Category: Bible Study
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Showing Up When the Work Is Quiet
There is a particular kind of weight that comes with leadership in a small rural community. It is not loud or dramatic. It does not announce itself. It settles in quietly and stays. You carry it when you unlock buildings early in the morning, when you answer questions no one else has time to answer,…
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THE SHEPHERDS’ CANDLE: JOY
Zephaniah 3:14–20 • Isaiah 12:2–6 • Philippians 4:4–7 • Luke 3:7–18 Introduction Today we light the third candle of Advent—the Shepherds’ Candle—the candle of Joy. Its color is different for a reason. Joy is not merely another virtue in the Advent lineup; it is the evidence that the world is already being changed by God’s…
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What I Would Tell You Now
For Joshua Blake Hargrove from John Hagrove his dad June 2025 1984–2002 My son, If I could sit across from you today—twenty-three years after you left this world—I would begin with the words that still rise unbidden in my heart: I miss you. Every day. Not with the same sharp ache as before, but with…
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Adam and Eve: A Biography
With Reflections from Various Theologies, Early Church Fathers, and Zola Levitt Studies Names & Meaning Adam means “earth” or “ground,” referencing his formation from the dust.Eve means “life” or “living,” reflecting her role as “the mother of all who live” (Genesis 3:20). Scriptural Origin Genesis 1–5 tells the story of Adam and Eve: the first…
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My Epitath
Here lies John E. Hargrove January 24, 1958 – [date yet to be written] A boy from Buna who never stopped wondering how things worked and never stopped trying to make them work for others. He chased signals across microwave towers and fiber miles, built networks that carried light to forgotten places, and in the…
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Reminder of the Light
Some days I’m reminded to go back to the starting point. “In the beginning was the Word…” That truth centers me. It reminds me that everything we’re doing—family, work, community—rests on something solid and steady. The scriptures in the RCL today lean into that same hope. Daniel talks about God standing with His people even…
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WEEK 2 – The Coming Light Prelude Study for Book of John
Key Truth The light of Christ does not arrive after the night ends—it enters while it is still dark. God’s promise is not that suffering will disappear before He comes, but that His presence is stronger than any darkness you’re walking through. Scripture Focus Isaiah 9:1-7 “The people walking in darkness have seen a great…
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When the Hero Falls, the Lord Appears
Isaiah 6:1 — “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord.” There are moments in our spiritual lives when God allows the “heroes” — the people or things we’ve leaned on — to fall away. It may be a mentor, a parent, a pastor, a dream, or even a sense of…
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The World Before the Word
God Speaks Creation and Covenant Into Being Introduction: When God Speaks, Everything Changes Before the Gospel of John ever opens with those majestic words—”In the beginning was the Word”—the Old Testament has been quietly preparing us for this revelation. Long before John identifies Jesus as the living Word of God, Scripture reveals a God who…
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Let My Love Open the Door
Let My Love Open the Door (inspired by Pete Townshend’s song and the words of Jesus in Matthew 22:37–40) When Pete Townshend sang, “Let my love open the door to your heart,” he probably wasn’t trying to preach a sermon—but he touched on something deeply spiritual. Love is the master key. Jesus said it even…
John Hargrove Seeking Truth and Reality 