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Read books by Elmer Towns, an authority on Sunday School
Liberty University has a number of books by Elmer Towns, an authority on Sunday School, in PDF format - for free!
Merry Christmas!
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:
And the government shall be upon his shoulder:
And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counseller, The mighty God,
The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,
Upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom,
To order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice
From henceforth even for ever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Isaiah 9:6-7
Lesson Highlight: "walk"
In "Doctrinal Discussion" Dr. Glenn McClure writes concerning the Christian walk:
- We need to walk in love which is the essence of our walk (Eph. 5:2).
- We need to walk by faith (2 Cor. 5:7), knowing that God’s way will not always be accepted by this world.
- We need to walk in the light (1 John 1:7).
- We need to walk with integrity (Rom. 13:13).
- Most importantly, we need to walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4); that is, we need to walk in Christ (Col. 2:6), the one who has given us physical, spiritual, and eternal life.
Source: Miracles of Jesus: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 26.
Lesson Highlight: "if thou canst"
In "Word Focus" William Sillings writes:
Verses 22-24 are the crux of this story. The man asked Jesus for help “if you can do anything.” The Greek text includes a small aside at the beginning of this verse (to ei dun), which carries the force of “As to your ‘if you can’ — everything is possible to him that believeth.” It is almost as though Jesus had said, in our vernacular, “If I can! The very idea!” He was saying, “I not only can do something, but I can even do everything you need to have done. The ‘if ’ is not on my part. The ‘if ’ is yours. I can if you can believe. ‘All things are possible to him that believeth.’ ”
The word for believe (pisteuonti) is a present active participle in the dative case, and it means “to the believing one” or “to the one whose defining characteristic is that he believes.” The father answered, “I believe,” in the present active indicative. He was saying, “I do now believe.”
Source: Miracles of Jesus, Adult Teacher's Insights, page 22.
Do you fear becoming stained by the world?
In "God's Word for Today" David Fry writes:
When Jesus touched the leper, rather than becoming unclean, the leper was cleansed. This tells us that Jesus cannot be contaminated with sin or disease. As the Apostle Paul said to Timothy, God likewise has “not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7). Believers do not have to fear contamination as long as they are living confidently in Jesus Christ.
Discussion: How has the church at times avoided ministering to people in need because the church fears the "stain" of the people's sin and worldliness?
Discussion: How does 2 Timothy 1:7 give you confidence, in place of fear, to live and serve in the midst of an unholy world?
Source: Miracles of Jesus: Adult Teacher's Insights, page 30.
A Young Lady Freed
Read Acts 16:16-18
“And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour” (v. 18).
I cannot imagine what the girl in today’s scripture was going through. An evil spirit possessed and controlled her. If that was not bad enough, some money-minded people had enslaved her for their profit. How tragically sad, indeed, that people would take advantage of someone mired down in sin.
Still today people are trapped in sins. Try as they might, they cannot free themselves. Others take advantage of their bondage, and they are helpless to do anything about it.
The gospel brings good news. Regardless of the depths of your sins, and regardless of who has contributed to your slavery, God has power to free from sins. The Apostle Paul emphasized, “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” Despite there being too much sin in the world, God’s grace over super-abounds in saving from sins. When we can do nothing about our sins, God can. When sin has us trapped, God can release us from sin’s death grip, giving us hope and eternal life.
A young lady was freed from sin in Acts 16:18. Just like her, you can be set free, and “if the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” (MDA)
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
— Robert Lowry
There is power in Jesus’ name!
Sunday, December 27