We must obey God!

Today, I am going to teach from Acts 5 to a group of kids at our church in the AWANA program. This group of kids is learning the book of Acts. This lesson is about obeying God rather than man. Just like there is such a thing as righteous indignation, there is also such a thing as righteous rebellion. This seems like a contradiction but, it actually complements the teachings in the Bible about subjection to earthly authority. In the heart of every human being, there is a spark of rebellion. We have this rebellious streak because of our sin nature. When raising children, we do not have to teach them to be rebellious. It comes naturally to them, just as it comes naturally to us. The definition of rebellion is “resisting an established law“.

Advent Sunday 2

Last Sunday was the first Sunday of advent. I wrote an article about the first Sunday of advent and you can read it here. Since I wrote about the first Sunday of advent last week, I decided to write about the second Sunday of advent here. As we consider the second Sunday of advent, we will focus mainly on four Biblical texts.

A Relentless Rescue

I had the privilege of attending the Relentless Love conference hosted by CareNet, Southern Calvert Baptist Church, and Real Life Church all here in Southern Maryland. A young man whom I mentored a few years ago, Austin Reed, was the keynote speaker at the event. I had the opportunity to lead a break out session on an inductive Bible study about the subject of “love” from I John 4. I had 20 high school students in the session. Praise God for the power of His Word.

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 Church in Action (Acts 11)

After the past year, I feel that many of us would love to see the church in action. Many churches shut down in March of 2020 and they still have not opened the doors one year later. I personally know people who have not been able to attend a church physically during the past year. Some churches shut the door and went “dark”. What do I mean by “dark”? The church leadership was not putting out any teaching. Is it okay for a church to go dark? What happened to the church in the First Century when persecution brought actual death to the disciples of Jesus Christ? In 2020, many churches shut down because of the fear of death without actually facing the threat of death. What happened during the First Century when disciples were actually dying simply for meeting as followers of Christ? Let’s see how that church compares to many churches of 2020 and 2021.

The power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

I’m so excited to prepare this lesson on the power of the Gospel for our upcoming Connect Group at Southern Calvert Baptist Church. As I write this article, I am in the process of recovering from Covid19. Praise the Lord that Jehovah Rapha, the Great Physician, is alive and well, no matter what we face in this life. I think that the lesson this week is fitting. I have experienced the power of the Gospel in my life over and over again, including this very week. Have you experienced the power of the Gospel in your life?

Jesus on the Cross: Our Forgiveness made possible

Since March, here at Southern Calvert Baptist Church, we have been studying the life and ministry of Jesus Christ in the Gospels. Every Sunday morning, we meet at 9AM in what we call “Connect Groups”. We connect with each other around the Word of God as we seek to connect with God through His Holy Word. Our church is using the Gospel Project produced by Lifeway. This project walks us through the entire Bible over a 3 year period. As we study, we are not simply seeking to gain information about Jesus. We seek to encounter Jesus and experience the transformation that only He can bring to a person’s life.

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 Transfiguration

This coming Sunday at Southern Calvert Baptist Church, we are going to cover the subject of the transfiguration of Christ during our Connect Groups. This is an important event for Jesus’ disciples as well as an important event for us today. Our passage is the Gospel of Matthew, chapter seventeen. In our last lesson, we took a look at the faith needed to walk on water. It was an important lesson for us because of the times in which we live. Peter and the other disciples had to make a choice; to surrender to faith in the midst of life’s storms or, to surrender to fear. They immediately chose fear yet, Jesus reminded them of faith and it made all of the difference.