Here we are at the beginning of another year! This lesson is a break from our James study, though the topic flows directly from our discussion from the first two verses in James 4, and we will actually land right back in James 4 for our conclusion. God had given me this topic back in October for our annual New Year’s lesson, and I had been thinking about it since late 2015.
Lately there has been a lot of talk about “casual Christianity” in church and among our leadership. The more I think about it, the more concerned I am that I and many others are practically living exactly that type of Christian walk, and aren’t even aware of it.
It is because of that possibility that this study compares Jesus’ “greatest commandment” and our lives to see if we are living up to His expectation of us – and our commitment to Him.
This lesson is a detailed timeline of the last week of Jesus’ early ministry, and will likely be very controversial for those who are stuck on a traditional Good Friday crucifixion. But, I believe it is the best fitting explanation of all of the biblical data.
This lesson contains a couple of helpful things I learned while reading two books by Shanti Feldhahn, For Men Only and For Women Only. There is good insight for both husbands and wives.
It was appropriate on Easter to step aside for one Sunday from our Be Ready series to revisit the core issue of Jesus’ resurrection. It is, in fact, fundamental to the premise that we should be living as we wait for His return.
This lesson is from 1 Corinthians 15, where Paul makes a pretty bold, but true statement about where we’d be if Jesus hadn’t really been raised from the dead.
As I typically do at the beginning of each new year, this lesson is a special challenge for the year for my group. It is a call to commit to daily Bible reading. First, we recognize why we so often need to make New Year’s resolutions: a lack of self-discipline. Next we come to understand how a lack of self-discipline is rooted in our unwillingness to control our minds. Then we learn how daily Bible reading will positively affect our lives by bringing our thoughts in line with God’s and help us make better choices.
You’ll notice that some of the presentation notes are blank. That’s because I have taught that content before and didn’t have time to type in the explanations. And because I knew I would be adding the audio to the post that would fill in the blanks, as well. AAC format usable in iTunes and with iPods. 59 min., 29MB
This lesson is just a brief and pointed look at the story of the rich man in Luke 12. What was the real issue with him, and how might that apply to us today?
On Mother’s Day our men had a very informal discussion about finances and giving. During that conversation we agreed that it would be very helpful to have some studies to refresh our awareness of God’s ways in the area of money. This is the first of that series, and we focus on the central passage in the Bible that presents the principle of the tithe and the blessings associated with obedience.
This lesson is the final one for 2013, and one that I would normally teach on the first Sunday of a new year, but had to do early because of our church-wide study starting in January. It is my consistent encouragement at the beginning of a new year to do something. Leadership. Faith. Action. It builds on the lessons at the beginning of the year, and uses William Carey’s famous sermon as the background theme. At the end of the lesson I highlight three individuals who took action and are making a major difference in the lives of millions of people.
This final lesson in the (unintended) series of lessons on love focuses on Jesus’ practical and non-judgmental love for others as the ultimate example for us to follow and emulate. This was the last lesson before beginning the book study on the excellent book, Do Love, A Love Hack’s Path to Spiritual Maturity, by Andrew Rankin, available here.
This lesson was written for the men of our class while the ladies were away celebrating Mother’s Day. It highlights mistakes made by the first three kings of Israel and how we can both see ourselves in those mistakes and how we can avoid them. Not to end on a negative note, the fourth king considered is Hezekiah and how we can follow his example of trust in God even when we face the impossible.
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