Created to serve a Sovereign God

This week in our Connect Groups at Southern Calvert Baptist Church, we are finishing up our study of the first book of the Bible, Genesis. The name Genesis means beginnings. We have learned a lot about God over this past 3 month period. We have also learned a lot about ourselves. God has revealed parts of His character to us through the different Names that He uses to describe Himself in the book of Genesis. We have discovered that He is:

Do you value people over things?

I am working on my lesson for our Connect Groups that will meet this coming Sunday at Southern Calvert Baptist Church. As a church, we have been walking through the entire Bible over the previous two and a half years. I am so excited to see how all of the things that we have been learning are all coming together in the person of Jesus Christ. This week, our journey takes us to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 12. What do you value in this life? What do you spend the majority of your time doing? What do you invest your time and energy into the most? For many humans, we invest our precious time and energy into acquiring wealth and possessions. In and of themselves, wealth and possessions are not a bad thing. Money is simply a tool in the hands of God that He uses to reveal our priorities. We all have a choice; we can use the precious gift of time to invest in temporary things, like wealth and possessions or, we can use the precious gift of time to invest in eternal things, like the souls of our fellow human beings. Jesus challenges us to pick one or the other because we cannot do both. In other words, we cannot serve two masters. We cannot serve wealth accumulation and God both at the same time. We will give lip service to one and really devote ourselves to the other. This is what Jesus addresses in Luke 12.

Are you building your life on a crooked foundation?

The title of this article is the theme that we want to explore this week at Southern Calvert Baptist Church in our Connect Groups. We are walking through the Bible in three years and right now, we have arrived at Genesis 11. Almost 2,000 years of human history passes between Genesis 1 and Genesis 11. So far, we have explored God’s perfect creation and the fact that mankind (human beings) was created to be the reflection of our Creator. That reflection is seen, not in our appearance, but, in our attitude, words, and actions. Mankind is a relational being just as our Creator is relational. Our relationship with the Creator impacts the way that we relate to others. All of that changed in Genesis 3 when our original ancestors, Adam and Eve, chose to disobey God and brought sin into the world. This action marred their ability to reflect God correctly. They developed a sinful nature and passed that nature on to every human ever born, with the exception of Jesus Christ. Relationships are now hard because our relationship with our Creator is marred. God promised to send a Savior to reconcile mankind to Himself and resolve mankind’s slavery to his own sin nature. Adam and Eve believed God’s promise.

Teachings for Daily Living

In our Sunday School classes at Southern Calvert Baptist Church, we are finishing up our study on Exodus and Leviticus. We have learned some great lessons about the calling that God gives to each person and how we need to respond to God’s calling. We have also learned about what life is supposed to be like when we are part of the family of God. This coming Sunday, we are going to learn about teachings for daily living. Leviticus 17-27 is a series of teachings about daily living. I want to compare Leviticus 17-27 with what Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount found in the Gospel of Matthew 5. I want to divide the passage into 5 sins, give Jesus’ explanation, and then the solution that He offers to us.

Faith is public not just a private affair (Psalm 40)

I was challenged by a friend of mine on Facebook today to take time to read Psalm 40. Boy am I glad that I did. I would like to share some of the truths that I gleaned from Psalm 40 in this article.

A few years ago, while serving on the foreign mission field, I ran into people who had this strange mentality, suggesting that faith and our relationship with God was something that we keep in our hearts. In other words, faith is private and not a public matter. King David had a very different opinion. He boldly proclaimed his faith and relationship with God to anyone who wanted to listen. In the famous “Sermon on the Mount”, Jesus proclaimed that His followers are to be salt and light. Both salt and light have visible effects on the world around them. In other words, Jesus and David both teach the same principle, that faith is to be very public, that we should be ready to share about our relationship with God with anyone who will listen.

Striving to live a disciplined life

It has been a lot of fun teaching through II Thessalonians. I have taught this book many times and, each time I teach through it, I learn new things about God and new things about myself.

If you have been following this series, you are aware of the previous lessons and what they teach. If you have not been following the series, take a moment to play a little catch up by reading the following articles.

1. The importance of communication
2. Genuine faith endures persecution
3. Concerning the Day of the Lord
4. The Church and the Day of the Lord 
5. Praying for your disciples

The previous lesson focused on prayer, specifically, praying for your disciples, that they would grow in their knowledge of the Word of God, that they would grow in their faith, that they would grow in their love, and that they would continue making more disciples. 

The Urgency of the Gospel

I was trained by some of the best disciple makers in the world and, as they were investing in me, they invested the idea of the urgency of the Gospel. As I have grown in my faith by walking with the Lord, and as I have grown in the ministry, I have noticed that there are many “brothers” and “sisters” in Christ who have a much different philosophy of ministry than the one I was taught. Part of that includes a lack of urgency when it comes to making disciples and getting the Gospel out to the lost and dying world. I would like to examine the Scriptures and focus on the idea of the urgency of making disciples because the days are evil.

What are the deeds worthy of repentance?

This is an article written by my good friend and brother in Christ, Alexei Tentiuc. It was originally written in Romanian and I have translated it into English so that you may be just as blessed by it as I was.

The deeds of repentance do not come about from your own will power. The deeds of repentance come as a result of a changed mind. “Metanoia”, the Koine Greek word that is translated “repentance” in English simply means “a change of mind”. A person who has experienced genuine repentance has had a radical change in his way of thinking take place. The way that he views things also change as a result of the change in his way of thinking. As a result of a change in thinking and faith in Jesus Christ, a person who has repented will also see a change in his actions. This is what the Bible teaches on the subject of repentance, faith, and the deeds worthy of repentance. Let’s take a look for ourselves in the Word of God to discover these important truths.

God’s Great Calling for YOU

I am preparing to speak at our annual Kids’ Express graduation this coming Thursday evening. I am excited to see the little ones who have gone through our program showcase what they have learned over the past 3 or 4 years. The best testimony of their hard work is when they enter kindergarten far ahead of their piers who did not attend Kids’ Express. I am so thankful for our teachers and leaders in Kids’ Express, as well as the parents who are working hard to invest in their little gifts from the Lord.

In the past, I have spoken about the importance of investing in the spiritual lives of our kids, just as much as we invest in their physical needs, education, and hobbies.

Resurrected to different rewards

Contrary to popular belief, heaven will not be equal for all. Heaven will not be a communistic dream where everyone receives the same, no matter what they did on this earth. I would like to examine a couple of Jesus’ teachings on the kingdom of heaven. After that, we will take a look at what Paul teaches about the rewards that await us after this life is over.

If you will take a look with me at Paul’s writing to the church in Ephesus.