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Because more than 5 billion copies of Scripture have been distributed, the Bible is often referred to as the best-selling book of all time. But, technically speaking, the Bible is not a book. It is a collection of 66 books compiled into one volume. These books were composed between approximately the 8th century BCE and the 1st century CE, written in three different languag...

Sometimes people think that all sins are equally serious in the eyes of God. This conclusion is understandable. After all, the Bible states that all of us are sinners who fall short of God's glory (Rom. 3:23). It teaches that if we have broken only one of God's commandments we are condemned as lawbreakers (James 2:10). Scripture also teaches that we can sin internally even...

We Christians sometimes place unnecessary limits on the ways we worship God. It is understandable that, by temperament or tradition, we would each prefer certain styles of worship. Sadly, however, we sometimes cut ourselves off from the wide variety of ways God can be praised. Psalm 150, the final song in the psalter, helps to broaden our understanding of worship. The wor...

Years ago, in a social psychology class in college, our professor lectured us on the power of societal norms. Performing a public act that might elicit scorn or ridicule invariably causes most people to feel anxiety. We have a natural aversion to looking weird. Our assignment that day was to do something to break a social norm and write a paper detailing the physiological...

Every year, starting on October 1, a group of ACCers sets off on the journey of reading through the entire Bible over the next twelve months. We follow a daily reading plan that generally includes one passage from the Old Testament and one passage from the New Testament, working through individual books of the Bible from start to finish. Some participants choose to read on...

In 2002, a group of worshipers gathered in the basement of the Astoria Center of Israel Synagogue for the first Sunday service of Astoria Community Church. Since that day, the congregation of ACC can look back on 20 years of God's faithfulness and blessing on our church. You are invited to join us on Saturday, October 29 at 6:00pm as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of A...

Most Christians have friends and family members who have not yet come to trust Christ as their Savior. One of the most important things we can do for our unsaved loved ones is to pray for them. Here are seven ways to pray for those you love who do not yet know the Lord. 1) Pray for the Holy Spirit to show them their need for Jesus. In John 16, Jesus promised that after ...

Articles on how to read Scripture often focus on techniques daily reading plans, interpretive methods, systems of study, etc. These can all be tremendously helpful, but what I want to write about here are not techniques that make Bible-reading effective. I want to explore attitudes that make Bible-reading fruitful. What should be the attitude of our hearts when we approa...

The next round of ACC Community Groups will take place this fall, starting the week of September 11 and running for 10 weeks. We have groups meeting on different days of the week and using a variety of formats: Zoom, in-person, and hybrid. If you have never been part of Community Group, I encourage you to give one a try. CGs are small groups that meet regularly (usually w...

The Bible teaches that every Christian is entrusted with spiritual gifts or abilities, given to them by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 12:6). These gifts are given to individuals, but they are not given for individuals; they are given for the well-being of the entire church (1 Cor. 12:7). God desires for each of his children to find ways to use their gift (1 Pet. 4:10). This autum...