Christ the Cornerstone-Ephesians 2:19-22
Monday, February 07 2011
James Cook
Key Verse: 20
"built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone."
Today we will study Ephesians 2:19-22, which says that God's household is "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone." This is a big-picture view of the Bible and the Christian life. We tend to build our lives on foundations that crumble, such as money, pleasure, romance, or self-righteousness. These false foundations are like sinking sand that tragically damages our lives and the lives of those around us. But the Gospel of Jesus, based on the Bible, is a sure foundation. On this foundation, God builds up our lives and the lives of all of his people in unity and love. Let’s think about how we can get to this foundation, what it is, and what its purpose is as we study today’s passage.
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Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath-Luke 6:1-11
Sunday, February 20 2011
Arthur Miranda
Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
Today we will be talking about God's 4th commandment in Exodus 20 of the Ten Commandments. It s reads, “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” God gave us the Sabbath for a very good reason. It's not just rest from physical work. It’s because we need the rest that Sabbath gives. Today we will study about why we need Sabbath rest, where to get it, and how to get it.
How to be Joyful in this not so Joyful World-Psalm 33:1-22
Sunday, March 13 2011
Timothy Fitch
For the past couple of months I’ve been feeling down and depressed. I don’t know if it’s because I’ll be turning the big “FOUR-0” this July, or because gas prices are going up, or because my 128 year old home is falling apart. Whatever the reason, I’ve been trying to find a way to be happy. But no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t do it. Then a couple weeks ago, a group of us studied Psalm 33. The first words of the Psalmist were, “Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting to praise him. Praise the Lord with the harp, make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sign to him a new song, play skillfully, and shout for joy.” (vs. 1-3) I sort of laughed and wondered how could I sing joyfully to the Lord in this not so joyful world? Why is the Psalmist telling me to praise the Lord with musical instruments and to shout for joy? Is he crazy? But then as we studied, my question slowly turned from “how” to “why”? Why should we sing joyfully to the Lord? Why should we shout for joy? In this song, the Psalmist beautifully lays out 3 simple reasons on why we should sing joyfully to the Lord. It was through these 3 why’s when I came to realize that I can be joyful no matter what comes my way.
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The Glorious Humanity of Christ-Hebrews 2:1-18
Sunday, February 27 2011
Joe Schafer
Key verse: 2:9
But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
In the field of history, there’s a basic idea called the principle of analogy: we understand people and events by relating them to similar people and events. The current war in Afghanistan is often compared to the war in Vietnam. The comparison is not perfect; Afghanistan isn’t Vietnam. Yet it can be useful for making a point. Recently we watched an episode of Supernanny. It was about a family with six kids. The house was disorganized and life was out of control because the mom was distracted and the father was disengaged. The next day my wife’s lovely face turned dark, and I asked her what was wrong. Ahe said, “I’m just like that mom, and you’re just like that dad.” I didn’t appreciate that comparison. I responded, “I am not just like that dad.” But of course she did have a point.
Gift of God for the New Year 2012-Jeremiah 31: 31-34
Sunday, January 01 2012
Henry Asega
Key Verses:
Key Verse Ezekiel 36: 26, 28b"A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you… You will be my people and I will be your God."
Key Verse Jeremiah 31:33b "…I will make a new covenant, I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people."
Ezekiel and Jeremiah had the prophet/priest ministries just before and during the time of Babylonian captivity. Judah and Israel were God’s covenant people whom the Lord had set aside to carry out his world mission. During the time of Exodus God made a covenant with their forefathers which was also binding to them. The earlier covenant was what Bible students call mosaic covenant can be read about in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Twice God had announced a number of punishments or curses that would fall on those who violated this His law, Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. Final and most severe of these punishments would be deportation from the Promised Land, the land of Israel.
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