How should Christians worship? Many are the wounds over this issue within our lifetimes. Long before that, however, even 700 years before Christ, the prophet Isaiah points us in the right way. Our Old-Testament reading for today comes right before the prophet speaks of the Messiah’s coming and His kingdom of peace and righteousness. People […]
1 Corinthians, Lesson 24: Worship is to reflect the orderliness of God
June 21, 2015 by
Earlier in chapter 14, Paul told the Corinthians Christians to be infants in evil. Paul was pointing out that they were not infants, but adults, when it came to evil. The only negative topic of chapter 14, the evil to which Paul referred, was speaking in unintelligible tongues. Paul was not against speaking in tongues—but […]
1 Corinthians, Lesson 18: God’s Tradition
May 3, 2015 by
We see Paul start this section doing something that he rarely did in 1 Corinthians: He praised them! In this case, Paul praised them for keeping the traditions that he had passed on to them. Thus, we learn, that keeping the right traditions are something important for us to do in Christ’s Church. Tradition […]
1 Corinthians, Lesson 16: Don’t Keep God from Coming to You with His Life and Salvation
April 19, 2015 by
Paul continues to deal with the issue of whether it’s okay to eat the meat that was earlier sacrificed to idols. To deal with this issue, he continues to use Old-Covenant Israel as an example of what not to do and how not to approach God, all within a chiastic structure. A 8:1-13 Dealing with […]
Vain Repetition
November 29, 2014 by
This lesson is born from a concern about “vain repetition” in our worship liturgy. In our Divine Services on Sunday, we rotate settings of the Liturgy based on the season. However, during our midweek Advent and Lenten services, we have used the exact same service, Evening Prayer, for the last few years. Thus, are we […]
Thanksgiving Sermon: What Faith Is and What Faith Does
November 26, 2014 by
Our Old Testament reading had with these words: “Keep the commands of the Lord your God by walking in His ways and fearing Him.” So, how’s that going for you? How well are you keeping them, His Commandments, the Ten Words that God gave to Moses to give to the people of Israel? So let’s […]
Why go to Church?
November 1, 2014 by
This lesson topic stems from the idea that if God is a loving God, then why do we “have” to come to church? Like last week’s lesson on “God’s rest” for us from the book of Hebrews (4:1), we also look in the book of Hebrews to understand why God tells us not to neglect […]
The Promise of Entering God’s Rest -vs- the Fear of God
October 24, 2014 by
Hebrews 4:1: Therefore, let us fear so that, while the promise of entering God’s rest still stands, none of you will fail to reach it. Fear of God “The fear of the LORD” is a key idea throughout Scripture. In Hebrew, the word y’rah is usually translated as “fear.” And y’rah can mean to […]
Acts, Lesson 14: Paul’s First Missionary Journey, Pt. 1
September 10, 2014 by
Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch after they had delivered aid for the mother Church at Jerusalem. At Antioch, we find out what the Lord has planned for Saul and Barnabas. The Church calls and commissions Saul and Barnabas to be missionaries There’s a lot going on in the first few verses of this […]
Acts, Lesson 3: A glimpse into the earliest New-Covenant Church
June 4, 2014 by
In the last lesson, pastor taught that the “they” in Acts 2:1 referred to the entire Christian Church at the time: those before whom Peter spoke (Acts 1:15). And we find more confirmation that more than just the Apostles spoke in other languages. Read Acts 2:5-13 What brought the Jews to where the Christians were […]
