Fighting False Information

I have the privilege of studying the Word of God tonight with our high school students during AWANA at Southern Calvert Baptist Church. The theme for tonight is fighting falsehoods. In the Greek language, the word that is used for false is the same word that we get pseudo from that we use in the English language. When something is pseudo, I remember from by days of studying 10th grade biology, it seems like the real thing but it is not. When it comes to Biblical teaching, there are many false teachings that seem genuine but, upon a deeper dive, it becomes evident that the false teaching is not the same thing as the genuine teaching.

The Word, Confession, and Dedication

Nehemiah is a great book of the Bible that demonstrates the connection between the Word of God, confession of sin, and dedication to the Lord. This is a question that many are asking today, that is, “why are there so few dedicated people to the Lord in our society”? Have you ever asked that question? Have you ever heard someone else ask that question? Well, according to Nehemiah, dedication comes as the result of the Word and confession of sins. In this article, I would like to examine Nehemiah 8-10. This is the study for next week’s Connect Groups here at Southern Calvert Baptist Church.

David experiences mercy, grace, and forgiveness

As we continue looking at the life of David and his walk with the Lord, we are reminded of why he is called a man after God’s own heart. He has a teachable spirit, a servant’s heart, and he was quick to obey. David is a man who has experienced God’s mercy and grace and he has been quick to extend that mercy and grace to others, even his enemy, King Saul.

In this lesson, we are going to see how David experiences God’s forgiveness. David, although a man after God’s own heart, was not perfect. Like all of us, David was born with a sin nature. His heart was inclined to sin, just like my heart is and just like your heart is. As we study this, just remember, no matter what you have done, God’s mercy, grace, and forgiveness is available.

Genuine faith honors Scripture over Religious Traditions

I am working through the Gospel of Mark during my time off from work over the Christmas holiday season. I have been teaching through Mark with my preschool teachers. It has been amazing to experience Christ’s loving touch through His mighty Word. After Christmas break, we will jump in and study Mark 6. After that, we will dive in and study Mark 7, the source of this article. If you have not been following the teaching series, you can access the previous teachings by clicking on the article titles that follow:

1. Jesus: Experiencing His Life and Ministry
2. Jesus the Rescuing Teacher
3. The unpardonable sin
4. The parable of the sower and the seed
5. Failing Faith needs a Faithful Friend
6. Jesus serves individuals
7. Discipleship according to Jesus

Born again by water and the Spirit

The idea for this article came as a direct result of a Facebook question that I asked in reference to John 3:5. I received the answers that I expected. I was asked to explain the meaning of the water to which Jesus refers in John 3:5. I want to share the explanation here in this post. One of the requirements in answering the posed question was that interpretation needed to be contextual and referenced with other Scriptures if possible.

Here is the question:

The importance of sound doctrine

I am getting ready to teach the final lesson on the Apostle Paul’s epistle to one of his disciples, Titus. This lesson will focus on the importance of sound doctrine. We live in a day when there is a great famine in our world, especially in the churches, when it comes to teaching and learning sound doctrine. Many have watered down the Word of God so much that It is lost in the church. It seems that very few leaders are actually teaching the full counsel of the Word of God. This is nothing new. During Paul’s day, he had to teach the full counsel of God’s Word because there were so few who were doing it. As Paul instructs Titus via his epistle, he emphasizes the importance of sound doctrine and commands Titus to teach and defend sound doctrine. The question that we want to focus on is, what is sound doctrine?

Pateintly await the coming of the Lord

This is the final lesson on James. This has been an exciting and challenging study for all of us. We have constantly been challenged to examine ourselves and the way we live on a daily basis. Living faith is evident, just like dead faith is evident.

1. Living faith vs. Dead faith
2. Living faith vs. Dead faith part II
3. Trials and Temptations; what’s the difference?
4. Genuine faith in action
5. Two spiritual births; death and life
6. Living faith in action
7. Living faith revealed
8. Living faith produces good works
9. Living faith tames the tongue with wisdom from above
10. Teach heavenly wisdom
11. Living faith resolves conflict
12. James 4, worldliness, enmity, and judging
13. James 4, living faith and how you invest your time

James 4; Living faith and how you invest your time

Well folks, another Wednesday is upon us and I am teaching my staff from James 4. I love teaching through James. It is such an eye opening epistle. It challenges you to take a close look at the faith that you claim to have to see if it is living faith or dead faith. Living faith is manifested in our everyday lives, just like dead faith is manifested. God allows us to go through circumstances that reveal which faith we have.

If you are just joining us, here are the previous lessons that we have covered, learning what living faith looks like.

James 4; Worldliness, Enmity, and Judging

It is Wednesday once again. I am excited to get ready to teach during our staff meeting. I love studying God’s Word, even though, many times, it is a time of discipline for me, feeling the loving hand of God touch the sore spots in my life. He does it because He loves me and wants to work in me before He uses me to teach His message. Sometimes, it is painful, yet it is always rejuvenating for me, especially for my relationship with God. I am excited to teach on James 4 today.

If you have been following along with us in this study of the book of James, then this next part will be a good review. If you are new to the study, these articles will help you “catch up” and see the context of what we are about to study.

1. Living faith vs. Dead faith
2. Living faith vs. Dead faith part II
3. Trials and Temptations; what’s the difference?
4. Genuine faith in action
5. Two spiritual births; death and life
6. Living faith in action
7. Living faith revealed
8. Living faith produces good works
9. Living faith tames the tongue with wisdom from above
10. Teach heavenly wisdom
11. Living faith resolves conflict

Living faith resolves conflicts

Wednesday is almost here again. As a children’s department staff, we are continuing our examination of James’ epistle which deals with the theme of living faith vs. dead faith. James uses real life situations to demonstrate if our faith is living or dead. Here are some of the previous lessons that cover James chapters 1-3.

1. Living faith vs. Dead faith
2. Living faith vs. Dead faith part II
3. Trials and Temptations; what’s the difference?
4. Genuine faith in action
5. Two spiritual births; death and life
6. Living faith in action
7. Living faith revealed
8. Living faith produces good works
9. Living faith tames the tongue with wisdom from above
10. Teach heavenly wisdom