[2nd Corinthians 13:5]

INTRODUCTION

A. This is the last Sunday of the calendar year 2011 and, as we come to the end of the year, let’s take a few minutes today and consider what has happened in the last year. A year is the measure of time it takes to orbit the sun - 365 ¼ days, 12 months, 52 weeks, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes, and 31,536,000 seconds. In that time… Continue reading

How many times have you heard someone say, “You can’t legislate morality”? Someone will inevitably say this when some politician or political activist tries to pass some law that has to do with a moral issue, such as abortion or same-sex marriage. The argument that is made argues against making laws that address moral issues because, as they argue, those who are doing it are going to do it, no… Continue reading

[Eph. 6:10-24]

INTRODUCTION

A. As we close out this series of studies in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he does so by urging these brethren [and thus, us, too] to “Put on the whole armor of God” (Eph. 6:11, 13) because there is a battle to be fought and, by implication, a battle to be won. If we consider that he has written this letter to his fellow disciples and… Continue reading

[Matthew 22:37]

INTRODUCTION

A. As we conclude 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

When men consider the spiritual challenge of getting to heaven, what is often ignored or overlooked is the fact that our adversary has worked hard to prevent us from reaching our intended destination. He has done - and continues to do - everything he knows how to confuse us, redirect us, distract us, or to just halt us from getting any closer to the goal. Part of his success lies… Continue reading

INTRODUCTION

A. When it comes to spiritual matters, there are only two groups of people in the world: Those who have God and those who do not have God. Plainly speaking, I am either with God or I am without God. This is not just true under the New Testament era, but has always been true. What is also true is that man has not always considered this relationship with God… Continue reading

[Jer. 1:4-10]

INTRODUCTION

A. According to Scripture, Christ established certain offices in the local church “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-13). One of those offices He… Continue reading

This time of year, many young folks are ready to find gifts under a tree and open them, and many folks are, at the same time, eagerly waiting until the day they can give someone a gift, watch them open it with anticipation, and then enjoy the look of excitement at what they find inside. Some people love giving gifts as much, if not more, than receiving, but there is… Continue reading

[John 6:66]

INTRODUCTION

A. As we continue this series of studies, it is important that we not only understand the identifying marks of the committed disciple, but also the identifying marks of The Uncommitted Disciple. It is one thing to consider the attributes of the faithful, for we may see those things within ourselves or others and readily recognize what behavior and which actions describe faithfulness; but we often fail to… Continue reading

[1st Peter 4:9; Acts 2:42]

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… Continue reading

Here it is December already and I am trying to figure out where the time went this year. It seems like it was just a few days ago the year began, but I think about all that has happened so far this year and I have to believe that 11 months have really passed and we are into the last month of the year. You younger folks are probably shaking… Continue reading