Bible study
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A Spiritual Lesson from a Dying Phone Battery
For some time now, I’ve been dealing with a phone on its last legs. (Update: after brainstorming this article, I was able to get a new phone. Whew.) If you’ve ever had to deal with that, you know that it can be frustrating. The phone would seem to be fine. The battery clipping along near 100%…until it wasn’t. In rapid succession, I’d get a notification that it was at something like 14%, then (one second later) 7%, then…dead. The other issue was that, if it got to zero, it took hours to charge back up. Once it was, I had to keep it basically plugged in non-stop so the battery…
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Milk or Meat
In a recent Bible class we were discussing gospel preaching and how it helps the local congregation grow in maturity. We first looked at Hebrews 5:12-14, where the author is chastising Christians for their lack of progress toward maturity. He writes, “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food…” (verse 12). It is important to back up and realize that their lack of growth is, at least in part, because they had become “dull of hearing.” A quick look at Vine’s Expository Dictionary reveals that the word…
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And the Bible Says
A few weeks ago, something happened where I worship that I will remember for as long as I have a memory. A man taught an adult Bible class on a Wednesday evening. Before you think that I’ve lost what little mind I have, let me explain. It is true that it is not unusual to have Wednesday evening Bible classes. It is not unusual for a man to teach a class like that. In fact, a lot of things were not unusual about that particular class that evening. What was unusual, though, and what made this particular class memorable was the teacher. It was one of the first times he…
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Three Sermon Outlines
One of my favorite things about being part of a family of preachers and teachers is the number of lesson ideas and outlines that are tossed back and forth between us. There is nothing like a good scriptural idea from a fresh perspective to get the gears turning and motivate deeper study for the purpose of sharing that study with others. Over the years, I have probably been given upwards of 50 sermon outlines from different members of my family (and used a few of them, too) and have also shared several with them. Today’s “article” has three goals in mind. The first is to give you, dear reader, three…
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Week of March 10 “Into the Heart of the Bible” and “Something from the Margin of My Bible”
On her video series this week, Leah discusses a period of Bible history that is often overlooked, the period of Judah alone. You can watch the video below or, if you choose, click here to watch on her YouTube channel. On the “margin” podcast, Adam gives a note this week from the time of preparation for receiving the 10 Commandments. Click here to listen.
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Week of March 3 “Into the Heart of the Bible” and “Something from the Margin of My Bible”
On her video lesson this week, Leah overviewed one of the most confusing parts of the Bible for many people: the period of the Divided Kingdom. To watch the lesson, click here or watch below. On the “margin” podcast, Adam shared a very short note about Exodus 20:2. To listen, click here.
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Jesus Saves
While traveling down the interstate in southern Illinois recently I noticed a small yellow sign along the road. Had I been driving, I would have missed it, but I was the passenger in the front seat. It was a tiny sign, given the size of most signs along the highway, and it was up in some trees that were rather large. Its message was the title of this post. Now, you may be thinking that I’m going to write something about the beauty of that message (and it is a beautiful message). Any mention of Jesus and His ability to save us from our sins is a beautiful message. However,…
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12 Lessons from the Book of Job
This winter, I was fortunate enough to be asked to teach a survey of the book of Job to our main adult class at West Side. This book is one of the richest collections of wisdom poetry in the history of the world, and its insights into the nature of divine justice and deliverance exceed all others. As usual, I feel an immense sense of gratitude for the lessons I have learned through teaching through this book as well as discussing it with others in the process. There are many more than 12 valuable lessons about God that I have learned and relearned through teaching this class. That said, I’d…
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Bible School Excuses
A few weeks ago at Central, I preached a sermon on parenting. In part of the sermon, I mentioned that parents miss out on a powerful blessing when they do not “take the help” that Bible school provides. After all, parents who are striving to instill God’s Word into the hearts of their children should be utterly grateful for those kind and good teachers who provide instruction to their children. After mentioning that, I gave some excuses that I have heard over the years as to why parents do not bring their kids to class. I mentioned four in the sermon, but I want to list five commonly-heard ones here.…
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Week of February 17 “Something from the Margin of My Bible”
Leah is taking a couple of weeks off from her video series to help deal with some family issues. She’ll be back very, very soon. On the “margin” podcast this week, Adam shared a very helpful outline from Mark Posey for Nehemiah chapter 1. To listen or subscribe, click here.