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.

Surrender, Serve, and Suffer for the Lord

Today is Friday but Sunday’s coming! If you have never heard that sermon by S.M. Lockridge, I invite you to listen to a clip of it here. Three days after the crucifixion, Jesus resurrected from the dead. What does that mean for His followers today? We celebrate His victory over sin and death but what does that mean for us in the 21st Century? That’s what I am going to speak on during our Sunrise Service this coming Sunday morning.

Born again to holiness

I am so excited about this week’s lesson in our Connect Groups at Southern Calvert Baptist Church! In our three year journey through the Bible from cover to cover, we are finishing up Israel’s time in the wilderness before entering the Promised Land. This was a very difficult period in the history of Israel. The children of Israel were battling their sin nature just like we battle our sin nature every day of our lives. It is easy to look at them on the pages of the Old Testament and ask, “why were they like that“? Are we not the same today? I am excited about this lesson because we are going to talk about being born again. It’s a phrase that we do not use as often as we should in the Protestant world. We talk about getting “saved” but we do not mention what we are saved from, how we are saved, what it means to be saved in a literal sense. I think we try to keep it vague on purpose because when we get specific, we become accountable. When we use the phrase “born again” explanation is needed and that is a good thing. The Apostle Peter really liked the phrase “born again” and he used it often in his writings.

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?

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.

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.

We have THE WORD of God

I am preparing to teach during our AWANA program this evening and the theme for the night is the Word of God. The Bible is a unique book in human history. It is the very hear of God, communicated to us in a language that we can understand so that we can discover what God wants from us. Many people have asked throughout the ages, “what does God want from me”? Many others have tried to answer that question. The definitive answer is found in the pages of the Holy Bible. Parts of the Bible were written by different men over a 1,600 year period time. These people lived on different continents and came from vastly different cultures. Yet, the central message of the Bible is the same. Other parts of the Bible were written by God, Himself.

Christ’s Resurrection and Commissioning

I have been teaching through the Gospel of Mark with a group of men and it has been amazing to see the ministry of Jesus Christ, especially how relevant it is today. This is the final lesson in a 3 part series on the Gospel of Mark. I began teaching it back in the Fall of 2018. We are currently in the Summer of 2019. It is the shortest Gospel in the New Testament but, it is powerful and full of amazing information that stirs up life transformation. If you have not been following along through the entire study, the following 16 articles will be very helpful in helping you catch up.

A Criminal’s Cross

Last night at Southern Calvert Baptist Church, one of our worship leaders preached a powerful message about the crucifixion. The focus was not on Jesus but, on the two criminals who were crucified with Him. In this story, we get to associate ourselves with one of the three main characters. There is the rebellious sinner, the repentant sinner, and Jesus Christ. As the late Wayne Barber used to say, “there is no vacancy in the Holy Trinity” so, you are not allowed to associate with Jesus in the story. You and I either associate with the rebellious sinner or the repentant sinner. That is why the Apostle Paul quoted from the Psalmist when explaining the state of all mankind: