It was because they knew him. Maybe better said they were used to him. They had seen him grow up. They knew his brother and sisters. His father had done carpentry work for them. He was too ordinary to be something so special. Familiarity breeds contempt.
Psalm 16 is a message about the Messiah and His 1) Fellowship, 2) Faithfulness, and 3) Future. Each hearer should understand the significance of David’s prophecy as related to the Messiah and as fulfilled by Jesus. The student will note that God has fulfilled His promises and prophecies about the Messiah.
Jesus’ teaching on judging is 1) Do Not Judge, 2) Judging Creates More Judging, 3) Why Do We Judge? 4) How Should We Judge? Each hearer should understand that Jesus does not want us to judge so as to write off other people, but to bring people to the message of the gospel. God wants people to be saved, and judging prevents that from happening.
Why do some feel as if God has become stale? Is it God or something else? When people think that they have nothing left to learn, nothing to change in their lives, no more relationships to pursue, and nothing left to give, God becomes stale to them. This is not God’s fault, but theirs. It is a fundamental failure to practice the attitude of repentance.
Three little Killdeer chicks were motionless on the ground trying to blend into the pebbles surrounding them. By the end of the day, all three were up and walking and finding something to eat in the grass adjacent to the lot. Nesting in a parking lot did not seem like such a bright idea, but it was successful due to the benevolence of the parking lot’s owners – the New Boston church of Christ.
We will note three lessons from Elijah's life: 1) God provides for the faithful, 2) God confirms His words with actions, and 3) God's Power for Man's Salvation is in His Words Each should be able to discuss 1 Kings 17, 18, and 19 in reference to the life of Elijah the prophet and to bring out New Testament principles from Old Testament stories.
In order to have self-control in our lives we must realize 1) What is out of control – our desires, 2) Who is in control – God, 3) How we have self-control – Jesus and the spirit, and 4) Why we need self-control – to fulfill God’s purposes. God wants us to practice self-control in our lives so that we will not be dominated by our own sinful desires and so that we will fulfill His great purposes for our lives.
We must not be satisfied with the status quo. We must always try to improve who we are in Christ. God wants us to conform to the identity of His Son, Jesus (Romans 8:29). Jesus is the model. Paul wrote, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).
Jesus had a task to accomplish while on earth. In John 6:38-40, Jesus said: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” Getting married (to an earthly woman) was not part of the task that the Father gave Jesus, and that is why Jesus never married.
Are the gospel, the word, and the good news the same? Gospel means good news: Christ's death, burial, and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). The word can mean more.
The Bride is blessed with: 1) The source of salvation. 2) The substance of salvation. 3) The selflessness of salvation. 4) The state of salvation. Each person should be able to discuss the meaning of Ephesians 2:8-10 with supporting scriptures. To educate the brethren regarding Ephesians 2:8-10 so that they can discuss it with others.
This time reminds us that life in the fast lane isn’t necessarily what it’s advertised to be. Sometimes, it’s best to slow down, think about our lives soberly, and focus on what is important, and wherever we go and whatever we do, loving God and loving our neighbor is the priority (Matthew 22:38-40).
Abraham had a faith that trusted in God more than 1) Himself, 2) His Family, 3) His “Morality,” 4) God’s Promise. Each person will understand Abraham’s faith and emulate it. Each person should come to trust in God and obey Him even when it “doesn’t make sense” to do so.
Pain, however, is an opportunity for God’s grace to shine. God wants us to depend on Him to get through life, not our own good feelings about things. When the Lord told Paul, “My grace is sufficient,” He wanted Paul to let His power work presently in his life. Pain can be very distracting, but the Lord’s power is greater: peace, contentment, joy, truth, faith, virtue, hope, love—thinking on these things helps us to overcome all of life’s challenges.
Will God forgive rebellious Christians? He will, if they repent and turn back to Him. In Acts 8, Philip went to Samaria and preached the gospel to many people. Simon was among those who were baptized, but he was also a very greedy person. When Peter and John came to Samaria, Simon saw that they were giving people the ability to do miracles. Simon wanted to buy this ability and sell it so that he could make money.
God’s grace is effective for all sins as the Christian regularly repents and confesses his sins, but what about someone who rebels against God? Will grace cover that person’s sins? The book of Hebrews covers this topic. Some Jewish Christians renounced Christianity and turned back to Judaism. The book was written to encourage Christians to stay faithful and warn what would happen if they abandoned Christianity.
God, through His Son, paid for the sins of mankind by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. It would have been unjust to force someone else to pay for these sins, but since God Himself was the one who paid for the sins, it satisfied the cause of justice. Hebrews 10:12 states, "But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God." Peter declared that it was the blood of Christ that redeemed us from sin and death (1 Peter 1:18, 19).
No. This passage of scripture instructs priests about what to do when a man suspects his wife of cheating on her, and she says that she is innocent. The gist is that a man suspects his wife of cheating on him. He takes her to the priest. She offers a sacrifice of barley meal. The priest takes some holy water and mixes it with dust from the floor of the tabernacle. This is a harmless concoction that does nothing to human physiology. The mixing of the dust with the holy water represents impurity. It was not some kind of “morning after pill.”
The Righteousness of Faith Hears Christ’s Word because 1) Self Righteousness does not Submit to God, 2) Faith Comes from Hearing the Word of Christ, and 3) Those Who Do Not Hear are Disobedient. Each person will understand that God’s righteousness may only be found through hearing/obeying Christ’s word. Each person should come to understand that hearing Christ’s word means obeying it.
In the previous article, we concluded that the Christian may so sin as to fall from grace, but many Christians struggle with sin and want to be assured of their salvation. They wonder whether a person is constantly falling out of and getting back into God’s grace. They want to know whether committing a sin will instantly cause them to lose salvation, or does God’s grace apply in such cases?