“Make Every Effort to Come Before Winter”

Text: 2 Timothy 4:21 Paul’s standard practice was to close his letters with some personal greetings/instructions. Some may seem relatively unimportant today, yet even in these there are some lessons for us. We are going to look at one of these statements, which would be one of the last things that Paul wrote. Helping Others […]

The Blessing of Autonomy

Text: 1 Peter 5:1-2 One characteristic of the Lord’s church that makes it different from most churches of men is autonomy. Why did the Lord design the church to be this way? We can look to the Bible to see what has been revealed that would show at least some of His reasons. So in this lesson, […]

God’s Law Trumps Man’s Law

Text: Romans 13:1 God ordained civil government to fulfill a specific purpose (Romans 13:3-4; 1 Timothy 2:1-4). Governments will go beyond this limited role – this is not always bad, just reality. Even within the limits of the U.S. Constitution, the role is larger than the limited role outlined in the New Testament. However, we […]

Who Is My Neighbor?

Text: Luke 10:25-29 One of the fundamental commandments – in the Law of Moses and in the Law of Christ – is to love your neighbor. When a lawyer discussed this with Jesus, he asked, “Who is my neighbor?” This is a legitimate question. We need to know who is our neighbor and how we are […]

Who Is My Brother?

Text: 1 Peter 2:17 Peter said we are to “love the brotherhood.” This is a special group of people. But who are they? It is important that we know who our brethren are. We need to appreciate the blessings of this brotherhood and fulfill our responsibilities to our brethren. “Brother” Used Different Ways in the […]

The Controversy Over Institutionalism

Text: 1 Timothy 3:15 The church is the pillar and support of the truth. It is fully capable as God designed it to do the work that the Lord gave it to do. Do we believe that? Sixty years ago in this country, brethren fought battles over “institutionalism.” It was not a new issue then. It […]

Extreme Measures

Text: Matthew 18:8-9 Typically, one will not purposefully harm himself unless he is severely depressed or mentally ill. Yet this idea is used in the New Testament to make a spiritual application – we must be willing to go to extreme measures to do what is right. In this lesson, we are going to see what […]