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February 7, 2024: A Gospel For All
BIBLICAL BASIS: Understanding the Plan of Salvation
PRINTED TEXT: Romans 10:1-17
BACKGROUND SCRIPTURES: Joshua 24:1-28; Nehemiah 9:1-38; Psalm 51:1-17; Romans 10:1-21
DEVOTIONAL READING: Luke 18:9-14
KEY VERSE: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved (Romans 10:9).
CENTRAL TRUTH: The steps to salvation are simple and plain so all may be saved.
OBJECTIVE: By the end of this lesson my students should be able to clearly explain how a person can know Jesus Christ as his Saviour.
LESSON OUTLINE:
I. The Person (Romans 10:1-7)
II. The Plan (Romans 10:8-13)
III. The Proclamation (Romans 10:14-21)
January 17, 2024: A Tested Man
Read Job 2:3-10.
A Tested Man
"So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord,
and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown" (v. 7).
Sometimes, life doesn’t seem fair! Job has lost his wealth and children, and now God has allowed Satan to attack Job physically. Let’s look closely and see what nuggets of wisdom we can find in this passage today.
God knows what is going on in Job’s life, yet He allows it: painful boils, coupled with the scorn and anger of his wife's rejection, leave Job struggling for relief. Some scholars suggest one of Job’s trials was that Job’s wife was spared. Instead of comforting and ministering to him through his trials, she chose to find fault and tell him to curse God and die. Look at Job’s response to her. Job understood God is sovereign. When his wife scorned him and challenged his belief in God, Job responded courteously, realizing she was also grieving. Job extended to her both compassion and truth. Job's response to affliction demonstrated his faith and spiritual integrity. (LeeAnn Davison)
In the midst of tribulation, stand by me;
in the midst of tribulation, stand by me.
When the hosts of hell assail, and my strength begins to fail,
thou who never lost a battle, stand by me. (stand by me)
--- Charles Albert Tindley
God often chooses to allow things we cannot understand for reasons of His own.
January 21, 2024: More Than Conquerors
BIBLICAL BASIS: Understanding the Victory We Have Over Circumstances of Life
PRINTED TEXT: Romans 8:26-39
BACKGROUND SCRIPTURES: Psalms 37:23-29; 46:1-11; Ephesians 1:13-23
DEVOTIONAL READING: Job 19:23-29
KEY VERSE: In all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us (Romans 8:37).
CENTRAL TRUTH: God's grace enables us to have victory over all of life's difficulties.
OBJECTIVE: By the end of this class my students should be able to identify at least one problem in their life in which they will trust God for victory.
LESSON OUTLINE:
I. The Help of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:24-27)
II. The Promise for the Believer (Romans 8:28-32)
III. The Power to Conquer (Romans 8:33-39)
January 14, 2024: Victorious Living
BIBLICAL BASIS: Understanding the Necessity for Victorious Christian Living
PRINTED TEXT: Romans 8:1-17
BACKGROUND SCRIPTURES: Ephesians 3:14-21; I John 5:1-5
DEVOTIONAL READING: II Peter 1:2-11
KEY VERSE: Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? (I John 5:5).
CENTRAL TRUTH: We can have victory over sin through Christ's grace.
OBJECTIVE: By the end of this lesson my students should be able to identify some signs of victory in the Christian life.
LESSON OUTLINE:
I. The Provision for Victorious Living (Romans 8:1-5)
II. The Priority of Victorious Living (Romans 8:6-11)
III. The Power of Victorious Living (Romans 8:12-17)
January 3, 2024: The Old Man and The New Man
Read Ephesians 2:13-17.
“Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances: for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace” (v. 15).
Paul seems to be referencing the difference between Jews and Gentiles. They did not look kindly on each other. This animosity was graphically demonstrated in the parable of the Good Samaritan. Usually, what Samaritan would go out of his way to do anything for a Jew? Jesus came to abolish that kind of thinking.
Satan generated that way of viewing others. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, some Europeans viewed Jews with hatred. Men like Hitler and Stalin thought of annihilating the Jewish people. Today, in many parts of the world, Jesus's followers are hated, regardless of whether Jew or Gentile. Some are wrongfully treated, some are persecuted, and some give their lives just because they are followers of Jesus. Jesus taught us to love our fellow man.
When we experience the New Birth, we experience a newness never-before known. The old man is now a new man. Not only is there a change between Jew and Gentile, but skin color or nationality is no longer an issue. Gender is not an issue. Our generation's hatred becomes a love for lost souls when we exchange our old sin-cursed nature for the transforming Divine-Love-filled nature Jesus died to provide for all. (MAH)
Red and yellow, black and white:
All are precious in His sight.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit includes a baptism of Divine Love
January 7, 2024: A New Way to Righteousness
BIBLICAL BASIS: Understanding the Sinful Nature
PRINTED TEXT: Romans 7:4-6, 13-25
BACKGROUND SCRIPTURES: Romans 8:6-8; I Corinthians 2:14--3:4; Ephesians 4:21-24; 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
DEVOTIONAL READING: Galatians 5:16-24
KEY VERSE: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).
CENTRAL TRUTH: We can find deliverance from sin only in Christ.
OBJECTIVE: By the end of this lesson my students should be able to identify some characteristics of the sinful nature and explain how we can be freed from it.
LESSON OUTLINE:
I. Dead to the Law (Romans 7:4-6)
II. Life Under the Law (Romans 7:13-20)
III. An Evil Inner Law (Romans 7:21-23)
IV. The Answer in Christ (Romans 7:24, 25)