Text: Ephesians 6:11-12 At the end of the book of Ephesians, Paul admonished them to “put on the full armor of God.” Why? We are involved in a spiritual conflict. There is a battle going on around us. We prepare by putting on the armor AND by knowing who our enemy is. Paul explained who […]
October 11, 2021
Dangers on the Safe Side (Part 1): Avoiding Controversy
Text: Galatians 2:11-14 This is the first lesson in a series about dangers that exist “on the safe side.” This phrase means “avoiding danger, with a margin for error” (definition). Sometimes this is fine or even wise, but there is a difference between wisdom and safety. Sometimes they overlap, but not always. At times, staying “on the safe side” is […]
January 20, 2020
A City Set on a Hill
Text: Matthew 5:14 In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus described His disciples as “a city set on a hill.” Cities were often built on hills and raised areas because there were benefits to doing this. Jesus’ disciples are like this – there are benefits of being like the city on a hill, but there are also […]
May 2, 2018
What Keeps Us from Going to Battle?
Text: Deuteronomy 20:1-9 In the Old Testament, the Israelites were called to fight. These physical battles teach us lessons for our spiritual war. In our text, Moses encouraged the people to not fear the enemies they would face and also gave certain exemptions that would excuse certain men from their responsibilities to go to war. As Christians involved […]
April 11, 2018
I Have Fought the Good Fight
Text: 2 Timothy 4:6-8 As Paul wrote to Timothy near the end of his life, he spoke with confidence about his reward. There were two reasons for his confidence – (1) the Lord is the righteous judge and (2) Paul had fought the good fight. If we want to have the same confidence that Paul […]
December 2, 2013
Avoid Foolish Controversies
Text: Titus 3:9 There always have been, and always will be, controversies over matters of religion and what the Bible teaches. Some people want to avoid controversy altogether – Christians cannot do this (Jude 3). Others are too quick to get involved in controversy – we must not do this either (Titus 3:9). As controversies […]
September 24, 2012
He Who Trains My Hands For War
Text: Psalm 144:1-4 The war that David spoke of in this psalm involved physical fighting. We are not engaged in the same type of conflict in our service to God (2 Corinthians 10:3-4). But there are lessons to be learned in David’s words that we can apply to our spiritual war today. The Lord is […]
