Jesus’ first miracle

On Tuesday of this past week, we began our Good News Club at one of our local elementary schools. What a great opportunity to share the message of the Gospel in our community! Our children are being bombarded daily with all kinds of ungodliness and as Christ followers, we have a sacred calling to take the life changing message of the Gospel to these kids. I take this calling seriously and I pray that you do as well. Along with a group of volunteers from our church, Southern Calvert Baptist Church, I had the privilege of teaching Christ to over 20 children. I want to share the lesson with you here in this article.

The Dangers of a Critical Spirit

I have the privilege tonight to meet up with our young teens during our AWANA program. I love meeting up with these kids and studying the Scriptures. I am very proud of them for all of the hard work that they put in memorizing Scripture. I wish I would have begun memorizing Scripture at that age. I am grateful to be part of the team that ministers to these young men and women. They are going to do great things for the Lord! This week, we are going to study and interesting passage of Scripture to learn the difference between serving others and criticizing others. It is very easy to criticize others. Stepping up and serving those in need is much more difficult. Many more people will sit around and criticize rather than help. Few step up, roll up their sleeves, get their hands dirty, and help others. This is true in daily life outside the church. Unfortunately, it’s also true within the organization of the church. We are always going to be faced with the choice of criticizing or helping. I heard an old adage years ago that has stuck with me ever since.

Culture changing Gospel message

I have studied Acts 19 on several different occasions but this time the words seemed to jump off of the page. I’m preparing our Connect Group lesson plan for next Sunday as we continue walking through the New Testament on our 3 year journey through the entire Bible. It has been a journey and I cannot believe that this quarter will wrap up the trip. Along the way, many have confided in me that this is the first time that they have read through the entire Bible, cover to cover. I continue to meet more and more people with this testimony. That is one reason that I enjoy this Gospel Project approach to reading through the Scriptures.

God is sovereign over persecution

What do you think of when you hear the word “persecution“? If you are like I am, you probably have a negative feeling when you read the word persecution. I know that I do. I do not want to face persecution and I am sure that you do not either. As we examine Acts 12, I want us to view persecution from God’s perspective. Once we do this, I think we will have a different opinion of the idea of persecution. I know that sounds strange. I feel strange just writing it.

As a church, we have been walking through the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation over a 3 year period. It has been quite a journey! We have traced God’s perfect plan of salvation for all mankind all the way through the Scriptures. We are currently in the book of Acts. We have seen the birth of the church and we have walked with the members of the early church as the ministry has grown. Persecution was a way of life for the early church. They did not seek out persecution, they simply lived out their faith, proclaimed the Gospel, and made disciples.

The Road to Emmaus

Have you ever wondered what Jesus did during the 40 day period between the resurrection and His ascension? I had often wondered that until I studied Luke 24. During Jesus’ earthly ministry, He taught the Scriptures to any person who would listen. He invested the Scriptures into the lives of His disciples. Jesus submitted to the authority of the Word of God and that is why His teaching had power and authority, unlike the scribes and the Pharisees. Did you think that Jesus just went around making up His own teachings and teaching His own stuff off the cuff? I always thought that until I started really studying His life and His teachings. Here are a few brief examples:

Evidence of the Resurrection

Last Sunday during our Connect Groups at Southern Calvert Baptist Church, we studied the crucifixion of Christ. This week, we are going to focus on the Resurrection of Christ. This is the most significant event in all of human history. Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for our sins and offer forgiveness of sins to us. His resurrection from the dead is our sin nature’s death blow. But, in order to experience the power of the resurrection, we need faith. This lesson is about how the disciples see the evidence of the resurrection and believe. The same is true for us today.

Are you a genuine follower of Christ?

I am excited to prepare this Connect Group lesson for this coming Sunday at Southern Calvert Baptist Church. As I have shared many, many times in these articles, here at Southern Calvert Baptist Church we are walking through the entire Bible over a three year period. We are in the Gospels currently and this week’s lesson is on John 6. Jesus uses the teachings in John 6 to reveal the genuineness of people’s faith. This is an important topic of discussion because, there are many people in this world who claim to have faith. We need to know what genuine faith looks like so that we can first of all, examine our own faith and then make sure we are teaching genuine faith to others.

The Confession, Call, and Conviction of a Disciple of Christ

What unique summer we have had so far! Many of our church activities are on hold because of the Corona Virus. As a result, most of our small group Bible studies have transferred over to video chat. Studying the Bible with people face to face is such a blessing and, unfortunately, we are not able to do that right now. But, in spite of all the changes, we are still walking through the Gospel of Luke. Two and a half years ago, we began the journey of walking through the entire Bible, cover to cover. We are currently in the Gospels. Our focus has been the Gospel of Luke, although we have incorporated other Gospel passages as well. This week, we are going to focus on Luke 9. I want to share what we are learning with you here in this article.

Mephibosheth and God’s Kindness

Over the past few weeks at Southern Calvert Baptist Church, we have been looking at the life of David. The Bible teaches us that David was a man after God’s own heart. What are the characteristics of David that make him a man after God’s own heart? He had a teachable spirit and a servant’s heart. David experienced the grace of God and he wanted to extend that grace to the people around him. David lived for the glory of God. David was not a perfect man. He had a sin nature like all of us have. David made mistakes, like all of us do. David, as we will see in our next lesson, when confronted with his sins, was quick to confess and repent. He was the polar opposite of King Saul.

Jesus on Divorce

Over past 2 weeks, I have had an opportunity to teach Matthew 19 several different times. I wanted to share some of the insights with you here. Many people have questions about divorce. Many others have their own opinions on the subject of divorce. In order to find answers, we need to go to the source of wisdom, Jesus Christ, Himself. Jesus teaches on the subject of divorce in Matthew 19. I would like to examine this teaching here in this article.