Preparing for the Judgment Seat of Christ

This coming Sunday, I have the privilege of preaching at Southern Calvert Baptist Church. I am going to preach on the importance of the Judgment Seat of Christ. The Judgment Seat of Christ lays a foundation of accountability for all followers of Jesus Christ. Accountability is a cornerstone of personal growth, as it establishes a framework for responsibility, integrity, and continuous improvement. Accountability provides a structured framework for monitoring and evaluating tasks, projects, and processes, ensuring that they align with overall goals. It helps identify potential risks, errors, or inefficiencies early on, allowing for timely corrections. The practice of being held accountable is essential for fostering a resilient and high-performing work environment. Our passage for the message is II Corinthians 5:9-10, 14-21. There are three essential truths about accountability that we learn from the Judgment Seat of Christ; the catalyst, the character, and the calling.

Join a Local Church today!

I am preparing a lesson plan for our Connect Groups at Southern Calvert Baptist Church for this coming Sunday. We are going to focus in on Nehemiah 9. This chapter really highlights the contrast between the nature of God and the nature of mankind. God is so different from His creation. The difference was not as vast until sin entered the world and mankind began to suffer from the reality of having a sin nature. This passage shares good news, bad news, and a practical solution for every single human being on the planet. Let’s dive in to this passage and discover what the Lord has to teach us about our need to be involved in a local church on a regular basis!

The Dangers of a Critical Spirit

I have the privilege tonight to meet up with our young teens during our AWANA program. I love meeting up with these kids and studying the Scriptures. I am very proud of them for all of the hard work that they put in memorizing Scripture. I wish I would have begun memorizing Scripture at that age. I am grateful to be part of the team that ministers to these young men and women. They are going to do great things for the Lord! This week, we are going to study and interesting passage of Scripture to learn the difference between serving others and criticizing others. It is very easy to criticize others. Stepping up and serving those in need is much more difficult. Many more people will sit around and criticize rather than help. Few step up, roll up their sleeves, get their hands dirty, and help others. This is true in daily life outside the church. Unfortunately, it’s also true within the organization of the church. We are always going to be faced with the choice of criticizing or helping. I heard an old adage years ago that has stuck with me ever since.

A Relentless Rescue

I had the privilege of attending the Relentless Love conference hosted by CareNet, Southern Calvert Baptist Church, and Real Life Church all here in Southern Maryland. A young man whom I mentored a few years ago, Austin Reed, was the keynote speaker at the event. I had the opportunity to lead a break out session on an inductive Bible study about the subject of “love” from I John 4. I had 20 high school students in the session. Praise God for the power of His Word.

Our New identity in Christ

I am so excited about teaching from Colossians 3 this weekend in our Connect Groups at Southern Calvert Baptist Church. Our goal has been to teach through the entire Bible over a three year period and we are finishing up our third year on this journey. We have discovered that the red thread that flows through the entire Bible is the Promise of the Chosen One who will deal with mankind’s sin problem, the working out of that plan, and finally, the fruition of that plan in the person of Jesus Christ. Now, we are learning how to live in the light of the appearance of Christ. Jesus does not just save us for eternity, He also saves us from ourselves, especially focusing on our sin nature. As followers of Christ, we receive a new life and a new lifestyle. The Apostle Paul focuses on this aspect in his epistle to the Colossian church. Are you a follower of Christ? Has that decision to follow Christ changed your daily lifestyle? If it has, then this lesson is for you. If your lifestyle has not changed, this lesson is also for you.

Be a good steward of the grace of God!

The year 2021 is here! Some of us are very excited. Others are very nervous. Whether things go back to normal or things continue to get stranger and stranger, as followers of Jesus Christ, our marching orders still remain the same. The grace of God has been manifested to us. Jesus is full of grace and He manifested grace to us when we took on human form and dwelled among us. If we are followers of Jesus Christ, not only has the grace of God been manifested to us, the grace of God has also been entrusted to us. Our job is to be a good steward of the manifold grace of God. How do we do that in a practical way? The Apostle Peter does a great job in his first epistle (letter) explaining this to us in a very practical way. I would like to dig down into I Peter 4:10-11.

Elisha prepared for ministry

Once again, I am preparing to teach our Bible study for our Connect Groups this coming Sunday at Southern Calvert Baptist Church. This is our third week in a row that we are focusing on the life and ministry of the prophet Elijah. We saw Elijah’s encounter with the pagan, widow woman. Then we looked at how Elijah confronted the sin of King Ahab and his wicked wife, Jezebel. The previous article ended the complicated life of King Ahab. This week, we are going to come to the end of Elijah’s earthly ministry. But, before Elijah goes to be with the Lord, he does what all good leaders in the Bible do; he makes a disciple. Elijah prepares a disciple to receive the baton of leadership and continue the ministry. Far too many leaders today miss the most important calling of leadership, to prepare more leaders.

Learn to Respect the Lord

Last week during our Connect Groups, we took a look at how Samuel was taught to hear and answer God’s high calling. The same is true for us today. God has the same high calling and we need to learn to hear it and respond. This week, we are going to continue to look at the ministry of Samuel. We discovered, last week, that Samuel spends the rest of his life taking the Word of the Lord to His people. That does not mean that the people always followed the advice that Samuel gave to them. Like all of us, the children of Israel battled with their sin nature on a daily basis. One of the biggest battles that the Lord warns us of is our battle with idolatry. Anything, even positive things, noble things can be turned into idols.

Hearing and Answering God’s Calling

Here at Southern Calvert Baptist Church we are preparing to study the great calling that the Lord gave to Samuel. We are studying through the entire Bible over a three year period using “The Gospel Project”. In our previous lesson, we looked at how Ruth came under the protection of the Lord God of Israel. The Gospel was extended to the Gentiles long before the Day of Pentecost, even before Acts 10. God extended His great mercy, grace, and salvation to the Gentile, Rahab, who was also a prostitute. Then He extended His message to Ruth. In this lesson, we are going to see God extend His great mercy, grace, and salvation to a little Jewish boy named Samuel. It is a beautiful picture of the holy calling that the Lord extends to every human being. The question is, are we going to answer that calling or not?

Discipleship: Empowering others for ministry

I am working on my Sunday School lesson this week and our passage is Exodus 18. Our previous lesson was on how our sin nature is contentious. God has promised victory to us, we simply have to walk in that victory daily.