Tag: people

  • sword

    Did Jesus Come to Bring Peace or a Sword?

    The section of scripture with which we are concerned falls within the sundry warnings that Jesus is giving to his disciples regarding the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  Jesus words to them are basically this.  Don't expect that you will receive a warm welcome out of the unfaithful.  When you preach the gospel, people are going to become your enemies.  In this sense, Jesus' came to bring a sword.  The warning of Micah describing the unfaithful holds true here.  Even among families, there will be division.  This is the typical response of the unfaithful.

  • What is love?

    Christian Graces – Love

    To add agape love to our lives we must 1) Know and Believe Jesus, 2) Understand the Proper Place of Self, 3) See Others as God Sees Them. The listener should be able to understand how all the Christian Graces work together to promote agape love through Christ Jesus. This lesson is designed to show how the Christian Graces culminate in love and relate to Jesus and His life.

  • Lying

    Lying to the Holy Spirit

    In this lesson we will look at the first internal problem for the church and how it was handled. We will then draw some practical lessons from the text. Each hearer should learn that God is always watching what we do and knows our motives, thoughts, and actions. We cannot get away with sinning against God.

  • What is the First Resurrection? What is the Thousand Year Reign?

    This means that the saints that reign with Christ for 1000 years are people who have been come into the likeness of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ; these are the saved. It is the saved that reign with Christ for 1000 years. Consider what Peter says in 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

  • love of christ

    The Love of Christ Controls Me

    The love of Christ controls me 1) To treat people with dignity and respect, 2) To be a living sacrifice by humbling myself, and 3) To overcome the ambition of selfish desires. The hearer will learn how the love of Christ controls the life of the Christian to act in a respectful, humble, and selfless way.

  • persecution

    God’s Word Helps Me to Endure Persecution

    In this part of Psalm 119, we will see that God’s word helps me to endure persecution. God 1) hears my request for relief, 2) sees the relentlessness of the wicked, and 3) provides respite when I yield to His word. Each listener should take comfort in knowing that God hears, sees, and provides when His people are persecuted.

  • The Destructive Consequences of Pride

    In this lesson we will study 1 Corinthians 4 and learn that pride causes us to: 1) Be judges over God’s stewards, 2) Go beyond what is written, 3) Serve self instead of God, and 4) Not imitate the spiritual. The listener should learn that pride is a deadly enemy of God’s people and responsible for much division in the church. This lesson is designed to help us learn more about 1 Corinthians 4.

  • Get Ready for Our Gospel Meeting!

    The goal of this and all our efforts is to participate in God’s eternal purpose of building up His church (Ephesians 3:11)! God wants as many people to go to heaven as can possibly go, but He has left us responsible for taking the gospel to others (Matthew 28:18-20).

  • baptism

    Essential Ingredients to Effective Evangelism

    In this lesson, we will discuss the conversion of the three thousand in Acts chapter 2 and the essential ingredients to effective evangelism. This includes 1) The Presence of the Holy Spirit, 2) People of the Dispersion, 3) Prophets of the Old Testament, 4) Preachers of the Gospel, 5) Penitent of Heart, 6) Persistent in Faithfulness. The hearer should be familiar with the events in Acts 2 and the principles of evangelism as related to this conversion account. The aim of this lesson is to help the hearer understand more about the principles of evangelism taught in Acts 2.

  • Give Yourself to God’s Kingdom

    Because the kingdom of God is God’s people, we need to be busy serving God’s people. In my studies, I ran across Proverbs 18:1. The English Standard Version translates it like this: “Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.” Because the kingdom of God is people, we are not to isolate ourselves but be part of the citizenry of the kingdom by participating in its activities. We value God’s kingdom—Christians—by giving ourselves away to others!

  • arrested

    Arrested for Preaching the Resurrection

    In this lesson, we will study Acts 4. The apostles were arrested for preaching the resurrection. How did they handle this? We will note: 1) The Situation of the Arrest, 2) The Steadfastness of the Apostles, 3) The Sentence of the Sanhedrim, 4) The Supplication of the Saints. The hearer will be able to understand how the early church dealt with the problem of preaching the gospel in the face of opposition. We want to know how the early church handled problems so that we can imitate their faith.

  • Christian Graces – Brotherly Kindness

    A Christian who displays brotherly kindness is going to be 1) Gracious and Giving, 2) Challenging and Truthful, and 3) Affectionate and Loving. The hearer should understand what it means to love someone as a brother or sister in Christ by displaying the characteristics of brotherly kindness. The aim of this lesson is to familiarize the hearer with scriptures that discuss these qualities.

  • The Nature of Biblical Edification (Part 1)

    However, when I looked into an English dictionary, I found the following definition. “Edify: enlighten, to improve the morals or knowledge of somebody.” Another dictionary said this. “Edify: to instruct or improve spiritually.” Does this surprise you? Do you think of being instructed as edification? Do you think of gaining new knowledge when you are edified?

  • What Does It Mean to Quench the Spirit?

    When you quench a fire, you put out the fire. When you quench your thirst, your thirst goes away. The word “spirit” here could refer to the Holy Spirit, or one’s own personal spirit. Either way, spirit is the source of all things spiritual. So the basic meaning of the command is not to put out the source of all things spiritual.