with Willie…
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Our Victorious Life In Christ—Romans 8:1-17
Chapter 8 is the best! I love this chapter of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. Paul is going to drive home some of the practical outcomes of our justification. If you believe that Jesus is God’s Son, that He died on the cross, but three days later he rose from the…
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The Struggle is Real—Romans 7
Last week was our second week back into our study of The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans called The Gospel Unveiled. In this second part of our study Paul begins talking about the practical outcomes of our justification. Earlier Paul reminds us that if we believe Jesus is God’s Son, that He died on…
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Free to Serve New—Romans 6:15-23
This was the headline from a newscast on April 8, 2019: “Lion Attacks Trainer During Performance in Ukraine” I would like you to watch this video clip and then think about all the things that are wrong here. It’s only 30 seconds, but after seeing this, I have some questions. (play “Lion Tamer” video) I…
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Freed From Sin to Live New—Romans 6:1-14
As we get back into our series in Romans, I want to review where we have been in the first five chapters. Our series is called The Gospel Unveiled because, as we have seen in the book of Romans, Paul, the author of this letter to the church in Rome, shows us the beauty of…
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Honor in a Cancel Culture
How many of you have returned at least one thing you received this Christmas? It’s great, isn’t it? Don’t you just love doing returns? Yeah, nobody likes the hassle of returns. Over Christmas, I ordered some items for my truck from Walmart but found out they were on backorder after ordering them. So, I chatted…
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Travel Light—Letting Go of the Past
I talked with someone this past week who commented that they are ready for 2024 to be in the rearview mirror. I know some of you may be feeling that same way. Perhaps some things happened in 2024 that you are ready to move on from. Maybe it was a struggle with anger, and you…
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Travel Light—Letting Go of Bitterness
The word “Advent” comes from the Latin “adventus,” meaning “coming” or “arrival.” Before the Advent or arrival of Jesus, there was the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. In the same way we are also on a journey with Jesus. However, it is important to remember that this world is not the destination of our journey.…
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Travel Light—Letting Go of Distractions
How many of you are like me and are easily distracted? I will confess that I am the most single-minded person you may ever meet. I can only focus on one thing at a time. I do not multi-task. I’m not saying I don’t multi-task well; I simply don’t multi-task. That goes for almost everything…
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Travel Light—Letting Go of Stuff
In August of this next year, my daughter Olivia will be riding in the longest, most grueling horse race on the planet. It is 1000km (620 miles) across the Mongolian steppe desert. It will undoubtedly be a memorable and epic journey for her. Part of the preparation is figuring out what to pack for the…
Chris Hankel 