God’s Mercy and Grace extended to Leah

It has been neat to see the common theme of the mercy and grace of God run through each chapter of the book of Genesis. God is weaving a story together throughout His Word and it threads together beautifully with human history. Mankind, from Genesis 3 to Genesis 29, our current chapter for consideration, has been looking for a Rescuer. God promised Adam and Eve that they would be saved by a Male Child, born of a virgin. Every generation that has followed has learned about this Male Child who would Rescue people from sin’s penalty and power. God’s mercy is manifested in the fact that He does not punish people immediately for their sins. God’s grace is manifested in the fact that He gives people multiple opportunities to get right with Him through faith in the Messiah, the Promised Rescuer.

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.

Living a Fruitful Life for Christ

Over the past two months, the Sunday School classes at Southern Calvert Baptist Church have been studying through the Epistles of the New Testament. God has really blessed us to learn important life lessons from the early church. God’s Word is so applicable to daily life, no matter the Century or era in human history. We have looked at such subjects as:

Agape Love in Action

I spent most of yesterday and part of today preparing this lesson for Sunday School at Southern Calvert Baptist Church. Over the past couple of months, we have been learning spiritual truths from the New Testament Epistles. Here are some of those lessons:

• Our enduring identity in Christ (I Peter 2)
• Grow to maturity in your faith (I Corinthians)
• Justified by faith to be Sanctified by faith (Galatians 1)
• The daily impact of the resurrection (video: Romans 6)

Rebellious against God

Our Sunday School classes at Southern Calvert Baptist Church are walking through the Old Testament book of Exodus, focusing on God’s Great Calling. He is El Roi which means that He sees all things and is not indifferent to what happens to us. God intervenes on mankind’s behalf by calling us to come out of our slavery to sin and learn to worship Him. Some respond to the calling in obedience (Moses) while others respond by hardening their hearts to the message (Pharaoh). Once we respond to this calling, God wants to work in our lives via a spiritual mentor. He also wants to take us and train us to share His message of Good News with anyone who will listen. As we learn to walk with God, our sin nature seeks to dominate us like it once did, before we answered God’s Great Calling. It tries to get us to give in to our fears and not walk by faith. It tries to get us to grumble against our spiritual leaders instead of walking in humble obedience to the Lord by submitting to the leadership whom He has put over us. In our last lesson, we learned the purpose of the 10 Commandments. We learned that the 10 Commandments show us just how sinful we are. Moses had a sin nature just like the people of Israel had a sin nature. Moses was tempted just as the people of Israel were tempted. They both respond very differently to temptation.

God’s Calling and Leadership

Over the past couple of weeks, at Southern Calvert Baptist Church, we have been studying through the life of Moses, learning about the Calling that the Lord has for all people.

• Answering God’s Great Calling
• Pharaoh’s Response to God’s Great Calling
• God’s Calling and Impacting Relationships

This coming Sunday, our Sunday School classes are going to cover Exodus 16:1-20. This is a great chapter because it reveals the heart of sinful man and the need for strong Biblical leaders.

Remember Christ’s Sacrifice (Exodus 12)

Once again, I am preparing to teach our Sunday School lesson at Southern Calvert Baptist Church. I am excited to begin teacher training soon because I love studying the Scriptures with others. There is great fellowship that comes with sitting around the Word of God and discovering Truth directly from the mind of God. Our church has some great Sunday School teachers and I am excited to be part of such an amazing team. As a church, we are walking through the book of Exodus. So far, we have covered the following topics:

• Moses answers God’s Great Calling
• Pharaoh’s Response to God’s Great Calling

Answering God’s Great Calling

In our Sunday School classes at Southern Calvert Baptist Church, we are beginning a new quarter this weekend. I am excited because we are diving into the book of Exodus, learning about the great calling that God has. I have heard some people teach that “God has a plan for your life“. That sounds good but I do not see it in the Bible. I see God having a plan and inviting us to be a part of His plan instead of having an individual plan for each life. Each person does have a role to play in God’s overall plan but, it’s all about Him and not about us. I know the difference sounds subtle but, when the implications are carried out, it is huge.

Your Emotions Will Follow Your Faith

Last Sunday, we had an awesome Sunday School lesson about doing battle with our worst enemy. David reminded us in Psalm 141 that we are our own worst enemies and that we need a Protector to protect us from ourselves. We all need a guard over our mouths so that we do not tear people down with our words and, instead, we build them up. We also need someone to protect us from hearts’ inclination toward evil. Finally, we learned to be grateful for those who help us stay away from evil and do good, even if they have to rebuke and correct us. I know all who were involved in studying the Word were blessed. I pray that we put into practice this week all that we learned last weekend. This coming Sunday, during our Sunday School hour, we are going to examine Psalm 42.

God, My Protector (Psalm 141)

I am so glad to be back in writing mode. The past 2 months have been crazy for me and my family. I have changed jobs and, as a family, we have moved across the country. I have not been able to study and write like I normally do. I am getting settled in and I am so glad to be able to study and write on a more regular basis. Last week, our Sunday School lesson was based on Psalm 32. David left some practical advice for us to learn from his mistakes. Another of the Psalms that I have a lesson on is Psalm 19, Restoring the soul.