[1st Thessalonians 5:23]

INTRODUCTION

A. For those of you who are married, when you got married you probably repeated some vows. You each made vows to your spouse and pledged yourself to him or her, vowing to be together until death, sharing every material thing you had, and promising that what is yours is now jointly owned. I have, as yet, not ever heard of someone vowing to give only a… Continue reading

If you have ever tried to teach God’s word to more than one person, you know not everyone reacts the same way. While our demeanor may certainly play a part in how others respond, it is most often the heart of the hearer that makes the difference. The same seed planted in different soils will produce different results (cf. Luke 8:1-13), so we know it cannot be the word of… Continue reading

[Ephesians 5:1-21]

INTRODUCTION

A. Throughout the New Testament and especially in the letters of Paul, we see a constant referral to the person we were before we were in Christ as “the old man” and who we are in Christ as “the new man.” As we saw in last month’s study in chapter 4, Paul had admonished the brethren at Ephesus to “put off your old self, which belongs to your… Continue reading

[Deut. 10:12]

INTRODUCTION

A. As we continue this series on Excelling Still More, let us once again make sure our aim is to honestly examine ourselves to see if we are truly doing the best that we can do for the Lord, and the most that we can do for the Lord; the aim of these lessons is to show from God’s word what we should be doing… Continue reading

Most of us tend to focus on those who have been proven successful to learn about how to become successful ourselves, but did you know you can learn from the ones who failed, too? Just as we can imitate the actions of the successful to likewise be successful, we can look at the actions of the failures and be successful by not doing what they did. Today, we are… Continue reading

INTRODUCTION

A. The wise writer, after trying to find happiness in just about every earthly pursuit, concluded, “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Eccl. 12:13). We might consider his words that described his pursuit of happiness, and understand why he concluded this: All the earthly pursuits did not help him find what he was seeking. Many years removed from that time, though, men… Continue reading

What, in your life, do you remember best? What is your earliest memory? What do you remember that you wish you could forget? What do you remember that you know you will never forget? Memory is one of those things that comforts us, or it is something that can haunt us for a lifetime, but let us not forget this: God created us to have a memory, and for a… Continue reading

[Rom. 10:1-3]

INTRODUCTION

A. In the letter to the Roman brethren, the apostle Paul writes of his strong desire that his fellow Jewish countrymen would obey the gospel. In Rom. 9:1-4, he puts it very strongly, indicating that he had “great sorrow and continual grief” in his heart (v. 2) for those Jewish brethren who had not yet obeyed, and further stating that, if possible, he wished that he would be… Continue reading

[John 13:34, 35; 1st Thess. 4:9, 10]

INTRODUCTION

A. As we continue this series on Excelling Still More, let us once again make sure our aim is to honestly examine ourselves to see if we are truly doing the best that we can do for the Lord, and the most that we can do for the Lord; let us be willing to accept the exposure of… Continue reading

All of us, at one time or another, have faced difficult situations that led us to question whether or not we would be able to make it. Sometimes, we knew about the difficult situation before it came and we tried to prepare mentally, physically, and maybe even financially for the situation, but it was still a trying time that caused us to lose a little bit of hope. As Christians… Continue reading