In Whom do you trust?

This week, in our Connect Groups at Southern Calvert Baptist church, we are continuing to study the Old Testament. We will be in the book of Isaiah. The children of Israel, like all people, struggled with their sin nature. That struggle manifested in the form of idolatry. God, because of His great love, was and is patient with His people, even when we disobey Him. It is His nature. He interacts with humanity based on love. Even when He disciplines people, it is done out of love, seeking to produce repentance. God has to humble His people, and even that is done out of love.

The Futility of Idolatry

It’s another Monday! I am excited to prepare our Connect Group lesson for this coming Sunday. As the old pastor preached, “It’s Monday, but Sunday’s coming“. I hope that you had a great weekend that culminated in attending church and worshiping the Creator of the universe. In our journey through the Old Testament, we have covered some amazing subjects. One reoccurring subject in the Old Testament is the futility of idol worship. As human beings, we were all created to worship something outside of ourselves. But, because of our sinful, human nature, we have a tendency to worship ourselves. When surveys are done, people tend to think more highly of themselves than they think of others. We are born with this tendency. God created us to connect with Him and worship Him in our daily lives.

Advent Sunday 4

The fourth Sunday of Advent has some great readings from the Scriptures. Each Sunday of Advent deals with Old and New Testament references to the First and Second Advent. I have really enjoyed writing about the first three Sundays of Advent and you can read those articles by clicking on the following links:

Advent Sunday 3

I have really enjoyed this journey through the Sundays of Advent. I wrote the first article on the First Sunday of Advent and you can read it here. The previous Advent article was on the Second Sunday of Advent and you can read it here. I have learned a lot about the traditions of advent. I have thoroughly enjoyed walking through the Scriptures that point to the First and Second Advent of Jesus Christ.

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.

Your Worldview Matters

Tonight, I have the privilege of meeting with the Journey kids during our AWANA program at Southern Calvert Baptist Church. The kids are learning about worldviews during this section of their book. This week, we are going to take a look at Isaiah 44. God teaches about worldviews all throughout the Bible. All of us have a worldview, even if we do not realize it. The idea of worldview is defined as a “particular philosophy of life” a “conception of the world lived out in daily life“. A worldview is often inherited from parents and shaped by society. Even politics is impacted by worldviews. Politics is the battle for worldview application in daily life. Every single political party has a worldview. The Bible teaches us to have a worldview. The Biblical worldview is best summed up in the 10 Commandments. God shapes our worldview in the first 4 Commandments.

The Enemy’s Tactics Revealed

I am getting ready to teach a lesson from the Bible study, “Lord, teach me to pray, for kids” produced by Precept Ministries International. I highly recommend this study for all ages, especially for kids. It is based on the Lord’s Model Prayer found in the Sermon on the Mount. This particular lesson is about trusting in the character of God. Jeremiah tells us that a man who trusts in himself (or others) is like a bush, planted in the desert, on top of a rock, covered in salt. What a great picture of doom. A man who trusts in himself has no hope. In contrast, a man who trusts in the character of God is like a tree planted next to a river. He will prosper. This is a situation that King Hezekiah faces in Isaiah 36. The Assyrians have attacked and defeated the Northern Kingdom in Israel. Now, they have their eyes set on the Southern Kingdom where Hezekiah reigns as king. The Assyrians send out leaders to persuade the people of the Southern Kingdom not to resist. King Hezekiah has to make a choice. Is he going to trust in himself, in others kingdoms as allies, or, is he going to trust in the Lord. His life is on the line. The lives of his people are on the line. What is he going to do? Let’s find out.

Is Your Worship Useless?

I imagine that the title is quite provocative. In all honesty, it is not a title that I came up with on my own. I actually borrowed the idea from the Lord. He makes this proclamation in Isaiah chapter 1. I would like to examine the passage to discover what kind of worship is useless in the eyes of God. Could any of this describe us today?

The Prince of Peace reigns

This week during our Connect Groups, we are going to take a look at the first advent of the Messiah. This is our Christmas lesson since Christmas is just around the corner. Christmas is an annual holiday, a tradition that has been passed down from one generation to the next. The tradition is the celebration of the birth of the Promised Messiah. Celebrating the birth of the Messiah has its roots in Genesis chapters 3 and 4. God promised that a male child would be born and He would crush sin and rescue people from their sins. The first celebration of the birth of the Messiah took place in Genesis 4. Eve believed that her firstborn son, Cain, was the promised male child. She was correct in expecting his birth but she was wrong in the timing. This is the first time we see people seeking to celebrate the birth of the Promised Messiah. That happened roughly 4,000 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. For us today, it was about 6,000 years ago. During a 4,000 year period, people placed their faith in the Promised Messiah. The people were looking forward to the coming of the Messiah, the birth of the Messiah. Now, we look back on the fact that the Messiah has come. It has been about 2,000 years since this event. Christians have been celebrating the birth of Christ for almost 2,000 years. The idea of celebrating the birth of the Promised Messiah has been around, as I mentioned earlier, for almost 6,000 years in human history.

Persecution: The fuel that furthers the Gospel

We are in Acts 8 as we continue to walk through the New Testament this year in our Connect Groups at Southern Calvert Baptist Church. To get us caught up in what we have learned, we need to take a look at the commands given to the disciples by Jesus before He ascended into heaven.

• you will receive power
• the power will be the Holy Spirit
• the Holy Spirit will allow you to be a witness for Christ to all
• you are to live a life of missions, seeking to make disciples of all nations and ethnic groups
• evangelize and equip/train those who believe
• teach/preach/proclaim/share the Word of God with all who will listen
• you are to make disciples starting in Jerusalem and moving out to the ends of the earth