Jesus heals blind Bartimaeus

Yesterday, I had the privilege of attending our church’s ministry to one of our local public elementary schools. The ministry is called, “Good News Club“. We meet weekly with over 20 elementary students and study the eternal Word of God. Over the past 4 weeks, we have been learning about the miracles performed by Jesus, recorded in the Gospel of John. We have learned about how Jesus turned water into wine and the reason behind it. We learned about Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus and the miracle of being born again. Then we covered Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well and how He forgave her sins. After that, we learned how Jesus healed the royal official’s son and transformed an entire family. Finally, yesterday, we covered Jesus’ encounter with blind Bartimaeus. The story of blind Bartimaeus is not found in the Gospel of John. The Gospel writer Mark mentions this encounter in Mark 10. Chapter 10 in the Gospel of Mark is all about faith. The word “faith” means being convinced of the Truth of reality based on the Word of God. A synonym for faith is “trust“. Another word that could be used for faith is, “surrender“. Faith literally means trusting the Word of God and surrendering to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. In the Gospel of John, the author informs us of why Jesus performed all of these miracles.

The Beauty of the Word of God

This Sunday completes our first unit in our new quarter of curriculum for our Connect Groups. This unit is about how the Lord teaches us His ways through His Word. The depth and wisdom of the Word of God has not end. No matter how deeply we dig into the Word of God, we will never reach the bottom. There is no such thing as “enough Bible study” or “too much Bible study“. Our focus this week is the beauty of the Word of God. I cannot wait to teach this lesson.

Worship: Confession, Gratitude, and Sanctification

When is the last time that you studied the book of Leviticus? I hear many people complain about Leviticus, about how boring it is or about how it is a bunch of rules and regulations that don’t apply to modern man. I kind of felt that way until I actually studied the book of Leviticus and understood what the Lord is communicating to us through the beautiful book of the Bible. Take a look at what the great Apostle Paul has to teach us about the Old Testament, including the book of Leviticus.

‘Tis the Season for hope and salvation

I am so excited to prepare for Christmas. What a tradition! We get to remember the promise of the First Advent of the Messiah and celebrate the fact that it happened in human history. All of human history was split in half by the birth of Jesus Christ. He is the most famous human being of all time. His book, the Bible, continues to be the best selling book of all time. The birth of Christ has set our Western calendar for the past 2,000 years. To me, Christmas is a magical season. Sometimes, it is easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season that we forget the reason WHY we do all of this every year. It is a time of remembrance. It is also a time to reflect on the fact that the First Advent implies that there will be a Second Advent. I have written several articles on the Sundays of Advent and you can read them by clicking on the following titles:

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?

Overcoming difficult circumstances

How are you doing? 2020 has been a very difficult year for all of us. Many have given up, choosing to end it all instead of facing these difficult times. Others have fallen into depression and need someone to rescue them. This pandemic has led to some very difficult days. About 2,000 years ago, when the Apostle Peter was living out the Great Commission, the days were similarly difficult as they are today. Through Peter, God gives us advice to overcome these difficult times in which we live. As we examine I Peter chapters 1 and 2, we are going to discover how to cling to Christ during these difficult days.

Christmas: The Word became Flesh

I am excited to prepare for our Connect Group lesson that will be taught this coming Sunday. This is the last Sunday before Christmas. We are all getting ready to celebrate. That is a good thing. As we prepare to celebrate, we must pause and consider why we are celebrating. In order to prepare, let’s turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 1.

Searching for Peace, Faith, and Love?

What thoughts come to your mind when you hear or read the words peace, faith, and love? I am sure that if you asked 100 different people you would get 100 different answers. Most of us are searching for peace. All of us want to experience love. It’s human nature. Songs have been written about peace and love. Movies have been made about peace and love. Books and poems have been composed about peace and love. Everyone seems to be looking for these two things yet, so few seem to be able to find them. God knows that we are all searching for peace and love because He created us to be that way. That is why it is important to turn to the Word of God while we are on our quest for peace and love. In this article, I would like to focus on two chapters from the Gospel of John, chapters 20 and 21.

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.

Faith to walk on water

I am so excited to prepare this lesson for our Connect Groups at Southern Calvert Baptist Church because, we are officially meeting in person again on site at the church!!! Last week was our first official, in person meeting of our Connect Groups since March. For the past five and a half months, we have been meeting via video chat. Praise God for technology and the ability to continue to study the Word together but, there is nothing like an in person, face to face Bible study.