Bible Lessons

Keep Your Behavior Excellent    In 1 Peter 2:12, the apostle Peter tells us, “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.” In other words, be careful because people are watching. Perhaps you’ve heard the following story… A woman pulls up to a red light behind one other car. She notices the driver of the car in front of her is talking on his  cell phone and appears to be shuffling through some papers on the seat beside him. The light turns green, but the man doesn't notice. The woman waits, but the man doesn't notice the light change. The woman begins pounding on her steering wheel and yelling at the man to move. The man doesn't move. The woman is going ballistic inside her car, ranting and raving at the man, pounding on her steering wheel and dash. The light turns yellow. The woman begins to blow the

Don't Walk Alone    The following article is from an email that was sent to me once by a dear friend (who, coincidentally, was diagnosed with breast cancer just a short time later)... My cousin, Donnie, lost his beautiful sweet wife to pancreatic cancer earlier this month. Jeannine was a precious person. She touched the lives of many people, family, and friends. Jeannine and I were not as close as we had been in the past due to raising children and busy lives, but there are some things that will always be with me because of her. When our grandmother was in a nursing home in Chatom, Jeannine and I would travel, with her little one, Kimberly, to visit Nanny every Friday. Jeannine began visiting Nanny long before I had the opportunity to travel with her. We would load up her little car with the walker and car-seat and head to Chatom. Jeannine enjoyed this so much. She told me one of the reasons was so that Nanny could enjoy Kimberly as much as she could in her last years on this

A Godly Man    Psalm 101 is a great outline of what a godly man, a godly husband, and a godly father should be like. David wrote this Psalm as a profession of his desire for personal integrity. Through all of these verses, we can insert a godly man and see what we should strive to be and accept. 1. A godly man will sing of loving kindness and justice. To You, O Lord, a godly man will sing praises. (Verse 1) Men should not be afraid to express the love that they have for God. If we tru ly love God, then He will radiate through us no matter what. 2. A godly man will give heed to the blameless way. A godly man will walk within his house in the integrity of his heart. (Verse 2) Men of God should strive each and every day to walk down the middle of the straight and narrow path that He has set before us. We should be careful about allowing ourselves to sway from side to side. 3. A godly man will set no worthless thing before his eyes. A godly man hates the work of those who fall aw

Perseverance    Ignace Jan Paderewski, the famous Polish composer-pianist, was once scheduled to perform at a great American concert hall for a high-society extravaganza. In the audience was a mother with her fidgety nine-year-old son. Weary of waiting, the boy slipped away from her side, strangely drawn to the Steinway on the stage. Without much notice from the audience, he sat down at the stool and began playing Chopsticks. The roar of the crowd turned to shouts as hundreds yelled, “Get  that boy away from there!” When Paderewski heard the uproar backstage, he grabbed his coat and rushed over behind the boy. Reaching around him from behind, the master began to improvise a countermelody to Chopsticks. As the two of them played together, Paderewski kept whispering in the boy's ear, “Keep going. Don’t quit, son; don’t stop. You’re doing great. Just keep on going.” That is kind of what Paul wrote to the Philippians. You’ve read and heard about the apostle Paul and the kind of

A Good Support System    In 1 Peter 1:3, the Bible says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (NAS). Another version puts it this way: “God has given us the privilege of being born again so that we are now members of God’s own family.” The Bible says that when you become a baptized believer in Christ, you become a member of a new and very spe cial family. When you were born physically, you were born into a natural family initiated by a father and a mother. When you were reborn spiritually (or born again, which means getting a new start), you were born into God’s family. You became a part of His family. The Bible says that this new family of God is called the church. As Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 3:15, that family “is the church of the living God, the support and foundation of the truth.” In the Bible, the church is not descr

The Importance of Mothers    A young man was standing at the grocery store checkout line when he noticed an elderly woman in front of him. As she unloaded her grocery cart, she kept looking up and staring at him. After a few awkward moments, he asked, “Why do you keep staring at me?” The woman said, “I'm sorry, but it's just that you look exactly like my son who recently died." "I'm so sorry to hear that," the young man replied. "Is there anything I can do for you?" "Yes," she said. “As I leave, if  you would say, 'Goodbye, Mother,' it would make me feel so much better because I need closure." "I’d be glad to do that for you," he answered. As the old woman was leaving, he called out, "Goodbye, Mother!" After unloading his cart, the bill came to $147.50. "How can that be?" he asked the clerk. "I only purchased a few items." “Oh,” the clerk replied, "your mother said that you would

Stand Up for Jesus    “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.” - 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 “Tell them to stand up for Jesus.” Those were the final words of a twenty-nine-year-old minister, Dudley Tyng, as he spoke from his deathbed to a group of sorrowing friends and fellow ministers. A great citywide revival swept across Philadelphia in 1858. Some called it “the work of God in Philadelphia.” Of the participating ministers, none was more pow erful than the Dudley Tyng, known as a bold and uncompromising preacher. In addition to preaching at his own congregation, Tyng began holding noonday services at the downtown YMCA. Great crowds came to hear this dynamic young preacher. On Tuesday, March 30, 1858, over five thousand men gathered for a mass meeting to hear Tyng preach from Exodus 10:11, which says, “Go now ye that are men, and serve the Lord” (KJV). Over one thousand of those men committed their lives to Christ. At one p

Bad News and Good News     The bad news is... we sin. But the good news is... by the blood of Jesus Christ and the wonderful grace of God, we can be continually cleansed and justified before our Father if indeed we keep walking in the light (1 John 1:7). It really is good news, the best news ever! Jesus’ suffering and sacrificial death paid the price for our sins, and Jesus’ resurrection proved that God can give new life to us as well. Paul wrote about this glorious new life in Romans 6:4-6: “Theref ore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.” God wants to take

The Cross of Christ    John Newton was a British sailor and Anglican clergyman. Starting his career at sea, at a young age, he became involved with the slave trade for a few years, and was himself enslaved for a period. After experiencing a religious conversion, he became a minister, hymn-writer, and later a prominent supporter of the abolition of slavery. He was the author of many hymns, including perhaps the best-known hymn ever written, “Amazing Grace.” He also wrote this poem about the cros s of Christ: In evil long I took delight, Unawed by shame or fear, Till a new object struck my sight, And stopp'd my wild career: I saw One hanging on a Tree In agonies and blood, Who fix'd His languid eyes on me As near His Cross I stood. Sure never till my latest breath, Can I forget that look: It seem'd to charge me with His death, Though not a word He spoke: My conscience felt and own'd the guilt, And plunged me in despair: I saw my sins His Blood had spilt, And help&

How Do You Respond?    Former Boston Red Sox’s first baseman Wade Boggs used to hate to go to Yankee Stadium. Not because of the Yankees – they never gave him that much trouble – but because of a fan. The guy had a box seat close to the field, and when the Red Sox were in town, he would torment Boggs by shouting obscenities and insults. One day before the game, as Boggs was warming up, the fan began his typical routine, yelling, “Boggs, you stink!” and variations on that theme. Boggs decided he  had had enough. He walked directly over to the man who was sitting in the stands with his friends, and said, “Hey, fella, are you the guy who is always yelling at me?” The man said, “Yeah, it’s me. What are you gonna do about it?” Wade took a new baseball out of his pocket, autographed it, tossed it to the man, and went back to the field to continue his pre-game routine. The man never yelled at Boggs again; in fact, he became one of Wade’s biggest fans at Yankee Stadium. Probably all of u

Sometimes Love Hurts    Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” 1 Corinthians 12:26 “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” Surely you’ve noticed. You get up in the middle of the night and kick the corner of something. Maybe it’s the bed or the dresser. It really doesn’t matter; all you know at that moment is that there is severe and unwelcome pain. So let me ask you: how much of your body is concerned about what just happened to your toe? Do you think, it’s just a toe, it’ll be okay, and you go on without giving it any more thought? You know what happens. Your entire being is completely caught up in what is happening to that one small part of your body. When it happens, that toe is not alone in suffering. Your mouth and tongue cry out. Your whole body bends over just to be closer. Your leg raises up your foot as your hand rushes down to hold that poor hurt toe. It

Show Your Thanksgiving to God    “Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth. Serve the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful singing. Know that the LORD Himself is God; it is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations” (Psalm 100:1-5). We should certainl y be thankful, and indeed we have much for which to be thankful. Here is a list of 5 ways in which we can show our thanksgiving to God. 1. Remember Him Always remember the Lord. In every aspect of our lives, let us remember Him. In Colossians 3:3-4, the apostle Paul wrote, “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” As Christians, the Lord is our life. He is everything,

God Working in Your Life    "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness" (Malachi 3:3). This verse puzzled some women in a Bible study, and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God. One of the women offered to learn more about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study. Later that week  the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest in order to burn away all the impurities. The woman t

God Cares About You    Allow me to tell you about a young man who had a very bad day. He was a good kid, went to church, and was very involved in his youth group. He was well-liked at school, got good grades, and didn’t get into any trouble. He was always willing to share and help people. He even volunteered every summer at a camp for people with special needs and handicaps. This was a good kid. He played baseball every year since he was 5 years old, and he played on his school team for 3 year s. But then came the day when he didn’t get to play at all until he was finally brought in to pitch to the last batter to close the game. Afterwards his coach told him why he wasn’t getting to play much. This nice kid had missed a couple of games so he could go to a weekend youth rally with the rest of his church youth group. And he was also going to miss a game to go visit the college he was going to be attending later that fall. And because of that, his coach decided he must not be all tha

It is Well With My Soul    You’ve probably heard the story of Horatio Gates Spafford. He was a successful young attorney in Chicago, Illinois and the father of four lovely daughters. He was a deeply spiritual man, and a devoted student of the Scriptures. Life was good for Horatio Spafford and his family… until tragedy struck… twice! First was the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. In that fire, Spafford lost almost all of the family’s real estate investments. Just like that, so much of what he had work ed so hard for was gone. But that was nothing compared to what he would lose just two short years later. His family was still trying to recover, not only financially, but also emotionally, from all they had gone through and all they had lost in the fire. So Mr. Spafford decided he’d try to lift their spirits by taking them on a vacation to Europe. Before they went, they decided to attend an evangelistic crusade there in Chicago led by his good friend and well-known preacher of that time

Covering Your Sin    A man purchased a white mouse to use as food for his pet snake. He dropped the unsuspecting mouse into the snake’s glass cage where the snake was sleeping in a bed of sawdust. The tiny mouse had a serious problem on his hands. At any moment he could be swallowed alive. Obviously the mouse needed to come up with a brilliant plan. What did the terrified creature do? He quickly set up work covering the snake with sawdust chips until it was completely buried. With that, t he mouse apparently thought he had solved his problem. He couldn’t see the snake, so it must not be there. We might foolishly think we can fix our problem with sin by covering it up and ignoring it. But no matter how hard we try to cover up our sin, or pretend that it’s not really a problem, we’re just fooling ourselves. Just like that snake, sin is still there. It will eventually awake from sleep, shake off its cover, and then attack! The Bible says we all have a problem with sin. Furthermo

What Children Need Most    A husband had just finished reading the book “Man of the House” while making his commute home from work. When he arrived home, he stormed into the house and walked directly up to his wife. Pointing his finger in her face, he said, “From now on I want you to know that I am the man of this house and my word is law! You are to prepare me a gourmet meal tonight, and when I’m finished eating my meal, I expect a sumptuous dessert afterwards. Then, after dinner, you are going to  draw my bath so I can relax. And when I’m finished with my bath, guess who’s going to dress me and comb my hair?” His wife thought for a moment and responded, “My guess is the Funeral Director.” Being a husband/father does not mean that your family must tend to your every wish and desire. Just as Jesus came to be a servant to all, so also should a husband/father seek to be a loving and caring provider to his family. That means being a provider both physically and spiritually. Good hus

The Greatest Sacrifice    Monday, May 28, is Memorial Day, a day that has been observed in one way or another for many, many years. It is a day on which we remember those who have sacrificed their lives on behalf of others. And we are indeed so very grateful! Let us also remember another sacrifice that was made on our behalf. One that took place long ago in history. Philippians 2:6-8 says, “Although He existed in the form of God, He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptie d Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Jesus our Savior gave up the splendor of Heaven and became a common man. Not an uncommon man, but a plain, regular, everyday person. He never achieved great wealth or status, never went to university, didn’t travel much. The Bible says that His own countrymen rejected Him.

Cannot Stop Speaking    In Luke 19:10, Jesus said, “The Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” Similarly, Paul told Timothy, “This is a faithful/trustworthy saying, and it deserves full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). It was 2000 years ago that our Lord came to give His life to save sinners, but there are still so many remaining who need salvation. In Christ’s parable of the great supper, the servant went into the streets of the  city and brought back many people. But then he reported back to his master, “Lord, what you commanded has been done, and yet still there is room for more” (Luke 14:22). God is still a God of abundant love and amazing grace, and there is still room for more in the family of God! The Great Commission is recorded for us in Matthew 28:19-20, where Jesus said, “Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obse

Forgiveness    In Colossians 3:12-13, Paul wrote this about how we should treat one another: “And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.” A Heart of Compassion: Paul said, “The love of Christ controls/compels us” (2 Corinthians 5:14), and John said, “Bel oved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11). The love we receive from God changes us; it makes a difference. Not only does it compel us to return love to God, but it should also compel us to love one another in the family of God. Kindness: That heart of love and compassion will naturally lead to kindness. The Bible says, “Let us not love just in word or with tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18). Real love is shown and seen. It is demonstrated sometimes

Good News from the Graveyard    An ancient legend says that in the early church a believer was about to be martyred for his faith. As they tied his hands and led him to the stake, he was asked if he had any last words. He shouted out, “He is risen!” Unknown to the authorities, in the surrounding hills, there were hundreds of Christians who had gathered to watch the execution. When they heard the words, “He is risen,” they cried out with one voice: “He is risen indeed!” Some  have said that that became a frequent way that Christians greeted one another in the early church. He is risen! He is risen indeed! On the walls of a Sunday School classroom someone wrote these words: “Christ rose from the dead. You can’t keep a good man down.” That’s basically what the well-known song says: Death cannot keep its prey, Jesus my Savior. He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord. Up from the grave He arose with a mighty triumph o’er His foes. He arose a victor o’er the dark domain, and He lives

All to Jesus I Surrender    Perhaps you’ve heard of David Livingstone, a pioneer missionary to Africa who walked over 29,000 miles during his time there. This was a man deeply committed to serving the Lord no matter what the cost. His wife died early in their ministry, and he faced stiff opposition from his Scottish brethren. But no matter what happened, still he persevered. These words were found in his diary: “Send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. Sever me from  any tie but the tie that binds me to Your service and to Your heart.” A missionary society once wrote to Livingstone and asked, “Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to know how to send other men to join you.” Livingstone wrote back, “If you have men who will come only if they know there is a good road, I don't want them. I want men who will come even if there is no road at all.” In Mark 12:28-34, a scribe asked Jesus, “What commandment is the foremost of

When I Was Baptized    When I was a child growing up, my father was a preacher. About the time I was just getting started on my teenage years, we lived in a small town called Rosamond, California. Dad preached there for a couple of years, but he needed a little more income to provide for our family, so he quit preaching for a little while and got a better paying job. Unfortunately, that meant having to leave that church in Rosamond and move to the next town where my dad would be working. That bi g town we moved to was Lancaster, and I remember a lot about that town. I was 14 years old, a freshman in high school. I remember what our house looked like inside and out. I remember my best friend who lived just down the street. I remember I had a paper route every morning, and I mowed a lot of yards in the summer. I remember a lot of things about that year living in the big city. But I don’t remember anything at all about the church that we attended there. I know we went because that’s

Heal the Brokenhearted    Early in His ministry, Jesus went to the synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath. When He stood up to read, He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah, and this is what He read: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives, and freedom to them that are bound” (Isaiah 61:1). The passage He read was about Him! He was the Messiah about w hom the prophet Isaiah wrote. When Jesus said, “He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,” He was referring to Himself. Part of what God sent Him to do was to help those who are hurting and grieving. Do you think Jesus is able do what He is sent to do? In case you don’t, take your Bible and see how many people you can find who were sent by God to do something, and yet they were unable to do it. No matter how great the work or how hard the task, when someone was sent by God to do a

Thanks to Our Veterans    There are a lot of things wrong in this country in which we live, but I trust you would agree with me that we still live in the greatest country in the world. And one of the biggest reasons we are a great country is because of our veterans, the fine men and women who put on a uniform and dedicate their lives to defending our country and making the world a better place. War is a terrible thing, and yet it seems that war is inevitable in our world; we continue to see one war a fter another. A group of academics and historians once determined that, since 3600 B.C., the world has known only 292 years of peace! During this period there have been 14,351 wars, in which 3.64 billion people have been killed. Probably most folks would argue that WW2 qualifies as the most costly of all wars. It involved 61 countries and 1.7 billion people, three-fourths of the world’s population. In terms of money spent, some estimate the price tag at more than $1 trillion dollar

The Grace of Giving    Scripture tells us that the Christians in Jerusalem had been very generous in giving to those in need (Acts 2:43-47; 4:33-37). But then came the time that they needed help from others. So Paul set out to collect contributions from other Christians to help the poor in Jerusalem (Romans 15:25-26). And he told the church in Corinth to collect money every week for him to take when he saw them (1 Corinthians 16:1-4). At the congregation where I serve and worship, it is our cust om to follow a similar procedure. We take up an offering every week, and the elders and deacons, in conjunction with input from members of the congregation, have committed to meeting needs and doing good works that are intended to be a blessing to the members here and to people of the community and all around the world. And just as those in Corinth were urged to follow through with what they had promised to do, so also we need to give what we have promised to give. In 2 Corinthians 9:7,

A New Life in Him    The bad news is... we sin. But the good news is... by the blood of Jesus Christ and the wonderful grace of God, we can be continually cleansed and justified before our Father if indeed we keep walking in the light (1 John 1:7). It really is good news, the best news ever! Jesus’ suffering and sacrificial death paid the price for our sins, and Jesus’ resurrection proved that God can give new life to us as well. Paul wrote about this glorious new life in Romans 6:4-6: Therefo re we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin. God wants to take that old

Transformed According to His Will    God wants to do something in our lives that is truly remarkable. He wants us to be transformed from what we used to be to what we ought to be as children of God. Paul wrote about it in Romans 12:1-2. The King James Version says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of you r mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” The New King James Version leaves out the word “ye.” Instead of “Be ye transformed,” it says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” I like this because I think it helps to clarify that godly transformation is not solely our work. God is the One who has the power to do this incredible thing in your life; you would never be able to do it