Seven Mile Road Philly

In the closing section of Exodus (chapters 25-40) God speaks once more to His people and they receive an incredible announcement: God is coming! Yahweh will dwell among His people! The Lord whose power was displayed in Egypt, whose holiness was...

God and Israel stand before one another at Mt. Sinai like a groom and bride standing before the altar. They make vows to one another and promise loyalty and faithfulness. Some words are spoken and some rituals are performed to bring the two into a...

After encountering a holy God upon the mountain, the people now receive His Ten Commandments. Patterned after other ancient treaties, the people are about to enter into a covenant relationship with Yahweh. They will be His subjects and He will be...

The people of Israel are trekking through the wilderness and alas they have reached Mt. Sinai, the mountain of God. God has drawn His people to this place in great love. Like an eagle bears her young on her wings, so the Lord has bore Israel and...

Seeing Moses bear the burden of the whole community by himself, Jethro sits his son-in-law down to offer some fatherly advice. The task of leading this people is too great to fall on one man’s shoulders and will only lead to a worn out people and a...

The people set up camp but come across a familiar problem. There’s no water and they’re thirsty again. Having seen God rain down wonder bread from the sky, there’s no way the people can do anything but trust Him right? Wrong. In fact, the...

Moses and the people of Israel go from the wet shores of the Red Sea into the dry wilderness toward Sinai. For days they go without food and water. Yet rather than trust God who minutes ago miraculously saved them, they began to grumble and complain....

Today we celebrate Jesus and His gospel as six people from Seven Mile Road get baptized. Through this simple sacrament, Jesus reminds us that as surely as we are washed with water, so surely have we been cleansed from our sins through Christ's...

Paul says that when the law was introduced, it resulted in increased sin. Yet God responded to increased sin not with increased punishment, rather greater grace. This response caused people to ask: "Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?"...

Having explored what separates, we’ll end our mini-series by celebrating what unites all Christians concerning baptism. We’ll look at what the Bible says baptism is and what happens when we get baptized.

Message from Ajay Thomas on July 3, 2011

Early in the life of the church, a theological debate brewed that threatened to unravel the unity that believers enjoyed in the gospel. As Gentiles, people who had historically been outside of the community of faith, became believers in Jesus, it...

Standing on the shores of the Red Sea, the people of Israel break out into jubilant song. The women dance. The people sing. For four centuries they were foreigners in Egypt. Slaves. Now they were free. The Lord parted the sea for them, while their...

The newly freed Israelites are led out of Egypt by God Himself. In a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, Yahweh walks His people out of the land of slavery. The only problem is, He seems a bit lost. Rather than taking the short and direct...

Freedom. The day of God's deliverance had finally come. No swords were drawn, no arrows shot, and no spears thrown. In fact without a single battle, without so much as lifting a finger, the powerless band of slaves walked out of one of the most...

Nine times the Lord showed His power to Pharaoh. Nine times Pharaoh hardened his heart and his grip over the people of Israel. Yahweh promises one more plague that will bring this contest to an end. A final plague will sweep through the land claiming...

Pharaoh refuses to repent and free the Hebrews because: A. Pharaoh hardened his heart. B. Pharaoh’s heart was hardened. C. God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Sso which is it? It is D. All of the above. Throughout the probationary plagues a patient God...

How do you get the attention of the most powerful ruler and nation in the world? God had an idea. In fact, He had ten. Ten plagues were unleashed upon Egypt in order to educate the people that Yahweh is God and there is no other. These signs and...

The epic tale of Exodus is interrupted to give us, of all things, a genealogy. A family tree. A long list of funny names that we hardly recognize. Yet while it would seem an intrusion to us, it serves a great purpose. When you come across a genealogy...

Message from Ajay Thomas on April 24, 2011