About Herald & Banner Press

This author has not yet filled in any details.
So far Herald & Banner Press has created 986 blog entries.

Lesson Highlight: "workmanship" in Ephesians 2:10

ephesians2v10In the "Biblical Perspective" for this week's lesson, Dr. Marsh Jones writes:

The salvation that we enjoy comes by no work of our own, it comes only because of Christ’s sacrifice. But though we do not obtain our salvation through our works, we will naturally do good works once we have been redeemed. It is as natural for a Christian to seek to do the whole will of God as it is for a man to breathe.

Could we restate this as follows... we are God' craft, God's project? When you realize you have been specially designed by God for good works, how does this affect your view of yourself? How does it clarify your purpose in life?
Source: Galatians and Ephesians: Adult Teacher's Insights, June, July, August 2015, pp. 57-58.

2015-08-05T11:00:02+00:00August 5th, 2015|Categories: Lesson Highlights|0 Comments

Guided like a Flock

A flock of sheep
Read Psalm 78:52-55
“And he led them on safely, so that they feared not: but the sea overwhelmed their enemies” (v. 53).
I begged and begged for an orphan lamb. Thankfully, my mom liked animals, too, so one day Daddy and Mama went to a nearby sheep farmer and brought home a rejected twin lamb. Raggedy Ann promptly became my shadow. She followed me feeding calves, mowing the lawn, running with us as we played along the river, or just lying in the yard reading. She would even come bounding down the lane to greet me getting off the school bus.
Raggedy Ann had no idea how close to death she had come or how privileged she was to have a loving owner. She forgot she was a sheep, totally ignoring a flock of sheep pastured nearby, seeming to think she was a dog or even a human like her master.
God provides His children those same feelings, and the reality, of safety. One has to wonder how lost people, who do not know Jesus as their Savior and Shepherd, cope with all the dangers and fears that life brings. Safety is something this sinful world has little of. (Wanda Skeen)

In shady green pastures so rich and so sweet. . . .
Where the water’s cool flow bathes the weary one’s feet. . . .
Tho’ sorrows befall us and Satan oppose. . . .
Through grace we can conquer, defeat all our foes.
God leads His dear children along. - George A. Young

No amount of money, possessions, or defense strategy can equal the knowledge of God’s loving care.

This week's featured devotional is the Tuesday, August 4, 2015 entry of Opening the Word.

2015-08-04T11:00:58+00:00August 4th, 2015|Categories: Opening the Word|0 Comments

Privileges of the Household of God

Lesson 10 - August 9
FOCUS TEXT: Ephesians 2:10-22; 3:8-12
CENTRAL TRUTH: The Christian enjoys great privileges as part of God's family.
OBJECTIVE: By the end of this lesson my students should be able to list several privileges they enjoy as Christians.
LESSON OUTLINE:

  1. Brought Together in Christ (Ephesians 2:10-13)
  2. The Reconciliation of Peace (Ephesians 2:14-18)
  3. Made Part of the Church (Ephesians 2:19-22)
  4. Access to God (Ephesians 3:8-12)
2015-08-03T11:00:49+00:00August 3rd, 2015|Categories: Weekly Lesson Summaries|0 Comments

Lesson Highlight: Ephesians 6:11

ephesians6v11In "Teaching Tips", Greg Blake writes:

Christians are made strong, then, by putting on the “whole armor” of God to protect and prepare them for their encounter with “the wiles of the devil” that will assault them. The “whole armor” refers to the entire stock of protective apparatus available to soldiers going into combat — a wholeness that is necessary so that no unprotected surfaces are open to harm. That Christians “stand” against these forces reasserts the simple foot-soldier image of the Christian — those who may expect to combat the enemy at close quarters, hand-to-hand and face-to-face.

Discussion: Are you comfortable with this imagery of you, as a Christian, being a foot soldier of the Cross? Are you dressed with the armor of God and ready for battle?
Source: Lesson 9 - "Made Alive in Christ", Adult Teacher's Insights, p. 52.

2015-07-31T11:00:38+00:00July 31st, 2015|Categories: Lesson Highlights|0 Comments

Lesson Highlight: Ephesians 2:8

ephesians2v8Do you like getting gifts? Even as an adult, this writer finds it exciting to receive gifts. Tearing off the wrapping paper, opening the box, removing the packing ... even if completed in a few seconds, results in an adrenaline rush as you wonder, "What is it?" Of course, our salvation as a gift is more known than that mysterious package under the Christmas tree. Yet at the same time, the depth and breadth of God's grace is also unknown to us as we trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior. Truly, we continue to learn day-by-day more and more about His inexpressible gift.
Discussion: When we speak of God's grace, should we still have that childish glee in receiving a gift for one's birthday or Christmas?

2015-07-30T11:00:22+00:00July 30th, 2015|Categories: Lesson Highlights|0 Comments

Lesson Highlight: Ephesians 2:1

ephesians2v1"Quicken" - this word is not used as much in common English today, but the basic meaning is "to make alive." Similarly, the concept that sin results in death seems out of vogue in society today, yet this truth remains. As you teach or participate in our "Made Alive in Christ" Sunday school lesson, how can you illustrate the death caused by sin and the being made alive again in Christ?

2015-07-29T11:00:32+00:00July 29th, 2015|Categories: Lesson Highlights|0 Comments

Newness of Life

baptism
Read Romans 6:1-5
“Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (v. 4).
It is of deep concern that many professed Christians give little or no evidence of a new life in Christ. Water baptism is a beautiful thing when practiced according to Scripture. It is the outward testimony of an inward work.
In a recent baptismal service, a husband, wife, and teen-age son gave clear testimony of how salvation had come to their family, one member at a time. The newness of life that they could see in other members of the family gave them a desire to enjoy the same in their lives.

It should not be overlooked that there is a death involved in this baptism. It is a death to sin. In the context of our scripture, the question is asked: “How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (v. 2). Paul’s clear answer is that Christians do not so live. Instead he exhorts us to walk “in newness of life.” Wycliffe Bible Commentary notes that “the translation to ‘walk in newness of life’ carries with it the day-by-day living in the ordinary routines of life.” (BAM)

What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought
Since Jesus came into my heart! . . .
And my sins which were many are all washed away. — Rufus H. McDaniel

A born again experience still brings newness of life!

This devotional is the Thursday, July 30, 2015 entry of Opening the Word.

2015-07-28T11:00:44+00:00July 28th, 2015|Categories: Opening the Word|0 Comments

Lesson Highlight: Ephesians 3:14

Did you realize it was unusual for Jews to kneel in prayer?
IMG_0211.JPGAccording to Francis Foulkes in Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: Ephesians...

Among the Jews it was usual to stand to pray (see Mt. 6:5 and Lk. 18:11, 13). Kneeling for prayer, though it has become a regular Christian attitude, was formerly an expression of deep emotion or earnestness, and on that basis we must understand Paul's words here. Solomon knelt at the dedication of the temple (1 Ki. 8:54); Stephen at the time of his martyrdom (Acts 7:60); Peter at the death-bed of Dorcas (Acts 9:40); Paul at the tiem of his farewells on his last journey to Jerusalem (Acts 20:36; 21:5); our Lord himself in his agony in Gethsemane (Lk. 22:41).

Discussion: If it was unusual for Jews to kneel in prayer, then how should we understand the importance of what Paul prayed for in Ephesians 3? What is the significance of his prayer request?
Source: Foulkes, Francis (1989). Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: Ephesians. Inter-Varsity Press: Leicester, England. pp. 108-109.

2015-07-24T11:00:24+00:00July 24th, 2015|Categories: Lesson Highlights|0 Comments
Go to Top