Rescued to Worship

At Southern Calvert Baptist Church, we are on our second round of walking through the entire Bible, cover to cover, over the next three years. During our last meeting, we took a look at the calling that God placed on Moses’ life. Moses answered God’s great calling. God was in the process of preparing a spiritual leader to guide the children of Israel out of bondage and into the Promised Land. God has heard the cries of the children of Israel over the years. He has not forgotten them. He is about to move in a way that would change the course of human history. That is what we are going to take a look at this week.

Mary’s Song of Praise

This week, I was preparing for our Connect Group lesson at Southern Calvert Baptist Church. We are walking through the Bible over a three year period and, after two years, we have finished the Old Testament and now we are going to begin the New Testament. Our study of the New Testament begins with the Gospels. We are going to focus on the Gospel of Luke. The lesson for this week does not focus on Mary’s song of praise, but, I want to write about it because it really moved me. Depending on the denomination, Christians generally have two views of Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

The facade of phony faith

This week, in our Connect Groups at Southern Calvert Baptist Church, we are finishing up our last study on the Old Testament. This has been a two year journey. Our goal was to walk through the entire Bible over a three year period. It took us about 2 years to get  to where we are now and that means that we will walk through the New Testament in one year. This week, our focus is on Malachi, the last book before God goes silent for 400 years.

Faith, Worship, Serving, and Spiritual Gifts

I had the privilege last night of teaching Romans 12:1-8 to our Journey kids at AWANA. These are high school students who are looking to the future. They are making decisions at this time in life that will impact the rest of their lives. Many are thinking about their future; what superior studies they would like to attain, what kind of job they would like to have, where they want to live in the future etc. These are tough decisions for teenagers to contemplate. The most important decision that anyone could ever make is dedicating his or her present and future to serving the Lord. What does that look like practically? The apostle Paul gives us the answer in Romans 12.

Solomon’s Prayer

At Southern Calvert Baptist Church, we are continuing to walk through the Bible, book by book, over a three year period. We are covering I Kings 8 this week. This is when King Solomon dedicates the Temple to the Lord. His prayer is a beautiful prayer and that is what we are going to study this week. As we observe this prayer, I want us to keep in mind the outline of the Lord’s Prayer. One version of the Lord’s Prayer is found in the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 6.

9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
10 ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
11 ‘Give us this day our daily bread.
12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]

God’s mercy and grace produce genuine worship

Last week during our Connect Group at Southern Calvert Baptist Church, we took a look at the contrast between King Saul and David. King Saul was a man who trusted in himself. The prophet Jeremiah teaches that a man who trusts in himself is like a bush planted in the desert on top of a rock that is covered in salt. The results are catastrophic. King Saul’s life was one disaster after another. The Lord allowed King Saul to rule for over 40 years as punishment to the children of Israel because they rebelled against the Lord and asked for a king so that they could be just like the pagans. David, the future King of Israel was a man who trusted in the Lord. The prophet Jeremiah also teaches that a man who trusts in the Lord is like tree planted next to the water, with roots that extend deep and tap into the underground water supply. Even when drought comes, the tree continues to produce fruit. David lived a fruitful life for the Lord. God allows us to choose our actions but, He has already announced the consequences of those actions.

Moses’ last message

This Sunday during our Connect Groups, we are going to conclude the life and ministry of the great man of God, Moses. He has led the children of Israel faithfully for 40 years. It has been a difficult task for Moses and now he is giving his last charge to the people before turning over the leadership role to one of his disciples, Joshua. Our text this week with be Deuteronomy 31 and 32.

Last week we took a look at Balak and Balaam in a lesson entitled: A prophet seeking a profit. We have also seen

• God’s provision for salvation
• Heroes appear after the danger
• The day of atonement
• Idolatry: Are you not entertained?

Praise and Service please the Lord

I’m preparing to teach during our AWANA program this evening at church and we are going to study the topic of praising the Lord in our daily lives. Our passage of study is Luke 19.

The context of Luke 19 helps us understand why Jesus wept over Jerusalem during the festive time. The Triumphal entry marks what we call Holy Week today in the Christian calendar. It was a time of praise and worship, Palm Sunday, and yet, during the height of the festivities, Jesus wept. Why? Luke 19 explains why.

Is Your Worship Useless?

I imagine that the title is quite provocative. In all honesty, it is not a title that I came up with on my own. I actually borrowed the idea from the Lord. He makes this proclamation in Isaiah chapter 1. I would like to examine the passage to discover what kind of worship is useless in the eyes of God. Could any of this describe us today?

Worship, Love, and Obedience

During our last lesson on Abraham, we learned how the same Gospel that we believe and preach today is the same Gospel that was preached to Abraham about 4,000 years ago. This week, we are going to focus on Abraham’s obedience in Genesis 22. Abraham has a test in Genesis 16 that he failed miserably because of his sin nature. He needed God to intervene so that he would be able to obey. God did intervene in Genesis 17 and changed Abraham from the inside out. In Genesis 22, God tests Abraham and in the midst of this test, we discover what Genuine Worship and True Love are. In fact, in this chapter, this is the fist time that the word “love” is used in the Bible. It is also the first time that “worship” is used in the Bible.