Wayne's Blog

Pastor Chuck

2012-01-21T23:45:00.001-06:00

The following was taken from the Morris Daily Hearld on Jan 20, 2012.
Chuck was my pastor from May of 1999 till June of 2005. I loved his sermons, they were so down to earth and easy to understand.

Christian Church minister Dr. Chuck Richardson told his congregation last Sunday that if there is one key scripture for which they should remember him, it would be Ephesians 4:11-16.

The passage tells of God’s wishes for the church and how important it is people become strong enough to withstand being “blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men.”

It also speaks of how members of the church can work together as one unit, building itself up as each part does its work.

No one can say Richardson hasn’t done his share of building his church up. At the end of this month, he will retire after almost 40 years as minister of the Morris church. As its leader and preacher, he has led the growth of the church from a small, 4,000-square-foot building on Southmor Road to a 43,000-square-foot facility with a gymnasium and a weekday preschool.

Since he arrived in 1972, those who attend Sunday morning services increased from 50 to around 800; annual tithing offerings rose from $12,000 to $1.2 million; and the church has six paid staff members, up from just the one 40 years ago.

“My vision was to grow it to 300 in attendance,” Richardson said of his early goals. “For the first 20 years, we never had a year that we didn’t have growth.”

He acknowledges how uncommon it is for a minister to remain at the same church for so many years. He doesn’t know many who have. But he made a pledge to God when he first arrived that he has felt he has honored.

“I made a commitment to God to stay as long as he was blessing the church and as long as the church was growing,” Richardson said. “Recently, he has helped me recognize when I had done as much as I could do and when it was time to move on. . . I could have stayed, but that’s not the deal I had with God.”

He made that decision to retire a couple of years ago. Ten days later, he had a heart attack.

“It was almost like a confirmation,” he said.

His congregation understood, but if it were up to them, they would not have let him go so easily.

Founding church member Marge Southcombe said it was God who brought Richardson to lead the church and that it couldn’t have worked out better.

“He has always been a good preacher and a good minister,” Southcombe said. “He and Janice (his wife) are real nice people. They have been real good for the church.”

Dick and Shirley McCrite have been members of the church since before the Richardsons arrived.

“He is very genuine,” Dick said, “and if he has something he wants to say, he steps up and tells his congregation.”

“Whether we want to hear it or not,” Shirley added with a laugh. “His style has changed a great deal from the beginning. At first, it was very much scriptures and notes and all right on cue. Today, it’s still all about scripture, but his sermons are more personable. He’s able to share stories relating to what he is preaching about. . . but number one has always been his love for the Lord. It isn’t just a Sunday morning job for him.”

Dick said Richardson’s favorite place to be was at the pulpit or visiting members. Richardson also made trips to Papua, New Guinea, to help build a home for two of the church’s missionaries and to New Orleans after the hurricane and to other missions. Richardson has also guided the church with a steady financial hand, members said.

“Chuck has a very complete set of competencies and skills,” said member and finance team leader Dave Bonomo, “and that’s what impressed me so much early on, especially in the area of being very analytical and complete and precise with church finances. . . He’s made sure we’ve always been ahead of the game. We’re going to miss him terribly. I truly believe God has blessed our church because of Chuck.”

Janice Richardson is also retiring from her position as teacher at Rainbow Preschool at First Christian Church, although she is staying until May. Members acknowledge it’s true teamwork with the two, with Janice beginning the children’s programs years ago, leading Bible studies, teaching Sunday School, and a lot more.

“(Chuck’s) ministry has been a partnership with Janice,” said church member and friend Nancy Gaffney, “and that is part of the reason for their success here in building the church. They both do so much behind the scenes that people don’t even know about. . . They are both very humble and live the Christian life in all walks.”

The Richardsons both grew up in Centralia, Ill., and both got degrees in ministry from Lincoln Christian College. They married in 1968. Chuck Richardson said he knew the Lord was calling him to ministry from an experience he had at a high school summer camp. He began preaching at small churches his freshman year in college.

“I think it was a little early for me to do it,” he said with a laugh, “and I wouldn’t recommend it, but it was a good match.”

Richardson had originally thought he would go into youth ministry, but after his experiences behind the pulpit, he soon realized his real passion was preaching.

After getting his master’s degree from Lincoln and working a few years at smaller churches downstate, he interviewed with members of the First Christian Church in Morris for the position of minister, but he thought the interview had gone badly and that the church wasn’t interested in him.

But surprisingly, an organization he belonged to that led ministers to new churches in the Chicago area assigned him to the Morris church.

“They surprised me,” he said of the notice. “I thought I would be called to Valparaiso. . . They told me First Christian Church was interested in me.”

Richardson said his goal was to start out in a small church with growth potential.

“I saw in this leadership a potential for growth,” he said. “They had been without a minister for ten months, and they had built their first building without a minister.”

Richardson said his two favorite parts of his job the last 40 years have been the preaching and the pastoral care, or visiting members at their homes, hospitals, or nursing homes.

“This is the part I have loved the most and I have missed the most,” he said of pastoral care. “The larger a church gets, the less time you have for that, and the more the needs focus on staff. I don’t think I’m as gifted at the staff-leading aspect of ministry, and I’ve recognized that in the past few years.”

Richardson said he has always felt that preaching was his number one responsibility, and he always tried to “inform and inspire.”

“The Bible is extremely practical,” he said. “The books of the Bible were written to teach us about life. As long as I’m focused there with my sermons, I know it will meet needs.”

That’s why he always begins each sermon with a Bible passage and uses various other ones throughout. He sprinkles in anecdotes and personal stories, but is sure never to make them the subject of the morning.

“I make sure I’m just preaching what the Bible is teaching,” he said.

FCC member Glenn Harms said Richardson’s sermons have meant a lot to him and other members throughout the years.

“Chuck equips those who hear him with the ability to go to the scriptures to know how to deal with every situation,” Harms said. “He just calmly provides us with guidance from the Bible to deal with the challenges of life, and he has been consistent with that. . . His delivery is calm and solid and prepares us to leave the church ready to live that faith.”

Richardson also has been sure to avoid politics in his sermons.

“I’ve tried to stay away from political positions,” he said, “and let people decide that for themselves. . . I think it can get us sidetracked, and that’s not my responsibility.”

Richardson said he always works on a sermon until he finds an angle that sparks his enthusiasm or a new application to scripture that he hadn’t thought of before. His perspectives on scripture have changed over the years from his personal walk and from his ministry.

He has worked especially hard on his last few sermons, trying to get as much in as he can before he leaves. Sermons the past two Sundays have focused on understanding of individual purposes in life and of the purpose of the church. An especially important point, he said, is taught through the parable of the talents.

“God has always been displeased with the status quo,” Richardson said. “That is a parable that is important to me. . . Maintaining the status quo is totally unacceptable.”

Richardson said that has become part of the DNA of First Christian, to continue to grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men, just like Christ did, and he believes the membership and leadership in the church is strong enough to continue to do just that.

“I think the best years of our growth are still ahead,” he said of FCC. “If God could grow us as much as he has done already, what could he do now? I think the future is really bright for the church.”

Richardson said he and his wife plan to do some traveling in their retirement, then he hopes eventually to return to part-time pastoral care.

“We’re not planning to move,” he said in answer to the concerns of his members.

“My wish for their retirement is that they would stay here in Morris,” Marge Southcombe said, reflecting the hopes of many. “I would like for them to stay. I really would. Chuck and Janice, they’re just special, and that’s all there is to it.”

The Bible

2011-12-06T17:01:00.001-06:00

These are my notes from a sermon I head a few years ago at Crosswind Community Church in Genoa, IL by Pastor Jim Freund. This was one of those sermons you take notes on and you always remember it and look back on often.

The Bible

Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

1. It's God's word to us.

2. It's reliable (trustworthy, dependable, certain, unfailing, true.)

3. It's relevant. What makes it relevant? God never changes and mankind's need is still the same, among other things.

4. It helps us distinguish truth from error. It is the measuring stick by which we are to evaluate all things.

5. It equips us for living for God. (2 Timothy 3:17)

6. It has the power to change lives. (Isaiah 55:10-11)

7. God commands us to bind it in our minds and in our hearts. (John 8:31-32, Joshua 1:8, Acts 20:32, Mathew 4:4, Romans 15:4, John 6:63) (Look at the results.)

Psalm 19:7-10

8. It is the food for the Spirit and Soul. (1 Peter 2:2-3, Isaiah 55:2-3)

9. It is powerful to save. (Romans 1:16, 1 John 5:13)

10. It is a Mirror. (James 1:23-24)

11. It is the discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)

12. It is a seed, generative and life-giving. (1 Peter 1:23)

13. It is water, the power to purify. (Ephesians 5:26, Psalm 119:9, 1 Peter 1:22)

14. It is a lamp that illuminates and guides us. (Psalm 119:105)

15. It is a consuming fire. (Jeremiah 20:9, Luke 24:13-35)

16. It is a hammer to break the hardest heart. (Jeremiah 23:39)

17. It is a healing agent. (Psalm 107:20)

18. It is a sword, a weapon against the devil. (Ephesians 6:18)

19. It is a source of faith. (Romans 10:17)

20. It is a life giving source. (John 6:68, John 20:30-31)

Joshua

2011-11-03T16:32:00.002-05:00

I am attempting to read through the bible. Specifically the Old Testament to better understand the New Testament. I read Joshua back in January 2011. Here are the verses that stood out to me as I read it.

Joshua 1:6-9
Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.
“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 4:20-24
And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. He said to the Israelites, “In the future when your descendants ask their parents, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them, ‘Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.’ For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan what he had done to the Red Sea[b] when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God.”

What are our Spiritual Markers in our life today?

Joshua 5:15
The commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Joshua 6:10
But Joshua had commanded the army, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!”

Joshua 6:19
All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury.”

Joshua 7:1
But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the LORD’s anger burned against Israel.

Achan:
1. Coveted- saw something that was not his, wanted it.
2. Took it- stole it.
3. Hide- He hide it in his tent.
How many times do we hide our sin/try to cover it up. God has given us a simple uncomplicated way for us to deal with our sin. We must acknowledge it, confess it, and repent of it. 1 John 1:9
Sin will destroy us. We must allow Jesus to cleanse us.

Joshua 7:5
At this the hearts of the people melted in fear and became like water.

Joshua 7:12-13
That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.

Joshua 8:30-34
Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the LORD, the God of Israel, as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses—an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron tool had been used. On it they offered to the LORD burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings. There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of Moses. All the Israelites, with their elders, officials and judges, were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the LORD, facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Both the foreigners living among them and the native-born were there. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the LORD had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel.
Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law—the blessings and the curses—just as it is written in the Book of the Law.

How many bible verses do you know? How many songs/lyrics do you have memorized? We struggle to read a chapter of the bible and journal our thoughts. Here Joshua copied the book of the law and then read it out loud.

Joshua 9:14
The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the LORD.

Every decision big or small we need to "inquire" of the LORD.

Joshua 10:25
Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Be strong and courageous.

Joshua 10:42
All these kings and their lands Joshua conquered in one campaign, because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel.

Isn't it cool that God fights for us.

Joshua 14:8
I, however, followed the LORD my God wholeheartedly.

What things prevent us from following the LORD wholeheartedly?
There are no giants or walled cities that GOD can't conqure.

Joshua 15:13-16
So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has given you?

Joshua 18:3
So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has given you?

Man up. How long will it take you to "MAN-UP to your responsibilities. Don't just sit back and expect to be served. Serve the LORD and MAN-UP.

Judges 22:5
But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Colossians

2011-07-25T14:35:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving and Prayer

1:9 “fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”
1:10 “Live a life worthy of the Lord”

The Supremacy of Christ

1:17 “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.”

Paul's Labor for the Church

2:4 “I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine sounding arguments.”

Freedom From Human Regulations Through Life with Christ

2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”

Rules For Holy Living

3:5 “Put to death, therefore whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
3:9-10 “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with it's practice's and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of it's creator.”
3:13 “....forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
3:17 “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Rules for Christian Households

3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord not for men.”

Further Instructions

4:2 “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”
4:6 “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Final Greetings

4:12 “Wrestling in prayer, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.”

Colossians 1:9-14

2011-07-18T08:42:00.001-05:00

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened in all power according to his glorious might so you might have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:9-14)

Application and Prayer

1. Fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding

2. Live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way

3. Bearing fruit in every good work

4. Growing in the knowledge of God

5. Being strengthened in all power according to his glorious might so you might have great endurance and patience

6. Joyfully giving thanks to the Father

Notice in verse 12 it says, “giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you”. It does not say we will be qualified or when we qualify, it says, “the Father, who has qualified you”.

Look in verse 13 it says, “For He has rescued us”. It doesn’t say when we are rescued or we will be rescued, it says, “He has rescued us”.

Lastly look at verse 14 it says, “we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” We are talking about Jesus. “Kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”.

My Story part 2

2011-07-07T10:11:00.002-05:00

Please read the first part of "My Story". Here is a link to it http://wayneski1.blogspot.com/2008/03/my-story.html

Every story has a beginning, middle, and an end. It amazes me that we only see the beginning and middle, only God knows the end. After 5 1/2 years at Crosswind Community Church, God put it on our hearts to move on and attend another church. I sensed His voice over a year ago and just laid it on the alter of prayer until His timing. Our main reason for leaving was 1. the long drive, 2. we wanted to be in a small group bible study in the Dekalb area and 3. we were really not connected to anyone at Crosswind other than a few people because of the distance. Don't missunderstand me Crosswind is a great church and the pastor is a true "Warrior" that I would go into battle with him anyday of the week. I was involved in a Men's group and we became a "Band of Brothers". I would recommend it to anyone looking for a church who lived in that area.

We narrowed it down to 4 churches.
(I hesitate to name the churches we visited because my impressions may be different than someone elses seeking to find a church and I don't want to talk bad about God's church. I have learned, and I posted in a previous post, that if you ever find a "perfect church don't join it because you might mess it up.")
One of the four was a church plant that never got off the ground called Connect Church. I meet with the pastor one day and everything sounded great but in the end they could not find a place to meet and worship. So the second church, the first church we actually visited, was a great church. We were welcomed and after meeting with the pastor I was encouraged and happy with what I saw in this church. It seemed like it had everything we wanted in a church.

The next church we went to I was really excited about going to. I was impressed with their website and I heard nothing but great things, however it turned into a sad experience. We got there a few minutes before service started and as service was starting we took Madison to the nursery only to find the nursery worker was not there. We went into the worship center and the service was good and the sermon was bible based but nobody noticed that we were visitors and nobody talked to us or welcomed us. I would have to say we will not go back to that church again.

The 4th church is the one we are attending now, Harvest Bible Chapel. Wow is all I can say about it. It seems like God has his hand in everything we see and are apart of at Harvest. Harvest Bible has everything we wanted in a church from small groups to a actual Sunday School class for Madison. I believe that we as Christians are saved to serve not saved to sit. I am praying for an oppurtunity to serve in some way at Harvest. We are not joining this church right away. We are still checking it out and seeing if it as a fit for our family.

Like I have said in another blog post, I have learned a few things in my Christian walk and being apart of different churches.

1. If you ever find the "perfect church", don't join it you might mess it up.

2. Embrace your church heritage, be proud of it.

3. Do one job in the church and give 100% at that one job. Don't do anymore jobs because you can't give a full 100% at those jobs and manage a family too. One or the other suffers.

4. Don't look down on another Christian because they don't go to the same kind of church you do, or that, that church down the road believes a little differently than your church. We are all part of the body of Christ if we have Jesus as our Savior. Baptist, Methodist, 1st Christian, ect, ect.

5. We all should have one thing in common and that is Jesus. Isn't that enough.

The Cross

2011-03-10T20:55:00.000-06:00

I like driving around to different towns and looking at churches. Almost every church has a cross or a cornerstone somewhere on the outside of it's building.

In the church I was a member of one we had a cross behind the pulpit. If we were to measure the distance from the cross to the wall on the left it would be the same distance as the wall on the right to the cross.

This cross if you looked closely was made out of stained glass. The cross that Jesus died on was stained with His blood. Jesus died on that cross so that we could spend eternity with Him.

And if we go outside no matter where you stand on the church property, from the far corner of the parking lot by Wee Worship to the far corner of the field, or any of the entrances if you look to the church you will see the cross on the roof.

It it so important that we as Christians keep the events of the cross in the center of our christian walk, our lives. The fact that God so loved the world that he gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

Brand Names or Crosses?

2009-10-22T05:26:00.002-05:00

I heard this message this morning on the radio. I thought you all might enjoy.

Date: 10-21-09 Day: Wednesday Air Time: 6:08 am

Feature Title: “Brand Names or Crosses?”

More Info: jrkerr@parkcommunitychurch.org and www.parkcommunitychurch.org

Church brands overwhelm the Cross…

Recently I was flying into a city I am in quite often. It was one of those ridiculous days of flying where I left my home at some point in between morning and evening. As the entered my last flight for the day, I was honestly just happy to be on the plane, as I had to fight for a seat amongst a host of other lost souls in the airport. The only seat left on the plane was a window seat. Now as a rule, I am not a window person. The thought of being locked into a 12 inch space for a number of hours is about the last thing on earth that sounds fun to me. But in this case I was glad to take my seat and gaze out the window in hopes that the flight would be quick and there would be no need to get up. As I was gazing out of the window upon our entry into the last city I would be in for the day I was gazing out of the window looking at the landscape and then was literally struck sideways by what I saw next. It was the largest building for miles around and on the top of this building in letters that could most likely be seen from space was the name of a church. It was in fact, the churches brand on top of its building for the entire world to see.
I am not a member at this church and I do not really know anyone at this church, so I want you to know before you read my thoughts that none of this is personal. This church may be the most intimate place on earth where the Gospel is preached in all it’s glory and people lives are transformed. In fact, I pray that this is the case. But the audacity of this brand on top of this church building sent me into some deep thoughts (at least for me) regarding the church in our western experience today.
This vision of letters on buildings raised a question for me…”When did brands/names of churches replace the cross on church buildings?” This question led me to another question…”What do people experience more readily in our churches today our brands or the cross?” Essentially what I was asking is, “Who is getting credit/attention from the church today…human beings or Jesus?
These are not easy questions, but I think they matter and matter deeply. As I thought long and hard about this tension it occurred to me that one of the shifts that has taken place in our culture over the past number of years is that churches have become increasingly convinced that we must engage in the business practice of communications and brand management. Brands here are not logos…they are the primary message of the church. More specifically, they are your primary niche in the marketplace of other churches out there. I am sure that there a number of things that are good about this, like helping people to know what to expect when they walk into the doors of the church or helping to overcome their fear of the church and simply come closer to experiencing Jesus.
But can I ask a question…is this what is really happening as we elevate our brands into this marketplace of churches in the world today? Who is really getting attention as we elevate our brands before we elevate the cross? What would happen if people did not know the name of your church or even your tagline? What if people simply knew that that building in their neighborhood was filled with people who lived different, who loved when they were supposed to hate and gave when they were supposed to protect. What if our brand was non-existent and in turn the cross of Jesus was lifted high?
May I encourage a self-assessment is in order? When people think of your church what do they more readily think of…the cross or your brand? Which is more powerful…which is more lasting? I say lets trash our brands and get to littering the landscape of our country with the cross…perhaps they should not go back up on our buildings…but they certainly belong on the landscape of our lives.
These are my opinions, and for Moody Radio, this is JR Kerr.

The Old Rugged Cross

2009-09-23T15:45:00.002-05:00

What does Communion or the Lord's Supper mean to you? What do you think about as the trays are being passed?
When I read the bible I try to place myself in the passage. It says in Matthew 26:30 that they sang a hymn, I wonder what it was. What was it like sitting around the table with Jesus? Or in the boat when He calmed the sea? What was it like when Jesus was crucified? There is an old hymn that I really like called "The Old Rugged Cross"

On a hill far away, stood an old rugged cross. The emblem of suffering and shame. And I love that old cross where the dearest and best For a world of lost sinners was slain.

So I cherish the old rugged cross, Till my trophies at last I lay down. I will cling to the old rugged cross. And exchange it some day for a crown.

On that old rugged cross so despised by the world, Has a wonderous attraction for me. For the dear Lamb of God left his glory above. To bear it to dark Calvery.

In the old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine, A wonderous beauty I see. For 'twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died. To pardon and santify me.

To the old rugged cross I will ever be true, It's shame and reproach gladly bear. Then He'll call me someday to my home far away. Where his glory forever I'll share.

(George Bennard 1913)

What do you think about when the trays are being passed. I think about "The Old Rugged Cross".

Now I Belong to Jesus

2009-07-06T20:55:00.002-05:00

Baptism and Communion are two very important sacraments of the church. We can't have one without the other. They both would mean nothing if Jesus had not died on the cross for our sins. At my old church we sang a song after every Baptism called “Now I belong to Jesus”.
In my private devotional time I like to look at and read old hymns. Believe it or not “Now I belong to Jesus” is a hymn. So for our communiom meditation I would like read the rest of the song.

1. Jesus, my Lord, will love me forever, From Him no pow'r of evil can sever, He gave his life to ransom my soul, Now I belong to Him.

Now I belong to Jesus, Jesus belongs to me, Not for the years of time alone, but for eternity.

2. Once I was lost in sin's degradation, Jesus came down to bring me salvation, Lifted me up from sorrow and shame, Now I belong to Him.

Now I belong to Jesus, Jesus belongs to me, Not for the years of time alone, but for eternity.

3. Joy floods my soul, for Jesus has saved me, Freed me from sin that long enslaved me, His precious blood he gave to redeem, Now I belong to Him.

Now I belong to Jesus, Jesus belongs to me, Not for the years of time alone, but for eternity.

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

2008-12-18T09:51:00.002-06:00

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of you faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth.

O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit did instruct the hearts of the faithfull, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy your consolations. Through Christ or Lord.
Amen.

The Stoneing

2008-12-16T23:39:00.003-06:00

(I did not write this but I had it a few years and thought I should post this.)

"Whore!" "Adulterer!" "Stone Her! Stone Her!"

The cries and shouts rang in Leah's ears as she stumbled up the dusty path,
the small crowd swelling behind her like a thirsting herd of cattle rushing
toward the smell of water.

Oh, if only they would rush over her now, crush her to death, save her from
further shame.

The Priests had already torn her tunic when their ruffians had taken her
before them last night, as custom dictated. Leah recalled now her face had
burned with humiliation as they had stood around her shouting their pious
condemnations. Then they had thrown her into a dark room where she shivered
in fear, listening to the muffled voices as men came and went outside.

Why they hadn't taken her out and stoned her then, before the Roman guards
made their rounds? They still did it occasionally, when it suited them, even
though the Romans forbade it. That is, unless it suited their own purposes.
Years ago she saw a stoning. The invisible hand of fear gripped around her
heart as she recalled the contorted face of the writhing victim.

And now, before dawn, they had dragged her out of her temporary prison.
Amongst the shouting and cursing she had overheard something about a plan, a
use for her. At the temple, they said, and something to do with one of those
itinerant preachers they hated so much. And laughter, some kind of joke
about someone losing no matter his choice. And more laughter.

'Oh please God, let them kill me now. I know I sinned against you, but not
this humiliation too.' Leah stumbled, falling to the hard ground. Someone
grabbed her by the arms, jerking her upright and pushed her roughly in the
back, recommencing the bizarre procession past the markets just filling with
people in the early morning, and up towards the temple.

"Harlot! Harlot! Harlot! ….." The cries now formed into a rhythmic chant
around her. 'No!' her mind cried out. 'I'm not a harlot; we loved each
other.' But it was no use now.

Where was he? When those men rushed in and tore them apart she had cried out
for him. Had they already stoned him? Surely not, after all he was one of
them, at least his father was. He would be too one day, he said. And she did
love him so. And he said he loved her too. She had felt so good, so loved,
laying there in his arms. So good after everything else that had been
happening these past years. The images flashed through her mind as she
stumbled, hardly hearing the baying crowd any more, the taunts from women
standing on the roadside now echoing distantly as the events of the past
year rushed through her mind.

Images of the divorce came flooding into her mind, when Jathniel had thrown
her out, accusing her of flirting with her cousin. Her own cousin? The man
she had grown up with? Her friend? How could Jathniel have thought such
things of them? No, it was an excuse she had realized soon after. So he
could marry that woman; but no, it didn't matter now.

She remembered the shame she felt when she was cast out of the house with
nothing. She wanted to die that day, but not now. And the days of disgrace
and humiliation as she tried to survive on her own, not able to see her
beautiful sons. Leah's family had refused to take her in, believing those
awful things Jathniel told them. And trying to bake bread and sell it in the
market to provide a small income to survive. But no-one would go near her,
let alone buy from her.

Her mind skipped to that day when Nathan stopped in the back alley and spoke
to her. That was her salvation. Oh yes, kind words he used. 'Did she need a
room to stay in, a little money for a new tunic?' His gentle touch that
first night he visited her in her rented room. She almost felt like a
prostitute, told him so. But he was so reassuring, said he loved her, would
look after her, it would be their secret. Life seemed to be better, at least
a little, even though his visits were always at night, and she couldn't tell
anyone about him.

And then last night, when the ruffians burst in, it was all over, and Nathan
was gone. 'Oh Nathan, where are you. If only we had run away together.' But
she knew that would never have been. He was training to be a lawyer, one of
them. Was he dead, or had they let him go back to his ordinary life. She had
heard that they protected each other, the lawyers. Surely not Nathan though,
he said he loved her.

The small crowd was now hustling her up the wide stairway that led through
those huge wall and into the Court of the Gentiles. She saw the Roman guards
watching intently. But no, there was no hope there. 'Oh Lord, hide me from
this shame!' her heart cried out.

Lahad was enjoying the prospect of the moment. When those fools, Caiaphas
and Annas had been wringing their hands at the last council meeting over
this stupid prophet, only Lahad had the courage to offer to come up with a
plan. Already the crowds were saying that this Jesus had the approval of the
Council. 'That's what comes from inaction.' He thought, smugly to himself.
'Well, now was the time for action, and the man who could eliminate this
heretic would certainly earn credit in both Herod's eyes and even Pilate's.
Yes, both were useful allies even if they were abominations.'

Trapping this stupid preacher on a point of the law would be simple, he
mused, as his lackeys shoved and prodded the pathetic figure along towards
the temple. After all, he was an uneducated Galilean. Lahad had encountered
them before; boorish and loud, but they crumbled when challenged and tested
by a skilled lawyer every time. Hadn't spent any time studying the Torah or
Halakah, the fools. Not like himself, an expert in all the law. Why, he was
the only man he knew amongst the scribes, or any of the Pharisees, that was
able to recite so many entire scrolls by heart. And he had just finished
memorizing the book of Job. The entire book. That would impress his
followers, and show up Caiaphas for the ignorant pretender he was.

Simple, he thought; but his plan was beautiful too. Just showing up this
Galilean on some simple point was not enough. No, everyone would soon forget
that. It was time to totally discredit him, with something dramatic, right
in front of his mob of filthy followers. Lahad sneered at the thought of the
last time he saw them, all clamoring around that Jesus, the fools. Tax
collectors, fishermen, women. How flagrant, he thought, women sitting at the
feet of a preacher. Never would he waste his time like that. Better uses for
them, like this pathetic creature, stumbling and whining and loping along
like a whipped dog.

He grinned to himself as he approached the steps leading up to the court of
the Gentiles. His spies had already told him that Jesus had gone to the
temple earlier, before dawn. If only he knew, the poor fool, what lay in
front of him; the terrible choice that he was to be confronted with. 'Well,
let him choose.' thought Lahad, smiling grimly.

Jesus could play safe and choose to defer to the Romans. But he would not do
that. No, not in front of this idealistic rabble, always dreaming of freedom
and their precious new kingdom. He'd lose all his followers that way. That's
why the mob hated the Pharisees. The fools didn't understand the need to
work with the Romans, get their stamp of approval in matters such as this.

He could choose to let her go. That would be good too, Lahad thought. If he
chose this response it would just take a little longer to corner him. But
siding with such flagrant sin would open up a huge hole in this preachers
armour. Before long Lahad would be making this fool defend even murderers.
Yes he could round one of them up easily too.

No, he would have to choose the law to save face with the crowds. The law
was clear in these matters. No room for interpretation. That's what the
common Jew longed for, a return to the old ways, when Israel was a real
nation. Ha, with the agitators he had planted in Jesus own crowd egging him
on he would be seen as instigating an insurrection; and then; and then his
men would alert Pilate's guards and have this Jesus arrested on the spot.

Pilate didn't take kindly to the Jews taking the law into their own hands,
especially capital offences. He had already and often demonstrated his
eagerness to enforce his will. Lahad shuddered as he recalled the torture
and crucifixions he had already seen. That's why it pays to work with them.
Yes, his spies had already alerted the Centurion on guard in the temple of
his plan. No point taking chances on some misunderstanding with the Roman
guards.

They reached the outer porch. "Thomas," he barked to his assistant, "get
them to settle down. We must look dignified. Remember what I said. Get your
ruffian friends to go now and sit amongst his disciples, ready to start
their whispering if this Galilean chooses to free her, and to stir up a
protest if he chooses otherwise. They know what to do don't they?

"Oh, yes, master. They know well what to do." Thomas turned to his men. "Go
now, sit amongst his followers and be quiet until you see my signal."

Sixteen men, the hirelings Thomas had enlisted, skulked off, disappearing
into the crowds. That left the twenty of them, all Pharisees and masters of
the law. Thomas looked up at Lahad. He was old now, tall, lean and leathery
of skin; the wisest and most learned of the Pharisee sect by Thomas's
judgment. And wily too, like a fox. Yes, a good choice for a mentor for
Thomas if he wanted to get ahead.

They checked their robes and phylacteries carefully. The woman whimpered,
cringing against the wall of the hallway they had stopped in. "Shut up you
whore. You'll get what you deserve soon enough." Lahad spat the words at
her.

"Come on. We'll see what this preacher is made of. And let's solve Caiaphas'
little problem for him." Lahad led the entourage out into the sunlit court
of the Gentiles, already filled with people, most of them grouped around
various teachers, listening and learning. Lahad's demeanor soured as he saw
that there was one crowd that was far bigger than any other. 'Yes, this
would be Jesus, making a name for himself certainly.' He thought grimly.
'Well, no more.'

"Come on men, get her out in front. Now my dear is your time of usefulness."

Jesus' followers were already mostly seated. But those in the way parted
swiftly as the procession approached. Twenty Pharisees, ornately dressed,
heads high; and one lone woman, filthy from dust and many tears, desperately
but vainly trying to hide her shame. The crowd murmured and then hushed as
the Pharisees stopped in front of the teacher, who was already sitting down,
ready for his lesson to them. They knew what she was purely by the
circumstance, an adulterer, probably a whore. But why were the Pharisees
bringing her here, to the master?

Thomas pushed her forward till she was standing right in front of Jesus. In
her utter shame she cried, sobbed again, her tears plopping on the ground in
front of this man, this teacher, who, despite the sudden commotion, did not
even look up, seemed yet not to have noticed either her or the Pharisees.

Suddenly his head moved back. He looked up, straight into her eyes. Her
heart leaped. She couldn't identify the feeling at first, but, hope, yes
at last she felt hope. These eyes were kind and gentle, but his gaze was
strong and steady, as though he were peering deep inside her. A glimmer of
hope flashed through her. Perhaps he could save her. He arose slowly and
looking away from her now surveyed the group of Pharisees, pausing at each
to scrutinize, again seeming as though he could see deep inside each of
them.

"Teacher," Thomas called out, breaking the short silence. He was proud that
Lahad had entrusted him to speak first, to issue the challenge. It was good
planning to let the senior scribe wait, come in at the appropriate time and
settle matters. Anyway, this was Thomas's chance to show Lahad his worth.

"Teacher," he was purposefully solicitous, but measured, ensuring that
everyone present could hear, ('get him off guard if you can,' Lahad said)
"this woman was caught in the very act of adultery." He paused, the
onlookers already knew that from her appearance of course but it didn't hurt
to let them look her over again, allow the disdain and revulsion to grow.

"In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women." He paused again for
effect, pleased at the steadiness in his voice. Yes, Lahad had trained him
well.

"Now, what do you say?"

The preacher looked at the woman briefly then down at the ground, then
slowly bent down as if to resume his lesson. Thomas was shocked at first,
confused if only for a moment. The insolent fool was going back to his
lesson to the crowd, ignoring the challenge totally.

Jesus began to write in the dirt, a habit of many preachers, writing the
first verse of their scripture down and then commencing their discourse from
there on. Thomas's momentary panic was quickly replaced with glee though as
he looked over at Lahad and saw his grin. 'Yes we've got him all right. He
is trying to worm his way out without a word.'

Lahad motioned with his eyes to several of the other Pharisees.

"Yes what do you say?" one added

"Will you speak against Moses?" "Interpret the law for us, teacher!" A small
chorus rose from the Pharisees.

Still he remained seated, continuing to write out his scripture for the now
murmuring crowd.

Lahad had waited long enough. "Tell us teacher, is Moses to be obeyed, or
the Romans?" he called out in his stentorian voice, silencing all murmurs.
All eyes were now on Lahad. 'Yes,' he thought 'now he's lost control. I've
got him where I want him.'

The teacher looked up, directly at him. Lahad shuddered, as though a chill
had suddenly descended. The man looked at him not with malice as he
expected, nor fear as he hoped. No, the expression reminded him of the way
his father would look at him so many years ago, when he was a boy. A look of
knowing, knowing that he had done wrong today, but of loving him all the
same. 'What right does he have to look at me like… No.' he curtly told
himself, refocusing on the task at hand.

Jesus rose, his eyes steadily fixed on Lahad. "If any one of you is without
sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." And then, incredibly, he
bent down, continuing to write his passage.

Leah let out a sharp cry. Only the words 'stone her' sank in at first. Now
she was dead, she knew; her heart sinking in an instant.

All hope was gone. 'Oh let it be quick, Lord. I'm so sorry, just let it be
quick.'

Through her tears though, she looked up as she realized that all was still
silent. Why weren't they carting her away? She had been condemned. What was
wrong with them?

Every eye was looking at Lahad. Except for the teacher, writing in the dirt.
But the crowd, the Pharisees, all looking at the venerable scribe. The
Pharisees glancing furtively at each other in between their pleading looks
to their leader for direction as moment by moment passed silently.

Lahad's face revealed only the slightest tremor as he weighed the
significance of the statement still ringing in his ears. His mind screamed
out, 'No, you're not supposed to debate like that. She's the issue we're
arguing. Not ME you fool…. No, he was no fool, this Galilean. We've
miscalculated.'

'What now?' His mind raced; he could feel his pulse throbbing in his head,
feel the eyes of the crowd. He quickly scanned left and right, seeing his
compatriots looking to him, pleading for direction. Uncertain they were of
what was transpiring in this silent exchange but willing to cart her off and
cast a stone if only he would lead.

'Idiots,' his mind screamed at them, 'can't you see we've miscalculated,
bringing this wretch here. He's turned our own argument on us.'

He lowered his eyes. 'Must think, fast.' But all he could see were the
stones laying on the ground, challenging him to stoop down and pick one of
them up. 'Without sin. Without sin.' The Scriptures raced through his mind.
All that memorizing, all that training, brought them rushing to his minds
eye. David's cry in the Proverbs 'Who can say, "I have kept my heart pure; I
am clean and without sin"?' He knew, an adulterer. And Job's futile cry to
God "I am pure and without sin;" He could see too God's fury with Job as his
mind rushed through the scroll and his voice answering like a mighty wind.
"Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace
yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me."

'I will question you. I will question you. What to do? What to do?' His mind
swirled.

He looked up. The woman had stopped her crying now and was staring at him
too. And this damnable teacher was now stooped down, scribbling in the dirt
again, leaving him to answer, to choose.

The silence of the crowd echoed in his ears against the challenge of God to
Job, 'I will question you. I will question you.'

Lowering his eyes at last, he turned without a word, and in silence walked
slowly away from the paralyzing scene. "I will question you.' The words rang
in his ears. 'Could he really be? Might he be the one …'

He did not see as Thomas, eyes now full of fear and confusion, hesitated,
and then, pulling his cloak around him tightly, scurried after him.

One by one they retreated. The most senior first, departing each in turn
down to the most junior, in strict accord with their rank in their private
pecking order, as each in turn realized that he could not take on the mantle
declined by his superior.

Leah stood silently, alone with her confusion except for this preacher now
standing before her. His followers remained seated and silent throughout the
exchange, still not understanding what had just taken place.

Jesus turned towards her and looked into her eyes with that same gentle,
enigmatic expression.

"Woman," his words were clear and firm, but soft on her ears, "where are
they? Has no one condemned you?"

She looked around her, not comprehending what had just transpired. But there
was not one of her accusers left. "No one, sir," she said. Tears flowed
freely now, but tears of hope and relief.

"Then neither do I condemn you," he raised his voice now so all could hear
clearly. "Go now, and leave your life of sin." In an instant she knew that
somehow it was possible; possible to at last be free of this terrible
condemnation she had been living with.

Pulling her torn tunic up over her shoulders she walked haltingly towards
the rear of the crowd, and finding a bare patch of pavement, sat, waiting
for her savior to start his lesson.

We are as this woman was...caught, guilty and condemned; but by God's grace
we are now free. Let us go and sin no more. Amen.

Lonely Strings

2008-11-14T22:05:00.003-06:00

In Memory of Mandy , Ryan, and Katilyn who were killed in an auto accident caused by a drunk driver.
Mandy played Violin at my old church.

Lonely Strings
by Neal Sanborn

A tree was born and died for me
Its precious limbs were trimmed
That I might make a melody
In hands designed by Him

Where are those hands that held me tight
and tucked me neath her chin
My lonely strings are silent now
When will I sing again

A perfect fit, those hands - my neck
We made folks smile and cry
Our beauty touched their heart and soul
And now they wonder - why?

Though lonely strings weep silent here
And hearts break with the sting
We know in heaven’s choir above
Three new voices sing

And somewhere in that distant home
Those hands pick up the bow
She plays for Jesus face to face
His tender eyes aglow

Our Lord was born and died for us
His limbs nailed to a tree
That we might play a melody
And one day His eyes see

The Word You can Believe, John 1:1-18

2008-10-28T18:28:00.003-05:00

To believe in Jesus as the Word of God is to know God personally and truly.

How can I know God? For some people, the main issue is whether God exists at all. Across the centuries philosophers and theologians have offered arguments or “proofs” for the existance of God. Many people today, however, are more puzzeled by God. The issue for these people is “gods” not God. In this pluralistic context, how can we know God personally and truly.

Our situation today is increasing similar to the situation faced by Christians in the first century. Those early Christians declared the good news about Jesus to a world familiar with many philosophies and religions. Todays news media continues to make us aware of the presence of religous groups other than Christian Churches.

Our lesson today will remind us that God's supreme revelation of Himself is through His Son, Jesus. To believe in Jesus is to know God personally and truly.

1. What is the earliest memory of life?
2. What is the oldest fact of my family history that I know?
3. What is the oldest fact about the history of the world that I know?

God in the Beginning
Compare John 1:1-2 with Genesis 1:1.
Jesus was present in creation so He makes possible a new creation.

4. How has Jesus made you a new creation?

The Creator's Signature
John 1:3
Who created the world? Christians contend that God created the world. Futhermore, John reminded us that God the Son, the Word, was involved in the creation of the universe. Jesus was the devine agent of creation. John's primary concern in the opening of his gospel was with the “Who” not the “how”.

Life Light

John 1:4-5

(make two columns darkness and the other light)
List the types of darkness. (spirtual darkness)
List the types of light.

5. How can darkenss be transformed with light?
The transforming of spiritual darkness but knowing God through faith in Jesus.

Family Rights
John 1 10-13
Jesus was neither recognized nor recieved by His own. In fact, He was rejected. (read vs. 10 -11)

6. Recall a time when you were rejected and how did it make you feel?

No matter what kind of rejection we have encountered, Jesus will accept anyone who believes in Him. (read vs. 12-13)
Jesus gives us the right to bo members of God's family to thoes who believe in Him. Joining God's family involves more than recognizing the name, “Christ” it involves believing in Him as Lord.

Peter's Confession of Christ

2008-09-29T09:00:00.004-05:00

Mark 8:27-38
Peter's Confession of Christ

Jesus Predicts His Death

Mark 8:27-30
(write on board; make two columns, list the responses that Peter and the disciples gave for Jesus' identity. )
“Costly Because of Who Jesus Is”

Then
1. John the Baptist
2. Elijah
3. one of the Prophets
4. Christ the Son of the Living God
Now
1.
2.
(Explaine the reason for Jesus' warning not to confess His identity publicly. Jesus anticipated a time when His followers would confess Him publicly and boldly throughout the world.)

Mark 13:9-10, Matthew 28:19, Luke 24:46-48

Jesus prohibited the disciples from publicizing His identity. He warned them not to tell anyone about Him. Peter had not understood fully what the Messiah would do, and his publicizing Jesus' messiahship could lead only to misunderstanding. Popular misconceptions of messiahship could lead to public error and confusion. Jesus wanted His followers to understand that His messiahship would demand their commitment. They needed time to prepare for such a commitment. (Mark 8:34-35,38)

Mark 8:31-33
“Jesus said His followers must realize that the One they follow leads them to new life only after they, like Him, first go to the cross and die.”
Jesus is talking in a spiritual way in that we take our sins to Jesus on the cross where we die to our old nature and are born again with a new nature.
New Testament Christianity stands in conflict with today's society. Those who identify with and stand up for Christ should be prepared to suffer backlash, persecution, and even martyrdom.
1) Think of ways that Christianity stands in conflict with today's society.
Mark 8:34-38
“take up your cross and follow me”Taking up the cross and following Jesus is a voluntary decision. Suffering in not bearing a burden or taking what life dishes out, it is enduring hardships that could have been avoided if only one did not choose to follow Christ.
2) Brainstorm examples of Christians denying self.
(http://www.jesusfreak.net/)
3) Think of things that people say of do, or don't say or do, that might make Jesus feel they were ashamed of Him. (Being Jesus' disciple involves being willing to give up everything dear in life, and even life itself, for Jesus sake.)

Spiritual Disciplines for Denying Self and Taking Up your Cross and Following Jesus

1. Living in the word.

2. Praying in faith.

3. Fellowshipping with believers

4. Witnessing to the world

How can we nurture or grow these disciplines and how can they help us: deny self, take up our cross and follow Jesus.

Summing up Mark 8:27-38

1. Jesus is God's Son, the Messiah.

2. We must proclaim to others that Jesus is God's Son who is worthy of our obedience and commitment.

3. God'd plan for Jesus involved His death, burial, and resurrection.

4. We who follow Jesus must be prepared to identify with Him in obedience even though so means the possibility of death and the certainty of self denial.

5. The practice of self-denial involves a death to self (Gal. 2:20) and the determination to make obeying Jesus life's premier goal.

6. No benefit is valuable enough to trade for eternal life.

7. People who follow Jesus in commitment will share in His glory in the end time.

Conclusion:

Paul stated: “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” 2 Tim. 3:12. Jesus called us to be His faithful followers and to obey Him, whatever to consequences. In many parts of the world obedience to Jesus leads to torture, arrest, imprisonment, and even death.

In America Jesus calls us to give up our lives for His sake. We must determine that obeying Him is more important that wealth, prestige, popularity, and security. Following Jesus is costly because of the high cost of God's plan of salvation. The expensive sacrifice of God's Son for our sins demands that we follow Jesus absolutely. Following Jesus is also costly because He demands absolute allegiance. He wants no halfhearted disciples. He repeatedly asks that we give our lives to Him.

Madison Nicole Mansfield

2008-08-31T09:18:00.005-05:00

Madison Nicole Mansfield

8lbs-6oz

19 inches

8-25-08

On August 25th Shannon and I became parents. I was overwelmed with joy. God has truly blessed us with her. From the moment I saw her on the table in the hospital life has taken on a whole new meaning. Now the struggles of life now, no longer matter. At excatly 7:45 am on Monday August 25th Madison came into our life, she was always with us in Shannon's tummy. It has been awesome to watch her grow in Shannon's tummy and now to see her and hold her. She has truly stolen our heart.

What Price am I willing to pay in following Jesus

2008-08-19T20:42:00.003-05:00

Today's lesson we are going to talk about the Rich Young Ruler who allowed his possessions and self-trust to become more important that following Jesus.
Mark 10:17-21
(Make two columns, column 1 what key words or phrases that indicate on earthly focus in the man's life, column 2 what words or phrases indicate the spiritual focus in the man's life.)
“Pay the Price”
1) “Earthly”
a. focus on human power
b. salvation through works
c. discipleship=keeping the commandments
d. Jesus is a good teacher
2) “Spiritual” (There is none, the man was looking for salvation through an earthly means.)

1. Do you think all followers of Jesus must give away all their possessions? Why or why not?
Discipleship means following Jesus with total commitment.

Jesus told the young man, “Go sell everything you have.” Jesus was not calling the young man to poverty but to discipleship. Discipleship takes many forms. It does involve sacrifice and obedience, and Jesus was making those demands. Jesus probably asked the young man to give away his possessions because He was demanding repentance and saw that this was an area in which the young man had a spiritual problem. We should evaluate carefully and honestly whether we are allowing anything to compromise our commitment to Jesus.

2. What would you do if Jesus told you to give up your most prized possession?
Mark 10:22-25

3. What are some of the good things that the rich young man likely did since he said that he followed the commandments?

4. Would a person like this who visited this class or our church be considered an evangelistic prospect or would you assume this person was a christian because of the way he or she acted?

We need to be very careful in assuming an other's spiritual condition. We as Christians have to let God be the judge of that based on what they do with His son Jesus.

Read the following passages emphasizing the word “power”
Matthew 28:28 KJV
John 13:3
Romans 4:211
Corinthinans 2:3-5
Ephesians 1:19
Ephesians 3:20

Listen for the focus of power in the lives of Jesus' followers.
Mark 10:26-27

Allowing God to empower you will help develop spiritual thinking instead of secular thinking.

Mark 10:28-31
Peter and Mark left everything to follow Jesus. Discipleship does have its rewards, now and in the life to come. These rewards may be material but are often spiritual.

Are you hungry

2008-08-14T22:07:00.003-05:00

Are You Hungry?

Growing up in Coal City I had two best friends, who happened to be twin brothers, Kevin and Jason. Whenever we got together we were like the Three Stooges. We went to church together, went camping, fishing, played sports, we even got into trouble together. Even though we live in separate cities now, Jason in Plainfield and Kevin in Indianapolis, when we got together in a few years ago for their 30th Bday and when we get together for mine in April, we still acted like the Three Stooges. But there was a “Fourth Stooge”who acted right along with us, their father Al. He really made an impact on my life spiritually. Now Al passed away in May of 1999 with cancer. Every time I went over to their house Al always asked me, “Wayne are you hungry, do you want anything to eat?”

Three questions to think about:

1. Did you get enough?
2. Would you like some more?
3. Are you full?

I think Jesus is asking us these same questions. In Matthew 15:29-38 it gives the account of the feeding of the four thousand. As we observe the Lord's Supper ask yourself these questions again. Are you hungry? Did you get enough? Would you like some more? There is plenty of God's saving Grace to go around. Are you full? Are you being filled?

Men's Campout

2008-08-05T15:00:00.003-05:00

The Cross -vs- The Electric Chair

2008-08-05T14:55:00.001-05:00

Lord's SupperCross -vs- Electric Chair
Philippians 2:8
How many people here tonight are wearing crosses. Think about it for a few minutes. Crosses are very attractive as jewelry. I believe that a gold or silver cross does not project an accurate image of its Christian symbol. Crosses fashioned by craftsman, by jewelers can be stunning to behold.
The cross of Calvary was anything but beautiful. In twenty centuries since the crucifixion, this symbol of suffering and sacrifice has been recast into an object of adornment.
Imagine, if technology had permitted Pilate to use electrocution; and he sentenced Jesus to die in the electric chair. Would we wear little tiny electric chairs on our wrists, around our necks, and in our ears? Would we hang thirty foot replicas of these high voltage killers above our alters?
We wouldn't. We would not because we know the horror associated with this instrument of death. We have glamorized the rough sawed wood on which Jesus gave His life on.
The cross that we are to remember is not one of polished gold created by a jewelry designer. It's value is made precious not by the hands of humans but by the blood of Christ.

Duct Tape and Super Glue

2008-07-31T18:13:00.004-05:00

In every toolbox there needs to be a roll of duct tape and super glue. Think about it, you could fix just about anything with a roll of duct tape and super glue.

There is one thing that we can't fix, no matter how much duct tape or super glue we use. We can't fix our sin, only God can do that. God sent His son to die on a cross for our sins. He fixed it so we could get to heaven. In John 3:16 says that "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." As we take the Lord's Supper we remember what Jesus did on the cross. He fixed it so we could get to heaven.

Matthew 26:26-29

Links:

1. 101 Uses for Duct Tape: http://thezac.com/ducttape/

2. What makes Super Glue so Super: http://science.howstuffworks.com/question695.htm

Peter's Confession of Christ

2008-07-26T20:59:00.001-05:00

Mark 8:27-38
Peter's Confession of Christ
Jesus Predicts His Death

Mark 8:27-30
List the responses that Peter and the disciples gave for Jesus' identity.
1. John the Baptist
2. Elijah
3. one of the Prophets
4. Christ the Son of the Living God
Explaine the reason for Jesus' warning not to confess His identity publicly.
Jesus anticipated a time when His followers would confess Him publicly and boldly throughout the world.
Mark 13:9-10, Matthew 28:19, Luke 24:46-48
Jesus prohibited the disciples from publicizing His identity. He warned them not to tell anyone about Him. Peter had not understood fully what the Messiah would do, and his publicizing Jesus' messiahship could lead only to misunderstanding. Popular misconceptions of messiahship could lead to public error and confusion. Jesus wanted His followers to understand that His messiahship would demand their commitment. They needed time to prepare for such a commitment. (Mark 8:34-35,38)

Mark 8:31-33
“Jesus said His followers must realize that the One they follow leads them to new life only after they, like Him, first go to the cross and die.”Jesus is talking in a spiritual way in that we take our sins to Jesus on the cross where we die to our old nature and are born again with a new nature. New Testament Christianity stands in conflict with today's society. Those who identify with and stand up for Christ should be prepared to suffer backlash, persecution, and even martyrdom.

Think of ways that Christianity stands in conflict with today's society.
Mark 8:34-38 “take up your cross and follow me”
1) Taking up the cross and following Jesus is a voluntary decision. Suffering in not bearing a burden or taking what life dishes out, it is enduring hardships that could have been avoided if only one did not choose to follow Christ.
2) Brainstorm examples of Christians denying self. (Jesus Freak, DC Talk)
3) Think of things that people say of do, or don't say or do, that might make Jesus feel they were ashamed of Him. (Being Jesus' disciple involves being willing to give up everything dear in life, and even life itself, for Jesus sake.)

Spiritual Disciplines for Denying Self and Taking Up your Cross and Following Jesus
1. Living in the word.
2. Praying in faith.
3. Fellowshipping with believers
4. Witnessing to the world
How can we nurture or grow these disciplines and how can they help us: deny self, take up our cross and follow Jesus.
Summing up Mark 8:27-38
1. Jesus is God's Son, the Messiah.
2. We must proclaim to others that Jesus is God's Son who is worthy of our obedience and commitment.
3. God'd plan for Jesus involved His death, burial, and resurrection.
4. We who follow Jesus must be prepared to identify with Him in obedience even though so means the possibility of death and the certainty of self denial.
5. The practice of self-denial involves a death to self (Gal. 2:20) and the determination to make obeying Jesus life's premier goal.
6. No benefit is valuable enough to trade for eternal life.
7. People who follow Jesus in commitment will share in His glory in the end time.

Conclusion:
Paul stated: “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” 2 Tim. 3:12. Jesus called us to be His faithful followers and to obey Him, whatever to consequences. In many parts of the world obedience to Jesus leads to torture, arrest, imprisonment, and even death. In America Jesus calls us to give up our lives for His sake. We must determine that obeying Him is more important that wealth, prestige, popularity, and security. Following Jesus is costly because of the high cost of God's plan of salvation. The expensive sacrifice of God's Son for our sins demands that we follow Jesus absolutely. Following Jesus is also costly because He demands absolute allegiance. He wants no halfhearted disciples. He repeatedly asks that we give our lives to Him.

Additional resourses:
1. http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/index.php?action=getCommentaryText&cid=3&source=1&seq=i.49.9.1

2. http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/index.php?action=getCommentaryText&cid=1&source=1&seq=i.47.16.4

The Resurrection, Matthew 28

2008-07-23T07:02:00.002-05:00

Matthew 28:1-6
1. Why was the stone rolled away?
It was rolled away to show that Jesus was not inside. Tha angel did not have to roll it away so Jesus could get out. The angel revealed to all present that the tomb was empty, he explained why, and gave instuuctions for Jesus' disciples.
2. How would have you reacted to the Angel's message?

Matthew 28:7-10
Listen to what Jesus did or said to them:
a. Confirmed His resurrection. (He appeared to them)
b. Calmed the woman's fears. (He told them not to be afraid)
c. Called His disciples by a new name. (Brothers)
d. Commissioned the women. (They were to testify to His resurrection and carry His commands to His disciples.)

3. Why did no one believe that Jesus had risen before receiving a clear message either from an angel or Jesus Himself?

4. How can we recapture the sense of amazement, joy, and urgency the women felt when they heard the good news of Jesus' resurrection?

5. How do we translate that sense into sharing th good news with the lost?

6. WORSHIP
When the women met Jesus they grapsed His feet in an act of worship.
a. How had their worship changed?
(They now recognized Him as deserving the worship belonging to God alone)
b. How does our worship need to change?
c. How can we cling to the Lord?

Matthew 28:16-20
Imagine that you are a disciple to whom Jesus appeared soon after His resurrection. He gave you some instructions. Someone walks up and asks some questions about this Jesus. He heard about Jesus' ministry as well as His resurrection. This person wants to ask some questions about you mission.

1. When you met with Jesus in Galilee, what did He tell you about His authority? Where did He get such authority?
2. What specific instructions did Jesus make?
3. What does making disciples mean?
4. What does Baptize literally mean?
5. What are you as disciples supposed to teach?
6. What promice did Jesus make to you?
7. How can He be with you always?

Baptize
What does Baptize mean?
What does it signify?
1. Baptize means to immerse in water.
2. Christians are baptized to affirm repentance and acceptance of Christ.
3. After the resurrection, baptism took on a fuller meaning, it became a symbol of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
4. Baptism unites and identifies new believers with other christians.

Conclusion
Jesus' death shocked and confused the disciples despite the fact that He had warned them it was coming. The empty tomb amazed and encouraged most of the disciples but left some doubting and unsure (John 20:3-9, 24-25). The ultimate proof was the appearance of the resurrected Lord Himself. The reality of the resurrection transformed the anguish of death and loss into a glorious celebration of life and hope.

On Easter we celebrate the good news of Jesus' victory over sin and death. We celebrate also because by faith in Him we can share His victory. As we celebrate new life in Christ, we must remember the command Christ gave us. He told His disciples to carry the good news to all people, making and training disciples. As we obey His command, we also can celebrate his promiseto us. He is with us today. He will never desert us. One day we will see Him in person just as He is (1 John 3:1-3).

Last Week, Matthew 27:1-31

2008-07-19T00:02:00.003-05:00

Matthew 27:1-31

Rome often governed its provinces by appointing a client-king. Herod the Great ruled Palestine in this capacity. Client-kings raised their own armies. They collected taxes. They ruled as a strong arm of Rome. At the same time client-kings had a close identity with the people of the province they governed. They often were native to the region they ruled. They knew it's customs, it's religions, it's languages. Because they were both loyal to Rome and at the same time knowledgeable about and influential in their own homeland, client-kings were often Rome's best tool for ruling a conquered people.
If no client-king was available, or if a particular province was politically troubled, the Roman senate appointed a governor to rule. When Herod the Great died in 4 B.C., one of his sons, Archelaus, became client-king of Judea, and in A.D. 6 Rome replaced him with a governor. Governor's served limited terms. Pilate was the 5th governor assigned to Judea after Rome removed Archelaus.
The Sanhedren took Jesus to the governor, Pontius Pilate, to secure a death penalty against Him. The Sanhedren probably did not have the authority to execute a prisoner without Roman permission. They were also afraid of public reaction (Matt. 26:3-5). If the Roman governor executed Jesus, the Sanhedren might escape the blame for His death. Perhaps for both of these reasons, the religious leaders sought to pressure Pilate to crucify Jesus. But to secure a death penalty the Sanhedren had to charge Jesus with serious crimes against Rome.

Matthew 27:11-14

Look for the question that Pilate asked Jesus and for the answer that Jesus gave. Pilate's concern was political, not religious. He cared nothing about Jewish laws concerning blasphemy, but he could not allow anyone to call himself a king. He could not allow anyone to start a armed revolt against Rome. He could not allow anyone to interfere with the flow of tax money. If Jesus claimed to be a king in a political sense, then He was a threat to Roman interests. Pilate would have to eliminate the threat.
Pilate tried to release Jesus. He knew the Jewish leaders were trying to manipulate him and make him condemn an innocent man. (vs. 15-18, 20-24)

Matthew 27:15-18

As Governor Pilate job was to enforce Roman law, but he also had to keep the peace. Verse 18 says that Pilate knew that Jesus was innocent and by law should be released. But how could he free an innocent man and at the same time defuse the explosive emotions of the crowd, avoiding a riot? He attempted to do both by offering the crowd a choice.

1) Has anyone ever had to chose to do something you knew was wrong in order to remain in someone else's good will.
2) How did your choice affect your relationship with that person?
3) Did you gain or lose the respect of the other person?
4) Would you make a different decision if you could do it over again?

Just as Pilate gave the people a choice between Jesus and Barabbas, we too must make a similar choice.

5) What alternative choices exist in the world today that may keep us from choosing Christ? (other religions, alternative lifestyles, and secular philosophies)

The people had a choice to make. They rejected the Son of God and freed a political activist of Questionable character. Did they really think Barabbas deserved their sympathy and their support? Did they think their nation needed him more than it needed Jesus?
In many ways, people today must make a similar choice. Our world is full of alternatives to Jesus Christ. Other religions, alternative lifestyles, and secular philosophies abound. Life forces choices on you just like Pilate forced a choice on the crowd. Your life reveals your decision.

Matthew 27:20-23

1. Barabbas: a robber, defiant, lawless
2. High Priest: a hypocrite, a manipulator, a controller, religious, spiritually blind
3. Pilate: weak, insecure, frightened, nervous
4. A person following the crowd: spineless, coward, unprincipled, misled
5. Jesus: loving, forgiving, kind, sinless, innocent

1) When do we share the crowds faults?
2) When do we act like the High Priest?
3) How can we help people who have rejected Him outright to reconsider their decision?
4) Did Pilate have opportunities to make the right decision? (See Matt. 27:20-23, Mark 15:1-15, Luke 23:1-25, John 18:28-19:16)
(Write on Board: Pilate could have made the right decision. record answers on board)
5) What kept Pilate from making the right decision?
6) What keeps adults today from accepting Jesus?

“Reasons People Give For Rejecting Jesus”
1. “I'm too great a sinner, God can't save me.”
2. “There are too many hypocrites in the church”
3. “Religion is a crutch for weak people”
4. “Life would no longer be fun”
5. “Jesus was nothing more than another good man”
6. “I'm afraid I can't keep my commitments”

Matthew 27:24-26
1. Who engineered Jesus' death? (Jewish leaders)
2. Who demanded it? (Crowd)
3. Who permitted it? (Governor)
4. Who carried it out? (Soldiers)

All of these people rejected Jesus in their own way, and all bore the responsibility for their acts.
Think about this to yourself.
Have we as Christians acted irresponsibly during the past week or month?

What is the one question that all people who hear the gospel must ask themselves? (Who do I believe this Jesus is?)

Pilate did not want to judge Jesus. His wife warned him to have nothing to do with Jesus' case, but circumstances left him in charge of it. He tried to shift the responsibility to Herod (Luke 23:6-16), but Herod sent Jesus back. He tried to release Jesus without passing judgment, but the Jews freed Barabbas instead. Pilate had Jesus flogged to gain sympathy from the crowd, but when he had asked the crowd what they wanted him to do, they yelled”Crucify Him”. In th end Pilate had to decide what he would do with Jesus.

The combined testimony of all four gospels reveals that Pilate knew Jesus was innocent. He knew Jesus claimed a special relationship with God. He knew Jesus' kingdom was “not of this world” (John 18:36). But when required to decide what to do about Jesus, Pilate listened to every voice except to voice of truth. Ironically, Pilate didn't't know what the truth was (John18:38) even when the embodiment of truth was standing before him (John 14:6)

We all share Pilate's problem. when confronted by Jesus, we must decide what to do with Him. We cannot shift the responsibility to someone else. Delaying tactics do not work. We each must make our judgment, and then we each must live with its results. What have you decided about Jesus?

This is the most important question ever asked. By ignoring, delaying, or refusing to make a decision, the decision is already made. The answer determines our eternal destiny.

WaynesWorld Woodworking

2008-07-16T13:10:00.006-05:00

Walnut and Oak Lamp stand

Cedar Bowl and Boxes

Last Week, Matthew 26:31-35

2008-07-15T12:40:00.003-05:00

Matthew 26:31-35

1. How well did Peter know his heart?
Jeremiah 17:9
2. Has there been a time that your loyalty to Christ proved to be weaker than you thought it was?

Matthew 26:50-51, 56a
3. How can our desire to be loyal be transformed into a strong unwavering certainty?

Matthew 26:57-58
Peter's commitment level was strong in the upper room, but when he followed from a distance, his commitment level was affected.

John 18:15
The men who arrested Jesus took Him to the former high priest Annas (John 18:12-13). Annas was the father-in-law of the current high priest, Caiaphas. The high priest served as the president of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was a 71 man ruling council of the Jews, and at the time of Jesus it was made up of a Sanhedrin majority and a strong Pharisaic minority. These two religious enemies (the Sadducees and Pharisees joined forces to get rid of Jesus).
The Roman authorities permitted this Jewish high council to govern many of the Jew's affairs, both religious and political. The high priest at this time was appointed by Rome in consultation with the Sanhedrin. Powerful Sadducean families dominated the council. From A.D. 6-67, 16 men from only 5 different influential families served as high priest. Caiaphas was appointed by Rome about A.D. 18 but was removed in A.D. 36 or 37.

4. Imagine yourself in Peter's and the other disciple’s position. What feelings do you think you might have been experiencing in the courtyard?
5. When Christians experience momentary failure in their commitment to follow Jesus, what draws them back to Him?

Matthew 26:69-75
6. Why did Peter deny Jesus? (fear)

The crowing of the rooster caused Peter to see himself as he truly was, and he wept.
7. Do you sidestep talk about religion or your beliefs?
8. Do you change the conversation so that you do not have to mention anything that would set you apart as a Christian?

Conclusion
It is unlikely that any resident of America today would face arrest or death because of his or her commitments to Christ. But all of us in our own ways do share Peter's dilemma. He made a commitment to Jesus and was sure he would true to Him. But pledging loyalty is easier than remaining loyal.
Peter was surprised by his own weakness. Jesus had tried to warn him, but Peter would not listen. His arrogance made his failure doubly bitter. Fortunately, Peter's story does not end with despair. On the threefold denial of Jesus, Peter found loving, restoration by Jesus. (John 21:15-19)
You and I will face opposition to our faith also. We should expect persecution, and it will sometimes be severe. Like Peter, we should determine to remain faithful in it. But we should also remember both our weakness and God's magnificence. For only then will we seek the power of God to sustain us and trust in the grace of God to restore us.

Last Week, Lord's Supper

2008-07-11T09:45:00.005-05:00

Lord's Supper
Why do we do it?

I had the honor and privilege of doing the Communion Meditations while I was a member of a Christian Church. (I have those meditations posted elsewhere on this blog.) I also had the privilege of serving Communion as an usher.
The church I am apart of now observes the Lord's Supper on the first Sunday morning of the month. We observe it a little different from what I was used to at the Christian Church when we observed it weekly or at the Baptist Church where we observed it once a month on a Sunday night. Instead of passing the trays down the aisle, we set up tables scattered throughout the worship center with the elements on them and during the Communion song we get up and go to a table. We can then go off to the side as individuals or as a group to pray and spend time with the Lord. We do this because it takes effort to walk out toward God in Faith. When observing the Lord's Supper we are remembering what God has done for us on the Cross.

Read these key verses on the Lord's Supper:
Matthew 26:26-29
Mark 14:22-25
Luke 22:17-20
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 3

1. Someone tell me why is the Lord's Supper so important?
2. What are the meanings behind the emblems?
Bread- Jesus' body which was broken
Wine/grape juice- Jesus' blood that was shed
3. What does the Lord's Supper mean to you?
4. Is it just another ritual that is done on a Sunday Worship service?
If it is, I challenge you to look into the meaning and reason for observing the Lord's Supper. Take a deep look at what Jesus did for us on the Cross.

Last Week Matthew 26

2008-07-07T20:21:00.003-05:00

I. The Plot against Jesus, Matthew 26:1-5
II. Jesus anointed at Bethany, Matthew 26:6-13

Matthew 26:6-9
Bethany was a small village about 2 miles southeast of the Mount of Olives. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus had their home there. The village was close enough to Jerusalm that Jesus and His disciples would often spend the night in Bethany and walk to Jerusalm the following morning. (Mark 11:1,12).
Bethany was also home to Simon the Leper. We don't know much about him. He is mentioned only here and in the parallel passage in Mark 14:3. In Jesus' day leprosy was a term for a wide range of skin diseases. Some were not contagious others were relatively minor, allowing a person to fully recover. Other's like we call leprosy today were both contagious and deadly. Either type of disease made the ill person unclean. (Lev. 13:3). Leprosy made the leper's whole house unclean as well. The disciples surely would have objected to eating in such a household but no objection is recorded.

1. What might have been Jesus' relationship to Simon? (Jesus possibly had healed him.)

2. What might have prompted Simon to invite Jesus to dinner? (possibly to show appreciation for help)

During dinner a woman approached Jesus. This woman was Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus of Bethany.
I find it interesting that in John 12:1-8 does not mention the house of Simon the Leper but does mention Mary and in Matthew it does not name the woman. Perhaps he felt that her act was more important that her identity.
She carried a very expensive alabaster jar of very expensive perfume.

Alabaster from Egypt was a crystalline form of calcium carbonate. The fine, pure white appearance of such a vessel is consistent with very expensive contents. The perfume in the jar is literally “myrrh”. Myrrh was one of the gifts brought to the baby Jesus by the wise men. (Matthew 2:11). It was valuable, highly aromatic substance used in oils and perfumes. The people of Jesus' day commonly included myrrh as one of the “spices and perfumes” used to prepare a body for burial. (Luke 23:56). The cost of the perfume was equivalent to a years worth of wages. (Mark 4:5).
3. How do we know when extravagant devotion in proper?
4. How do you think the disciples might have felf about the anointing after Jesus was crucified? (The cost of perfume was comparable to the cost of properly anointing a body for burial).

Matthew 26:10-12

Jesus appreciated the woman's great gift and referred to her action as a beautiful thing because:
a. The value of the gift revealed the great value she placed on Jesus. She was expressing her love in a appropriate, sacrificial way.
b. Her thoughtfullness and expression of love prepared Him for the hard times ahead. Her service fit into the unfolding plan of God.
c. It provided an example for the church.

Why did Jesus need special understanding and comforting at this particular time?
a. He was facing His darkest hours. Death was imminent.
b. He knew she was the only one who prepare his body for the grave.
c. He knew the one disciple would betray Him, another deny Him, and all desert Him.

5. How do we show love to people who are facing dark days?
6. What are some areas in your/our own lives that demand great sacrifice? (new building, mission trip, ect.)
7. What is the difference between busy work and genuine service? How do we guard against busywork?
8. Which is more important being devoted to Christ of having factual knowledge of Him? (Jesus commended devotion more than knowledge of Him, which is what the disciples had. Though they had been with Him three years, none had preformed such an act of devotion as this.

Matthew 26:13
9. Why did Jesus choose to honor this woman along with His gospel message? (The woman provided a perfect example for us to follow. What she did was more important tha who she was.) 10. What effect do you think Jesus' comments had on the disciples?
11. What can we do to show our devotion to Christ?
12. How can our devotion or lack of it, affect the lives of believers and unbelievers with whom we come in contact with?

List in the margin of your Spirtual Journal the names of people or a person who inspired you to a greater height of service.
How has that person's actions inspired you to express your love for Jesus?

If I were to die tonight, an appropriate memorial for me would be________________________________________. (How about a living memorial by leading someone to the Lord.)

What occupies most of our time and out thoughts on a day to day basis? Job, school, relationships, spouse, kids, ect. Maybe some of all of these and even more. Common everyday events in our lives can easily detract us from giving attention to the Lord, making it difficult to express our love for Him.
Like the woman in todays lesson, we need to take stock in our priorities in life. She had here priorities right. Spending time with Jesus and expressing our love for Him not only impacts our lives, but it also inspires other believers to express their love for Jesus.

Last Week, Matthew 26-28

2008-07-04T08:37:00.005-05:00

Read Matthew chapter 26-28 and answer or reflect on these questions.

(Questions taken from the Experiencing God Study Bible)

Matthew 26
1. When is extravagance appropriate? (vs. 12)

2. How do you know what God's priority action is for today?
(vs. 9-13)

3. How much are you willing to give God? (vs. 9)

4. What does Christ's death mean to you? (vs. 20-29)

5. The last time you took the Lord's Supper, did you remember the Lord's death? (vs. 17-30)

6. Does something about Jesus and His church make you want to leave Him and his way of life? (vs. 31)

7. What would cause you to deny that you know Jesus? Do you know Him? (vs. 34)

8. What was God's plan for Jesus? How did Jesus react to that plan?

What is God's plan for you? Have you prayed about it? (vs. 39)

9. Are you willing to do whatever God says to you and endure the consequences? (vs. 42)

10. What feeling does the arrest of Jesus raise in your heart? Can you imagine how each person felt? (vs. 48-59)

11. List reasons why Judas and the priests wanted Jesus? What evidence did they have against Jesus? (vs. 59)

12. What testimony do you have about who Jesus is and what he does? (vs. 59)

13. How did the Old Testament prepare you for Jesus' arrest. (vs. 54)

For futher study plese visit this link.
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/index.php?action=getChapterSections&cid=1&source=1&schap=26

Matthew 27
1. Did Jesus deserve death? (vs. 1)

2. Do you treat Jesus better than the religious leaders and Peter did? (vs. 26:66-27:2)

3. Did Peter prove to be the bravest of the disciples by being near the actions? (vs. 26:69-75)

4. Has God warned you of actions you should not take? What is your response? (vs. 26:69-27:9)

5. Can you undo the consequences of your sin on others? (vs. 4)

6. Did God refuse to act while Christ was on trial? (vs. 1-26)

7. In what ways are you involved in condemning Christ to die? (vs. 22-23)

8. Do you try to escape the consequences of decisions you have to make? (vs. 24)

9. Give evidence that Jesus is King of your life. (vs. 29, 37, 40, 42)

10. Does crowd pressure replace God's presence as the chief influence in your decisions? (vs. 20, compare vs. 41-44)

11. Are you saved? Do you know how?

12. What does it mean for you that Jesus felt forsaken by God? Have you ever felt that God has forsaken you? (vs. 46)

13. What is the significance of God tearing open the temple curtain that covered the place where no one could enter to see God? (vs. 51)

14. What is your testimony about Jesus? To whom do you testify? (vs. 54)

15. Why did attempts to seal Jesus' tomb eventually fail? (vs. 61-66)

For futher study plese visit this link.
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/index.php?action=getChapterSections&cid=1&source=1&schap=27

Matthew 28
1. God acted to raise Jesus. What claim does that make on your life? (vs. 1-20)

2. How did the resurrection make adjustments in the disciples' lives? (vs. 7,10)

3. Is your life different because Jesus rose from the dead? How? (vs. 9-20)

4. How do you show Jesus your worship? (vs. 9, 17)

5. Jesus clearly laid out God's mission. Are you clear what your mission is? Are you obedient to the mission? Do you know God's presence? (vs. 18-20)

For futher study please visit this link.
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/index.php?action=getChapterSections&cid=1&source=1&schap=28

Waynes World Woodworking

2008-07-01T12:50:00.011-05:00

Cherry 6 Inch bowl

Maple 8 inch plate and 4 inch dip bowl

Oak and Walnut 6 inch bowl

Cherry Bowl in Lathe

Been busy making wooden bowls the last few days. I have a few choices of wood to choose from: Maple, Oak, Walnut, and Cherry.
8 inch plate $20.00
6 inch plate $15.00
6 inch bowl $25.00 (All bowls are 2 3/4 high unless requested otherwise)
4 inch dip bowl $10.00

All bowls are finished with a food safe finish.

Hand wash. Do not put in dishwasher.

The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats

2008-06-26T20:04:00.003-05:00

The Parable of the Sheep and Goats
Matthew 25:31-46

A homeless man walked into the coffee shop. A waitress who had seen many such walk-ins ignored him. The cashier thought to escort the man away from other customers as inconspicuously as possible. One customer felt the need to give some money to buy the man something to eat. A second customer thought about telling him where the homeless shelter was located. While each of the others thought about what they might do, a third customer smiled as he walked over to the homeless man to say, “Would you join me at my table as my guest?”
Where was Christ in that coffee shop scene? Not likely in the waitress or cashier. How about customer #1? two? three? Possibly. In todays lesson Jesus identified Himself with the one in need, the homeless stranger who walked in off the street hungry. In a very basic and bibical scence, Christ was present in any of the persons who were Christians. Christ lives by His Spirit in all believers.

Tonight think about times you may have encountered Christ in the form of a persons in need. Jesus demands more from His disciples that just a feeling of concern about the needs of the poor and destitute. He demands total action. Action that meets people's needs.

Matthew 25:31-33
(Make three columns on the board; Lable each “Us”, “God”, and “Needs”)
1) In what ways do we categorize or judge people? “Us” column (race, appearance, occupation, social or financial status, education, good vs bad, ect)
Does anybody want to share examples of times when first impressions based on appearances proved to be wrong and why?

1 Samuel 16:7

At the judgement, Jesus will categorize people as a shepherd separates sheep and goats.
2) What factors do you think God will use in making judgements?”God” column.

A. You are buying groceries and a very thin, filthy man steps in line, holding aa batch of green onions, and talks about how nice it must be to have that much food to eat. What do you say or do?
B. A family moves in next door. They don't speak English very well, their funiture is unusual, and strange odors come from their kitchen. How do you react to them?
C. A coworker is arrested and imprisoned. He has a wife and a young child. What do you do for the coworker and his family?

Matthew 25:34-36
In what class of Jewish society would Jesus' family be? (His family was poor and part of the lower class)
If Jesus were the person in the grocery store, or the new neighbor, or the coworker, what would you say or do?
Do we hesitate to become involved in the lives of others? Why?

Needs exist all around us. We can choose to ignore the needs, expect the government to help, or take action ourselves. If Jesus lives in us, we should see the needs with His eyes and heart and take action.
Ephesians 2:10
How significant is it that you or I meet the needs of one person? What are the consequences? (Their needs are met and we are doing what we were created to do, Others will see Christ in us.)

Matthew 25:37-40
Define "the righteous"
Why did Jesus put Himself in the place of the needy people?
Why is it difficult to serve the needy? (so many of them, their needs are so great, government agencies cannot solve their problems)
Who was He refering to when He said, "these brothers of mine"? Many people believe that Jesus was referring to those who were His followers, He set the example of meeting the needs of anyone He met.
What specific needs are their in our church/community? (put in "needs" column)

Matthew 25:41-46
Why do many adults avoid contact with those who most need help?
We as Believers must resist the temptation to see people as insignificant and underserving of ministry.
Why were the people on the left cursed? (not accepting Christ's Salvation)
John 3:18

Conclusion
Many people get confused and think that they can get to heaven buy doing good works or deeds. This is taught nowhere in the bible. Jesus did place a great emphasis in His teachings on the kind of lifestyle that His disciples will manifest, and one aspect of that is compassion and mercy to those in need, especially to other brothers and sisters in Christ. When we reach out to others in this way, we not only please our Savior but in a sense we minister to Him as well.

For futher study please visit this link:
1. The Division of the Sheep and the Goats
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/index.php?action=getCommentaryText&cid=1&source=1&seq=i.47.25.3

Parables, The Day and Hour Unknown, Matthew 24:36-51

2008-06-23T19:17:00.006-05:00

The Day and Hour Unknown

Matthew 24:36-41
1. How often do you think about the return of Jesus?
2. What does Jesus find objectionable about His second coming? (People were preoccupied with their lives that they were unprepared to meet Jesus when He comes.)
3. How can you maintain a healthy anticipation of His return without becoming paralyzed by an obsession with it?

Matthew 24:42-44
How many people here have a security system of any type?
Do you know the exact day and time that that security system will be needed to prevent a person from breaking in.

We need to be constantly ready. Example: fire, emergency crew, a spare tire, childbirth. There are some situations where we need to be prepared in case something happens. Sometimes we forget about it and sometimes we grow impatient waiting on things to happen.
Look at vs.44, although we do not know when Jesus will return, He expects us to live in constant readiness for His return. Failure to do so will have awful consequences.

Matthew 24:45-51
If you knew the exact time of Jesus' return what would you do?
(List on board positive preparations in vs. 45-47)
(List on board negative preparations in vs. 48-51)
What examples of situations today are similar to this parable.
(Explain vs. 51)
To whom was the servant accountable? (the master)
To whom are you accountable? (parents, spouse, boss, teachers)
Who was Jesus talking about in the Parable? (Himself and His children)
What does Jesus' return mean to you and me?
How can we be prepared for His return?
(list on board; Salvation, remaining in right relationship with God, doing things He commands us to do, ect)

Look at the last three weeks. Three weeks ago we studied in Matthew 13, The Parable of the Sower. It dealt with obedience to the commands of Christ. Two weeks ago we looked at Matthew 18, The parable of the Unmerciful Servant, it challenged us to forgive others. and last week we looked at Matthew 21, the Parable of the two sons. And it dealt with real commitment as opposed to only professed belief.

We can prepare for the return of Jesus in the following ways:
1) Be sure you are a Christian
2) Forgive others as Jesus forgave you.
3) Last's weeks lesson challenged you to follow through on commitments made to God. Are you acting in obedience to Christ by doing as He commands?
4) Today's bible study points out that a wicked servant will be punished.
Is there any specific act of disobedience in you life?

Matthew 24:36,42,44
Now is the time to get prepared. Jesus expects us to joyfully anticipate His return, live in readiness, and live in obedience to His commands.

For futher Study and Commentary visit these links:
1. Parables of the Future Kingdom
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/index.php?action=getCommentaryText&cid=1&source=1&seq=i.47.24.6
2. Neither the Day Nor the Hour
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/index.php?action=getCommentaryText&cid=1&source=1&seq=i.47.24.7
3. Christ's Servants Judged
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/index.php?action=getCommentaryText&cid=1&source=1&seq=i.47.24.8

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant

2008-06-16T06:58:00.003-05:00

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
Matthew 18:21-35

Read Matthew 18:15-17, after Jesus spoke these words it sparked a question from Peter.
Matthew 18:21-22
The Rabi's taught that three times was the appropriate number of times to forgive.
Peter was being generous in asking is seven times was enough. Jesus was not giving a specific number of times to be counted, but rather communicating the idea that you don't count the number of times you forgive, you just keep forgiving. Jesus set a higher standard.

Matthew 18:23-25
Look at the symbolism.
1. The King and the servant
2. The value of a talent
3. The significance of selling the servant and his family
4. The debt could not be paid

Bankruptcy:
1) Can't repay large debts
2) May loose everything (possibly your family)

Matthew 18:26-27
How would you feel if you had an enormous debt and someone paid it for you?
Ephesians 4:32
Colossians 3:13
How should a forgiven person act toward other people?
Does this instruction have limits on who and how many times you should pray?

Matthew 18:28-30
Look at the difference between the two debts.
Why would the forgiven servant do such a thing?
a. he had not accepted the forgiveness of the king in his heart as a gift of grace, but rather something deserved.
b. he did not have compassion, but the king did.
c. he did not make the conncetion between the forgiveness he had received and how he should act.
d. he did not change in responce to the forgiveness of his dept.

The main character was stopped by a police officer for making an illegal turn. She was very angry and decided to plead her case in court instead of seeking a cancellation of the ticket based on her celebrity status. The judge was so excited to have her in his court that he declared her gulity but suspended her sentence. She would not accept his offer. She demanded to be declared not gulity based on the evidence she provided. The judge then became angry, so he sentenced her to 40 hours of community service.

Why is it so hard for us to accept someting we don't deserve?

Matthew 18:31-35
How does an forgiving spirit take its toll on a person?
(bitterness, stress-related disease, heart attack, ect.)
Look at verse 35. WE DO NOT GAIN OR EARN GOD'S FORGIVENESS BY FORGIVING OTHERS. FORGIVENESS COMES FROM A HEART THAT HAS BEEN TRANSFORMED BY GOD. AS HIS CHILDREN, WE ARE TO ACT AS HE DOES, WHICH INCLUDES THE PRACTICE OF FORGIVING FROM THE HEART.

Conclusion
Jesus raised the previously held standard of forgiveness from a set number (3 by the rabi, 7 by Peter) to total forgiveness by Jesus. The Parable of the unforgiving servant stresses that forgiven people should be forgiving people. Our motivation to forgive should be God's forgiveness in us.

Think about your relationships, (friends, family, parents, spouse, former spouse, coworkers, ect) identify one person that you need to forgive.

New Testament Teaching on Forgiveness

Matthew 6:15
Mark 11:25
Luke 6:37
Luke 17:3-4
Ephesians 4:23
Colossians 3:13

Commentary links for futher study
1. Discipline and Forgiveness
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/index.php?action=getCommentaryText&cid=1&source=1&seq=i.47.18.6
2. Addressing Stumbling Blocks Seriously
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/index.php?action=getCommentaryText&cid=1&source=1&seq=i.47.18.7
3. Forgiveness
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/index.php?action=getCommentaryText&cid=1&source=1&seq=i.47.18.8

The Parable of the Prodical Son

2008-06-10T19:18:00.004-05:00

The parable of the Lost Son actually tells of two sons, one irresponsible, the other hardworking. One wastes his life and comes home humbled; the other proudly refuses to celebrate his brother's homecoming. The story ends with one son in a joyful family celebration, and his brother outside, bitterly unwilling to forgive. Which son is really lost?
· Luke 15:11-32 The Prodigal Son
1. Why do you think the prodigal son decided to leave home?
a. To grow up
b. To get away from his fathers values
c. He wasn't appreciated at home
d. To try to make it on his own
e. To get away from his older brother
2. What was it that caused the prodigal son to come to his senses?
a. Homesickness
b. Guilt
c. Feeling sorry for himself
d. Feeling sorry for his father
e. Hunger pains
f. Realizing he was stupid
g. He had hit bottom
3. When the son returned, what was the fathers attitude?
a. Come on in, but your grounded
b. You have disgraced the family
c. Wheres the money
d. I don't approve, but your still my son
e. Welcome home son, I love you
4. What was the attitude of the older brother?
a. It's unfair
b. Don't expect me to forgive him
c. No use being good
d. He blew his inheritance, now he's blowing mine
5. Why was the older brother so mad?
6. Was his bad attitude justified? Why?
7. Was his unforgiveness aimed at his father or his brother?
8. The older brother was outside the party. How does unforgiveness keep us outside the party?
9. When you/we are unforgiveing you/we always miss the party?

An Unforgiving Spirit
Luke 17:3-4
So watch yourselves,
"If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, `I repent,' forgive him."

How did Jesus warn us to keep bitterness from growing in our lives? (Keep watch)
In order to kill a weed we have to dig up the root, so in order to kill sin we have to dig it up.
How did Jesus tell us to dig out roots in others? (rebuke)
What do you think is harder- rebuking or forgiving others? Why?
Here are some verses on rebuking a fellow Christian.
Galations 6:1

2 Corinthians 2:5-8

How did Jesus tell us to dig out the roots in ourselves? (forgive)
Here are some verses on forgiving a fellow Christian.
Matthew 6:12-15

Matthew 18:21-22

Do you think Jesus was telling us to forgive and forget? Why or why not?
Do you think forgetting an offence is possible?
We may not have total control of our memories, but we can choose to let a bad memory fade by refuseing to dwell on it. Letting go and forgetting require a daily decision to forgive.
Philippians 3:13-14

We can pray for the one who hurt us and focus on good memories of the past or new plans for the future.
Philippians 4:8

Most importantly, we must leave justice in God's hands and not let revenge control us.
Romans 12:19-21

Hebrews 12:14-15

Ephesians 4:32-5:2
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

How are we to forgive others?
How would you like God to act toward you?
Psalm 103:8-14
Are you willing to grant that kind of leniency to people who have done you wrong?
How can we imitate God?
What did Jesus choose to do to bring us forgiveness? (He died on the cross)
How is forgiveness like dying?

Ancient Building Materials in the Bible

2008-06-02T07:40:00.002-05:00

I can't beleive I found this, 10 years ago I took an Engineering class at Joliet Junior College and had to write a paper. Since I find Biblical engineering interesting I could not pass up this topic. The professor ran out of time in class and never graded it, he offered it as extra credit. I never turned it in.

Ancient Building Materials of Biblical Times

Go back two or three thousand years ago and you will find builders using essentially the same materials as we use today. Of course, without the aid of electric of gasoline powered equipment, they had to manufacture and assemble the materials by hand. But just like modern contractors, they worked with wood, stone, and cement. They even used iron fittings to connect timber and masonry.

Before any foundation was laid there had to be some surveying and layout work to be done. God gave Noah instructions on how to build the Ark, (Genesis 6:14-22) Nehemiah surveyed the walls around Jerusalem. God gave Solomon a detailed blueprint of how He wanted the temple built. (1 Kings 6) God also gave Moses detailed instructions on how the Tabernacle was to be built.

According to geologist, the Hold Land was once at the bottom of the sea. The skeletons and shells of microscopic sea animals sank to the sea floor and were compressed over millions of years, by the collecting sediment, forming white limestone. When the earth’s own turbulence forced this sea floor up and above sea level, it formed mountains of limestone and dolomite. As wind, water, and volcanic action eroded this material, it formed various kinds of soils and exposed rock.

Ancient builders had a variety of different types of materials to choose from. In 1 Kings 15: 15-18 King Solomon had limestone quarried for the temple. “Solomon had seventy thousand carriers and eighty thousand stonecutters in the hills, as well as thirty three hundred foremen who supervised the project and directed the workmen. At the Kings command they removed from the quarry large blocks of quality stone to provide a foundation of dressed stone for the temple. The craftsmen of Solomon and Hiram and the men of Gebal cut and prepared the timber and stone for the building of the temple.”

Limestone was a nearly perfect material for construction in central Palestine. To quarry the stone, the stonecutters drilled several holes into the rock in a straight line and drove wooden pegs into the holes. When soaked with water, these pegs expanded exerting pressure on the stone and splitting it in a rather straight line. Using chisels and other hand tools, the stonecutters then shaped the rough surface of the stone. With levels and measuring strings, they laid out the angles and straight edges of the stone block, which then would be sanded with a rubbing stone.

The stones used in any given area depended on the geology of that area and the ability to quarry it. The Egyptians used sandstone for the bulk of the pyramids, because it was close at hand. In the Mesopotamia valley, the Babylonians were dependent on clay brick. Throughout the Mediterranean world, workers would dig up clay, add straw fibers to increase tensile strength, mix it to the proper consistency, shape it in wooden molds and allow the bricks to dry in the sun. In Exodus 5 Pharaoh ordered his slave drivers and foreman not to give the Israelite slaves straw. Exodus 5:7 says “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks, let them go and gather their own straw.” “Archaeologists digging up settlements from ancient Egypt have unearthed three kinds of sun-dried bricks: some made of good straw, some containing mere roots and bits of straw, and some with no straw.”

Cementing materials date back to when prehistoric man abandoned his cave and started to build shelters. The first obstacle in their way was to fine a material to “chink”, filling in the voids, between the stones to keep the cold out. Clay was used by the Assyrians and the Babylonians. As early as 3000 B.C. the Egyptians used gypsum mortar which was used to line the inside of their pyramids.

“The ancient Romans while quarrying for mortar, accidently discovered a silica-and alumina bearing mineral on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius that, when mixed with limestone and burned, produced cement that exhibited the unique property of hardening underwater as well in the air. This cement was also harder, stronger, and much more adhesive than the ordinary lime mortar to which they were accustomed. In time this mortar not only became the type for use in all their building projects but began also to alter the character of Roman construction. Masonry of stone or brick was used to build only the surfaces of masonry piers, walls, and vaults, and the hollow interiors were filled entirely with large volumes of this new type of mortar. We now know that this mortar contained the essential ingredients of modern Portland Cement and that the Romans were inventors of concrete construction”

“In 1884 an Englishman patented a process for the manufacture of an improved cement. The process consisted of heating a mixture of limestone and clay and then crushing the resulting product to a fine power. He called this powder Portland Cement, because it produced a yellowish-gray concrete which resembled stone quarried on the Isle of Portland, England. Aspdin is generally recognized as the father of the modern Portland cement industry.”

Wood was used for a number of things. Genesis 6:14 says, “Noah built an Ark out of Cypress wood and coated it inside and out to make it water proof. Wood beams were used to support the rook of the Temple. 1 Kings 6:9-10, “So he built the temple and completed it, roofing it with beams and cedar planks. And he built the side rooms all along the temple. The height of each was five cubits, and they were attached to the temple by beams of cedar.” And in 1 Kings 7:2-3 it describes Solomon’s palace’s roof support, “He built the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon a hundred cubits long, fifty wide and thirty high, with four rows of cedar columns supporting trimmed cedar beams. It was roofed with cedar above the beams that rested on the columns—forty-five beams, fifteen to a row.”

Wood was also used for the interior of buildings. 1 Kings 6:15-18 says, “He lined its interior walls with cedar boards, paneling them from the floor of the temple to the ceiling, and covered the floor of the temple with planks of pine. He partitioned off twenty cubits at the rear of the temple with cedar boards from floor to ceiling to form within the temple an inner sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. . The main hall in front of this room was forty cubits long. The inside of the temple was cedar, carved with gourds and open flowers. Everything was cedar; no stone was to be seen.”

Prior to the beginning of the nineteenth century, metals had little role in buildings except as connecting devices. The Greeks and Romans used hidden clamps of bronze to join blocks of stone, and architects of the Renaissance countered the thrust of masonry vaults with iron chains and rods.” 1 Chronicles 22:3 says that, “He provided a large amount of iron to make nails for the doors of the gateways and for the fittings, and more bronze than could be weighed.”

The most amazing thing about ancient buildings is how they did it. How did they lift those large quarry stones? Some of those buildings that they built are still standing today. Yet we as a modern culture tend to tear down and rebuild old buildings. It amazes me at the engineering that went into one of the largest construction projects ever built, the Temple. 1 Kings 6:7, “In building the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and no hammer, chisel or any other iron tool was heard at the temple site while it was being built.”

Bibliography
The Student Bible, NIV
Compton’s Interactive Bible CD Rom
“Fundamentals of Building Construction, Materials and Methods”, Allen
“Concrete Technology”, White

Southern Nationalism

2008-05-31T15:43:00.009-05:00

I just finished an Early American History class at a local Community College and this is one of the papers I had to write. The professor gave me a 92 A on the paper and I recieved a B in the class.

Southern Nationalism During The Civil War
History 220
Kishwaukee College
April 2008

Nationalism is defined as a devotion to one’s cause. During the Civil War, in the 1860s, the morale of the Confederate soldiers and the citizens of the Confederacy was low. The Union blockade eroded the civilian morale by hitting it economically. Militarily the troops were demoralized from loss of life and the economic hardship as well. Despitethe economic hardships and loss of morale, songs such as “The South” and the “Song ofthe Baltimore Rebels,” were written in order to increase the morale of the army andinfluence Southern Nationalism.

These songs reminded the southerners what they were fighting for: liberty and independence. They believed the right to own property, such as slaves, was at stake. The song “The South” is sort of a rallying call for all slave states to combine forces and standup for their freedoms. “The South, the South, the glorious South, Now calls forth all her men, Let her summons fly from mouth to mouth, To gather stragglers in."

We are also reminded in the song, “The South,” how quickly other southern states responded to the call. “We hear it, and will quick respond, From our homes-our cause, Our fire-sides and families fond, We will uphold Jeff’s laws." They are referring to Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, and their desire to follow him and rally behind him. “With Lee to lead us who’ll despair, Of hanging Lincoln high, As Haman- and to birds of the air, His body soon prey shall fly." They are also reminded of the leadership of General Robert E. Lee. When they thought of Lee they remembered the great victories they have won such as Bull Run.

South Carolina was the first to withdrawal from the Union, and the other southern states soon rallied behind them and followed. “South Carolina leads the van, The South now follows soon, We’ll make the North dance to a man, For Dixie is our tune. Old Maryland will yet be true. We feel and know it well, And Southern breezes soon to you, Our rallying shall tell.’ In this last verse of the song we see that the south was hoping that Maryland, a fellow slave state, would follow them in their example and secede from the union as well.

The “Song of the Baltimore Rebels” encouraged the men of the south to join the army by reminding them of the victory they had at Bull Run. “Let us join the army, let us join the army, Let us join the army, and drive the Hessians home. When we drove them from us our friends down south did say, Be quiet there in Baltimore, and we will name your day. Just open up the Northern gate, down to Washington, And let them bring their biggest crowd, and their biggest gun. Well down they come a rushing, you’d thought the game was up, To see such crowds of Hessians and Yankees all mixed up. They mustered their Grand Army, McDowell had the Lead, And marched off for Manassas, at a moderate speed."

Southerners were motivated because they were not only defending their right to own slaves, but they were also fighting for their homes and families as well since most of the fighting was done on southern soil. The thought of the North burning down their homes and towns was enough to motivate them to fight harder. “For five days they were marching, and burning houses down. But scowled at by the women, while passing through their town." Southerners took great pride in the protection of southern womanhood.

The Southerners were reminded that Confederate Generals Beauregard and Johnson set up a defensive wall of troops eight miles long and how General McDowell could not break through and get a victory. ”The sixth day they made Bull Run, but the gate was shut, For Beauregard and Johnson had their men drawn up. McDowell tried to get through, by using his craft and skill, And for a while his men went at their work with a will. But the Maryland boys were angry, being driven from their homes, Poured hotly on the Hessians and crushed their quaking bones."

The last verse of the song reminded them of the victory they had at Bull Run. The Southerners chased the Yankee soldiers and spectators, who came out to see the battle, back to Washington. “Then commenced the races, the Yankees had the lead, Driving up to Washington at a fearful speed. Leaving their slain and maimed, And Millions worth of property the Dixey boys had gained."

Even though the morale was low in the South we see through these songs, “The South” and “Song of the Baltimore Rebels,” that the Southern States were motivated to join the cause of the Confederacy. The song “The South” reminded them that they were all in this together. “The Song of the Baltimore Rebels” reminded them that they were fighting for their homes and families and protecting them against northern invasion. They were not just fighting for the right to own slaves; they were fighting for what their forefathers had won in the Revolutionary War: liberty and independence.

Bibliography:

“The South,” American Singing, Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets, Ca. 1800-1880, n.d., Database online. Available from Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress.
“The Song of Baltimore,” American Singing, Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets, Ca. 1800-1880, n.d., Database online. Available from Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress.

Parables, The parable of the two sons.

2008-05-28T13:11:00.004-05:00

The Parable of the Two Sons
Matthew 21:23-32

Read Matthew 21:1-22. Look at how Jesus entered the city, cleansed the temple, and cursed the fig tree. He did it with authority.

Think of a time when you refused to obey someone because you disputed that person's authority. What actions did you take to avoid being obedient? How did your actions affect your relationship with that person?

Matthew 21:23-27
Look at the conversation between Jesus and the Religious leaders.
a) Role of religious leaders
b) Religious leaders rude interruption of Jesus's teaching
c) Their private conversation concerning their answer
d) Their lame response to Jesus' question
The religious leaders did not acknowledge Jesus' authority and therefore avoided obeying Him.
Have you ever questioned or challenged the authority of Jesus in your life? How did you feel afterwards?

1 Samuel 15:22-23
How did Saul fail to submit to God's authority in this story? (He refused to destroy everything according to God's word. vs. 1-21)
Do you only submit to God's will only when you agree with what he says or when you find it convenient?
Or do you try to obey God at all times, no matter what He says?

Matthew 21:28-30
What would your reaction be if these were your children?
What was the difference between the response of the two sons? (one obeyed the other did not)
The first son refused to obey, but changed his mind (or repented) and went to work in the vineyard. The second son did not follow through with his commitment to work. He lied to his father. In the first century a son would not think about refusing a command from his father.

List commands of Jesus that are difficult to obey.
a) witnessing
b) not judging
c) tithing
List commands of Jesus that are easy to obey
a) do not murder
b) give to the needy
c) Love one another

Look at the "difficult" list again. Some of these difficult items we at first say no to but we eventually obey. THE POINT IS OBEDIENCE DOES EVENTUALLY COME.

Look at the "easy" list of commands of Jesus.
Why is it easy to say yes to these items?
When we say yes, do we really follow through?
Is our claim not to be a murderer valid in the light of Matthew 5:21-22.

To sum up this section, obedience to Jesus may mean doing something we don't want to do. Obedience is not simply making promises, it is demonstrating those promises through our actions.

Matthew 21:31-32
Which of the two son's did what the father wanted?
Compare those who Jesus considered obedient with those who were considered disobedient.What do you think was going through their minds when they heard Jesus say that others were ahead of them.
Why were those people considered obedient or disobedient? (They either believed John's message about righteousness and changed their lives or they did not believe.

Conclusion
Think of a commitment that you have made in the past to Jesus and have not followed through on. Obedience is not related to commitment but to action.

(The content of this bible study was taken from various sources. If you would like a list of those sources, let me know and I would be glad to email them to you)

For Futher Study visit these links:

1. The Source of Jesus' Authority
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/?action=getCommentaryText&cid=1&source=1&seq=i.47.21.5

2. Pretend Obedience Versus Delayed Obedience
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/index.php?action=getCommentaryText&cid=1&source=1&seq=i.47.21.6

Parables, Parable of the Sower

2008-05-22T21:50:00.007-05:00

The Parable of the Sower
Matthew 13:1-23
If you had 4 containers: 1 with rocks, 1 with briar's or weeds, 1 empty, and 1 with potting soil. If you were going to plant seeds in one of them, which one would you choose?

Intro:
Ask the people to plant their seeds in one of the containers?
1) Why did you choose that container?
2) How will the seed respond to the empty container?
3) How will the seed respond to the one with rocks?
4) How will the seed respond to the one with briar's?
5) How will the seed respond to the one with potting soil?

1) What is a parable? (Short story to get the point across)

Matthew 13:1-3
1) What motivated these people to swarm to Jesus?
2) What do people gather to hear or see today? (Self-Help messages, Political topics, and Social issues.)
3) What draws people to these settings?
4) What motivates people to listen to the gospel now?

Matthew 13:4-7,18-22
People respond to Jesus in different ways. Just as the seed responds to different types of soil.

List 3 inadequate responses to Jesus' message of the kingdom in these verses under the following headings.

1) Evil one snatches away
pride
false friends
greed
callused attitude
envy
2) No roots
follower
new/weak christian
quick answers
3) Worries/Wealth choke
strong sources
rich
pride
conviction
pre-occupation

Matthew 13:8,23
It is important to have rich soil if a seed is going to grow and be fruitful.
1) Why is soil so important? (Soil provides nutrients, facilitates root growth, protects the roots.)
2) What are some preparations needed to have good soil? (Fertilizer, compost, cultivation, weeds pulled, crop rotation.)

Good soil- Life of a person who heard and understood the message of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Just like preparing for a heavy crop, we need to prepare (hear and understand) the message of the Kingdom of Heaven, to prepare our lives to be good soil.

3) What things must happen in a person's life for that person to hear and understand? ( Bible study, worship attendance/participation, prayer, spiritual warfare, relationships with other Christians for fellowship and accountability.)
4) What is the fruit Christians should bear? (Another christian)
Galatians 5:22-23
Character qualities every christian should manifest as he or she grows in Christ.

Matthew 13:9
"He who has ears let him hear."
1) What did Jesus mean?
2) What does it mean to be accountable to respond to the message?
Joe was arranging folding chairs in the auditorium, he noticed a woman sitting nearby and asked her to give him a hand. The woman nodded and smiled, but made no move to help him. Joe asked again, but the woman responded as before. Finally, Joe gave up and continued the job himself. Later someone else entered the room and began speaking to the woman in fluent Spanish.
The point is: People hear the gospel-they listen, but without understanding. We need to pray that they would hear the gospel, will do so with understanding and respond with faith.

*Challenge for the Week*
Look at the 3 columns, which area do you/we need to work on.

For more info visit these links:
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/index.php?action=getCommentaryText&cid=1&source=1&seq=i.47.13.3

http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/index.php?action=getCommentaryText&cid=1&source=1&seq=i.47.13.4

Miracles (part 4)

2008-05-16T23:03:00.006-05:00

Feeding the Five Thousand
Matthew 14:13-21
Feeding the Four Thousand
Matthew 15:32-37

In this class I used a video as a major part of the class. I took a video correspondence class on the Life of Christ and I used the video for Feeding the 5,000 as the discussion starter. We actually watched a college professor teach this lesson and we had a discussion afterwords.

Place yourself in the crowd. Imagine if you were the last person in line to get food. What would be going through your head when you found out how much food Jesus had to start with. Would there be enough?
Now imagine the moment you find out that there will be enough food. How do you feel?
Place yourself as one of the disciples. What are you thinking?
Place yourself as someone who was not there but was told what happened by someone who was there.
What if you were the little boy with the fish and bread? Would your eyes be bugging out? I can imagine him rushing home to tell his parents what he saw.

God will provide for our needs. Look at Moses and the Israelites in the desert.

The Shema

2008-05-12T11:22:00.005-05:00

A friend of mine gave me a plaque written in Hebrew to hang over my door. They told me it was based on Deuteronomy 6:4-9. I copied the following information from the website http://www.followtherabbi.com/

One day a student came to Jesus and asked, Teacher, what is the greatest commandment?"
You might recall that Jesus included? Love God and love your neighbor, In his response. Do you remember, however, that Jesus answered by quoting a portion of the Shema? ("Shema" means "Listen" or "Hear"). Shema is found in the Torah of the Hebrew Bible. Jesus answer to the student's question begins, "Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God! The Lord alone!"

In Jesus' day, reciting Shema meant renewing your relationship with God. This was done regularly, perhaps several times a day. Whenever a person recited the Shema, they celebrated God's covenant or promise of grace. Shema firmly acknowledges allegiance to God alone. To recite Shema is to whole-heartedly accept the Kingdom or Reign of God in life. Again and again and again.

When the student asked Jesus his question, he asked Jesus in the language of their culture, "Rabbi, what is your yoke?" or "Rabbi, what is your interpretation of Torah?" The student wanted to know Jesus' "bottom line," his summary of Torah.
And so the greatest commandment is the answer to questions like, "What is the Bible all about? What is God all about? Who is the Christian, and what is he/she doing here?"

The greatest commandment also underlines that a loving relationship with God is absolutely essential for God's people! Loving others is meaningless if that love is not in response to a loving, covenantal relationship with Almighty God. A loving relationship with God must be set and nurtured first; only then will love for others flow out in response.

Life itself is all about loving God with all of every part of you in response to God's covenant of grace. And love for God is best expressed in loving others.

The Shema expresses the foundation of Christian living. Jesus obeyed and loved God, and he loved others, perfectly. If we are to be like Jesus, the desperate desire of our hearts is to do the same. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, the community of faith expresses unconditional love of God through obedience and through loving others.

Finally, at a minimum, the Shema included Deuteronomy 6:4-9:
Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them to your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Miracles (part 3)

2008-05-10T10:30:00.002-05:00

Jesus Calms the Storm, Matthew 8:23-27
Jesus Walks on Water, Matthew 14:22-33

Today's lesson examines two nature miracles in which Jesus called the disciples to trusting faith rather than to doubting fear: Matthew 8: 23-27, where Jesus calmed the storm and Matthew 14:22-33 where Jesus and Peter walk on the water.
In each case Jesus was not concerned with the problem the disciples faced or even the solution to the problem. Jesus' concern was that in times of natural disaster His followers would draw near to Him in faith rather that agonizing in fear.
How desperately do unbelievers in the world need to see that Jesus makes the difference! Faith, like fear, can be contagious. Our faith in God not only glorifies Him, but it also can inspire others to believe in Him.

Matthew 8:23-27
What should have been the disciples reaction to the storm?
What did Jesus want to see in them?
Contrast the faith of these Old Testament characters and that of the Disciples.
Daniel 3:16-18
Job 13:15

God is not at the beck and call of every person who encounters natural disasters. Every cry for help will not result in miraculous intervention or deliverance because the Sovereign Lord of the universe is always working out His will. God's will for us is to take us through trials, not out of them. (1Cor 10:13)

Matthew 14:22-27
What does the Lord provide when He does not provide deliverance? (He is the Source of strength and courage that enables believers to overcome their fears.)
Is there ever a time He is not with His people? (No-even before Jesus joined the disciples, He knew where they were and cared fro them.)

Matthew 14:28-33
Imagine yourself as Peter in the scene described in these verses. Describe what Peter would have been thinking and feeling as he stepped out of the boat to walk toward Jesus on the water.

1. Has anyone ever stepped out in courage to walk toward Jesus in your lives?
2. What caused Peter to be distracted and lose confidence, sinking into the sea? What was it that Peter feared?
3. What distractions do we have that might threaten our confidence in walking toward Christ in our lives?
4. Why did Jesus followers sometimes experience doubt even when they witnessed His miracles many times?
5. How can we replace fear with faith?

Compare the response of Jesus' rescue of Peter to that of Jesus calming the storm in Matthew 8:27.

Some people say, “If I had seen the miracles that Peter and the other Disciples saw, I would never doubt again.” The problem is not that we need to see the miracles to believe. We need to trust and obey His Word as our soul authority for faith and practice.

Miracles (part 2)

2008-05-05T07:17:00.003-05:00

Healing the Demon Possessed men

Matthew 8:28-34

Word Study: Demons were originally angels created by God to serve Him. When one powerful angel now known as Satan rebelled, many angels rebelled against God with Him (Rev. 12:4). They torment people, enter their bodies, and vex them with unusual behavior and diseases. Paul said the nations' ”gods”are demons (1Cor. 10:20). They inspire idolatrous worship and sacrifice. Christians should not fear them, sacrifice to them or obey their teachings. At the end of this age, they will be tormented forever.

1) What encouragement do you find in Jesus' power over the demons in this account?

2) How would you defend Jesus' actions to someone who was upset because of the loss of the pigs?

3) In what areas of our society or our lives might Jesus be unwelcome today?

4) Why might some people today plead with Jesus to leave their presence when the witness His power to decieve people from evil influences over their lives?

The demons knew Jesus is Lord of nature.(calming the storm) The appointed time for His full destruction of their power had not yet come. Jesus allowed this bizarre, destructive act; and many pigs were drowned. But do not forget that the two men, created in God's image, were sitting their in their right minds. Jesus cared for two people no one else carred about. These men were a lot more important that a herd of pigs.

Matthew 12:22-24

Not all physical problems are because of the influence of demons, but this man's was.
1) What might the implications of Jesus' healing of the man have in the lives of people today?

2) What is a Pharisee?
The name Pharisees means ”separated ones” and referred to hard working religious men who taught in the synagogues. The common people respected them highly. They believed, as did the early Christians, in angels, demons, and the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees who were in charge of the temple denied all three. It is not surprising that the Pharisees were the ones who felt compelled to explain away Jesus' phenomenal power over demons, for they must have felt their authority threatened by Jesus. Their responce was absurd: “It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.” They didn't even give Jesus the dignity of a name. They attributed to Satan works that could only come from God, thus committing or comming dangerously close to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (vs. 31-32) They argued that Jesus had such great power over the demons of all, Beelzebub, the prince of demons-Satan himself.

Word Study:
The name Beelzebub referred to a pagan deity, the ruler of all evil spirits. The name's orgin is unclear. Some say that Beelzebub (”Lord of the flies”) was a Philistine god whose name the Israelites corrupted to Beelzebul (Ba'alzebel, “Lord of dung,”associated with impurity) to show their disgust and refusal to honor him. Still others say Ba'alzebul (”Lord of the dwelling”), a place occupied by evil spirits. Jesus' reference to the “master of the house” may be an allusion to this meaning. Whatever the orgin of the name, Beelzebub is Satan himself.

Matthew 12:25-32

The Pharisees and other Jews allowed exorcisms. These were done by means of herbs and magic formulas, and they were usually unsuccessful (Acts 19:13-16). They tried however, and the custom was accepted by the Pharisees. If they condemned Jesus' exorcism of demons, they condemned their own people's beliefs and would have to explain their position to them.

Put 2 columns on the board. One Jesus the other Pharisees.
List.
1) What were some reasons for the Pharisees skepticism.
2) What are some of the Pharisees thoughts?
Matthew 12:30
The Pharisees skepticism and rejection of Jesus' authority as being from God placed them in danger of rejecting God Himself.
3)How and why might some contemporary religious leaders might express similar concerns to those of the Pharisees?
4) Why did Jesus say He had authority to heal those oppressed by demonic spiritual powers?
5) How and why might contemporary Christians express confidence in Christ as the supreme authority over spiritual matters?

Conclusion:
Many people today live in terror of the spirit world. Voodoo ceremonies, lucky charms, and zodiac columns are all used for protection. Jesus, however, the one who died for our sins, is Lord over the spirit world and everything in it. Perfect love casts out fear (1John 4:18). Jesus demonstrated He had power to tread on all the resources of Satan. He plunders him and casts out fear of what would happen to us if we do not respect demonic powers. We serve One who has more power than all demons and Satan put together-the Lord Jesus Christ.
The source of Jesus' power and the source of the Christian's hope are the same, God. Though people today often deny Jesus' power to dispute His authority just as the pharisees did, Jesus' line of argument still works. Satan is not destroying his own kingdom; therefore, Jesus' power is God-given, genuine, and mighty. He drives out demons by the Spirit of God, and the kingdom of God has indeed come upon us. We must live our lives in the light of this glorious truth.

Although Christian should be aware of Satan and his “schemes” (2Cor. 2:11) and wear their armor to actively engage in warefare against him (Eph. 5:12-17), our minds, souls, and spirits should be occupied with Christ (Col. 3:1-3). Being preoccupied with Satan, demons, and their activies is not our calling. We must “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2), knowing that Christ will have the final victory over Satan (Rev 20).

Miracles (part 1)

2008-04-30T08:50:00.004-05:00

Bringing the Dead Girl Back to Life,
Matthew 9:18-19, 13-26
Healing the Bleeding Woman,
Matthew 9:20-22
Healing the two Blind men,
Matthew 9:17-31

The value of human life.
In Matthew 9, Jesus was teaching in Capernaum where he had just recruited Matthew to follow him. He was teaching about how His ministry differen from that of John the Baptist and the religious leaders of Jerusalm by comparing His ministry to wedding guests rejoicing in the presence of the bridegroom. Just as one cannot stitch new, unshrunk cloth into an old garment or put new wine into old brittle wineskins, so His new ministry would not fit their old concepts and expectations.
Matthew 9:18-19
The ruler's name was Jairus, (Mark 5:21-43; Luke 8:40-56), and he was ruler of the synagogue, making him a very important man in his community. Notice that Jairus knelt before Jesus. This revealed both his desperation and his trust in the power of Jesus. By humbling himself this ruler was opening himself up to the ridicule of Jesus' enemies and trusting in Jesus' mercy and power. Notice his faith in vs.18. He asked only that Jesus lay his hand on her, just enough to make his precious daugther live.

1) What do we know about Jesus' attitude toward children?
(loved them, valued them, went out of his way to care for them.)

Jesus was interrupted by Jarius and had just arisen to go with him to his daugther's side when He was interrupted again.

Matthew 9:20-22
This situation is much more serious that we might think today. First, she had endured an uncontrollable bleeding problem for 12 years. Not only was this a serious medical problem leading to weakness because of blood loss, a woman during her period was considered ritually unclean (Lev. 15:19-33). This means that for 12 years she was very limited in the times she could touch another person or worship God at the temple. She was an outcast, living on the fringe of society, much like a leper. If she were married, she could not touch her husband during times of bleeding because everything she touched would have been unclean as well.
She desperately reached out and touched the edge of His cloak, thinking to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed”. Jewish men were commanded by the law to have four tassels of blue cords on the corners of their outer garment. (Num. 15:38-41, Deut. 22:12). This tassel was called a zizith. The tassels set the Jewish men apart from all others and symbolizied separation to the things of God. She touched the edge of of Jesus' cloak. Notice that the woman's faith resembled that of the ruler: one touch would do.

1) What did the women do? (she touched Jesus)
2) Besides this woman's physical problems, how else did she suffer?
(social abuse, loneliness, depression, feelings that life has lost it's value)

She touched a Jewish rabbi in public, ritually defiling him. Would Jesus be mad and rebuke her, adding public outrage to private pain? No. He said, “Take heart...your faith has healed you.” Notice Jesus called her “daughter”, Jesus was not ashamed to be identified with her. Even though she interupted Jesus and took a terrible risk, her faith became the vehicle by which Jesus healed her.
Now she could touch and be touched by others. She could now worship God in the temple. Now she did not have to spend all her money trying to find help. She did not have to worry about slowly dying from loss of blood or about withering away spiritually. Now she was whole.

Notice Jesus always took the time to help people. In verse 23 we find “flute players and a noisy crowd”. Jews hired people to lead the family in mourning when someone died. (I don't understand this.)

In Numbers 19:11-22 the most serious ritual defilement was to touch a dead body. Any common person, rabbi, or priest would have been unfit for service. Jesus was not defiled instead a precious girl was rasied from the dead.

These miracles demonstrated that Jesus cared about human life. If life were not valuable, why would He bother raising someone from the dead? He also cared about the suffering of Jarius at the loss of his daughter. This does not mean that we have the right to expect Jesus to miraculously intervene in our lives on matters of life and death. But this miricle should provide strength and comfort in knowing that our Lord cares and will meet our needs, although in different ways.

Matthew 9:27-31
1) What was the deciding factor in Jesus' decision to heal the two blind men?
2) What are some area's in life in which people need to experience wholeness?
3) What implications does this hold for Jesus' followers?

Matthew 9:36-38
1) In what types of ministries are believers to be involved?
2) In verse 38, what in the first key step in being involved in the ministry? (pray)

Brainstorm excuses that Christians often give for not being involved in ministry, service, wittnessing opportunities.
Brainstorm actions that believers can take to become involved.

Conclusion
Jesus calls His followers to be involved in ministry that leads to faith, life, health, and wholeness

2008-04-26T12:56:00.001-05:00

I used to be an oiler on a crane. One of my jobs as an oiler was to grease the machine. One particular time I had to crawl underneath the machine and grease the under-carriage. When I finished, about a 1/2 hour later, my arms were covered in grease all the way up to my elbows.
When I went to go clean up I could not get that grease off my hands and arms. No matter how hard I scrubbed I could not get it off. Finally I found "The Special Soap" that could get it off.

If we tried to wash our sins away. No amout of scrubbing would do it. No matter how hard we scrubbed we would never be able to wash away our sins. If we look to Jesus, and what he did on the cross. You see Jesus died on the cross for our sins. He paid the price. The shedding of His blood washed away our sins.
We need to remember what Jesus did on the cross for us. Allow Him to be that "Special Soap".

Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ our Foundation

2008-04-21T07:59:00.001-05:00

Matthew 7:24-29

I love the children’s story of the “Three Little Pigs.” If you remember the first pig built his house out of straw and the wolf huffed and puffed and blew his house down. The second pig built his house out of sticks and the wolf huffed and puffed and blew his house down also. The third little pig was the smartest of the three, he built his out of bricks and the wolf could not blow it down.

Every time I read the Sermon on the Mount, when I get to the last part on the “Wise and Foolish Builders” in Matthew 7:24-27, I think of “The Three Little Pigs.” "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." As Christians we have a spiritual foundation and that foundation is built on Jesus Christ.

When our spiritual foundation is being built it is very similar to a house foundation. The first thing that needs to be done is layout the building and dig the hole, getting it on grade to the right elevation. God does this to the lost person, it is called conviction. The next thing is setting the forms for the footing and set the rebar inside the forms. Rebar reinforces the concrete, it makes it stronger. We do this by sharing Christ, this is called witnessing. Our strength comes from the Holy Spirit when we tell others about Jesus.

Once the concrete truck arrives on the jobsite we are ready to place the concrete in the forms. Now concrete is made up of four things: sand, stone, cement and water. Too much of either one would cause the concrete to fail. It is kind of like making a cake, if you put too much of one ingredient in or forget to put an ingredient in, the cake turns out bad. All concrete sets up differently; it depends on the weather conditions, how it is place in the forms and if any additives were added to the mix. God calls and God saves on God’s time, like the concrete we can’t rush things.

The concrete making up our spiritual foundation has ingredients. Our Spiritual foundation is based on faith in Jesus Christ and what He has done for us on the cross. Our Spiritual foundation ingredients are found in 2 Peter 1:5-9, “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.” In Colossians 3:12-14 there are more ingredients listed as well. “Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

After all the concrete is poured and the forms are stripped off and loaded onto the truck we are ready to start building our house. We still have one thing to do before we start laying out the floor joists and laying sheets of plywood for the floor. We have to backfill with dirt around the foundation and have adequate drainage. I heard a story once of someone who built a house. He finished everything including carpet and trim. He forgot to do two things: 1) put gutters on the roof, 2) backfill around the foundation. When the rains came, water collected around the foundation. The pressure of the water caused the foundation and house to collapse.

As a Christian we need to backfill our spiritual foundation with scripture. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. So that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” In 1st Peter 3:15 it says, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as LORD, always be prepared to give an account to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope that you have.” The footing that is the base of our spiritual foundation is Jesus Christ. Romans 10:9-10, 13 says,” That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” And verse 13 says, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." With our spiritual foundation with Jesus Christ as the footing or base we won’t have to worry when the rain comes down, and the streams rise, and the winds blow and beat against our house because our spiritual house is built on the Rock and it won’t fall.

Chess

2008-04-16T12:13:00.002-05:00

I am intrigued by the game of chess. I bought a chess board a few years ago in Kentucky. I admit I have no idea how to play it. I find the game very confusing, yet I like to watch it being played.

I heard a story the other day about the game of chess. “A young man was visiting an Art Gallery. He came upon a painting of Satan playing chess with a young man. Satan just made a move and had an evil grin on his face, the grin of victory. It was almost like he just yelled CHECK-MATE. The young man who he was playing face looked defeated, his shoulders were slumped over, his head hung low like he was ready to give into and accept defeat.

The young man visiting the Art Gallery studied the painting. He looked carefully at Satan, then the young man, and then finally the chess board. He yelled, “HEY YOU STILL HAVE A MOVE! DON’T GIVE UP.”

We as Christians still have a move when we turn to Christ. No matter how many darts Satan shoots at us. We still have a move when we turn to Christ. He died for us on the cross. No matter how deep we are in sin and no matter how many lies Satan throws at us, Jesus already made the “check-mate” move on the cross.

Psalm 40:1-3
I waited patiently for the LORD; He turned and heard my cry.
He lifted me up out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and the mire;
He set my feet upon a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.

Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7:13-23

2008-04-14T19:12:00.001-05:00

Matthew 7:13-23

1. What is the Narrow Gate? (door to salvation)
2. Why is the narrow gate narrow? (People cringe at repentance and commitment to Christ. Only with the power and grace of God does anyone find what it takes to deny self, take up one's cross and follow Christ.)
Following Christ demands a conscious decision and a continuous commitment. Few enter the narrow gate and follow the narrow way, but those who do find life. Those who choose to be Jesus' disciples must be prepared to go against the crowd, not follow it.
The wide gate is so wide those entering it don't even know it is a gate. What are some examples of wide gates people walk through without realizing the danger?
Imagine trying to walk through a large crowd exiting a stadium. How does such an illustration relate to these verses?

Matthew 7:15-20
3. What is the significance of the deceivers coming in sheep's clothing?
Verses 15-20 describe persons who know they are not true followers of Christ but try to disguise themselves.
4. How can we distinguish between real followers and fake ones according to these verses? (Buy their fruit, teachings, buy the results of their teachings or ministry.)

Jesus warned His disciples about deceptive false prophets who ignore, trivialize, or twist His teachings. He told them how to recognize advocates of false ways. False prophets are not recognized by how they appear but what they produce. You can discern false teachers by their character, conduct, teachings, and what they produce.

In verses 15-20 Jesus described false prophets who disguised themselves. In verses 21-23, He described people who thought they were true followers but really did not know the Lord.

Matthew 7:12-23
These verses stress that a profession of faith alone, even when accompanied by ministries pre-formed in Jesus name do not necessarily mean a person is truly saved.
Romans 10:9
John 10:27-29
How do these verses relate to the warning in Matthew? (The bible teaches that real faith will persevere. Faithfulness is the fruit or results of salvation.)

Is it possible to appear to serve and glorify Christ and be involved in Christ-centered ministries and yet be indifferent to His commands, disown His teachings, and be disobedient to Him? Why or why not? Real disciples are those who are in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

Summing up Matthew 7:13-23
1. Jesus called for a steadfast commitment to Him and His way. We enter this life through a narrow gate, and it leads to a hard way of discipleship.

2. The road of steadfast commitment leads to life. By contrast, the wide gate and broad way lead to destruction, Many follow the road to destruction, but few find the gate to the road that leads to life.

3. Jesus warned his followers against false prophets. They are deceptive because they appear in sheeps clothing, but they are deadly because they are actually ferocious wolves.

4. False prophets can be recognized by their fruit. Their fruit include their character, their teachings, and the long range results of their ministries.

5. The genuineness of professing Christ as Lord is called in question if the person fails to do the will of the Heavenly Father. Doing the Lord's will goes with knowing Him as Lord.

6. Impressive prophecies and miracles in the name of Christ do not guarantee that one truly knows the Lord. People who don't know Christ and who do evil will be excluded from God's kingdom.

Do your fruits reflect a disciple of Christ who is trying to do the Father's will, or do they reflect a person trying to appear to be a disciple of Christ?

Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7:1-12

2008-04-06T20:24:00.003-05:00

Matthew 7:1-12
Relating to Others

Matthew 7:1-5
Some people cannot see past their own sins, but are always ready to point out those of others.
Why does Jesus call such people ”hypocrites”?
Matthew 7:6
Dogs- not man's best friend like we have today. They were wild scavengers.
Pigs- unclean
Matthew 7:7-11
Ask, Seek, Knock
The verbs in Matthew 7:7-8 are in the present tense, which describes continuous action. Thus these verses suggest persistent prayer over a long period of time. Some translations bring out this force of the verbs: “Keep on asking, Keep on seeking, Keep on knocking.”
Four reasons why we should pray continually:
1. Prayer is basically communion with and praise to God.
2. Earnest prayers are by their very nature persistent.
3. God uses prayer to change us.
4. God uses our prayers to help accomplish His will.

Matthew 7:12
The Golden Rule is another way of stating what Jesus said was the basic Old Testament teaching about relating to other people: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18, Matthew 22:39). How do we love our neighbors as ourselves? The Golden Rule answers, in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you.

The Golden Rule demands that we take action on behalf of others.
Matthew 5:43-47 loving enemies
Luke 10:25-37 loving neighbors
“How do I want others to treat me?” after determining that, the next step is to take the initiative and do it for others.
The Samaritan in Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan practiced the Golden Rule. He saw an injured man and knew what he would want someone to do for him if he were in that condition.

Summing up Matthew 7:1-12
1. Christians are not to pass judgment on other Christians.

2. We often see the sins of others more easily than we see our own.

3. Jesus warned against the indiscriminate sharing of the good news with hostile un-believers. We need to apply this teaching with caution. Withholding the gospel in the exception instead of the rule. We are called to tell the good news to all people with patience and perseverance.

4. A loving Heavenly Father will supply the needs of those who live a life of prayer. We cannot fulfill His expectations without prayer. God doesn't always give us what we expect of want, but we trust Him to give us the good things we need.

5. The Golden Rule says that we should take the initiative in doing good for others. The standard for deciding what they need is to ask what we would others to do for us.

Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:25-34

2008-04-02T07:33:00.002-05:00

Anxiety
Matthew 6:25-34

What is anxiety? Anxiety is based of fears of the unknown.
Job/Career, Health/Safety, Family Issues, Education, Other.
Jesus knew that His followers would be tempted to worry. His teachings in todays lesson should encourage us to trust God with problems that tempt us to be anxious.

Matthew 6:25-26
1) Why do you think Jesus used birds in His example?
2) Was Jesus implying that persons should sit back and wait on Jesus to meet their needs? Why or why not?
Birds are not examples of idleness, but of the absence of anxiety.
(Look these up- Proverbs 18:9, 2 Thess. 3:11)
Jesus sought to free His disciples from the anxieties and obsessions of daily life by teaching them that God is concerned about their physical needs. Christians can avoid anxiety by considering the value God places on them

You are special.
Let me share a story. A family with young children found a way to remind themselves of being special to God. They bought a dinner plate that had ”You are special today” written on it. Any member of the family could choose to place the special plate at the dinner table to encourage someone else.
3) What are some ways that you been reminded of being special to God?
4) What are some ways you have reminded others?

Matthew 6:27-30
(Make two columns across the board. “Results of Anxiety” and “Alternatives to Anxiety” Ask for stuff under the results column then stuff for alternative column. Then write FAITH in large letters across both columns.)
The key to avoiding the “results” and choosing the “alternatives” is living by faith.
Little faith does not mean no faith. Disciples are pilgrims of faith-on their way but not yet there.
Worry is like a rocking chair, it will give you something to do, but it won't get you anywhere.

5) How can anxiety affect one's Christian witness?

Matthew 6:31-32
6) Why would Jesus compare anxious Christians with pagans? First of all what is a pagan?
7) What are some ways that God has met your needs in the past?
God meets Christians' needs sometime by the help given by fellow believers.
8) How can we become more sensitive to the needs of others?

Matthew 6:33
This verse is the key verse in understanding what Jesus is teaching in vs. 25-34.
9) What is the meaning of “kingdom”?
10) Does this verse mean that God will always give us what we need to sustain life? Why, or why not?
11) When Jesus spoke this promise, could He have had in mind the role of fellow believers in helping needy brothers and sisters?
12) In what ways can Christians fulfill the role of helping?

Matthew 6:34
13) Does God's promise include exemption from troubles? Why or Why not?
Jesus encouraged His disciples to make God and His rule the top priority in their lives. Anxiety prevents Christians from devoting themselves to God's kingdom and God's concerns. When believers put God first, they are able to avoid being overcome by anxiety. Jesus also knew unavoidable trials would arise in the lives of His disciples. We are to meet the struggles of each day, not worry about tomorrow, and rely on the Father's gracious provision for the future.

Summing up the Lesson

1. Anxiety denies the Father's care. Because God creates and sustains our lives, we can trust Him for food and clothes.
2. Anxiety hinders faith. Anxiety shortens instead of lengthens life. Worries about clothes reveal an imperfect faith.
3. Anxiety characterizes pagans. Pagans constantly run after more and better possessions for themselves. Believers can trust the Father who knows our true needs.
4. Anxiety prevents spiritual growth. Jesus calls His followers to make God's kingdom and righteousness their consuming ambition. When they can do, they can trust the Father to provide all they need to do His will.
5. Anxiety threatens the future. Freedom from anxiety and freedom from trouble are not the same thing. Christians should not be surprised when they face trouble. However, they should not waste their energies worrying about troubles they may face in the future.

WHY OPEN AN UMBRELLA BEFORE IT STARTS RAINING?
How does this question relate to our lesson? Does it mean we should not prepare for the future? Why or Why not?

Spiritual Story

2008-03-30T18:53:00.003-05:00

By being baptized we tell our stories as individual believers. In Matthew 28:19 Jesus commanded His disciples to go throughout the world and to make more disciples. As a sign of their commitment the new disciples were to be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Peter said in Acts 2:38 “Repent and be Baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins...” Baptism is the ceremony that tells our spiritual story to the church community as we become part of it.There is a hymn called “Now I belong to Jesus, Jesus belongs to me...”, the act of baptism announces that now we belong to Jesus and walk with Him and He also walks us.

Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:19-24, Treasure

2008-03-30T18:35:00.004-05:00

Matthew 6:19-24

Matthew 6:19-21
Notice that Jesus said earthly treasures are destroyed by corrosions of nature (moth), time (rust), or human beings (thieves).
1) How are treasures on Earth vs.19 different than treasures in Heaven vs.20?
2) What are some treasures here on earth? (house, car, money, things, books)
3) What are some treasures in Heaven? (Salvation, family, ect.)
4) Did Jesus mean that owning possessions or planning for the future is wrong?
Why or Why not? (I think we have to have the right motives.)

TREASURE -VS- HEART
1. The heart signifies one's total allegiance.
2. Treasure signifies the things that are important to us.
Verse 21 links treasure and heart. They go together. Where your treasure is there your heart will be also. Jesus could also have said it another way, “Where your heart is, there's where you will invest your treasures.” Our attitudes and actions determine our real values and priorities. Many people give lip service to treasures in heaven, but they give their lives to treasures on earth.
Biographers try to lay their hands on every possible source when they are doing research for writing a person's life. One of the most valuable sources is a person's canceled checks. Our canceled checks or credit cards show where our real treasures are, on earth or in heaven. This in turn shows one's true priorities and values, another way of describing where the person's heart is.
The central issue in verses 19-21, indeed throughout the Sermon on the Mount, is the heart. A person's whose heart is totally committed to God will reveal this by investing personal treasures in heaven.

Matthew 6:22-23
(Safety glasses with petroleum jelly on them)
“If your eyes are good, the whole body will be full of light.”

Jesus spoke of commitment to Him in terms of singleness of vision. He contrasted a blind person to a sighted person and physical vision to spiritual vision. Christians are to focus firmly on God. The person who attempts to divide his or her vision and focus on both God and worldly matters has no clear vision, orientation, or direction.

Matthew 6:24

Think about this to yourself.
“If Jesus is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.”
Is there any area in your life that you need to place under Jesus' lordship?

Undivided Loyalty

Joshua 24:15
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourself this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorities, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

1Kings 18:21
How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him.

Matthew 6:24
No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Luke 9:62
No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.

1Corinthians 10:21
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's Table and the table of demons

Summing up the Lesson

1. Absolute financial security is an illusion. Jesus warned that earthly treasures are subject to deterioration and loss. When we die, we leave all our material possessions behind.
2. We lay up treasures in heaven when we live by heaven's standards in the here and now. Treasures in heaven are the qualities and actions of disciples that reflect their total loyalty to God and His eternal kingdom.
3. People whose hearts are totally committed to God reveal this by investing their treasures in God's eternal kingdom. Our treasures reveal where our hearts are. Our hearts determine what our treasures are.
4. Single-hearted commitment to God provides a clear vision of reality as God sees it. Anything less than total commitment results in spiritual blindness or a blurred vision of reality.
5. Loyalty to God in incompatible with selfish, materialistic living. Many people think they can combine their religion with selfish materialism. Actually, selfish materialism becomes their true god and demands a fearful price.

Sermon on the Mount, Prayer

2008-03-24T22:33:00.004-05:00

Prayer
Matthew 6:9-15

Does anyone remember the first time they were ever called on to pray?
Have you ever noticed the same prayers being prayed by different people? (Same words spoken, they prayed someone else's prayer.)

Matthew 6:5-15 contains some of Jesus' key teachings about prayer. He knew that He could equip His disciples to be ready for any situation if He could teach them to pray. In this passage, Jesus taught them how not to pray and how to pray. He taught them not to pray like hypocrites who spoke to an audience instead of to God. (vs. 5) They were to build their prayer life on personal communion with God in secret. (vs. 6) He also warned then not to pray like pagans who thought they must get the attention of their gods by repeating many words in prayer. (vs. 7) Jesus said that His followers knew that the purpose of their prayers was neither to inform God nor to persuade Him. He is or Father who knows and cares before we pray. (vs. 8)
Because God knows and cares, some people conclude that prayer really is not needed; however, Jesus disagreed. He used the truth in vs. 8 as a foundation for teaching His followers how to pray.

Matthew 6:9
1) Why do you think Jesus used “Our Father”? Why did not He just use My Father? (God's family includes many children.)
2) “Our Father in Heaven”, What comfort do you have in knowing that you have a Heavenly Father?

Matthew 6:10
“Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”
What is the difference in praying, “if it is your will,” and Your will be done”?
Matthew 26:39 (Jesus' request for God's will to be done)
Psalm 40:8
Psalm 143:10

Matthew6:11-13
Three points:
1. The sharing of bread (our)
2. The provision of our needs on a daily basis (daily)
3. The provision of basic life needs, not luxuries (bread)

Why do you think Jesus taught His disciples to ask for their needs to be met daily?
What similarity do you see between the request for daily bread in the Model prayer and God's provision of manna for the Israelites in the wilderness? (See Ex. 16:4) (The manna supplied was sufficient for the day)

Define debt.
Jesus used the word to describe sins. Debts also refer to obligations one has to another.
How can sins also be considered to another?
To whom are our obligations or sins owed?
Confession and forgiveness of sins are necessary to remove sins as barriers to fellowship with God. Jesus was not teaching in vs. 12 that we earn God's forgiveness by forgiving others. Forgiving and being forgiven go together.

Matthew 6:14-15
These verses provide a commentary on the last part of vs. 12.
Matthew 18:21-35
Persons who are forgiven will naturally want to extend forgiveness to others. Forgiving is not a good work that earns salvation. It is the evidence that the grace of God is at work in the forgiving person. Failing to forgive is evidence that the person has not experienced God's forgiveness.
Ask yourself this question. Is my life an example of forgiveness? Why or why not?

Summing up the lesson
1. After teaching His disciples how not to pray, Jesus used a Model Prayer to teach them how to pray. The prayers of disciples are not to be like those of hypocrites or pagans.
The model prayer is addressed to “our Father in heaven”. That God knows our needs and cares about us is a reason to pray, not reason not to pray.

2. The first three petitions focus on God and His glory. We are to pray that God will glorify His name, bring in His kingdom, and accomplish His will. Although at times God chooses to use His disciples to help achieve His purposes, the Model Prayer reminds us that this is His work and that our first action is to ask God to do it.

3. The last three petitions focus on human needs. We are to pray for daily bread, forgiveness of sins, and deliverance from Satan's temptations.

4. Being forgiven by God is inseparable from forgiving others. Forgiving others is not a condition for God's forgiveness, but a result of it.

My biking adventure along the I&M Canel

2008-03-20T17:07:00.043-05:00

Years ago I bought a mountain bike and decided to start exercising and working out. One summer I biked around 400 miles around town and on bike trails. I always brought my camera along on my adventures. Below is my journey along the I&M Canal from Joliet to LaSalle. This adverture was only 120 miles, 60 miles down 60 miles back. I did this over 4 or 5 weekends.
I never had enough guts but I wanted to actually bike with all my gear and campout along the canal. I never could find anyone to go with me and I did not feel it was very safe to campout alone.
I think I am somewhere near Ottawa, IL in these pics.

The stairway to nowhere.

Above is Split Rock I think west of Uttica, they actually split the rock to make room for the canal, look closely see the railroad tunnel.

This barn is where they kept the mules that pulled the barges up and down the canal.

It is hard to believe they built this all by hand, even the canal was hand dug.

Above is Lock #11 and below is Lock #10

This is Lock #8 as well as the Locktenders house.

Above the Illinois River

This is along the canal between I55 and Rt.6

I love this shot, it seems like you just fade off in the distance.

I55

Gephard Woods State Park

Dresden Lock and Dam

Buffalo Roch State Park

Bridge in Morris crossing the canal.

5 mile bridge between Morris and Seneca.

This is another favorite picture, a stone wall along the path.

This is the aquaduct built over this creek. The canal flows over this creek in this aquaduct.

Sermon on the Mount, Worship

2008-03-18T10:07:00.002-05:00

Matthew 6:1-8, 16-18
Worship

What is our Motive in Worship? Worship includes acts of religious devotion such as giving, praying, and fasting. Jesus condemned a theatrical righteousness exhibited by the religious leaders because their motive was self-worship, not the worship of God.

Hypocrites- People who put on a false appearance of virtue or religion.

Synagogues- Local meeting places of the Jewish people during New Testament times. Synagogues were established any place there were as many as 10 Jewish men.

Matthew 6:1-4
1. What words come to you mind when you hear “righteousness”?
2. Why do you think Jesus wants our acts of giving to be seen in secret even to ourselves? (to prevent our gift from becoming a matter of inner pride.)
Jesus condemned the hypocrites motives for giving to the needy to make sure others knew what they were doing and secure a reward from God. Believers are to give their money for the right reasons, as an act of worship and to help others in need.
3. Do you think Jesus would want the same principles of giving to apply to all areas of giving?
4. What other things should Christians give in addition to money?
5. Why do you give your money, time, or talents to God?
6. What rewards do you receive?

Matthew 6:5-8
1. Does Jesus' warnings concerning prayer mean Christians should not pray in public? Why or Why not?

When Christians pray they are to shut out the distractions and disturbances of others, shut themselves in with God, and be thoughtful in their prayers. The motive for prayer is to seek God.

Matthew 6:16-18
1. What are some ways that people “advertise” their religious devotion today? In other words what are some selfish motives as they worship God? (Giving a gift to church asking that it be acknowledged in a worship service, Using “big words” when praying in public, Announcing publicly the intention to skip one meal a day and give the money to missions.)

Hypocrites advertised they were fasting. What was intended as a sign of humiliation became a sign of self-righteousness. Fasting, as a spiritual discipline, is not an occasion for self-display but for self-denial.

Summing up the Lesson
1. Followers of Jesus should not do religious acts to draw attention to themselves.
2. Those who make a display of their giving have received their reward in full.
3. Prayer should be offered to God, not made an occasion for seeking the praise of other people.
4. Fasting needs to be offered to God, not made into a display for the purpose of receiving human praise.

Make a mental note of “acts of righteousness” you may be tempted to do for selfish reasons. Ask God to help create in you a desire to worship Him for the right motives.
Read Psalm 139:1-4, 23-24

(The content of this bible study has been taken from different sources, if you would like a list I would be glad to email one to you)

Football and Living the Chirstian Life

2008-03-15T16:18:00.005-05:00

I played football in High School over at Coal City. There a lot of memories I want to hold on to and remember like making the playoffs, two a day practice, summer camp, lifting weights, and Saturday morning film.
But there are three things that stick out in my mind the most and I apply them to my daily life, my Christian walk.
1. The pre-game talk
2. Half-time in the locker room
3. The team prayer before and after the game
The coaching staff made sure we were prepared physically in practice and in the weight room and also in pre-season conditioning. They made sure we had knowledge of the game by having us study the playbook, having us studying our opponents plays, and watching film of the game. But they also prepared us mentally by "psyching us up". This was done during the pre-game, at half-time and during team prayer. They got us excited and focused on the game.

When was the last time you "studied the playbook", the bible?
When was the last time you were "psyched up" about Jesus?
When was the last time you sat down and took the time to pray?

If you look in Matthew26:26-29. I think this would be Jesus’ pre-game talk with his disciples. Everything up until this point was pre-season conditioning. I can just picture Jesus telling His disciples to gather around and take a knee. As we approach this time of Communion with an attitude of prayer, we are taking a knee and remembering what Jesus did for us in the cross. How he gave His life for us so that we can be with Him in Heaven, by placing our faith in Him. I can see Jesus telling His disciples to gather around and take a knee and saying,"............."

Matthew26:26-29

26While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."
27Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.
28This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
29I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom." 30When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Treasure Map

2008-03-15T15:56:00.005-05:00

One of my all time favorite stories growing up was Mark Twain's, Tom Sawyer and Huckerburry Finn. Or Robert Louis Stevenson's, Treasure Island. In each of those stories there is a treasure map leading to gold. Every child dreams of finding a treasure map and it leading to a burried treasure in their back yard. At least I did. In the bible there is a treasure map. It is found in the book of Romans. It leads to one of the greatest treasure's of all time, Eternal Life. Let's follow it and see where it leads.
In Romans 3:23 it says, “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” Going further on the treasure map we find that in Romans 6:23 “The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is Eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Like all good Treasure maps we might have to do a little searching. Turn back to Romans 5:8. “But God demonstrates His own love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” And finally we get to the treasure, in Romans 10:9-10,13 ”That if you confess with your mouth, ”Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” And in verse 13 it says, ”Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Communion Meditation, "This Blood" by Carmen

2008-03-13T22:42:00.005-05:00

Violently they grabbed His arms as they tightly strapped each wrist.With the hellish looks that a strong armed soldier whip clenched in his fist. Laced with chips of bone they beat Him hard from His shoulders to His feet. It sliced right through His olive skin just like razors through a sheet. Countless times the blood splattered as each inhuman lash was given. Several times His knees gave way as His flesh just hung like ribbons. Then surprisingly He turned His head though the words He used were few. The soldier's face turned pale when He said, “This blood is for you”. Uncaringly they tossed a garment across His weakened form. And His blood pressure fell deathly low as the crowds began to swarm. They forced Him to carry His cross uphill as His face they punched and smacked. As the splinters from the crisscrossed beam dug deep into His back. Through lack of sleep and dehydration His tongue began to swell. Weakened by His loss of blood this Prophet Teacher fell. When He did some blood splattered on a man named Simon's shoe. And as He bent to wipe it off the Prophet said, “This blood is for you”.
Then they pounded a spike through the bones in His wrist, bursting arteries and veins. As they dropped the cross in the hole they dug, His body convulsed with pain. Through an agony and torment that never a soul shall find. He tilts His face toward heaven with full control of his mind. With more love than any human heard before that time or since. He made a statement that to this day makes the strongest skeptic wince. He cried, “Father God forgive them for they do not know what they do.” And as He gave His live for those lost in sin, He was saying , “This blood is for you.”
As we observe the Lord's Supper let's remember what happened on the cross. Jesus died for our sins so that we could spend eternity with Him. All we have to do is ask Him into our heart and to forgive us our sins then we can spend eternity with Him. Let's pray.
Mark 14-22-25
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take it; this is my body."
Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it.
"This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many," he said to them.
"I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God."

Sermon on the Mount, Integrity and Difficult People

2008-03-12T10:39:00.004-05:00

Matthew 5:27-37

Integrity
Brainstorm synonyms for integrity
honesty, honor, morality, wholeness, soundness, completeness, goodness
Definition: Integrity is being true to God, others and yourself.

Matthew 5:27-37

What is God's attitude toward marriage? What is yours? (vs. 31-32)
How dedicated are you/we to Christ and the standards He sets? (vs. 29)
How many careless words do you say a day?
How many promises do you make and forget to keep?
(I'll pray for you or I'll call you soon.)
Who can trust your word? (vs. 33-37)

Jesus was pointing out the lack of integrity in the Pharisee's oaths.
Honesty in speech is necessary for ongoing relationships. How are relationships affected by a lack of honesty in speech? (Truth is lost)
(Write on board)
How do we use, abuse, or confuse other people?

Summing up the Lesson
1. Adultery undermines the one flesh union of husband and wife. It is a deadly and serious sin that is condemned in the Old Testament and by Jesus.

2. Staring at another person for the purpose of lust is adultery in the heart. Jesus extended the application of the 7th Commandment to include lustful looks. Such lust in the heart is so dangerous that people should take whatever drastic steps are necessary to avoid it.

3. The integrity of marriage as a permanent one-flesh union must be maintained. The Pharisees wanted to debate grounds for divorce, but Jesus stressed God's original intention for marriage.

4. Jesus warned against trying to use divorce to cloak one's selfishness or immorality. Lax standards of divorce were sometimes used as supposed justification for such sinful purposes.

5. The integrity of speech and character are maintained when a person's word is completely trustworthy. Jesus' disciples should be people of their word.

6. Oath's are sometimes used to try to hide dishonesty behind impressive words. Oaths should not be necessary for disciples.

Difficult People
Matthew 5:38-48

Think of a recent personal experience of dealing with a difficult person. What are some ways to deal with someone who is difficult?

We as Christians are to reflect God's character in our lives even in difficult situations.

Matthew 5:38-42
In these verses Jesus wanted us to show Christian Love not revenge.
What are some possible situations in which we encounter a demanding person at work? Home? Ect.
What are some possible situations in which people might have difficulty giving or loaning to others?

Isaiah 1:17 Jesus was not condoning exploitation. Jesus was using very strong examples to teach the disciples to resist wanting to get even, and ignoring the needs of others.
How does the biblical concept of stewardship relate to vs. 42?
We live in a world of unlimited needs, but we have limited resources. We learn to make decisions about the best use of our limited resources to meet the greatest needs.

Matthew 5:43-48
“Love your neighbor” is from Leviticus 19:18. “Hate your enemy” is not found in the Old Testament. People who hated their enemies were trying to justify their own evil practices.
1. How can we overcome evil with good? (by loving and praying for our enemies)
2. What is the meaning of the word perfect? (wholeness, maturity)
3. Why does Jesus expect His disciples to be perfect? (Jesus' standards reflect the character of God)
4. What happens when Christians fail to be perfect? (God deals with us as a merciful and loving father)
5. What should Christians do when they have failed t be perfect? (Confess our failure, accept God's forgiveness, and press on.)

My Story

2008-03-09T21:40:00.017-05:00

Everybody has a story. This is my story. It's not very exciting, maybe a little boring, but it is still my story. It all started when I was in Kindergarten or 1st grade. My mom told me we are going to church in our neighborhood called Faith Baptist Church. I don't remember a whole lot about that church other than the preacher yelled a lot and pointed his finger in his sermons. I do remember the first day we went, I wore a three piece suit with a gold pocket watch on a chain in the front pocket of my suit vest. After Sunday School I came home and told my mom I had to learn a bible verse. I still remember it, Psalm 37:5 "Commit thy way unto the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will bring it to pass". I don't remember why we quit going there but for some reason we stopped going for a while.

Now I am in 5th grade and we start going again to another Baptist church in Coal City. This one is a very small Southern Baptist Church in the town I grew up in. I think there were like 30 people in the service. In 7th grade I got involved in a program for boys called Royal Ambassadors. (I wrote a paper about this program in an earlier post.) Through this program I asked Jesus to be my savior and was baptized. I attend that one faithfully until I was a Junior. I meet a girl at this church and asked her out, she said yes and we went out twice. I could not see the writing on the wall, she was not interested in me. She liked another guy in the youth group and dumped me for him. Yes it broke my heart but it was this experience that turned my heart on fire for God. I really did not feel welcome in this youth group, so I started going to an Assembly of God church down the road. WOW what a difference in worship style, I could actually clap my hands, raise my arms, and shout to the LORD and not feel out of place. I could relate to the kids in the group, I am still friends to this day with the youth group leader and his family.

However I was torn between the two churches. I went with my mom to the Baptist church on Sunday mornings and this Assembly of God church on Sunday nights as well as on Tuesday night for youth group. My first youth group outing with this new church was at Gephard Woods State Park in Morris, IL. We all had a small stick and during the invitation we could get up and throw our stick in the fire to take a stand for God. I was the first to get up that night. I rededicated my life back to God, August 1, 1989. That park in Morris holds a special place in my heart. It was during this time I really was challenged to read my bible. And then it happened, "Would you like to be filled with the Holy Ghost and speak in tongues?" I remember going forward and asking God to fill me with the Holy Ghost. What I did for the next month or so before I left that church was repeat what I heard other people speaking in tongues saying. I was a clanging symbol. I praise God I am now part of a church where it is practiced but is kept in it's proper place, not in your face to where you feel pressured. I am not saying speaking in tongues is fake, in my own opinion there is a proper time to do it. If God were to ever wish to give me this gift I welcome it. Right now I have a hard time handling my own tongue. The pastor I have now told me a story of a lady who got saved because someone spoke in tongues in a meeting. She knew no English only German. The person who spoke in tongues spoke the plan of salvation in perfect German.

What I had a problem with at this church is when someone told me if a Christian did not speak in tongues then they did not have the Holy Spirit. What ever happened to 1 Corinthians 13? What about the Fruit of the Spirit?

About this time my two friends from high school invited me to their church's (First Baptist Wilmington, IL) Wednesday night Bible study/youth group. I loved it. So now I went to my mom's church on Sunday mornings and my friend's church on Sunday night and Wednesday night. I fit like a glove there. Everybody welcomed me and I felt like I was home, I was. I finally joined August 5, 1990 and started going there full time just before I started my senior year of high school. I had my first girlfriend there, we dated only for a short time but we got back together a few more times. I'll get to that later. Life at this church was pretty much normal, I went to a youth event called Youth Encounter, first as a youth then as a chaperon. We went on Ski Trips and winter retreats in Michigan at a farm called Maplecrest Farm. I served as an usher, money counter, trustee, I ran a video ministry where we video taped the Sunday services, I even taught a Young Adult Sunday School Class.

We went into a building program because we were outgrowing our current building. We owned 22 acres at the edge of town. So we built a church building. It is sad to say that building is empty today. I can blame the leadership, we had a pastor who wasn't much of a pastor in the end. The deacons did not do much either. I don't want to go into all the details, I believe God forgives and we do not need to bring up the past. We did not even observe the Lord's Supper for over a year, we just forgot isn't that sad. The whole point is we as a church took out eyes off the cross and put them on that building. We were so focused on outreach and that building we forgot about the in-reach. People stopped fellowshiping with each other. People who were once friends were now enemies. As soon as church was over in 15 minutes the building was empty. I saw the writing on the wall the girl I was seeing on again off again broke up with me her senior year in college, my church I loved was falling apart so I left. I was there 7 years. The church eventually split and they lost both buildings to the bond company. Praise God they got back together under a different name and were able to buy one of the buildings back. Last I talked to them they had 60 baptisms in 1 year.

I went back to that small Baptist church I grew up in and found it much the same as I left it before except they had a lot more people. It was a small church who was experiencing growing pains. I worked my way into being a Sunday School teacher to college age young adults. I was put in the kitchen, the worst place for a class. The highlight of my time there was when I took a group of high school girls up to the ski trip cabin in Michigan. Yes it was out of their comfort zone, yes they complained but not in front of me. On Sunday morning we had out own worship service. One of the Junior High girls sang a song for the special music. The background music tape messed up, she just kept on singing.

I was feeling God lead me away from this church once again. Needless to say the pastor was a little disappointed in my decision to leave and with my new church selection. I would like to point out nobody asked my mom where I was at after I left, except for the few people she was closest to. One Sunday morning nobody showed up for Sunday School class so I had had enough and filled out whatever paperwork I had to fill out for attendance and got in my truck and left for First Christian Church in Morris, IL. It is now May 1999

I loved it there. They accepted me with open arms. I became involved on the softball team. One week after I joined I got hit in the face with the ball and ended up ripping the straps off the stretcher before they put me in the ambulance. Proud to say it took them all to hold me down. (I have vertigo and get dizzy when I lay on my back.) I ended up with 6 stitches in my chin. I got involved in a Sunday School Class, with people my own age which I have not had in a long time. I loved the sermons every Sunday morning.

Before I joined a friend gave me a bag full of sermon tapes, a years worth. I listened to them all in two weeks. A few elders saw some potential in me so they asked if I would be interested in taking a leadership class the pastor was teaching. I eventually taught a Sunday School class for young adults and did the Communion Meditations twice a year a month at a time. I also served as an usher and took pictures of all the new members. I felt a need to go back to college and take some bible classes. So I enrolled at Lincoln Christian College and took Life of Christ 1,&2, Basic Christian Beliefs (I have a paper posted on this blog from that class), and Intro to Bible. The church started offering bible study classes on Sunday night. At this time I was not teaching a Sunday School class, God closed that door a year or two before and he opened this one. I asked one of the pastors if I could teach a Bible study class on the Life of Christ using video clips as discussion starters. After explaining it in more detail he said I could. So I was able to teach this class in 2004-05. I loved it, I think we had 12 to 15 people in the class.

Again God closed another door in June of 2005 and I left. I meet a lady a few years before at a friends christian bookstore in Morris when they were closing the store and retiring. We started dating about a year or so after first meeting. Things were getting serious so I moved an hour and a half north to Sycamore, IL to be closer to her. I started going to her church, Crosswind Community Church of Genoa, IL. I eventually joined and we got married on February 25th 2006.

At Crosswind Community Church I am involved in a men's group called M.A.S.T. (Men Acknowledging Struggles Together). I am not really involved in a "job in the church" like I have been in the past. My job right now is to be a better husband to my wife.

I have learned a few things in my Christian walk and being apart of different churches.
1. If you ever find the "perfect church", don't join it you might mess it up.
2. Embrace your church heritage, be proud of it.
3. Do one job in the church and give 100% at that one job. Don't do anymore jobs because you can't give a full 100% at those jobs and manage a family too. One or the other suffers.
4. Don't look down on another Christian because they don't go to the same kind of church you do, or that, that church down the road believes a little differently than your church.
5. We all should have one thing in common and that is Jesus. Isn't that enough.

Communion Meditation, Are you Hungry? (Part 1)

2008-03-07T16:50:00.005-06:00

Feeding the four thousand
Matthew 15:29-38
I like to place myself in the story line in the bible. In other words, how would I feel if I were one of the disciples, or one of the people who came to see Jesus. What if I were at the front of the line, how about the last in line? Now I place myself as an onlooker wondering what all that fuss is about over in the field. Now read Matthew 15:29-38 and then place yourself in the story and then you walk up to Jesus and he asks you these questions.
Are you hungry? Did you get enough? Would you like some more? Are you full?
I think Jesus is asking us these same questions.

As we observe the Lord's Supper ask yourself these questions again. Are you hungry? Did you get enough? Would you like some more? There is plenty of God's saving Grace to go around. Are you full? Are you being filled?

Mark 14:22-25

22While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take it; this is my body."
23Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it.
24"This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many," he said to them.
25"I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God."

Sermon on the Mount, Handling Anger

2008-03-07T16:37:00.005-06:00

Handling Anger Matthew 5:21-26

What causes you to become angry?
Is is ever appropriate for Christians to become angry?
How do you deal with anger?
(Eph. 4:26-27)

At times Jesus became angry. (Matthew 21:12-13) The question is not whether we will experience anger, but what causes us to become angry and how will we handle our anger.
Todays lesson is to find a biblical answer to the question, As a Christian, how can I handle anger in appropriate ways?

Matthew 5:21-22
Jesus agreed with the Sixth Commandment “Do not murder”, but He disagreed with those who restricted the application to the crime of murder. The amazing thing about Jesus' responce in vs. 22 was that He forced everyone to look behind the Sixth Commandment at the inward sins that sometimes lead to murder. Jesus agreed that murder is a crime that deserves punishment, but He also taught that anger can be a sin that deserves punishment.
Remember not all anger is sinfull. Look at Jesus clearing the temple courts in anger. Jesus was warning about lasting hostility toward someone. Have you ever wanted to get even with someome?
The word “Raca” is a word that we do not use today. Most scholars would agree that it it a term of abuse that insulted a persons intelligence. So an English parallel would be “Nitwit”, “Blockhead”, “Numskull”, and “Bonehead”.

Ephesians 4:31-32

Some verses to think about.
Proverbs 15:1
Proverbs 29:11
Proverbs 29:22
Proverbs 30:33
Ecclesiastes 7:9
Ephesians 4:26
Ephesians 4:31
James 1:19-20

Matthew 5:23-24
Look at the words “first” and “then” in vs. 24.
What do these words indicate about taking the initiative to be reconciled? (seeking reconciliation is to be a priority among Christians)
1 John 4:20
What is the real test of our love for God? (how we treat people)
What is the key to treating people with love? (a right relationship with God)
How important are good relationships in God's church?

Matthew 5:25-26
What happened to people in Jesus' day when they could not pay a debt? (They were kept in jail until it was paid.)

Proverbs 25:8-10
What additional counsel is offered in theis passage? (Respect confidentiality)
To what extent is this a potential problem in relationships?
What is the best glue for mending broken relationships?
We must not risk standing before God without having right relationships with others. We need to mend broken relationships now.

Summing up the lesson.

We all have had fits of anger at one time or another. We all have been mad and or angry with someone else as well. The one verse that would sum up the whole lesson would be found in Ephesians 4:26 “In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.”

Pray for broken relationships to be mended, relationships with God to be strengthed, and occasians of anger to be resolved as Jesus taught.

Sermon on the Mount, Salt and Light

2008-03-02T17:41:00.003-06:00

Sermon on the Mount
Lesson #2
Salt and Light Matthew 5:13-20

Intro: The Chris Gross Scholarship Fund
Following the tragic bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, Chris Gross, a 26 year-old single adult from Santa Clara, California, decided to make a difference in the situation. He was concerned about the children who had lost one or both of their parents in the blast. He wondered who would fund their education in the coming years. A financial analyst by vocation, Chris decided to set up a college scholarship fund for the children and pledged to give an amount equal to one years salary. Chris's company matched his donation. Then Chris challenged other people and companies to contribute to the scholarship fund. The fund has grown considerably, and Chris has truly made a difference in a tragic situation.

Imagine the scene. Jesus surrounded by His disciples with the crowd looking over their shoulders. Jesus had already shocked His hearers with the Beatitudes. Then He delivered another shock. He looked at His small group of followers and said that they were the hope of the world. The words He used were the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
Remember that Jesus was talking to four fishermen, a tax collector, and other everyday people. Yet Jesus said that they would be the preserving quality in a corrupt world and would shed the light of salvation and truth into a dark world. No one was probably more surprised that Peter, Andrew, James, John, Matthew, and the others.
Modern disciples are equally shocked by this audacious statement, especially when we realize that in our own corrupting world, Jesus declares us the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Many despair that no one can make much of a difference in our world. Certainly we don't expect to make much of a difference ourselves.
Jesus delivered another shock in vs. 20. Jesus said that people are not really His disciples unless their righteousness surpasses that of the pharisees and the teachers of the law. These religious leaders were the people of Jesus' day who seemed to most seriously God's demand for righteous living. If anyone was truly righteous, surely they were; yet Jesus said that true righteousness exceedes that of the these righteous and devout people.
This would be like saying to us that we could not be Jesus' disciples unless our righteousness surpasses that of preachers and Bible teachers. We might well ask, as the disciples did on another occasion, “Who then can be saved?” (Matthew 19:25)

Matthew 5:13-16
What happens when you get salt in a wound?
When is it proper for Christians to act as irritants? (when taking a stand against sin)
In order for salt to work it must come in contact with an object. Likewise we as Christians need to be in contact with non-christians in order to be effective and make a difference.
Salt is an inexpensive product in America. Most people can afford to buy it. However Christians may pay a high price for acting as “salt”. We cannot afford to loose our saltiness! Jesus does not ask us to become what we are not. He calls us to be what we already are.

A little history:
Salt was much more valuable in Jesus' day than it is today. In ancient Greece, slaves could be bought with salt. Roman soldiers sometimes were paid with salt. The Latin word for “salt” is salarina, from which we get our word salary. The old saying, “A man is not worth his salt” originally meant that a man has not earned his wages.

Uses of salt:
1. Acts as a preservative
2. Flavors our food
3. Irritates an open wound
Uses of light:
1. Expels the darkness
2. Reveals that which is hidden
3. Radiates warmth
4. Burns when focused sharply

Look at vs. 16
How do we reflect light?
Story of dear in headlights at night/ reflectors on mailbox.
We are to reflect the light of the world in our lives. Our good works are for God's glory not ours.
In what ways do Christians hide their light?
Matthew 5:17-19
Old Testament laws had been added to and misapplied by the Jewish religious leaders for so long that they were confusing to many people. Jesus wanted people to learn a new and better way of understanding and obeying God's originial laws.

I. Ceremonial Law
Leviticus 1:1-4
Leviticus 2:1-2
Explain why and how Christ became the fulfillment of the law.
(the Sacrifice without blemish)

II. Civil Law
Deuteronomy 24:6-15
Explain how Jesus fulfilled the meaning of this law in His life and teachings. (Ex. Deut. 24:8-9 - the law for leprosy; Jesus healed some lepers, Luke 17:11-14)

III. Moral Law
Exodus 20:1-17
Match the New Testament verses with one of the 10 Commandments.
Matthew 4:10
Matthew 5:22
Matthew 5:28
Matthew 5:34
Matthew 5:40
Matthew 10:37
Matthew 12:36
Mark 2:27-28
Luke 12:15
Luke 16:13

Matthew 5:20
What was characteristic of the righteousness of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law? (They followed the letter of the Law, but their hearts were unchanged.)
What kind of righteousness does Jesus demand? (a righteousness based on love and obedience to God)
How is the surpassing righteousness obtained? (A relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.)

I am like salt when I __________________________.
I am a becon of light when I ____________________.
WITH GOD'S HELP I WILL BE SALT AND LIGHT!
_____________________ _____________
(name) (date)

(The content of this bible study was taken from various sources. If you want a list email me and I would be glad to send it to you.)

Communion Meditation, Pictures

2008-02-29T08:39:00.004-06:00

How many people here today are carrying a wallet or a purse and you have pictures in it of your family, friends, husband, wife, grandkids, ect. For the past 13 months I have been taking pictures of all the new members who join the church. They either transfer from another church or are baptized.
It has been a blessing being a part of this ministry. Seeing a child get baptized as well as an adult is awesome, imagine what kind of party is going on in heaven when someone asks Jesus into their heart and gets saved.

If you know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, He has your picture in his wallet. If you ever drew a picture or traced your hand on a piece of paper as a kid and gave it to your mother or father to put on the refridgerator. If you gave that picture to God I am sure He would put it up on His refridgerator as well.

I've never seen a green dog or cat before, and very rarely would we see a picture that was colored between the lines. No matter how bad it is, it is still on the fridge anyway because you love them. Just like God loves us. As we observe the Lord's Supper think about John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life."
Say that verse again but take out "the world" and "whoever" and put in your name in that place.

Matthew 26:26-30

26While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body."
27Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you.
28This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
29I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father's kingdom."

Sermon on the Mount, The Beatitudes

2008-02-29T08:22:00.003-06:00

Sermon on the Mount
Lesson #1
Living the Good Life Matthew 5:1-12

· Blessed are the rich and famous, for they will be recognized as important people.
· Blessed are those who party, for they will enjoy lofe to the fullest.
· Blessed are the aggressive, for they will inherit the earth.
· Blessed are those who do their own thing, for they will find personal fulfillment.
· Blessed are those who take care of number one, for they don't worry about anyone else.
· Blessed are the wheelers and dealers, for they are winners in this dog-eat dog world.
· Blessed are those who don't get involved in other peoples problems, for they will avoid getting caught in the middle.
· Blessed are those who don't rock the boat, for they will be liked by everyone.

Brainstorm significant events in the Bible that occured on mountains.
1. Abrahams sacrifice (Gen. 22:2)
2. Giving the Law (Ex. 19:3-6)
3. Elijah's challenge to the prophets of Baal (2 Kings 18:19)
4. Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1)
5. Jesus' transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-3)

Matthew 5:1-2
Notice the crowds would indicate Jesus' popularity at the time. And the mountainside would provide ample space and good acoustics.

We are going to look at some contrasts between the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai and the giving of the sermon on the Mount.
Form two columns
1. When God Gave the Law
Exodus 19:18
In what manner did God appear on Mt. Sinai? (came down in fire)
Exodus 19:19
How did God speak? (a loud trumpet or thumder)
Exodus 19:24
What were the people instructed to do while the law was being given? (Keep their distance)

2. When Jesus Gave the Sermon
How did Jesus get to the site of the sermon?
(went up to the mountainside)
In what manner did He deliver the sermon? (in an audible voice)
Where were the people? (came to Him, around Him)
Look at the contrasts. The law taught by the Pharisees stood in contrast to Jesus' teachings.

The Beatitudes are the greatest treasures that Christians can discover because they tell us how God evaluates kingdom living.

Matthew 5:3-10

Look at each Beatitude.
1) Study it.
2) Explaine what it means.
3) List worldly values with which it clashes.
4) Discover God's blessing on Kingdom living.
5) Explain how the Old Testament passage relates.
6) Determine from the New Testament passage how to develope the appropriate attitude.

1. Poor in Spirit: Matthew 5:3, Isaiah 57:15, James 4:7-10

2. Mourning: Matthew 5:4, Isaiah 61:1-2, James 4:7-10

3. Meekness: Matthew 5:5, Psalm 37:5-11, Matt. 11:27-30

4. Righteousness: Matthew 5:6, Isaiah 42:1-4, John 16:5-11

5. Mercy: Matthew 5:7, Psalm 41:1, Ephesians 5:1-2

6. Pure in Heart: Matthew 5:8, Psalm 24:3-4, 1 John 3:1-3

7. Peacemaker: Matt. 5:9, Isaiah 57:18-19, Heb. 12:10-11

8. Persecuted: Matthew 5:10, Isaiah 52:13, 2 Timothy 3:12

Matthew 5:11-12
What do you think about this statement?
"Christians do not want to be persecuted."

1. Why do you think that Jesus said that to be persecuted for righteousness was a blessing? (to be persecuted for righteousness is evidence of faithfullness in the face of hostility)

2. In what ways are Christians being persecuted in the world today?

3. How can we help those being persecuted?

4. When has your faithfullness to the Lord resulted in persecution?

Conclusion:
Even though many rewards await Christians in Heaven, we recieve rewards daily for following Jesus.
What rewards have you received for following Jesus?
Kingdom living is God's idea of a good life, and those who are citizens of the kingdom are also recipients of the good life.

(The content of this bible study was taken from various sources. If you want a list email me and I would be glad to send it to you.)

Road to Emmaus

2008-02-25T20:47:00.013-06:00

My name is Wayne Mansfield, Table of Stephen. I just went on a 72 hour spiritual pilgrimage called an Emmaus Walk. Words can't describe what I experienced this weekend. I have been on a number of Ski Trips, Men's campouts, and Retreats, none of these can compare to what I experienced this weekend. I was told by my father-n-law to enjoy the moment, don't anticipate anything, just participate. From the moment I arrived I was overwelmed by God's love for me by the acts of kindness I recieved from brother Christians. This weekend has strengthend my relationship with Jesus Christ. It has changed my priorities on life. God is now number one and my wife number two, and myself number 3. In the past I put myself first ahead of God and my wife. The highpoint of this weekend was when I was laying face down on the chapel floor praying and asking God to forgive me of my past sins and realizing I had to forgive myself. This is the point where God broke me down with his love for me and then buildt me back up with that same love. We celebrated Communion daily along with time in the Chapel and quiet meditations and small group discussions. The group of guys I meet there, their friendships will last a lifetime. There are many more things that happened this weekend that are better left as a surprise. It was held in Merom, IN in a building dating back into the 1850's which was an old Seminary and Christian College.

Pillar of my Spiritual Past

2008-02-19T08:47:00.001-06:00

Looking back in my walk with Christ there are people who have influenced me the most. I ask myself why am I a Christian. It is because of these people, they did not tell me the nuts and bolts of Christianity they were the nuts and bolts.
1. Andy Hunt (former youth group leader my junior year)
2. Milt Monson (handed out Christian books/tracks and stuff, passed away in 1997)
3. Eber Pennington (youth group leader my senior year)
4. George Biggerstaff (he introduced me to Jesus way back in 1986)
5. Charles Noss (former pastor at FBC Wilmington, I loved his sermons)
6. Anthoney Pennington (Sunday School teacher senior year)
7. Johnie Ray Pennington (Sunday School teacher and my first boss)
8. Kevin Dempsay (great encourager)
9. Ralph Imrie (candy man, head usher at FBC Wilmington, passed away in 1993)
10. Chuck Richardson (pastor at FCC Morris, I love his sermons)
11. Al Scott (Kevin and Jason's dad, He always had a smile on his face, passed away with cancer in 1999)
12. Avery Wilson (pastor at FBC Coal City, I miss our long talks about life and christanity)
13. Kevin Scott (Great friend and encourager, was in our wedding)
14. Jason Scott (Another great friend and encourager, my best man)
15. David Huston (Took me under his wing when we were trustee's at FBC Wilmington)
16. Ralph Taylor (inventer of the backward drill bit, passed away with cancer in 2005)
17. Matt Huston (Great friend, I miss our spiritual talks at the ski trip cabin)
18. Taylor Downer (Great friend and brother operator, deep spiritual discussions at lunch time, and at work over Nextell)

Little Children and Jesus

2008-02-18T23:28:00.007-06:00

Have you ever imagined Jesus as a little child. Did he ever play baseball?
How many windows did he knock out? Who was going to make Him pay for them? Did Jesus ever play with a dog, did He ever swim in the creek? Did the girls ever giggle when he walked past them, did He ever wonder what made them laught? Now imagine Jesus as a grown man. He is walking down the road with His disciples and a group of kids tackle Him. He wrestles with them on the ground, gives them piggy back rides, spins them around and makes them dizzy. Then he lifts their shirt up and makes noises on their belly, I think they call this a zerbert. Now Jesus's disciples interupt Him and say to grow up and act his age, we have business in the next town. Jesus responds, "If you don't accept the Kingdom of God as a little child......." Look it up. Matthew 19:13-15, Mark 9:42, Luke 18:15-14

Basic Christian Beliefs

2008-02-18T23:06:00.006-06:00

Years ago I took a class at Lincoln Christian College, I wanted to do a study on the core beliefs all Christians hold in common. This is the paper that came out of that class.

There are some core Christian Beliefs that all Christians believe. In the book Faith's Fundamentals, Jack Cottrell calls these the Bull's Eye Truths. If you look at a dart board, you have the bull's-eye in the center and all the rings around it. In this paper I'm just focusing on the doctrine at the heart and core of the Christian Faith, the bull's-eye truths. If your house caught on fire, what would you save first? Many expensive, beloved things would be passed over at first because some things simply take priority in this sort of situation like financial records, pictures, and mementos, for instance. In a similar way, we are dealing with here with the first things of Christianity, the bull's-eye of the Christian faith, its most fundamental truths. (a)

The Apostles Creed sums up these truths that has been passed down from one generation of believers to another. "I believe in God the Father, Almighty creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son our Lord. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried. He descended to the dead. And on the third day He rose again. He ascended into Heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting."(b) Rich Mullins said in his song Creed, "I believe what I believe, because it makes me what I am, I did not make it, no it is making me, it is the very truth of God not the invention of any man."(c) What we believe makes us who we are so we should be carefull what we believe.

I believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God. God, through His Holy Spirit, inspired men to write the bible. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17 it says "All scripture is God breathed and is usefull for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. So that the man of God may be thourghly equipped for every good work." In 2 Peter 1:20-21 "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of scripture came about by the prophets own interpretation. For prophecy never had it's origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." In the Knowing and Experiencing God study Henry Blackaby states, "We cannot depend on tradition, our experience, or the experience of others to be accurate authorities on God's will and ways. Experience and tradition must always be examined against the teaching of the bible." (d)

In the Baptist Faith and Message it says, "The bible has God for it's author, salvation for it's end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for it's matter. It reveals the principles by which God judges us; and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of the christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried."(e) The main theme of the bible is Jesus, God's plan to save the world through His Son.. Where the bible speaks, we as christians speak. Where the bible is silent, we as christians should remain silent. The Bible does not try to prove that God exists, it simply affirms that God exists. God is represented in three forms called the Trinity, God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. When we think of the trinity we could to relate it to a cherry pie. If we cut the pie in three equal sections we would see the lines in the crust, but on the inside the pie would all run together.

I believe in God the Father, Creator of Heaven and earth. There is only one living and true God. The Apostle Paul explains it best about who God is in Acts 17:24-31, "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. `For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, `We are his offspring.' "Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone--an image made by man's design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead." This man that Paul is talking about that God has appointed and raised from the dead is His Son Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. "No man has ever accomplished so much in so little time to affect the course of the world as Jesus of Nazareth. He is at the center of human history."(f) Historically we can prove that Jesus was a real man who lived in Galilee, but I do not need the historical facts to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. The way Jesus affected and changed peoples lives, like He affected and changed my life, that is why I believe that He is the Christ the Son of the living God.

Gilbert Bilezikian sums up how Jesus affects the people He came in contact with in his book Christianity 101, "As Jesus went about announcing publicly that the time had come when God was doing something new in the world, he came across many people who were struggling in hopeless situations. They were afflicted with diseases that made them blind or rotted their skin; they were paralyzed on stretchers in courtyards and on doorsteps; they were the abandoned and the hungry who begged for food on the streets; they were the women used, abused, and thrown out like trash; they were the small unimportant people of the earth- widows and orphans, the lame the disadvantaged and the disabled, the whores and the homeless, the despised and the rich and the poor, those crying out their wail to an indifferent world and those pushing down their secret pain in the dark tunnels of the soul. Jesus saw each one of them. He felt their hurt, and on the behalf of their God, he reached out to them with healing, comfort, and forgiveness and love." Bilezikian goes further to say that, "This sensitivity to the plight of suffering people was nothing less than the love of God become human in order to weep with the broken hearted, to embrace the untouchables, to communicate life to dead limbs, bodies, and souls, and to gather all the brokenness to himself and funnel it forever into hell through the lightning rod of the cross."(g)

I believe in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit takes the word of God, the bible, and reveals to you the will of God. In the Experiencing God Study, Henry Blackaby states that "God speaks buy the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways." Blackaby goes further to say, "the Holy Spirit already knows the will of God. When we are weak and don't know what we ought to pray, the Holy Spirit prays for us and He prays absolutely in agreement with the will of God. He then helps us know the will of God when we pray." (h)

In First Corinthians 12:7, it says that the Holy Spirit manifests Himself to every person for the common good. The body of the church, it's members, are fitted together buy God. Members of that body are enabled and equipped by the Holy Spirit to function where God has placed them in the church, the body. The body then functions, by exercising their individual spiritual gifts, to build itself up to glorify Christ.

When building a house you need a strong foundation. Likewise when you build a church you need a strong foundation as well. That foundation is in Jesus Christ. Rich Mullins sum's it up best, "We need the church because it contain's the truth, because it has the songs that teach us about the faith, and because we need to hear the Word of God. The church offers us the body and the blood of Christ, the spiritual nourishment needed to sustain life. The church is the body of Christ. It is a group of people who have one thing in common, we are all joined to the same head, which is Jesus and we are members of His body."(i)

The early church is best summed up by Luke in Acts 2:42-47, "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

What must a person do to receive eternal life? Do you know for certain that you have eternal life and that you will go to Heaven when you die? A person receives eternal life, salvation, when they ask Jesus into their heart. Someone can have a head knowledge of who Jesus is, but you need to have a heart knowledge. In order to receive salvation a person must believe that God sent His Son, Jesus to die on the cross for their sins. In John 3:16 it says, "God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but have eternal life."

We are all sinners by nature and by choice. In Romans 3:23 it says, "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." No matter how hard we try we cannot save ourselves, it is only by God's grace that we are saved. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works so that no one can boast". We deserve death and hell. Romans 6:23 says, "The wages of sin is death." But God has provided a way to by-pass hell. Romans 6:23 goes further to say that, "the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord".

Jesus died on the cross for us so that we can spend eternity with Him. 1st Peter 3:18 says, "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." The only way Jesus can change our lives is if we ask Him into our heart. " Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God", John 1:12.

We must repent of our sins. Acts 3:19 says, "Repent then and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out...." Repentance is not just feeling sorry for our sins it is turning to God through Jesus and away from our sin. It is like making a U-turn. As we make this U-turn we must place our faith and trust in Jesus. Faith is not just believing facts about Jesus, James 2:19 says, "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe and shudder". Faith is trusting in Jesus. In Hebrews 11:1 it says,Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.

To put our faith and trust totally in Jesus means that we must surrender to Jesus as Lord. Romans 10:9-10 says, "That if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Surrendering to Jesus and placing our trust in Him is not just saying we give our lives to Jesus. Matthew 7:21 says, "Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven." Surrendering to Jesus as Lord means that we give Jesus control of our lives. Giving Jesus control of our lives is like trusting Him with our checkbook or sitting back and letting Him drive our car.

As evidence of giving Jesus control of our lives we should identify with Him. The New Testament way is to confess Jesus publicly and follow Him in baptism and church membership. Matthew 10:32-33 says, "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven."

Baptism and the Lord's Supper are two very important sacraments of the church. We can't have one without the other. They both would mean nothing if Jesus had not died on the cross for our sins.

By being baptized we tell our stories as individual believers. (j) In Matthew 28:19 Jesus commanded His disciples to go throughout the world and to make more disciples. As a sign of their commitment the new disciples were to be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Peter said in Acts 2:38 Repent and be Baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins... The physical act of Baptism does not save us. It is a symbolic act of what Jesus did in our heart. We receive salvation by asking Jesus into our heart, accepting what Jesus did on the cross, asking Him to forgive us our sins, and by believing that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God. We are saved through faith by divine grace, and baptism is an image representing that reality. (k)

Baptism is the ceremony that tells our spiritual story to the church community as we become part of it. There is a hymn called "Now I belong to Jesus, Jesus belongs to me...", the act of baptism announces that now we belong to Jesus and walk with Him and He also walks with us.

The Lord's Supper or Communion as it is sometimes called, is a symbol as well. Luke 22:19-20 "And He took bread gave thanks and broke it. and gave it to them saying, This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me. In the same way after the supper He took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you." The bread symbolizes Jesus body on the cross and the juice or wine symbolizes His blood which was shed for us on the cross. Buy participating in the Lord's Supper we are remembering what He did for us on the cross. Jesus did not specify how often to observe the Lord's Supper, only to remember Him by it. It seems that the early church in Acts 2:42 and in Acts 20:7 celebrated it weekly.

There are many beliefs about Jesus' second coming, the resurrection. They have all one central belief in common, that Jesus is coming again. 1st Thessalonians 5:2, "It will come suddenly and unexpectedly, like a thief in the night." Jack Cottrel explains in his book Faiths Fundamentals, "Jesus said that it would be at an hour when you do not think. Many would be preoccupied with worldly things and will be taken by surprise. Even for those watching, it will be sudden. It will be like watching for lightning in the sky during a storm. Though you are watching, still it is so sudden that you are surprised. It is expected yet unexpected. Thus it shall be with Christ. All at once, He will appear." (l)

When Jesus comes, it says in Matthew 25:31-46 that "When the Son of Man comes and all His holy angels.....He will separate the people from one another as a shepard separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. Then the King will say to those on His right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.........Then He will say to those on His left, Depart from me you who are cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels."

While studying these basic christian beliefs, "the bull's eye truths" we have to define the exact center on the dart board. I believe that it would all be summed up in John 3:16-18, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son" If we keep Jesus the center of our lives, the point on the dart, we will hit the bull's eye every time.

Royal Ambassadors

2008-02-18T22:53:00.005-06:00

When I was in Junior High I was involved in a church youth group called Royal Ambassadors. It is a group that teached boys about missions and how to live out a christian life. I was saved through this program. We had a pledge we had to memorize. Here is a paper I wrote breaking down that pledge.

As a Royal Ambassador I will do my best: To become a well-informed responsible follower of Christ; To have a Christ-like concern for all people; To learn how the message of Christ is carried around the world; To work with others in sharing Christ, and To keep myself clean and healthy in mind and body.

The Scholastic Dictionary of American English defines ambassador as, 1a representative of the highest rank sent by one government or ruler to another, any representative with a special mission. We as Christians are ambassador's, we are representing Christ in a lost world. 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 says in the Living Bible, 2We are Christ's ambassadors. God is using us to speak to you: we beg you, as through Christ himself were here pleading with you, receive the love He offers you-be reconciled to God. For God took the sinless Christ and poured into Him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God's goodness into us. Jesus gave us a special mission to carry out the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20, Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always even to the end of the age.

Christians are to be well informed followers of Christ. In First Peter 3:15 it says, But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord, always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. If we as Christians are going to be informed followers of Christ we need to know how a person gets saved. It is as simple as ABC, Admit-Believe-Confess. A, admit you are a sinner and that you can't save yourself, you can't get to heaven by living a moral life or performing good deeds. Only through Jesus' death on the cross are you able to get to Heaven. B, believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God. In other words you are believing what John 3:16 says, For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. It goes further to say in vs. 17, For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. C, confess your sins. Just say to God that you are a sinner and in need of forgiveness and ask Jesus to come into your heart. First John 1:9 says, If we confess our sins He is faithfull and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. After we have done these things we should be baptized and become involved in a local church.

A Christian needs to have a Christ-like concern for all people. Having a Christ-like concern means caring about others. Caring about the lost world, the unsaved as well as your brothers and sisters in Christ. It is one thing to say that you will pray for someone and it is another to actually do it. We as christians need to take the time to help people where they need help. Our three priorities should be God, others and then ourselves. Christians need to roll-up their sleeves and be like Jesus, be a foot washer. (John 13:1-17)

We need to learn how the message of Christ is carried around the world. Supporting missions is very important. We not only need to support them financially but in prayer and moral support. An example would be being apart of a short term mission team on the mission field. My church goes to Mexico every two years for a week and builds homes for the homeless. One book I recently read was Elisabeth Elliot's book Through the Gates of Splendor. In it she shares how her husband and four other men wanted to bring the gospel to a remote trip in the Amazon rain forest. After making contact with them they were murdered by the tribe. Later a few of the widows wanted to continue trying to contact the tribe with God's saving grace. They were successful and the tribe came to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

Along with learning how the gospel is carried around the world we need to work with others in sharing Christ. This is done in the local church. It may involve working in the church nursery or preschool, serving as a greeter or an usher, or even teaching a bible study class. Acts 2:42-47 says, They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Notice the last sentence, The Lord added.......who were being saved.

Another example of the early church working together in sharing Christ is found in Acts 4:32-35, All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.

In Acts 6:1-7 there was a small problem and through working together the church leaders appointed seven men to take care of it and as a result we read in Acts 6:7,So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit, we need to keep our mind and bodies clean both physically and spiritually. Romans 12:1-2 says, Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will able to test and approve what God's will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will. One way of making our body a living sacrifice is to do what 2 Corinthians 10:5 says, We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

In order to keep our minds and bodies clean and healthy we need an accountability partner. Someone we can be honest with. It is very important that you trust this person. If you trust then you can share with and pray with and even confess our sins to. 1 John 1:9 says, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and pufify us from all unrighteousness. Sometimes that is the toughest thing to do, but at least you now have someone who will keep who accountable in the areas you struggle with.

As Christians we are God's ambassadors to a lost world. Our attitude and actions should be that of Colossians 3:17 and 3:23, And whatever you do, whether in word or in deed, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him, Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.

The Emancipation Proclamation

2008-02-18T22:50:00.002-06:00

On January 1, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln addressed the nation during the heart of the Civil War. This is what he said.

I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and Government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this 1st day of January, A.D. 1863....order and declare that all persons held as slaves withen said designated States and parts of States are and henceforward shall be free, and that the executive government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.

The Emancipation Proclamation was the first of a series of steps leading to the 13th Amendment, of the Constitution, adopted in 1865, that ended slavery throughout the United States.

In a spiritual way, Jesus made a similar statement in Luke 4:18, where He quoted from the book of Isaiah. The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed.In Romans 8, Paul states that, Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set us free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.

God sent His Son, Jesus, to die on a cross for our sins so that we might have forgiveness and be set free. Are we still going to sin? Are we still going to stumble? Yes, but we have forgiveness through Christ Jesus our Lord. He set us free

New Born Baby

2008-02-18T22:47:00.002-06:00

Imagine a new born baby only hours old. It does not matter if the baby is a boy or girl. Picture the little hands and feet. If you want, count the baby's fingers and toes. If you notice the baby's hand won't reach around you finger.Now picture that same baby in his or her parent's arms. The parent offers love and will do anything to protect the new born baby from harm. Now picture a new born baby only hours old cradled up in the arms of Jesus. Jesus Christ gave His life on a cross because He loves us so much that he wants to hold us in His arms. And I'm sure when we open our eyes he would have the biggest smile on His face.

The American Flag and the Cross of Calvary

2008-02-18T15:22:00.003-06:00

Elizabeth Griscom (Betsy) was born in Pennsylvania on New Year's Day, 1752, into a prominent Quaker family. Upon finishing school, she apprenticed as an upholsterer, but her quiet life turned upside down when at age 21, she eloped with fellow apprentice, John Ross, an Episcopalian. No longer welcome at the Quaker meeting house, Betsy attended Christ Church with her husband, sitting in a pew across the aisle from George Washington.
As the American Revolution began, John joined the war effort and soon made Betsy a widow. It was only a few months later that Betsy attended a meeting that would secure her place in history. George Washington, Robert Morris and George Ross, the uncle of her late husband, came to Betsy's home in May 1776 and asked her to create a flag. It wasn't the first time Washington had come to Betsy in need of a tailor; she had embroidered the ruffles and cuffs of several of his garments. As the meeting got underway, the men shared with Betsy the design they had in mind; she added her own touches changing their six-point stars to the five-point variety we see today.
The flag was finished barely a month before the Declaration of Independence was read aloud for the first time a Philadelphia's Independence Hall, where the Liberty Bell's ringing singled the birth of a new, free nation.
The battle was far from over. Betsy would loose another husband to the Revolution and be forced to house British soldiers in her home during the war. She also put her sewing skills to use creating more practical items, like the cloth pouches that the Continental soldiers used to carry their gunpowder.
At the end of the war, Betsy's work and sacrifice weren't forgotten. On June 14, 1777, Betsy's handiwork was adopted as the national flag by the Continental Congress and has flown proudly ever since.

The American Flag and the Cross of Calvery, cont.

2008-02-18T15:05:00.005-06:00

The events of WWII were captured in thousands of photographs and hundreds of newsreels. But one image of the war stands out above all the others. It is a dramitic photograph showing six US Marines raising the American flag atop a rocky volcanic hilltop.
That hilltop was known as Mount Suribachi. For many people, Mount Surubachi isn't as familiar as Mount Everest or Mount Rushmore. But for historians of the war, like myself, it signifies the U.S. victory on Iwo Jima, which was one of the bloodiest battles in the entire War in the Pacific.
In the March 9, 1945 edition of the St. Louis Globe it said that, "A few minutes after the American Flag went up over the shell torn crest of Mount Suribachi, even though Japanese still lurked in caves on the battered hillside, Navy Lt. Paul Bradley of Brooklyn, NY, a Chaplain, said mass on the Summit.

So as we observe the Lord's Supper we are remembering what Jesus did for us on the cross. We can look to the flag and tell others what He did for us. How He gave His life so that we might live eternally with Him.

If you look at the colors of the flag, Red, White and Blue. The white stripes are, well white. They are pure white, uncorrupted by any dark stain. The bible says, "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." This sin leaves a deadly stain on our hearts that separates us from God. Only Jesus Christ, God's Son who became a man, has ever lived a pure, sinless life. And this perfect man is only one who can remove the stain from our hearts and make us pure in the sight of a holy God.

The Red stripes of the flag remind me of the result of sin. The Bible says, "Without the shedding of blood there is no remission," of sins. (Hebrews 9:22) Moral living and good works cannot wash away the stain of sin. God loves us so much that He sent His son to earth to accept our sin upon Himself and be punished for it in our place. In the second half of 1 John 1:7 it says, "and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." And in the book of Isaiah it says in chapter 53:5, "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds (stripes) we are healed."

Then if you look at the stars on the blue background. They remind me of heaven, a place of freedom, from sin, sickness, and death a place of eternal communion with God. The bible, in Daniel 12:3 promices that we will shine like stars forever.

So as we observe the Lord's Supper remember that just as the soldiers planted the flag on Mt. Suribachi in WW II, are we as Christians planting the cross in our daily lives at work, at school, in our homes, and in the community? As we observe the Lord's Supper we are not only remembering what Jesus did for us on the cross, but why He did it. He did it because he loves us.
Luke 22:19-20

19And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me."
20In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

Forgiveness

2008-02-17T16:20:00.003-06:00

I did not write this, the author is unknown, but it says it all.
"One night in a church service a young woman felt the tug of God at her heart. She responded to God's call and accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. The young woman had a very rough past, involving alcohol, drugs, and prostitution. But, the change in her was evident. As time went on she became a faithful member of the church. She eventually became involved in the ministry, teaching young children. It was not very long until this faithful young woman had caught the eye and heart of a young man in the church. The relationship grew and they began to make wedding plans. This is when the problems began. You see, about one half of the church did not think that a woman with a past such as hers was suitable for this young man. The church began to argue and fight about the matter. So they decided to have a meeting. As the people made their arguments and tensions increased, the meeting was getting completely out of hand. The young woman became very upset about all the things being brought up about her past. As she began to cry the young man stood to speak. He could not bear the pain it was causing his wife-to-be. He began to speak and his statement was this: "My fiancée's past is not what is on trial here. What you are questioning is the ability of the blood of Jesus to wash away sin. Today you have put the blood of Jesus on trial. So, does it wash away sin or not?" The whole church began to weep as they realized that they had been slandering the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Too often, even as Christians, we bring up the past and use it as a weapon against our brothers and sisters."

Forgiveness is a very foundational part of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. If the blood of Jesus does not cleanse the other person completely then it cannot cleanse us completely. If that is the case, then we are all in a lot of trouble. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!