The Church Wagon

We often refer to local congregations as “works.” For example, I’m involved with the work at South Boone, but we don’t always consider all that the label implies – that serving God in a congregation indeed takes work and effort. There are so many responsibilities involved with spreading the word, with lifting one another up as we should, and with just keeping the congregation running smoothly both as a facility and in the process of worship. On top of the visible roles of worship, there is so much that has to be going on behind the scenes to make a congregation work and to keep our church family knit closely together. We are like a team moving a large wagon up a bumpy hill, but not all of us always put equal effort into that journey.

Pullers and Pushers

We are pulling together in an uphill effort, and there will be bumps and obstacles on that path. We know the road of being a successful congregation can be a challenging one. We have members who look for opportunities to pull us forward, those who take initiative and who never get wrapped up in other dramas and distractions because they are caught up in living Acts 2:42. They are spiritually-minded people like those in Galatians 2:9. They are pillars who support us and prevent us from sliding backwards. Without the pullers, we have no forward momentum.

Alongside the pullers, we have those who push. They are like the Scribes and Pharisees of Matthew 23 who can tell everyone else what needs to be done, but they don’t follow through. They seldom speak of the congregation in terms of “we,” and the pushers distance themselves from close identification with the group. This is one who complains about the buildings cleanliness, but won’t clean up themselves. Instead of saying, “Here am I; send me,” the pusher says, “They ought to get to work.”

Hindering Progress

Neither pushers nor puller, there are those who are simply along for the ride. Revelation 3:16-17 speaks to those lukewarm individuals who take no active role in the spiritual matters or the physical needs of their congregation. The rider adds weight to the journey and does little to help accommodate for that added weight. The rider is good with the status quo and resists change that might upset their comfortable procession. They rely on the efforts of others and are largely unaware of the effort it takes to help a congregation’s journey, but they don’t realize the discouragement they offer to those trying to pull the congregation forward.

Then we have those in the church who are asleep, those who are about to fall off the cart. They are seldom concerned with the health of the congregation or their own spiritual health. They are hindering the journey by being in the way, uncommitted, and unconcerned, but they are still not actively fighting growth. Instead, that falls upon those who would hinder – those who criticize, who fight progress, who demonstrate an attitude of defeat to all around them. Hebrews 5:11-12 speaks of those who know little of the scriptures but who drag a congregation down. The hinderer demands a great deal of attention while doing little to help congregational progress.

Putting Forth an Effort

We should all have a goal of being the pullers, being the ones willing to do the work, to jump on what needs to be done, to help one another bear the weight of pulling a congregation forward on our spiritual road. What do our fellow Christians see in us? Do I have a reputation as a puller or as a pusher? Am I seen as one who doesn’t really care – sleeping on the job, just along for the ride, or actively hindering progress? What roles do we take in bearing one another’s burdens, in teaching, in taking care of the building, in preparing the Lord’s Supper, in attendance, in hospitality, in participating in worship?

If we compare our current level of motivation and effort to our enthusiasm when our congregation was new, how would we compare? Can we say we are as on fire right now as we were when we were just getting started, never knowing where we would meet week to week, always uncertain about the future, but fighting as hard as we could to survive as a group? Every stage of our existence provides new challenges and new opportunities, and every one of us needs to jump off the wagon, get out in front, and pull together. We need to keep each other excited about the work. We need to hold each other accountable, and we need to help each other keep pulling toward our ultimate goal. We can do great things in serving God, but it takes all of us to go as far as we can in His service.

lesson by Mark Ritter

Being the Church: Teaching

We’re continuing our thoughts surrounding the church in Jerusalem in our efforts to reignite our zeal and passion for being the Lord’s church. We know that all we say and do is in God’s service, and we also should recognize that we are always His church. In Acts 2:42-47, we read:

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Today, we’re going to look at that first verse, devoting ourselves to teaching. Teaching takes work. I’ve never heard someone say teaching is easy, that they have too much time to prepare, that they have too much help, that they receive too much praise, or that keeping students focused is too easy. Teaching methods change. Learning styles change, and anyone who has had experience teaching can attest to these challenges.

Growth Through Teaching

A part of being God’s church is caring about the spiritual growth of every member of our church family, and we have to care about those outside the church to want to bring them to Christ. In Acts 5:42, we the earliest of churches teaching day after day. Each day was seen as an opportunity, and Acts 28:23 shows them not only working daily but teaching all day as well. We are to never give up in our efforts to spread God’s word and encourage one another.

Ephesians 4:11 talks about our responsibility to work together to attain unity and spiritual maturity, and that teaching makes us spiritually stronger, less likely to be swayed by others. Then, Hebrews 5:11-14 reminds us that there are times when we should focus on teaching and times when we should focus on learning more. We attain knowledge, and we share that knowledge, always searching for more to know and share.

Taking Teaching Seriously

There is serious responsibility involved with teaching as we should. James 3 speaks to the strictness by which teachers will be judged. We have to take it seriously. Matthew 5:19 warns us against teaching from His word incorrectly. Also, I Timothy 4:11 tells us we should be an example when we teach. The things we teach should be seen in our lives, regardless of our age. Regardless of where you are on your spiritual journey, there is always someone you can help.

We will sometimes err when we teach, but we all need to be willing to help each others when we fall short of the mark. We need to be more like Aquila and Priscilla, helping each other spread the word more perfectly.

Being Responsible for Teaching

Ephesians 6:4 and II Timothy 3:15 speak to the responsibility of parents (and grandparents) to teach. We may look to others to teach our children, but ultimately, the spiritual health of my children come back to me. Still, we see that we all have responsibility for one another and each other’s children in Titus 2, training one another up to be better Christians. We teach each other God’s will, soundness of speech, self control, humility, and much more. Every one of us are teachers in some capacity, even when we don’t realize it.

People of that first church looked for every opportunity to build up and teach. Everywhere is the right place, and every time is the right time. We should always be helping each other and edifying one another however we can, however small or simple those moments are. Our actions speak more loudly than we realize, and our examples can spread a message you may not even know how to put into words. We want to help each other grow spiritually, and, even though we know its a difficult task, helping each other get to Heaven is worth it.

lesson by Ben Lanius

Living With Boldness

Matthew 5:13-16 calls us lights of the world and the salt of the earth, and to stand out as we should requires a certain amount of boldness. This is not an arrogant boldness, but rather it is a self-confidence regarding our hope and our faith. One example of such boldness involves Peter and John in Acts 3 and 4. The story begins simply enough with Peter and John healing a beggar of his paralysis, but soon people in the city take notice. Peter and John take this opportunity to preach Christ, and they get arrested for their testimony. The officials and religious leaders threaten the pair and tell them to avoid preaching Christ any more. At the end of chapter 4, they continue in prayer and in teaching, living boldly in the face of oppression.

Examples of Boldness

In Acts 3:11-16, we find Peter and John in the midst of a large crowd, in their own temple, accusing the congregated mass of crucifying Christ and convicting their hearts to repentance. This is a boldness of standing in our convictions in uncomfortable situations, but this is not license to tear others apart. We see the disciples standing firm, but they do so in love.

Instead of leaving this group with the accusations, Peter continues to talk about how to be restored to God. Again, this is not the friendliest of audiences to hear these words, but Peter persists. We also have opportunities to help others align their lives with God’s word, but we have to be willing to face uncomfortable situations and ears that may not always kindly receive what we have to say.

Finally, in the presence of those who could crucify them as easily as they did Jesus, Peter and John stand by their testimony and convict those officials for the role they played in Jesus’ murder. Peter’s defense of the truth give these leaders pause, and the disciples are simply left with an unheeded threat to speak of Jesus no longer.

Our Opportunities for Boldness

God has been forgotten in many ways in our culture. In some venues and on some topics, taking God’s side is not a respected opinion. When these situations arise, will we back down, or will we be like Peter and John, who respond by saying, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard,” in Acts 4:19-20?

If we are truly living Christ and standing for truth, we cannot be content with flying under the radar. We may upset others. We may face ridicule. We may face difficulties in the relationships we have, but we must decide who we are pleasing – God or man. We have to take a hard look at the opportunities we have to share and live God’s word, facing those situations with confidence in the faith and hope we have in our God.

lesson by Kris Casebolt

Being the Church

Many of the people in the crowds surrounding Jesus may have been many of the individuals who were to comprise the birth of the church in Acts 2. We see people who praise Jesus as He enters Jerusalem while the Pharisees are stirring unrest. Later in the week, those same people who cried, “Hosanna in the highest!” would cry out, “Crucify Him!” Then they would see and hear of the strange events surrounding Jesus death and resurrection, but the religious leaders who set themselves against Christ were probably feeling good about themselves. About fifty days later, however, something unusual happens at Pentecost, and these leaders and those people again hear Jesus preached about.

They hear Peter speak of prophecies in Joel and other prophets. They hear him and his companions speak languages they could not know. They hear him convict the crowd for the death of Jesus, even after they had seen the wonders and signs surrounding the Messiah. They hear Peter proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior. They hear him preach forgiveness and salvation, and many in the crowd respond positively to that gospel message, that lesson of repentance and baptism. Some three thousand people are baptized into Christ that day, and more are added daily. This begins the story of the church.

Looking at the Jerusalem church, we want to learn what we should be as God’s the church. We want to do more than go to church. We want to be the church.

Remembering the First

In Revelation 2, one of the congregations Jesus addresses is that at Ephesus. It’s one of those congregations that looks outwardly strong. In verse 2, Jesus even acknowledges their strong stand for the truth, but He goes on to warn them against forsaking their first love. They are doing many of the right things, but they are not doing it for the right reasons. Jesus calls on them to remember where they came from and the love they once had. He asks them to repent and to remember how they first were. What we want is to look back at how the church looked when it was first established. We also want to remember what we were like as a new congregation ourselves.

Acts 2:42 talks about the things the first church did. It speaks of generosity toward each other. It speaks of a strong community who shared time, meals, prayers, and praise. They were together often, and they were spending a great deal of time together, doing things for God. They were visiting each other’s homes. They were sharing meals. The enthusiasm was infectious. Acts 5:42, Acts 12:5, Acts 12:17 – these and more demonstrate the enthusiasm in the first church and the love they show each other. They get together for prayer. They congregate to work out spiritual issues. They get together to teach and to edify. They come together to build each other up and keep each other on the road to Heaven.

The Hardships

We know from books like Hebrews that there were struggles involving sliding back to old traditions and old ways. We know those same religious leaders who tried to bring down Christ were also trying to bring down these new Christians. This is why Hebrews 10:25 and the surrounding verses are so important. They needed to come together again and again to encourage each other, to remind each other of their goal, to comfort each other, to study together and to pray with and for each other. They needed this in the face of overwhelming pressure and terrible persecution.

Hebrews 10:25 was not written to beat people up over attendance at worship, but why do we feel we have to use it that way? If you Google “not forsaking the assembly,” the majority of  top results link to Church of Christ websites addressing the issue of attendance, butt that will come naturally if our focus is God and if we are being the church of the First Century. Hebrews 2:1, 3:1-2, 4:1, 4:14, 6:4-6, 9:15 – these and more compel those early Christians to watch out for each other and to continue focusing on God. We may feel like we are not getting encouraged at worship, but that’s not the point. The point is that we should be working to encourage each other. Our focus should not be on ourselves, but on God and on our brothers and sisters in Christ.

It’s exciting to look back on the early days of the church and see the energy and the passion that they had. It’s also exciting to look back at the early days of our own congregation and see the same thing. Let’s rekindle those feelings and throw ourselves into lives where we no longer merely “go to church.” Let’s get busy being church.

lesson by Ben Lanius

The Right Cup

In this lesson, we’re going to talk about cups. If you’re working on a recipe, there is a certain kind of cup you use for measuring out ingredients. You’ll use some cups for hot chocolate, for holding water, or for serving communion. However, only one of those let you measure its contents precisely. One is authoritative. It follows a set of standards, and the others are not. Likewise, we have many sources we can go to for our Christian practices and beliefs, but only one of those sources is authoritative and the standard by which we should measure ourselves.

Jesus was often questioned by religious leaders about the authority by which He taught. In Matthew 21:23, Jesus enters an exchange with those religious leaders about authority, and He drives them to a conclusion they refuse to admit. In this, He discusses two sources of authority – man and God. II John 9 is but one passage that warns us going beyond the authority of God’s word. Matthew 28:18-19 then records Jesus proclaiming that all authority has been vested to Him.

Romans 1:16-17 calls the gospel God’s power, the revelation of God’s righteousness. If we are going to live righteously in His eyes, the standard by which we measure ourselves will be by Him. James 1:22-25 admonishes us to be doers of that word. We must do more than acknowledge the authority of God’s word. We have to live by it. II Peter 1:3 tells us that we have been granted all we need for spiritual living in this life in the divine power of His word. It does not fall short, does not contradict itself, nor does it need modification. Jude 3 calls this a message “once delivered,” that is it is unchanging and unmoving.

Man's standards are not God’s. Matthew 23:4 speaks to the rules and traditions bound upon the people by the scribes and Pharisees, but Jesus says these are not from God. They go beyond God’s word. However, we are assured by Jesus and by the apostles that the message delivered by those apostles is by His authority through the power of the Holy Spirit. II Timothy 3:16 reminds us that all scripture is brought by the breath of God, and John 14:25-26 records Jesus promising His apostles that the Holy Spirit would be that inspiration.

James 1:25 calls God’s word the perfect law of liberty. It is the authority we should follow if we profess faith in God. It is the standard by which we should measure ourselves if we say Christ lives in us. People change. Traditions change. Laws change. Values and morals change. Society changes. But God’s word does not change. Acts 4:12 reminds us Christ is the authority by which we can by saved. It is not our place to change His word, to ignore His word, or to add to His word. It is ours to humbly follow.

lesson by Herb Smelser

Worship 24x7: Having Fun

In this series of lessons, we’ve looked at what true worship is – that it is more than playing church when we come together to assemble. It is part of who we are everywhere we are. We’ve considered worshipful living while at work as well as in our home lives. We’ve looked at worshipful living in our school communities both as students and parents, and today we’ll be looking at worshipful living at something we might not usually consider – while engaged in our free time and while having fun.

A Life Meant to Be Enjoyed

Fun is an attitude, and the challenge is to keep a Christian attitude while having fun. This may be the most difficult time to stay Christ-like in our conduct. Hebrews 5:14 reminds us that we should have good discernment as mature Christians, and this is true even when entertaining ourselves. In the moment, we may not always do such a good job choosing between good and evil; we may be around people who are not the best influences; and we may give into peer pressure to prevent killing the fun.

God means for His people to enjoy their lives, and we see His people engaged in celebration and joy numerous times in the Old Testament. In the New, we even see Jesus’ first miracle taking place at a wedding celebration. To follow God is not to renounce the joy of this life. Ecclesiastes 11:8 calls on us to rejoice in our lives. Verse 9 tells us to rejoice in our youth, and verse 10 calls on us to remove pain from our hearts. A joyless life will do nothing to bring others to Christ, and a joyless life is full of wasted opportunities to lift others up and to celebrate all God has given us.

Our Example in Recreation

We should be known by the example we set. We should have fun on our terms, rather than the terms of others. There are limits to the type of fun we should have, and when we engage in sin for entertainment, it takes away from our worshipful living. There is plenty of joy without sin, and Proverbs 13:9 tells us the light of our righteousness should always shine. I Peter 4:3-5 tells us we will give up some activities and some friends when we submit to following God, but we can be an example to them of joy without immorality.

So what do we do for fun? Who do we choose to be around? Do these choices reflect our Christian values? If someone will not be your friend because you abstain from sin, then you don’t need that influence in your life. They may think you are mean, a jerk, a prude, but being a Christian is between you and God, not between you and them. Romans 12:1-2 calls on us to be living sacrifices. This means we won’t be like those around us. It means we won’t even be like our former selves. Philippians 1:10 admonishes us to keep ourselves spotless for Christ’s return.

Conclusion

We need to evaluate who we are when having fun. We have to define ourselves, our opinions of ourselves and our boundaries. We must refine ourselves, making sure our choices then reflect the definition we have of ourselves. Finally, once we define and refine ourselves, we must be ourselves. We are Christians no matter where we are; we must always be setting a Christian example to those around us; we need to make good choices about those we spend time with. As living sacrifices, we can succeed even while having fun if we decide how we will reflect Christ in the choices we make.

lesson by Mike Mahoney

Releasing Anxiety

An older preacher once told me that you should preach about things that cause you to struggle, and one of those things I struggle with is worry. And we have lots of reasons we think we should worry, from finances to world events to personal crises. Recently, however, I’ve been studying about some things that have been helping me with worry. Perhaps they will help you too.

Anxiety comes from a sense of isolation, of helplessness, of being overwhelmed by a particular situation. Matthew 6:25-34 begins by saying we should not be overcome with worry. Jesus is not telling us this as general advice. This is a direct command. We should not be distracted, nor should we feel choked by the asphyxiating influence of anxiety. If we are honest with ourselves, how many of the things we’ve worried about have actually turned out as bad as we feared?

Placing Faith in God

We overcome anxiety initially with trust and faith. We are good at being control freaks, and I once heard a quote that said you can determine the size of someone’s god by the size of their worry list; the bigger the list, the smaller the god. Our anxiety is a sign that our faith needs to increase. In Matthew 6:28, Jesus appeals to nature as evidence of how God will care for us, citing that flowers of the field are dressed better than even Solomon. We know God will take care of us, but we become worried about things that God is simply not that worried about.

Psalm 56:4 says:

In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?

Mark 5:25-34 is a simple story of faith where one woman has the faith to reach out to Christ in the midst of a debilitating illness. She let go of control and demonstrated complete faith in this savior. We should be so willing to place our complete trust in Him and lay our burdens on Him, no matter how great they seem to us.

Seeking God

If we are completely placing our faith in Him, then we will seek him with prayer and study. Philippians 4: 6-7 and I John 5:14 both speak about the power of prayer, and, in the case of Philippians, Paul was writing about this power while in custody. Despite his circumstances, Paul is able to release his anxiety and place his trust in God, and he can do this because he knows God’s promises. He goes time and again to God in prayer, placing his burdens at his Father’s feet.

We must have the right focus if we are going to seek God in such trust. Matthew 6:33 calls on us to seek God’s kingdom first and foremost, and, earlier in the lesson, Jesus tells us we cannot seek both God and materialism in verse 24. Anxiety over our worldly concerns pulls us away from seeking God, much like Martha lost sight of hearing Jesus in the face of preparing her home for guests. Reality doesn’t go away, but we have to be able to put this world in perspective against eternity.

Leaning On Our Family

Beyond leaning on God, we can share our burdens with each other. We are stronger and more focused when we face our troubles together as a Christian family. Romans 15:1 simply says to bear each other’s burdens, but we must be willing to share our burdens with each other so we can lift each other up. We can only have the peace that passes understanding if we are willing to trust. It is a peace that Christ has purchased for us, but we must be willing to trust. We have to trust in God. We have to trust in His word. We have to be able to trust each other. Let’s lay aside the weights that drag us down, seek God together in faith and prayer, and help each other out of the burdens of this life.

lesson by Derek Weaver

Nine Eleven

When looking back on the anniversary of September 11, we could look over some grand themes. We could talk about and criticize Islam in broad strokes. We could make judgments about our government response, about our current and our past presidents’ actions. We could talk about pride and security. We could talk about patriotic topics, but we may lose some simple spiritual applications in the midst of these broad strokes.

Our Focus
Are we focused on God or on self? It certainly seemed that people came together after September 11, and many people showed tendencies to turn back to God and Christ in the wake of those events. It’s really no different than the cycle we see in the children of Israel as recorded in the Old Testament, and we have to ask ourselves, “Where am I?” Am I closer to God now, or have I drifted again? Do I have the same fire for the Lord now as I did ten years ago?

Hebrews 10:19-25 talks about the type of stuff we’ll do if we are dedicated on God rather than self. Self denial is a key theme in Jesus’ teachings, and we will be holding to that confession, stirring each other up, meeting with each other, and encouraging each other if we can set aside self and focus on God and one another.

Placing the Blame
Do we blame God for September 11? Do we think such an event is God’s will, that it was a warning shot for the United States? We have to be cautious about molding events to fit in with our particular views. We have a tendency to credit God when it lines up with our own values and dismiss such events as chance at other times. Quite simply, we know that bad things happen to good people because of sin, and we should be blaming Satan for such tragedies rather than assigning God motives and actions left unrevealed to us.

Loving Terrorists
Do we really have to love a terrorist? Matthew 5:43 says:

“You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Intellectually, we understand we should love our enemies, but we falter on application. Yes, we should love those who plot to hurt and kill us. We’ve all heard stories of people who’ve forgiven criminals who have wronged them or their family in some horrible way, and that is the mindset we should have. It is the attitude we see when Jesus cries for his murderers’ forgiveness while on the cross.

Conclusion
We may believe that those terrorists deserve death and eternal punishment for their actions, but the tough part is that they deserve such a fate no more than you or I in the face of our sins. We may want to satisfy our own need for vengeance, focusing on self rather than God. Romans 5:12-17 contrasts Adam and Jesus – the one who brought sin into the world and the one who removed all sin by His great sacrifice. The problem of sin is an enormous one, and only an enormous sacrifice could remove it. We have all sinned; we have all put Jesus on the cross.

Where are you with your relationship with and commitment to God? Have you grown stronger? Are you willing to love in the face of personal pain and animosity? We have a great example of commitment, love, and self sacrifice in Christ; and we know that is the example we should be following in our own lives. We don’t have to allow great events of the world to drag us away from who we should be as Christians, so let’s commit ourselves daily to be living sacrifices, to be forgiving and loving individuals, to keep everything in the perspective of God’s word, and to keep God our focus and the center of our lives.

lesson by Ben Lanius

Worship 24x7 At School

We’ve been studying about worship the last few weeks at our congregation, and we’ve emphasized time and again that worship is more than what we do when we gather together with our congregation. It’s more than singing songs, mouthing prayers, listening to lessons, and partaking of the Lord’s Supper – even when we do these things in complete truth and with a sincere heart. Worshipping God is something we do in how we conduct ourselves everywhere. Hebrews 13:15-16 and Romans 12:1-2 both call on us to be living sacrifices, reflecting God in our lives. In this lesson, we’re going to look at the school community and how we worship God in our conduct both as students and as parents.

Worship 24 x 7 At School

The Power of Example

The most powerful tool of worship we have as students is that of our example. We’re familiar with I Timothy 4:12 that tells us to be an example in speech, in love, in conduct, in faith, and in purity. We also know Ecclesiastes 12:1, reminding us to serve our Creator in the days of our youth. What do others see in you at school? What kind of example are you setting in front of your peers, your teachers, the custodians, instructional assistants, and anyone else with whom you interact? Does your speech, your attitude, your online conduct, your choices, your work ethic cause them to despise or respect your youth?

I Thessalonians 4:1-2 is an admonition that we know how we should be living. The fact is we just have to do it, and this includes at school. Unfortunately, parents, this applies to us too. We adults have to ask ourselves what our child’s peers see in us. Do they see parents who conduct themselves in a Christlike way? Do they see a family that puts spiritual matters before physical? Would they guess your spiritual affiliation by the conduct they see when you are at a school game, picking up or dropping off your child, when they visit your home? What do the teachers of that school see in you? The example you set will greatly inform the example your child is able to set themselves.

The Power of Choice

Right up there with the power of our example is the power of the choices we make as students and parents. My wife, when she was young, had a sign posted to her bedroom door that read, “I am the most powerful person in my life.” It served as reminder to her that she had the final say in what she let herself get drawn into. It reminded her that no friend – casual or romantic – could control her. It reminded her that no one makes her do anything, nor could any troubling external factor take control of her life.

As students, we choose who we hang out with, and I Corinthians 15:33 simply states that bad companions will drag us down. Yes, we might believe we can change someone, that we can be the example they need, but we also have to realize when the burden is becoming too heavy to bear. II Corinthians 6:14 warns against being unequally yoked with unbelievers. If our companions are dragging us away from Christ, despite our best efforts, maybe it’s time to choose different friends. Still, We can’t always choose who we’re going to be around because our classes are set by others. The teams, clubs, and arts we choose will dictate who we are around a great deal of time, but that again comes down to choice.

Coming back to parents, we need to be involved enough with our kids’ lives that we can see when something is bringing them down or influencing them in a bad way. We need to have such a relationship with our children that we can talk about such things with them and be able to offer advice and guidance. At times, we have to be able to nudge them to reach the right conclusions themselves, and we need the wisdom to know when our kids need to handle something themselves before we exert our influence. We would all do well to remember I Corinthians 10:12-13 that assures us we can overcome any struggle or temptation or discouragement laid before us. It comes down to the choices we make.

Worship in Practical Conduct 

Students

• What is your work ethic at school? How do you act when in a class you don’t want to take? Do you, as Paul instructs Ephesians 6:5-7, work as if you are serving God?
• How do you treat those you don’t like? How do you treat teachers you don’t like? Do you participate in making fun of others when your friends get going?
• How do you respond to those who are mean to you, teacher or student? Matthew 5:38-48 teaches we should never return evil for evil.
• What activities and social events are you participating in? Parties where you know there will be drinking? Dances where you know you'll feel pressured to conduct yourself in an improper way? Clubs that will perpetually take away time you should be devoting to God?

I’m not saying here that you can only have friends who are Christians. I’m not saying you are eternally lost for attending prom. I’m not saying you can’t be in band, orchestra, on the football team, in theater. What I’m saying is this, though: be careful that your choices do not make your spiritual walk unnecessarily difficult, and always remember that God comes first in your extracurriculars. There is always a way to do the right thing.

Parents

• How do we conduct ourselves around our kids’ teachers? Do they see us arguing with or undermining those teachers? How do you think that will affect their effort and behavior in class?
• Do our kids hear us badmouthing their school and their teachers at home? Again, how will this affect their attitude at school if they see a bad attitude from us?
• Do we accidentally send messages to our children that we don’t value an education by letting them miss school for reasons of convenience – maybe for vacations or other things we don’t want to schedule for personal time? If your kids see you don’t value their education, how much will they value it?
• On the other hand, do we send a message that we don’t value God because we let every practice, concert, school event, program, or big assignment take priority over worshipping God and studying from His word with our brothers and sisters?
• Are we familiar with the friends our children choose and the activities in which they participate? Do we take the time to discuss the challenges they face?

I think the biggest challenges we face as parents are those raised by our inherent protectiveness. I’ve had parents call me up, call me names, use foul language, and then end the conversation with, “Have a blessed day.” We also have to realize that we are only ever getting one side of those stories that trigger our protective instincts, and, whether they intend to do so or not, our children’s versions of events are biased for themselves. We have to be calm and Christlike in the face of school challenges, and we have to show we value their education as much as we want them to value it.

Conclusion

By the time you graduate from your senior year in high school, you will have spent at least 15,120 hours at school – that is, if you don’t start until first grade and never participate in any extracurricular events ever and your school day is only seven hours. We will come in contact with hundreds, if not thousands, of individual souls during that timespan, and every one of those souls we have a chance to bring closer to Christ. If we choose to walk in Christ’s footsteps, even if we would rather do things that would take us away from Him, and even when we are around people we don’t like, then we can worship God through our conduct in our school communities.

lesson by Robert Smelser

Worship 24x7 at Home

Romans 12:1-2:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

How can I make every aspect of my life an act of worship to God? This can be especially tough when we’re at home, where we are most comfortable, where we feel least guarded. Sometimes who we are in front of others and who we are at home can be two different things, but our spirituality should be as strong in the home as anywhere else – whether serving our home as a husband and father, a mother and wife, or as a child.

Worship as Children

Ephesians 6:1 and Colossians 3:20 tell children to obey their parents in the Lord. This more than simply doing what parents say. It involves respect and attitude, but we do not see the severity of the Old Testament in the statutes of the New, where disobedient children faced severe punishment for their transgressions.

I Timothy 4:12 records Paul telling Timothy to set an example in his youth, in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity. There comes a time when we need to grow up a little and be an example to our friends in the neighborhood, at school, and anywhere we can influence others. Verse 16 says that example can save both yourself and those you come in contact with.

Worship as Wives and Mothers

Ephesians 5:22 and Colossians 3:18 both speak of wives being submissive to their husbands (and we’ll be talking about men’s responsibilities in this in a moment). Peter explains this more in I Peter 3:1-6, speaking of the esteem a wife’s conduct can bring, of the example she sets for her husband, of the respect she shows for her family and God, the holiness shown in inner beauty instead of external beauty. It’s about putting others before self and living self-sacrificially for the sake of our families.

Worship as Husbands and Fathers

Paul has much to say to men in Ephesians 5, illustrating the love men should have for their wives, one like the sacrificial love Christ has for the church. He also says to love one’s wife and take care of her as he would care for himself. I Peter 3:7 tells husbands to be understanding to their wives, treating them as carefully as a valuable possession. If we love someone as deeply as this, if we really are willing to be as caring and respectful as this, then we have the foundation for a relationship of mutual love, respect, and service.

The New Testament also has much more to say to men about raising children than it has to say to women. Ephesians 6:4 tells fathers to raise their children in the Lord, avoiding exasperating or provoking our kids. In this, fathers must set rules consistent with God’s law and set an example that speaks of our commitment to God. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 illustrates a home where God’s law is always in the hearts and on the lips of the family, and this begins with teaching. It begins with living God’s word in all aspects of our family lives.

Worship as a Family

What do our neighbors see in us as Christians? Do they see the faith we profess in our examples? Are we reverencing Him with our lives. We profess faith in God, but are we really living it? Our faith in Christ, the conduct we demonstrate before God and others, applies at home as well as anywhere else, and every member of our family should always see His light in us. If we are indeed living sacrifices before our God, then every moment of our lives will be spent honoring Him.

lesson by Kent Ward

Examining Hebrews 10

Hebrews 10 begins by reminding us how good we have it under the law of Christ. In the first several verses, the author talks about how much better Jesus’ sacrifice is than those bulls and goats offered up under the law of Moses. He talks about the abolishment of the first covenant in the creation of the second – one that can wipe away sin, one that makes us a nation of priests, one that resides in our hearts and minds, one that grants us the confidence to approach the throne of God with a high priest who knows all the challenges we face.

It’s a chapter full of big ideas that tell us all we have to be thankful for in the sacrifice of Christ. It’s a chapter that contrasts the shadows of God’s kingdom with the reality of His true spiritual kingdom established under Christ. It contrasts the rolling forward of sin with the eternal forgiveness and abolishment of sin. The author tells us of how the Old Testament law pointed toward Christ and how Jesus brought us something that both fulfilled and replaced the ancient system of sacrifices.

A Better Sacrifice and Priesthood

In this, the author quotes Psalms 40:6-8:

Sacrifice and offering you have not desired, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required.

Then I said, Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.

He then explains the insufficiency of those sacrifices. They could not take away sins with imperfect sacrifices administered by imperfect priests. In contrast, Jesus stands as our perfect priest and our perfect sacrifice, bringing true forgiveness. When we accept that law, we then accept His law into our hearts, submitting to Him obediently, abandoning those lawless deeds God has promised to forgive.

Because of that forgiveness, because of that better sacrifice and priest, we can have confidence to approach God. Previously, no one could approach the Holy Place, except for the High Priest once a year. Our new high priest, one who has been through all the trials and challenges we face, grants us direct access to the Father in a way those living under the Levitical priesthood could not. Because of this, the author encourages us draw near to our High Priest, holding fast to our faithful confession, encouraging one another to live worthy of that calling.

Helping Each Other to Heaven

Sometimes, however, we forget what we have. We take those blessings for granted, and the Hebrew author warns against neglecting each other’s spiritual needs. He warns that we should continually encourage one another and to avoid falling back into the traps of sin. We need to be stirring up one another. We need each other’s help in drawing nearer to God, and this is one of the reasons we meet together, whether in the assembly or in social settings.

When we neglect our worship services, we neglect the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Instead of approaching worship and Bible study with the attitude of, “What can I get out of it,” we should be attending for each other’s sakes. The same is true if we are avoiding each other outside the assembly. We need to take every opportunity to build each other up, and verses 22-24 bring faith, hope, and love into the equation – we have hearts full of faith, hold fast to hope, and stir up love. But we need to be working together to accomplish these things.

Avoiding Neglect

When we fall into the traps of sin, we fall into danger of losing our souls, but we can help each other avoid the pitfalls of sin. When we neglect spending time together, when we neglect assembling together, we are showing a lack of concern for the souls of our fellow Christians. When you are present to lift me up spiritually, we are both less likely to fall into patterns of neglect. Hebrews 10 gives us a picture of how much better Christ’s law is than that of Moses, and we should live gratefully for that new covenant. Let’s avoid neglecting these blessings and neglecting each other, and let’s instead push each other toward Heaven and rededicate ourselves to His service each day.

lesson by Kent Ward

Worship 24x7 at Work

We discussed in our lest lesson that worship is more than what we do within the walls of our congregation. In every aspect of our lives, we worship God in our conduct, in our attitudes, in our service to Him in all places and all times. This carries over to our workplace. The way we conduct ourselves at work reflects who we are as Christians, and there should be no separation between the standards we hold ourselves to at church and our expectations of ourselves at work.

We set an example when we are working. The ethics and morality we follow, the language we use, the way we treat those we work with, the attitudes we demonstrate – these show God and others our true commitment to our Christian walk. Does our conduct at work demonstrate our faith and values, or do we contradict our spiritual lives with our work lives?

Christians at Church and Work

In Matthew 15:8-9, Jesus calls one whose words and actions do not match a hypocrite. I John 1:6 warns that we are lying to ourselves if we think we follow Him while not living by His word. If we are worshipping God in word on Sunday, but the deeds of our lives do not back that worship up, then that worship in in vain.

Romans 12:14-21 outlines some principles we should be following: not giving into temptation, living peaceably with others, never repaying evil with evil. God does not grant us exemptions on expectations simply because we are in the pursuit of money. We spend a great deal of time at work. It is where we have the most connections and opportunities, and it is where we should be working the hardest to let our light shine.

Living Thankfully at Work

We often offer thanks for our jobs and our material blessings. We pray for His continual provisions for us and our families. If we are not living the way we should at work, however, we are praying in vain. Ephesians 6:5-8 tells us we should be good employees not to please man, but to please God. Colossians 3:22-25 says much the same, reminding us that our true reward comes from God and not from man. I Timothy 6:1-2 and Titus 2:9-10 encourages us to conduct ourselves humbly and ethically in the workplace.

We need to work as if we are working for God. Our work ethic should be unspotted. We should deal honestly with those we come into contact with at work. We should never leave an opening for someone to say about us: “They did that? I thought they were a Christian.” This means we avoid griping and moaning. We avoid taking advantage of our position. We should be respectful to our managers and supervisors, and we should be honestly earning the wages we’re given.

I Peter 2:18-21 teaches the difficult lesson that we are to work as well for difficult employers as we would for a good manager. What credit is it to us if we work well for someone easy to work with? Our character really comes out when things get tough. If we are in a position of authority, however, Ephesians 6:9 tells us we should be as humble as if we were in a position of subjection. We are to be respectful, fair, and kind toward those who work under us.

Worship At Work

When we work as God would have us, living the trust we have for God in our lives, then we will set an example to people we may not even know are looking up to us. Our conduct can glorify God in a setting where there is much to lead us astray – pressures to socialize in ungodly ways, to fall into ungodly joking and conversations, to get caught up into office dramas, to skim a little extra for ourselves. If we keep Him first, worshipping Him even in the workplace, then we can keep ourselves above those influences.

What matters to you at work? Do your actions and attitudes reflect God? Work with respect and good will for your superiors. Demonstrate integrity. Offer good service to employers both good and bad. Remember your ultimate master is in Heaven, and it is Him we seek to please. Treat those under your authority with kindness and respect. Treat coworkers, employers, and employees the way you want them to treat you. Let your conduct at work be worship to our Heavenly Father, the final authority and master in our lives.

lesson by Mark RItter

Worship 24x7

For many of us, worship consists of what we do when we come together once or twice a week. We have this worship broken down into five formal acts – singing, praying, teaching, communion, and contribution. This is not all worship is, however. Worship is something that should be happening outside the walls of your congregation. We have to understand more about worship if we are going to live worshipfully in all aspects of our lives.

Worship from the Heart

The Greek word for worship literally means to prostrate one’s self, to bow down. The English root is “worth-ship.” It is something we do, not because we are commanded or because we get something out of it, but rather we worship because God is worthy of that worship. True worship will indeed build us up as we draw closer to God, but our worship centers on Him first and foremost. He wants us to worship Him as well as have a desire to worship Him.

We know John 4:24, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” Jesus says this in context of one questioning Him about the proper place of worship. Jesus says the proper place to worship is from within. In Mark 12:28-31, Jesus says the greatest of the commandments is to love God with all of our heart, soul, and strength. It is a love we carry with us everywhere and at all times. It is not constrained to a specific time and location.

Worship in Our Lives

Amos 5:21-24 outlines God condemning acts of worship that are following the prescribed pattern. They were doing what was commanded, so why was God not pleased? Isaiah 1:11-17 repeats this condemnation, telling the people that their lives did not match their worship. They came together and went through the steps of worship while living in a way that invalidated their worship. Today, we can be guilty of the same if our lives do not lift God up in worshipful living.

Real worship is a life devoted to our God. Without that form of worship coming daily from us, our assembled worship means little. Hebrews 13:15-16 says,

Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Our lives should be sacrifices of praise; doing good to others, giving of ourselves for the sake of others, defending and helping those in need, living prayerfully – all of these things constitute worship. It is a surrendering of our lives to God in all places and at all times.

Romans 12:1-2:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

To live sacrificially, we have to remove the world from our hearts while we live that life among the world. We are transformed, putting our former selves to death, worshipping God from a well that comes from within. Hebrews 12:1-2 calls on us to lay aside the weights of this world in our lives, and verses 12-15 then instruct us to strengthen those around us, to live peacefully, to live morally, to lift the fallen. This is the acceptable worship spoken of in verse 28.

Examples of Worshipful Living

David exemplifies worshipful living in Psalm 51, calling on God for forgiveness. He not only asks to be forgiven, but David asks God to make his life pure and a life of praise. He knows sacrifices and offerings are not enough, and David calls a humble and softened heart the true sacrifice God desires. Back in Mark 12, the scribe who asked Jesus about worship understand this, and Jesus commends him, saying the scribe is near to the kingdom.

Philippians 1:19-20 records Paul saying that Christ will be honored in him in life or death, and verse 27 encourages us to make our lives worthy of the gospel. Chapter 4:18 calls the generosity of the church in Philippi a sacrifice acceptable before God. Ephesians 5:1-2 uses these same terms to describe walking in love, and Paul goes on to describes what such a life looks like – free of immorality, free of covetousness, free of deceit. He calls on us to walk as children of light, to walk with care and wisdom, using our time wisely and forever giving thanks to God and living humbly before Him and others.

lesson by Dawson Guyer

Keeping It Real: Scientific Truth

Science is a great topic – studying our world, our universe, the animals and environment around us, the things that make up our world and keep it a habitable place. It is nothing new, though, that science is sometimes used and manipulated to lead people to specific conclusions that may not always be true. Regardless of your ideological leanings, we can see evidence of people using science and misrepresenting science to push a political cause or agenda, so how should we view this fascinating field as believers in Christ?

The Bible and Science

The Bible and science are not incompatible, but we should never try to make our Bibles into scientific textbooks. Some aspects of it are, in fact, scientifically improbable and impossible to prove. We take these things on faith. Take the age of Earth, for example. The Bible merely says God did it; the Word doesn’t go out of its way to conclusively state exactly how long ago it happened, so is it the best use our our time and efforts to debate such things?

In Job 38:11, God asks Job what he knows of the process of Creation. God points out that Job doesn’t understand, but He doesn’t go out of His way to explain every one of these details about which He questions Job. The Bible is not concerned with being a scientific proof text. Instead, it is concerned with the spiritual truths by which we should live.

John 17:17 records Jesus praying that His followers be sanctified in truth, and He qualifies this, saying, “Thy word is truth.” II Peter 1:3 goes on to say that God’s word gives all we need for godly living in the truth of His word. The specifics of the Bible may not satiate our curiosity regarding this physical world – that is the scope of science. Instead, our Bibles tell us the details of how we must live to be like Him. That is the truth in which we are sanctified.

The Role of Faith

Hebrews 11 begins with a passage we see as a definition of faith – we believe things the Bible says despite the intangible nature of those things. This is not blind adherence, but I Thessalonians 5:19-22 tells us to test our faith and to hold fast to what is good.

In this, we feel we have to get into Christian evidences, again trying to fit science into faith – fitting a field based on skepticism around the trust involved with faith. It doesn’t fit, and we have to live with the fact that there will always be some who will not believe those evidences. Even during His life, Jesus could not convince all who saw and heard Him, even amidst the miracles they saw. Instead, godly living should be where we put our strongest efforts.

John 20:24-29 illustrates faith versus skepticism. Jesus blesses those who believe in Him despite never seeing Him. Likewise, will we believe in the Bible? Will we live by faith? Science is not bad. Through it, we can see God’s love in the world and universe He made, and believing in His role does not necessarily mean you are uneducated or uninformed. The Bible’s truth should guide every aspect of our lives, and we follow that truth in faith – trusting in the unseen hand of a Creator who loves us and wants us to spend eternity with Him.

lesson by Ben Lanius

Keeping It Real: Inner Beauty

What is real beauty? In the grocery checkout line, we have those magazines like Cosmopolitan, Elle, and Vogue where we see an idealized and artificial version of beauty. Then, on the other hand, we have those publications that try to tear down that beauty with terrible pictures and ugly stories. When it comes to God’s reality of beauty, His word deals little with outer appearances, but I Timothy 2:8-10 does talk about modest dress. In this, though, Paul is telling us to clothe ourselves in good deeds and not be distracted by our outer appearances.

I Peter 3:1-5 instructs us to have inner beauty more than outward. Our inward self should be our focus, not the attention we can draw toward ourselves with our clothes. Yes, Christ is supposed to be reflected in the way we dress – let’s not diminish that – but that is not the attention we are supposed to be seeking. We get very preoccupied with our clothes, especially in the context of worship, but we cannot let dress distract us from the true focus of our lives. God wants humble submission and does not want us to have unreasonably high attitudes of ourselves. In Leviticus 16:23-24, when the high priest entered the Holy Place, he physically clothed himself humbly, and our hearts should be so clothed in God’s service.

Clothed in Christ

Galatians 3:26-29 tells us we are clothed in Christ when we are baptized into Him. Romans 13:11-14 tells us to put aside the deeds of darkness and to clothe ourselves in Jesus Christ and the armor of light. Ephesians 4:20-24 tells us to shed our old selves and to clothe ourselves in newness, and Colossians 3 then points out specifics – ridding ourselves of anger, wrath, slander, and obscenity while putting on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. When we are clothed in Christ, we are one. We are all wearing the same thing no matter what we have on outside.

Again, Galatians 3:26-29 reinforces that we put on the garments of Christ when we are baptized into Him. That is when we change from our clothes of sin into the garments of righteousness. Once we have those clothes, we cannot let them go out of style. We cannot become embarrassed by them. It is not a garment we take out and put away as it’s convenient. The beauty of Jesus is who we are at all times. That inward beauty should always be evident.

Christ Seen in Us

When we are clothed in Christ, then the way we treat our outer appearance and our conduct will naturally fall into line. If we are honest with ourselves, we know when we are presenting ourselves appropriately or inappropriately. It comes down to what you really want. Do you want to conform to the standards of the world, or will you conform to His standard? When other people see us, do they see Jesus?

We need to evaluate ourselves. Can others see Christ in me in how I act, in what I do, in how I present myself? Am I clothed in compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, or have I hidden Jesus in the back of my moral closet? The beauty of the world can be enticing, but our focus needs to be on our internal purity and our internal beauty. Where the magazines covers continue to show us the idealized beauty of the world, we should instead let others see the beauty of Jesus in us each and every day.

lesson by Ben Lanius

Keeping It Real: Our Money

In this lesson, we’re going to look at how God views money. What is the reality of God’s expectations for how treat the money we have? To many of us, our money can become everything. Think about it – when we lose our jobs or financial disaster strikes, we may say, “I’ve lost everything,” but the truth is we haven’t. Yes, we’ve lost things that make us feel secure in our lives, but we have not lost the reality of God’s salvation. We have to remember that our finances are not, in fact, everything.

A Different Priority

In Matthew 6:19, Jesus says:

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

If we’re dedicated to accumulating and building up stuff, we’re setting ourselves up to fail. It cannot last. I Timothy 6:5-7 reminds us that we enter the world with nothing and can take nothing with us while criticizing those who look to religion as a financial opportunity. Paul goes on to call greed the root of all evil.

Laying Up Treasure with Treasure

So what should we be doing with our money? How can we lay up treasure in Heaven with the treasures of this world? Paul tells us providing for our family is important in I Timothy 5:8. II Thessalonians 3:6-11 talks about encouraging one another to avoid idleness in providing for our own. Also, Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32 show Christians not just taking care of their own families; they took care of each other too, giving up things we have a hard time imagining to help each other out.

Even beyond using our resources to care for our families and our fellow Christians, we should be looking out for the poor and needy. There are about a hundred passages in the Bible about providing for the poor. Matthew 25:31-46 drives this point home, showing Jesus judging His disciples by the way they gave of themselves to those in need. Matthew 6:1-4, though, talks about our motivation in our generosity; not for praise or attention but simply because it is the right thing to do. Like the rich young ruler, though, we sometimes find this tough because we don’t want to lose “everything.”

Content with God’s Grace

What attitude do we have about our money, our financial security, about our generosity, about our giving? In no part of our lives does God want a portion of our dedication. As Christians, we know we should not be selfish with our time or with our effort, so why do we think it’s okay to be so selfish with our money? We know we are living sacrifices, and that we entirely belong to God, so we have to realize that if we are God’s, then all that we have is also His.

Think about that first sin in the garden, Eve being enticed by the serpent. Satan is promising her more than God has given her. He tells her, “You deserve more,” and he does the same to us today. He entices us away from investing in treasures in Heaven, and he drives us to focus on ourselves instead of others.

We need to think about our spending priorities. We need to search out opportunities to give of ourselves – to the poor, to missionaries, to those with an immediate need – keeping a humble spirit in our giving. And we need to realize that the things of this world are not everything. This is not our reality. God is, and we have to be willing to turn away from the priorities of this world and turn toward those we see in God’s word.

lesson by Ben Lanius

Keeping It Real: A Sober Mind

The Bible contains several passages concerning being sober-minded – I Peter 5:8, I Peter 4:7, Titus 2:2 and 2:6, and I Timothy 3:2 among these. The point is that our thoughts are to be under God’s control as much as our actions. I Peter 1:13 tells us to prepare our minds for action, being sober-minded with our hope in Christ. We are to think and act like God thinks. Our minds have to be where His is.

Matthew 16:21 begins a story of Peter claiming he will stand between Jesus and death, but Jesus rebukes Him fairly strongly, telling Peter his mind is set on the things of this world rather than the things of God. In other words, Peter is thinking like man instead of like God. Jesus then speaks to His apostles about true self-denial, to align our minds and values with God’s.

Paul, in Romans 12:1-2, says we should not act like the world. Instead we should be living sacrifices, not conformed to the world, but transformed through renewing our minds. This is what being sober-minded is about – thinking like God thinks. That is our reality.

Challenges to Sober-Mindedness

What things can impair our judgment? What can take our minds off of our Lord? Part of it comes down to what we put in our minds with television, movies, our music, sites we visit. Along with filling our own minds, we are filling our family’s minds with the same content. We should always be cautious about this because God expects our minds to be under control, and we can become drunk on poor influences through the media we consume.

Also, in Galatians 5:19-21, Paul covers many activities we will fall into when out of control. Among these, Paul discusses physical drunkenness. I Corinthians 5:11 covers similar activities, warning us to even avoid people who live such lifestyles. Ephesians 5:18 instructs us to fill ourselves with the Spirit rather than drunkenness and these other poor qualities. Once we abandon sober-mindedness, it becomes easier and easier to lose all self control.

Maintaining a Sober Mind

This means we may have to avoid attending some parties we might want to go to. This means we may have to block some sites we’ve grown used to visiting. This means we may have to simply turn the television or radio off. In some cases, we may have to ask for help from our church family; Galatians 6:2 reminds us we are responsible for each other, bearing each others' struggles and burdens. We may even need to seek treatment in some cases, depending on the seriousness of our challenges.

I Peter 4 tells us Jesus faced all of the same challenges we do and that it is possible to think like He did, not subjecting to the tyranny of our own desires but subjecting ourselves to the will of God. That life will be one free of the burden of guilt and one with a clear mind. I Peter 3:13-16 reminds us to live with a clear conscious, with thoughts and minds prepared for God’s service at all times. We live sober lives because of what Jesus did for us and because we want to be closer to Him, and we want to be like Him.

lesson by Ben Lanius

Keeping It Real: The Family

God has something much better in store for our lives than anything this world can provide, and we have to live God’s reality to escape the unreality of this world. Over the next few weeks, we’re going to look at God’s reality in various parts of our lives and what we can do to live up to that standard, and the first area we are going to examine is our family lives. How should we approach our families to keep in line with the reality of God’s word?

God’s Reality for the Family
The family was formed by God even before the entrance of sin into our world. The family was formed during the Creation, and God desires that we keep the covenant we make with our families as in Malachi 2:10. God keeps His promises to us, and He expects us to keep those implicit and spoken promises we make to our earthly families. What, then, are these promises we make or imply as parent to child, as child to parent, as spouse to spouse?

Genesis 2:24 describes a husband and wife as one united individual, the words are “one flesh.” The husband and wife are inseparable parts of each other, living in unity and accord. Malachi 2:15 illustrates they are one to raise up godly offspring, and Ephesians 5:22-33 draws a parallel between Christ’s relationship with the church and a husband’s relationship with his wife – in love, in sacrifice, in concern, in unity. This is what God wants for us, to raise godly families, to live in love, mutual respect, and kindness.

Avoiding Fracturing the Reality
Matthew 5:27 records Jesus warning against giving ourselves over to lust, going to any lengths to avoid letting that consume our lives, and he goes on to say we should never forsake our spouses for these images. We should never tear apart that unity unless unfaithfulness is involved. We should be actively fleeing from those temptations and those attitudes that can deteriorate our families.

We should avoid allowing a temptation to turn into something more. James 1:13-16 warns us against succumbing to the bait Satan dangles in front of us. He has no desire for us to have healthy marriages or to be one with our spouses. When we know we are being tempted, we have the choice to turn away, to not look, to not pursue, to not covet. Realize that these temptations are from the one trying to destroy us.

In our marriages, we cannot be selfish in possessions or intimacy. We should be open to each other. We should communicate with our families about our struggles as well as our strengths. We are not invincible, and we should avoid spending time with those we find attractive, perhaps even avoid rekindling past relationships. We need to know when we are most vulnerable to succumb to temptation and to avoid settings, websites, videos, and other materials that will play upon those vulnerabilities.

The Gift of Family
We cannot let the temptations of this world tear down what we have built as families. Instead, we should never take our wives and husbands for granted. We should be living by the attitudes and the conduct we find in God’s word, and we should be treasuring this gift of family God has given us. This beautiful relationship of family is His reality for us because that is the model for His relationship with us. It is a relationship of nurturing, of unconditional love, and of promises kept.

By caring for our family and preserving it as we should, we make ourselves more like God. We are a special people who God treasures and protects. We should have the same attitude toward our families.

lesson by Ben Lanius

Equipping One Another

Many of the writings of the New Testament were directed to specific groups with strengths and challenges, with hopes and frustrations, with issues and needs unique to themselves. In Ephesians 4:11-16, Paul writes to one of these specific groups – people who, like us, who blended their voices in praise, who gathered around the Lord’s table, who raised up prayers – about how each member of that group serves to build up, strengthen, and perfect the body of Christ. It is reminiscent of Christ’s words to Peter, in Luke 22:31-32, where he calls upon the apostle to strengthen his brothers. We can do this same thing today; we can serve to strengthen and perfect each other as we strive to live like Christ.

Strengthening and Equipping One Another
Acts 18 tells the story of Apollos, a zealous and eloquent preacher of the word, and of Aquila and Priscilla, who take him aside to explain God's word more accurately. Here is a preacher who is strong in the word and in faith, but this couple help perfect him through a better understanding of God’s word. We have no better tool in building one another up than God’s word, and Aquila and Priscilla’s encouragement helped more than Apollos. They helped all who he touched in his ministry. Hebrews 5:12-6:1 calls on us to press on toward perfection, building each other up through God’s word on a daily basis. Each day we do not feed on His word, we grow weaker, and Ephesians 3:14-19 calls on Christ to dwell in us, strengthened in faith, filled with God’s fullness. We accomplish this in study.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls on us to be a city set upon a hill, to let our lights shine, unhidden to those around us. He is talking about our example; He is talking about what others see in us. Paul exhorts a young preacher, in I Timothy 4:12, to be an example of love, faith, speech, conduct, and purity. Likewise, Titus 2 calls on older Christians to set, by their examples, the standard for the younger generation. Romans 12:1-2 encourages to be living sacrifices, examples to one another, transformed from the conduct of this world and conformed to the conduct of Christ. What do my brothers and sisters see in me? What does the world see in me? Our examples can serve to strengthen and perfect one another in Christ’s faith.

Finally, we need to help each other with our armor. We need help when we first learn to clothe ourselves, and so we must help each other with our spiritual raiment. Ephesians 6:10-13 speaks of wearing the armor of God so we may stand against the trials and obstacles of this world, and, if we are spiritually undressed, we need to help clothe each other in hope, in love, in faith, in truth. We need to help prepare each other in the armor of the Lord each and every day.

The Confidence of Perfected Hope
In Hebrews 6:18-20, we read:

…so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

We are strongest when we lift each other up. We are better when we work together. We lead best by example, and we root all of this in the hope we find in God’s word. We are obligated to one another, as were those saints two thousand years ago, to build each other up, to keep each other focused on the hope ahead of us. May God help us all to strengthen and equip each other so we may enter His gates together one day.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Pharisaism and Mercy

Wrapping up the lessons we’re taking from the Pharisees, we want to look at Matthew 9:10-13, where Jesus says to the Pharisees, after they question his association with tax collectors and sinners, “Go and learn what this means, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice. For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” He is quoting from Hosea 6:6 on this occasion, accusing the Pharisees of sacrificing mercy for the sake of their legalistic attitudes. The lesson for us is evident – we must defend the faith, must preserve the old ways, but we must not forsake mercy.

Mercy is kind action motivated by compassion. In learning what God means that He desires mercy more than sacrifice, we must understand it is more than an emotion. It is more than a feeling. We can feel compassion for someone and do nothing about it, but we are merciful when that compassion drives us to do something about it.

The Importance of Mercy
If we would be like our God, we must be merciful, for mercy is a characteristic of our God. Exodus 34:6 records God describing Himself as one merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in love. Psalm 145:8, Joel 2:12-13, Jonah 4:2 – these passages and more explain or demonstrate the mercy shown in our God’s dealings with man. If this is who He is, it is who we should be too.

Furthermore, mercy should be a part of our lives, for it is what we expect God to have for us. Luke 18:13 records a tax collector’s prayer: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” God’s mercy is requested some forty times in the psalms, and we entreat God’s mercy when we repent and lay our sins at His feet. Just as we expect mercy from Him, God expects mercy from us. Romans 12:8 calls on us to be gladly merciful. Luke 6:36 records Jesus saying we should “be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

Hosea 6:6, which Jesus quotes, and Micah 6:6-8, both are in the midst of half-hearted repentance. There is no heart in their appeal for mercy. They face judgment in asking for the mercy they refuse to show, but James 2:13 teaches that mercy triumphs over judgment. Micah 7:18 tells us God’s anger is only for a time and that He pardons iniquity and delights in love. If we have been merciful, we have no fear of an unmerciful judgment. Like we are taught to be forgiving to be forgiven, so we should be merciful to receive mercy.

Our Need to Show Mercy
We need to better show mercy to the lost. Consider the numerous exchanges between the Pharisees and Jesus. Those religious leaders viewed the lost as enemies, as undesirables, as arguments to win, as opportunities to prove our own rightness. When we are not moved by compassion, we show no mercy. Sometimes we act as if the gospel is only for the righteous, and we fail to show mercy to those who need it most.

We also need to be more merciful to new converts. We often expect too much of those new to God’s family. We grow exasperated and impatient for their failure to understand and accept convictions we already hold after years of service. Instead of giving them time to mature, we are unmerciful and unkind. These are the ones who need to be lifted up, to be supported, whose paths need to be cleared.

Finally, we sometimes fail to show mercy to our own Christian family. We listen to gossip about other Christians, and we accept these third and fourth-hand reports as fact. We condemn the very appearance of something without the benefit of the doubt. We do not listen to learn; rather, we listen to ambush. Doing so, we violate Galatians 5:14-15, destroying our strength and hindering God’s work.

Jesus quotes Hosea once more in Matthew 12:7 when the Pharisees criticize Jesus’ disciples for picking grain to eat on the Sabbath. Like them, because we do not understand mercy, we criticize what we do not understand in others. We condemn the innocent. Instead of fighting the devil, we fight one another. If we are to walk uprightly and rightly divide God’s word, we must be a people of mercy.

Hebrews 8:10-12 describes God’s mercy toward our iniquities, and Hebrews 12:16 encourages us that we can receive His mercy by approaching the throne of grace. In doing so, we must also put on mercy, acting in humility, kindness, and loving kindness in all we say and do.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Pharisees and Legalism

In continuing our thoughts on the Pharisees, their intentions, and where they went wrong, we can’t help but touch on the subject of legalism. What does the Bible say about being legalistic, and what does the term really mean? Legalism is defined as the view that good works earn salvation. It is not concerned about believing in a law, obeying God, and adhering to His statutes, but rather legalism about one’s attitude toward that obedience. Legalism concerns the heart.

Law-Abiding Versus Legalism
The Bible does teach that we should believe in God’s law and the importance thereof. Romans 3:25-27 speaks of a law of faith under which New Testament Christians live, and chapter 8:1-2 of the same book also refers to the “law of the Spirit of life.” I Corinthians 9:20-21 has Paul writing that he is under law to Christ, and Hebrews 8:10 reveals that God’s law should be written upon our hearts. Finally, James 2:12 says we are judged by a law of liberty. There is no question in the minds of the New Testament writers that God has a law, and it is not legalistic to believe in the rule of that law.

Furthermore, it is not legalistic to adhere to that law. Matthew 7:21 records Jesus saying that one must obey the Father to please Him. Hebrews 5:7-8 makes reference to Christ Himself being obedient to the Father’s will, saving those who obey Him. James 1:25 calls on us to look into the perfect law of God and then actually obey it.

In John 12:42, Jesus is among people scared to confess belief in Christ, and, in verse 48, He says that His words will judge those who reject Him. II John 9 claims that whoever does not abide in Christ’s teachings does not have God. II Thessalonians 1:7-8 contains perhaps the most severe warning: “…inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” It is not enough to simply acknowledge God. He has a law that must be followed, and it is not legalistic to believe disobedience will separate us from Him.

Legalism Versus Humble Obedience
Legalism is believing that man can be saved apart from God’s grace. The first ten verses of Ephesians 2 addresses the helpless nature from which God saved us, being dead in trespasses, and having been saved through grace. That salvation cannot come from ourselves. It is from God. Romans 3:23-24 reinforce this, that we are all helpless before God and that we are saved by grace through the propitiation of our Lord Christ. He is our mercy seat. To believe we can be saved through anything but God’s kindness, love, and mercy, runs contrary to God’s word.

While we must be obedient servants, we cannot earn salvation through that obedience. We obey because of hope and salvation in Christ. Romans 5:76-11 reminds us of how undeserving we are of Christ’s sacrifice and salvation in Him. While we were enemies, God reconciled us to Him, and nothing we can do could bridge that gap of ourselves. Luke 17:7-10 reminds us that a servant’s work is never done and to view our service to God as no more that that which we should do because of our role as servants. Ephesians 2:8-9 and Titus 3:4-5 remind us that obedience is nothing to glory in, for our service is a response to mercy. Obedience is not about being deserving; it is a grateful response to grace.

Harmonizing Law and Grace
We cannot believe we earn our salvation. We cannot remove grace and mercy from our salvation. All pride is erased, for our good works do not come from ourselves, but they come from the will of God, works for humble servants to gratefully perform. Luke 18:9-14 tells the story of two supplicants before God. Both believe in God’s law and believe it must be obeyed. The difference between the Pharisee and the tax collector is one of attitude. The Pharisee feels God should favor him because of his meritorious works. The tax collector submits humbly.

This then is how we harmonize law and grace. The proper response to law is obedience. The proper response to grace is faith and trust. His law and His grace are inseparable. John 1:17 tells us grace and truth both come from Christ. Acts 14:3 records Paul and Barnabas preaching a law of grace, and chapter 20:24 of the same book quotes Paul speaking of “the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” We are saved by grace, and we must be obedient to His word, trusting wholly in Him and sacrificing all reliance on self in that obedience and in accepting His grace.

lesson by Tim Smelser

Our New Site

We have a new site, and you can find it at southboonechurch.org.

That's the good news. The bad news is that southboonechurch.com, the URL for our original site, is broken beyond belief. What, you want more details? Are you sure? Well here goes…

The Original Host
When I inherited our site about two years ago, I immediately started having problems with our hosting provider. Uploading new content to our FTP server was hit-or-miss at best, but usually problems would resolve themselves after a few attempts. It was a pain at best. At worst, it would keep our site offline for hours at a time. Even fixing a spelling error was stressful.

Related to this problem was the fact that, after many updates, the site would start requiring visitors to enter a username and password for no apparent reason. Without doing so, though, no images or other media would display. Again, re-uploading a couple of times sometimes fixed that problem.

Finally, the site would only work on our host if the index was .asp instead of .html. Weird, right?

As a footnote, there was also the fact that I could never reach our host by phone; they never returned emails; and their site looks like it was last updated in the late 90s. None of that really added to the hair-pulling experience that was updating our site, but it certainly didn't help.

The Last Straw
Friday was it. I went to add two new pages to our site, and I cleaned up the layout for a slightly fresher look. I uploaded the whole thing…and nothing. The old version of the site still loaded. I double-checked that I had renamed the proper .html files to .asp, found one that I had missed, and the site went up with broken links. Okay, that made sense because some extensions changed.

I fixed the links (read: accounted for our host's weirdness), manually deleted old files on our server that could confuse things, went to upload the revisions, and everything went crazy. The server was randomly refusing to replace some files and folders. It kept insisting some folders were there that I had deleted months ago. Visiting the site was prompting user log-ins. This went on for hours, and none of my usual voodoo was working.

Finally, close to midnight, I set up a hosting plan with Dreamhost, set up a new domain (because I'm not sure how I'm actually going to get our old domain away from this particular host) and went live. And that's where we are right now.

Walking Away for a Bit
I'm not even going to try to fix the issues we're having with the old host or get the old domain redirected for a few days. I'm going to put all my energy into this blog and our new site, and I'll get to finishing the migration after I've cooled off a bit. Not much pushes my patience, but I know my blood pressure was rising earlier tonight.

That said, I like our new site. (And I kind of prefer a .org address for our kind of organization anyway.) Go check it out.