Reading and Studying the Bible

Text: 2 Timothy 2:15 Reading and studying the Bible are two different things, yet they are also related. Reading is about acquiring knowledge and seeing what the text says. Studying is about acquiring understanding and seeing what the text means. In this lesson, we are going to focus on when, why, and how to read and study the Bible. When to […]

Prophecy Against the Shepherds of Israel

Text: Ezekiel 34:1-7 This passage contains a prophecy against “the shepherds of Israel.” They failed to fulfill their role in leading the people by taking advantage of them and only looking out for themselves. The most obvious parallel to “shepherds” would be to elders shepherding the Lord’s church. However, there are applications for all of us. We […]

A Different Life

Text: Matthew 7:13-27 In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave instructions for the life of a disciple. In our text, He described the life of a disciple as a different life. Our lives are filled with choices we need to make. These choices reflect who we are. As Jesus’ disciples, we are to make choices in line […]

Remembering God’s Word

Text: Ecclesiastes 12:9-12 Recently we studied Ecclesiastes 12:1 (“Remember Your Creator”). In this lesson, we will focus on a related subject – remembering our Creator’s word. In our text, the wise man made a contrast between the words of God and the words of man. As we will see, it is important that we remember God’s […]

Types of Conscience

Text: 1 Timothy 1:5 One of the goals of preaching/teaching the word of God is a “good conscience.” Our conscience is designed to help guide us to do what is right (“right” depends on how it is trained). If we want to accomplish this goal, we need to understand more about the conscience. There are […]

The Wisdom From Above

Text: James 3:13-18 There are two types of wisdom – worldly wisdom and heavenly wisdom. The previous lesson discussed using heavenly wisdom as we plan for the future. This lesson will take a step back and consider the contrast between the two types of wisdom. How to Determine If We Have Wisdom (James 3:13) Earlier […]

Planning for the Future

Text: Proverbs 16:9 If we are going to be pleasing to God, there are two critical factors – God’s instructions and our decisions. We must know what God desires us to do, then we must decide to do it. At the turn of every new year, many make resolutions and goals for the upcoming year. This […]