Muldrow Church of Christ

08/29/2026

08/29/2026

Light of the World

When John started writing his Gospel, he looked at the beginning.
This morning we will look at the Light and the Word in parallel with Genesis and John and see the Light of the World.

Genesis 1:1
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

John 1:1-2
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.

Genesis 1:2
2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

John 1:3
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

Genesis 1:3-5
3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

John 1:5-18
5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ”
16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

John 8:12
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

1 John 1:5-7
5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Psalm 119:105
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.

2 Corinthians 4:6
6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:9
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

Ephesians 5:8
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light

Matthew 5:14-16
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

08/22/2026

The Art of Not Forcing

Water never strains and never hurries. Yet over time it shapes valleys and wears away solid stone. Nothing in the world is softer than water, and yet nothing is better at overcoming what is hard and strong. Water succeeds because it does not fight. It flows around the rock rather than crashing into it. And in the end, the rock gives way. Most of us live in the opposite manner. When something resists us, we push harder. When a plan goes wrong, we force it. We treat life as a long series of obstacles to be broken through by sheer effort. Notice where we are forcing and consider whether patience, softness, and good timing might carry us further than struggle ever could. A peaceful life has simply learned the difference between effort that helps and effort that only drains us.

Proverbs 16:9
9 A man’s heart plans his way,
But the Lord directs his steps.

Galatians 6:9
9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

Ephesians 4:2
2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love,

Romans 8:25
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

Titus 3:2
2 to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.

James 4:1-4
4 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

1 Corinthians 10:23
23 All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.

Philippians 4:6
6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;

Matthew 11:28
28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

John 10:10
10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Revelation 3:20
20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.

08/15/2026

The Freedom of Wanting Less

A peaceful life begins with wanting less.
Notice something that is easy to miss. Most of our restlessness does not come from what we actually lack. It comes from what we have been taught to want. We are surrounded every single day by quiet messages telling us that we are not yet enough and that we need a little more before our real life can finally begin. A Chinese philosopher once wrote that there is no greater misfortune than not knowing when you have enough and that the person who knows he has enough is already rich no matter how little he owns. This is one of the most freeing ideas.
James 1:14-15
14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

Ephesians 4:22-24
22 that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, 23 and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

Romans 12:2
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Contentment is not something the world hands to you once you have gathered enough things. It is a quiet decision you make about the things you already have. When you stop chasing more, your days slowly grow softer. You stop measuring your worth against other people. You begin to notice the small and ordinary pleasures that were always there. A warm meal, an unhurried morning, the company of someone you love. A simple life is a life with the noise removed so that the things that truly matter can finally be heard.
Hebrews 13:5
5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Luke 12:15-32
15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’
21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”
22 Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. 23 Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? 25 And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 26 If you then are not able to do the least, why are you anxious for the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 If then God so clothes the grass, which today is in the field and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith?
29 “And do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious mind. 30 For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. 31 But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you.
32 “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

Matthew 6:33
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

1 Timothy 6:6-11
6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

Philippians 4:11-12
11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Matthew 6:25
25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Philippians 4:19
19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

08/15/2026

A Simple Life: The Simple Path to Put Your Life in Order

Why is it that we always know exactly what we should do and still refuse to do it? We know the dishes need washing. We know the message needs answering. We know the small task we have been avoiding would take only a few minutes. Yet day after day, we leave the simple things undone, and slowly our whole life begins to feel out of order.
2 Corinthians 1:12
12 For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that we conducted ourselves in the world in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom but by the grace of God, and more abundantly toward you.

Psalm 116:6
6 The Lord preserves the simple;
I was brought low, and He saved me.

Trouble almost always starts small. A problem we could have solved in a minute is left alone and slowly it grows roots. The single plate left in the sink becomes a pile by the end of the week. The short message we keep putting off becomes an awkward silence we no longer know how to break. The small worry we refuse to face becomes the thing that keeps us awake at night. None of this happens suddenly. It happens one small avoided thing at a time. The hardest tasks in the world all begin while they are still easy and the greatest things in the world all begin while they are still small.
Answer the message now. Wash the bowl now. Say the difficult sentence while it is still only a sentence and not yet a wall standing between two people. This sounds almost too simple to matter and that is exactly why so few people do it. A small task gives us no sense of importance.
The same is true in our spiritual life.
2 Kings 5:9-14
9 Then Naaman went with his horses and chariot, and he stood at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” 11 But Naaman became furious, and went away and said, “Indeed, I said to myself, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place, and heal the leprosy.’ 12 Are not the Abanah and the Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 And his servants came near and spoke to him, and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do something great, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14 So he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

Joshua 1:9
9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Titus 1:5
5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you—

Galatians 6:9
9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

So we tell ourselves it can wait and we save our energy for the big day that never quite comes. But a life in order is mostly made of these small unglamorous acts done at the moment they first appear before they have time to grow heavy.
A tree so wide you cannot wrap your arms around it grows from a single tiny seed. A tower nine floors high begins with one basket of earth poured onto the ground.
A journey of a thousand miles begins beneath your own feet with a single step. Every large and finished thing in the world was once small and unfinished.

Romans 8:5-6
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Romans 5:1-5
5 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Romans 8:25
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

2 Peter 3:8-9
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

1 Thessalonians 5:14
14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all.

Psalm 37:7-9
7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;
Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.
9 For evildoers shall be cut off;
But those who wait on the Lord,
They shall inherit the earth.

Hebrews 13:7
7 Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.

John 14:27
27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

07/27/2026

The Cross
Are you carrying the wrong cross? Or even if you have the right cross, are you carrying it correctly? This morning we are going to look at the cross and the power of the cross.

1 Corinthians 1:18
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Genesis 3: 14-15
14 The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”

For those of the world they see a sign of capital punishment. Satan saw a way to hurt God. For us it is power and it saves.

Romans 5:8
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Hebrews 12:2
2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Colossians 2:14
14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

Colossians 1:20
20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

1 Peter 2:24
24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.

Mark 8:34
34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.

Luke 9:23
23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

Matthew 10:38
38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.

Luke 14:27
27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
Jesus makes it very clear that we are to carry our own cross daily. We are not carrying His. His bore the sins of the world, and no matter how strong we are or how broad our shoulders, we cannot bear his.

Galatians 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Galatians 6:14
14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

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