Questions, questions, questions

This week’s lesson, “God’s Sinless Son,” is taken from Matthew 3:1-4:11. As I read the verses, I was reminded of some initial questions I had when I first read them years ago.

Why was Jesus baptized? Was Jesus really tempted? What was the relationship between Jesus and John? How was John’s baptism different from that of a Christian? Can I repent of the same sin more than once?

I think it’s important to re-ask even basic questions members may have about Jesus’ baptism and temptation, and especially those from one not well versed in Scripture. People appreciate honest answers to their questions. Growth happens as a result.

Travis Frampton’s commentary on the lesson outlines the predicament of the Jewish people at the time John came. He also offers good questions, too. Interestingly, the Israelites were oblivious to their sinful nature both prior to their exile and at the time of John’s coming. They were deceived.

Surely we are no less human today than they were then, so I wonder in what way are we deceived today? Questions, questions, questions….I suggest that you begin preparation this week by making a list of questions that you will use to start your lesson. Putting up such a list at the beginning is bound to create interest in what you have to say. Sonshine again offers a set of study questions for this lesson that may help you form your own list.

Ready, set, go!

Great lesson questions are posted each week on the Bible.org forum on the LifeWay Explore the Bible lessons.

An idea to show that Jesus is God’s Unique Son is to take ten (10) minutes and have class members identify as many claims as they can about Jesus made by Matthew. Divide them into groups and have them compete with each other to see who can identify the most. Have them write on a marker board or tear sheet of paper as they work. Remember, neatness counts! If you can’t read it then it doesn’t count! Ready set go…

1:1 Son of David, Son of Abraham
1:18 conceived by the Holy Spirit
2:2 called ‘king of the Jews’ by wise men
2:11 worshipped by wise men
2:13 miraculously protected
2:23 fulfilled what was said thru the prophets
3:17 identified as God’s Son from heaven…

frankincense and myrrh

How Stuff Works explains frankincense and myrrh as sap originating from particular trees. Mixing them with other elements such as spices, for example, makes incense. Do babies have a sense of smell? Jesus is the God-man, who can certainly smell. What is the aroma of our worship of Him?

Consider carrying a spray room freshener with an orange, or lavender scent to class. Before class, spray the freshener around the classroom, and see if members notice when they enter. Later, this will help them better understand your discussion of frankincense and myrrh and their meaning. Surely frankincense would be a familiar smell to Jesus having smelled its aroma since it was used in temple worship, and myrrh would remind Him of His coming sacrifice for the sins of the world.

Expected, but unexpected value

I had a meeting this week with an individual whom I did business with for years over the phone, but had never met. There were some expectations on my part before the meeting, but when he arrived for lunch we had a great time catching up and making plans. Unexpectedly, the value of the meeting was even better than I had hoped for. Likewise, the birth of Jesus was expected, but unexpected value resulted when He came.

Mark Rathel’s commentary on this week’s lesson, “God’s Unique Son” gives a clear picture of both Jesus as Messiah and as God’s Son, but he highlights ways in which Jesus was unique. What an unexpected value He is!!

God's Unique Son

Pastor Jim McCullen’s comments on this week’s lesson from Matthew 1:18-2:3,7-11, highlights the contrast in the real worship intentions of King Herod and the actual worship conducted by the wise kings who met “God’s Unique Son”. We should make those distinctions clear to members in our classes by asking, “What are our real intentions when we come to worship Jesus Christ?”

PowerPoint(PPT) for "Worship Appropriately" from Malachi

I posted the final version of my PPT slides for this week’s LifeWay lesson from Malachi. I undated the slide on New Testament Giving and tweaked the points on a number of other slides. I appreciate the study questions offered by Sonshine for “Worship Appropriately”.

Sorry to put you thru versioning of all the slides this week, but it is hard for me to get things right the very first time! Preparing this lesson has not been the most difficult part of preparation, but preparing the heart of the teacher was very difficult! May God also prepare the hearts of members this Sunday as we teach His Word.

PowerPoint(PPT) for "Worship Appropriately" from Malachi

Okay, I posted the second draft of my PPT slides for “Worship Appropriately” (copied over the previous draft). I added a few more slides and improved the comments on the “notes” portion of some slides.

I’m getting more comfortable with the section on tithing, although I still want to hone the presentation a bit more in that area. Stay tuned!

Please let me know if see something that would be an improvement to the slides!

PowerPoint(PPT) for "Worship Appropriately" from Malachi

I’ve posted a draft of my PPT slides for “Worship Appropriately,” based on Malachi 2:17-4:6. I’m unsettled on how much to discuss the tithing issue. Houston FBC’s David Self’s commentary takes a traditional view of tithing. Dr. Sam Tullock’s commentary on this lesson avoids the tithing issue altogether and only poses a question to stimulate discussion. Hmmm? I inserted a slide on New Testament giving, but it includes only summary points. See the notes sections of the slides for other references.

Well, if you can improve the slides, please post a note so the rest of us can take advantage of your insight. May God bless each of you as you are lead by His Spirit to teach this Sunday.

I’ll close with a quote from Proverbs that you may want to think about as you prepare. Proverbs 22:19 "So that your trust may be in the LORD, I teach you today, even you."

Tithing testimonies

About 30 years ago I remember being asked to give a “tithing testimony” in the local church we attended. It went something like this: “Members were encouraged to complete commitment cards as the offering plate was being passed one Sunday. I hurriedly converted from my monthly salary to the form’s requested "weekly amount".

"Driving home, my wife and I discussed the amount and we realized I had made a $400 error. I promised more than I could give! I quickly called my Sunday School teacher and asked for his advice. What should we do? Retrieve the pledge card and re-work it? Just pray about it? Or simply ignore it?

"It was a serious matter to us and so we began to pray. About a week later I received an unexpected consulting request that yielded an additional $4000 in income that year, which exactly covered the $400 short fall in our pledge.”

How long has it been since you heard a “tithing testimony” in church? I haven’t heard one in at least two decades. Is that just my experience? If not, why do you think such testimonies are no longer used?

I don’t agree with the comments on tithing in Billie Friel’s commentary on “Worship Appropriately.” Harry Leafe offers a better commentary on New Testament Giving.

Hmmm ... How to approach teaching Malachi 3?

Mark Rathel notes in his commentary on “Worship Appropriately,” that Malachi wrote to urge a discouraged, unrepentant and “unloving people” to rightly judge between good and evil, to give appropriately to the LORD, to encourage others by highlighting God’s nature (revealed in His names), and to have hope in the coming “Day of the Lord.”

From the same Scripture passage, Malachi 2:17-4:6, Kathryn Aragon takes a more interesting approach in her lesson commentary, “Worship Appropriately.” She connects people’s attitudes today to those of whom Malachi wrote. She notes our desire for immediate results, but our need to rely on God, who has a different plan. She mentions the necessity of patience on our part, and an action plan to focus on the Lord and His truth.

You can build your lesson around either of these commentaries, but I think taking Kathryn’s approach is potentially more interesting and relevant as long as you make the connections clear and keep it Bible based.

A blurb about Kathryn from the Texas Baptist Standard website:
Kathryn Aragon, writer of the Explore the Bible Series, is a freelance writer and creative consultant with 15 years of experience writing ministry-related articles and training materials. She is Creative Director in Duncanville’s First Baptist Church’s media ministry, as well as Banner Director of the banner ministry. Kathryn writes curriculum, press releases, magazine articles, and marketing materials. She also does graphic arts and web design for churches and small businesses.

Mark Rathel is an Associate Professor of Theology at Baptist College of Florida.

Worship Appropriately

Today, in a medical center, I watched as a nurse carefully prepared a patient for a surgical procedure. A number of key steps were taken in advance to insure that the procedure was successful, which it was. Essentially, questions about medical history, multiple diagnostic tests, a last minute ECG, and cleaning of the surgical site were all conducted to make sure the patient was completely ready for the surgery. All the preparation was appropriate.

As I watched, I thought about this week’s lesson topic, Worship Appropriately, based on Malachi 2:17-4:6. Just as the medical professionals worked to appropriately prepare the patient for surgery, Malachi described how Messiah would cleanse the Jewish people to worship the LORD with righteousness, which is entirely appropriate.

The Lord’s refinement was like cleansing lye, which was used in Old Testament purification rites. When I was a kid, my dad would clean the tarnish off coins using a paste he made from scratch. Unfortunately, I don’t know the recipe. Otherwise, turning a dirty penny into a shinny one might be a cool illustration of cleansing.

The Bible says "to share"

This picture of a man sharing his umbrella with his wife illustrates idea behind the custom referred to in Malachi 2:16. He is holding the umbrella and she is under his care.

Pray for all the teachers this week teaching “Live Honorably”. Because of the prevalence of divorce in our society, I think it will be a difficult lesson to teach.

Going back on your word

One way to “Live honorably” is not to break faith, or “go back on your word”, whether at work, or in a marriage relationship. Google that phrase and lots of examples pop up, such as the recent Survivor example where Dreamz Went Back on His Word to Yao-Man. In the show Finale, the player named Boo addressed the issue with Dreamz.

Illustrating breaking an agreement

As usual, SonShine developed study questions for this week’s Explore the Bible lesson, which comes from Malachi 2. To Live Honorably, we must be covenant keepers just as the Lord is a covenant keeper.

What is the impact of breaking, or “not keeping” our agreements (covenants)? You can site statistics on divorce rates, spousal abuse, or speak anecdotally about the impact on our Christian witness.

Another graphic way of illustrating how devastating breaking an agreement can be is to present a disaster such as the Frank Slide. People working in and around the Frank mountain operated with an understanding that it would keep its "agreement" to stand tall. When “that agreement” was broken, the mountain fell, and 70 people lost their lives. That’s the way it is when we break our agreements. The results are devastating.

Live Honorably, Malachi 2:1-16

Based on Malachi 2, LifeWay titled this week’s lesson “Live Honorably”. The Israelites were in covenant relationship with God. Christians are in a new covenant relationship established by Jesus Christ. The question is what old covenant teaching in Malachi 2 is relevant to new covenant Christians? Plenty.

I urge you to read the LifeWay Extra for this lesson written by Carole Waina. She has obviously put a lot of thought into teaching this lesson.

Love vs hate

I plan to carry two apples to class to illustrate God’s choice between Jacob and Esau. I will ask a member to chose an apple from the pair when covering Malachi 1:2-3. Most likely the person will chose an apple based on appearance, etc. (illustrating how we judge based on appearance). As humans, we tend to make the apple the issue.

God didn’t do that. He simply made a choice to accomplish with whom to accomplish His purpose. He favored Jacob and didn’t favor Esau. See the LifeWay Leader Guide discussion on p. 118 for a discussion of love vs. hate. As I understand it, the Hebrew does no refer to an absolute love for Jacob and an absolute hate of Esau. Instead, the Hebrew simply indicates a favoring one individual and not the other not based on God's purpose (not that one was better than the other in some way or another).

Love Wholeheartedly, Malachi 1:1-14, PowerPoint

I've posted the first draft of my PPT slides for the LifeWay lesson "Love Wholeheartedly", which is based on Malachi 1:1-14.

I'm considering whether or not we'll have class time to accomodate a slide on the names of God. If I make a substantive change like that, I'll post a new version and let you know.

Of course it goes almost without saying, but if you make any changes or additions to the slides, post a comment here so everyone else can benefit from your insight! Thanks!

New Covenant sacrifices

The lesson “Love Wholeheartedly” is wrapped up with Malachi 1:13-14. Jews sacrificed animals as sin offerings (also thank offerings), but in the hum drum of everyday duties, they lost their high view of the LORD. The priests grew weary of making sacrifices day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year. Their work became a burden, and they developed poor attitudes and adopted deceitful practices.

New Testament Christians no longer make sacrifices for sin since Christ paid that price once for all (every believer's past, present and future sins—see Hebrews 7:27). Scripture does teach, however, that Christians are to make sacrifices—see Romans 12:1, Philippians 4:18, Hebrews 13:15, Hebrews 13:16, and 1 Peter 2:5.

As you end preparation for your lesson, consider the idea of teaching the sacrifices that can be offered by Christians as worship to God, and then challenge members to pursue these wholeheartedly out of love.

P.S. For those of you interested, I'll try to post my slides tomorrow.

Weighty, or weightless?

Step 2 of the LifeWay Explore the Bible lesson this week focuses on Malachi 1:6-12. To “Love Wholeheartedly” (note: Kathryn Aragon’s mention of the “love bug”) we must honor the Lord.

Interestingly, the word honor as explained in the LifeWay Adult Commentary suggests a weightiness that God has to us as we live life. Just how weighty is God to you? Is He weightless in your life, or is He an eight hundred pound gorilla, so to speak, that commands your respect? Is He a person that you honor by the way you worship Him?

Note: We are not under the Mosaic covenant, or legal system like the people to whom Malachi wrote. Nevertheless, God is interested in us honoring Him in worship today. What N.T. verses would you site to make this point? What sacrifices does the Lord command of us? Can you site specific N.T. verses to support your answer? Were the priests, who are mentioned in Mal. 1:7-8, willfully wrong, negligent, or simply lackadaisical about God’s requirements on them and the people? In what ways are we inattentive about honoring God today?

Short memory

Malachi describes what matters most to God, but ancient Israel was self-centered (as are people today).

It seems that we humans, in spite of our intelligence, suffer from an easily caught disease of ingratitude. Regardless of how much God blesses, it seems that we shortly forget it, and turn to complaining and whining. With respect to the Lord, we quickly forget Him and adopt an attitude of "What have you done for me lately?" as can be illustrated here and by this article. How would illustrate the short memory we humans have?

The LifeWay lesson “Love Wholeheartedly” is based on Malachi, chapter 1. On my PowerPoint slides, I will highlight the “assertion”, the “question”, the “defense”, and the “proof” to help members understand how to read Malachi’s style of writing. The idea is pictured in the slide below.

Love Wholeheartedly, Malachi 1:1-14

This week begins a three-week study of Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets. The first lesson is “Love Wholeheartedly”, which teaches us what matters to God.

It matters to Him for us to know that He loves us, and it matters to God that we honor Him. The lesson is about what matters to the Lord. We want to make it about what matters to us.

This has me thinking about opening the lesson with an illustration of “It’s what matters!” as seen by people in the world today. For example, a cyclist in the Tour de France prologue suffered some setbacks, "But I've got the yellow jersey, it's what matters." This jersey signifies that he is the overall leader.

Have any of you heard of a game called “It’s What Matters!”? It might serve as an opening if I can figure out how the game works.

Joy, Zechariah 9-14

I doubt you will need much help this week as you prepare to teach the final lesson “Joy” from Zechariah based on verses 9:1-14:21. It encourages readers with the promise of Christ’s first and second coming, which is surely a source of great joy to believers—regardless of their current circumstances.

Zechariah tells us how God brings His plan to an end with the coming of Jesus Christ. I think the best way to teach this lesson is simply tell what Scripture teaches, just tell the story!

Integrity elsewhere

I’ll end making suggestions on teaching the Lifeway lesson, “Integrity” from Zechariah 7 by noting other Bible-based material for teaching integrity. You may want to first cover the verses in Zechariah and then go on to speak about integrity from a more comprehensive standpoint. God bless!

Dress code

Last evening my pastor, David Fleming, discussed from the pulpit his personal conviction about why he wears a coat and tie in church services. He wants his dress to reflect his high view of the Lord. In terms of this lesson on “Integrity,” we might say that his clothes are in synch with his heart, mind and actions.

In my class, some members wear ties while others don’t, so dress code could make for an interesting discussion on integrity of worship. For example, an individual could dress in a tuxedo but not worship God with integrity if his mind was on the other side of town contemplating a meeting after church.

I’m not aware of a Bible verse where the Lord gives instructions about wearing a suit and tie for worshipping Him, but it seems “just wrong” for a person to show up to a worship service wearing flip-flops and cutoffs.

I don’t know what your thinking about this is, but discussing a topic like Sunday dress code in your class may help crystallize the issue of worshipping with integrity in the minds of members. On the other hand, dress code may be a non-issue in your class.

That sounds wrong!

Step 3 of this week’s lesson, “Integrity” examines “how to express integrity?” The LifeWay material describes worshipping with integrity as worshipping God as He instructed.

I thought of illustrating this using a song that’s performed either according to the way it was written, or according to some new interpretation by a particular artist. The level of integrity expressed by the artist depends on how well the performance matches that which the author intended.

For example, we’ve all heard songs performed that don’t sound “right” (sometimes when a current artist performs a classic tune). We hear the rendition and say, “That’s just wrong!”

That’s how I imagine God reacts when we worship Him without integrity.

You can come up with your own song if you choose to use this illustration, but as an example, I offer a guy doing a horrible rendition of a John Lennon classic.

Integrity: Hype vs. Reality

We are studying a lesson titled “Integrity” based on Zechariah 7:1-14. However, integrity is an often-multifaceted word, see the Stanford Encyclopedia entry. How do you define it? In what sense do you think the LifeWay writers use it in the lesson preparation material?

I think they use it to mean, “act with moral purpose”, that is, integrity is concerned with how one lives. Carole Waina’s writing in the LifeWay Extra for this lesson implies that a person without integrity are not what they appear to be, and she uses mystery shoppers as an illustration of people who are not what they appear to be (not to imply that such people are without integrity).

For me, the idea behind the word integrity is that an outward claim does not match an internal reality. You can probably cite many examples of where a claim doesn’t match reality. One example I’ve mentioned before is that of “spot remover”. Typically, I buy it to get rid of a stain, and after trying it, the product fails to live up to the hype.

Integrity, Zechariah 7:1-14

Did yesterday’s lesson go well? Mine did. The class especially liked the “impact wrench” video. Also, the application material I added as an update to the PowerPoint slides was well received.

This week’s lesson “Integrity” focuses on Zechariah 7:1-14. I have not studied Zechariah much, but I’m enjoying studying its intricacies. For example, what do you think motivated the people to come down from Bethel in the first place (7:1-3)? Did they perceive a lack of internal “wholeness”? My guess is they recognized an inconsistency in their motives. Sure, they ask about continuing some fasts they had started during the exile, but God raised questions about their integrity thru Zechariah. Interesting, right?

The Lord knows our inner thoughts and attitudes. We might fool ourselves, but we can’t fool Him. Are you feeling “divided” as a person in some area? You may be experiencing an integrity issue.

I recommend studying Sonshine’s questions for this lesson. They are divided into daily nibbles that can be digested with a reasonably short commitment of time. Answering the questions will help pull you into comprehending the text.

Dependence PowerPoint slides: Zechariah 4-6

I’ve posted my “Dependence” PowerPoint slides based on Zechariah 4-6. I encourage you to “play” the slides thru once to get their effect since they look a bit cluttered while in “edit” mode. This should help you see the overall message more clearly.

I think this lesson as presented only touches on relevance. It borders on being a history lesson. As Bible teachers, we must endeavor to be relevant, not just interesting. I’m praying and asking God to show me what areas members need to depend on Holy Spirit. They could be (1) in a witnessing situation, (2) struggling with obedience to a moral command, (3) discouraged in a relationship, (4) defeated by an illness, (5) doubting God’s call to serve, etc. How would you add this discussion into the presentation?

Flying banner message

I'll make this post brief since I am working on my PowerPoint slides. The flying scroll Zechariah saw in Chapter 5 reminds me of a banner message pulled by an airplane. As Mark Rathel mentioned, God's word was not in "book" form back then, but it was available for everyone to read and know! Just as the large print of a flying banner can be seen by all, so the Bible is available today for anyone to read. What is it saying to you?

Unexpected result

For teaching the LifeWay lesson “Dependence”, I mentioned yesterday the idea of illustrating the power of the Holy Spirit using a pneumatic wrench (sometimes called an impact wrench). The unexpected result in this video will interject some humor in your lesson.

What endeavor have you tried lately without the Holy Spirit? For example, when we teach a class, we must rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to transform lives as the Bible is studied. Clever PowerPoint slides, cute illustrations, or other methods won’t win the day, but the Holy Spirit never disappoints. Spend time praying now for the Holy Spirit to move members hearts and minds in unexpected ways as you teach this Sunday.

"pneuma powered"

“Dependence” on the Holy Spirit, the topic of this week’s LifeWay lesson from Zechariah 4, is often talked about, but in practical terms, how do we about doing that?

I’m sure you’ve seen an illustration of dependence, or trust, using a chair. Intellectually we believe a chair will support us, but we don’t demonstrate dependence until we sit down in it. We believe in the Holy Spirit, but we don’t demonstrate trust in the Spirit until we learn to rely on Him.

Zerubbabel was admonished by Zechariah to depend on the pneuma, or Holy Spirit to rebuild the temple. Instead of using a self-powered tool, such as a lug wrench, Mike Barres suggests we use a pneumatic tool to illustrate reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit. Using such a pneumatic tool, even the slightest among us would be able to remove lug nuts from a wheel. As Christians, we should be "pneuma powered".

Dependence based on Zechariah 4

Howdy! Well, I made it back from last week’s trip to Alaska. That state is an awesome display of the beauty of God’s creation. Like a lampstand, it is a testimony to dark minds that refuse to see God.

I missed studying LifeWay’s first message from Zechariah, but I’m looking forward to this week’s lesson titled “Dependence” based on Zechariah 4. It spotlights our need to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. Some graphics of the visions of Zechariah may help you prepare slides.

Speaking of dependence, I have to say that without an Internet connection I’m an idiot! How much do you rely on it? Try going without for a week. The next time you have a need to know something, try finding an answer without using the Internet. You’ll quickly discover how dependent you are on tools like Google and Yahoo, for example.

How dependent are we on technology? We simply cannot live anywhere near our current standard without it. Similarly, we can ask about our reliance on the Holy Spirit to lead godly lives. How much of the God’s revelation would we know without the Holy Spirit? How much would we believe, or trust without His work in our lives? Would we make even the slightest commitment to Christ without the Holy Spirit?

Site traffic update

Today, I offer an update on site traffic to this blog. http://teachinglifewaylessons.blogspot.com/.

Looking at the chart created by Statcounter.com, there was a significant jump in all the statistics for the month of June. Wow! Thanks for spreading the word!

June was the first month ever for returning users to exceed 900, which was up by over 200 users. Visitors also increased to over 2100, which is the most we've ever had, too.

Thank you!

I appreciate each one of you,
Ronnie
P.S. I will not post all next week since I am traveling and will not have Internet access :-(

PPT lesson helps for Haggai

For the Haggai lesson on “Commitment”, I located a few PowerPoint slide decks that are biblically sound enough that I feel comfortable recommending them to you. If nothing else they offer some formatting and presentation ideas, but I think they all offer solid messages.

“Rebuilding the House” from Ron Jacobs offers a detailed background, setting up a lesson from Haggai with an application for individual believers to rebuild their lives with God.

“Stay The Course” from Dave Gschwend of Hillside Evangelical Free Church also offers a handout for members (since it is a sermon).

“Haggai (part 1)”, “Haggai (part 2)”, “Haggai (part 3)”, and “Haggai (part 4)”, from pastor Hugh Crowder of Lakeland Bible Church, offers an in-depth presentation on Haggai, which I recommend.

Getting starting is the hardest part

Step 3 of this week’s lesson “Commitment” is based on Haggai 1:12-15. The Lord motivated the leaders and the people and they began work on His house (the temple).

This video from a commercial (be warned it’s off color somewhat at the end) illustrates how we all need to be motivated. Ask members to recall a time they had to be motivated by someone in authority (a relative, a football coach, a teacher, a policeman, etc.).

Happy 4th!

Commitment -- Haggai

Studying the prophet Haggai this week, the LifeWay Explore the Bible lesson makes application of his words in a lesson entitled, “Commitment”. Haggai admonished the Jews to rebuild God’s temple, which they neglected for 16 years after Samarian opposition.

I was reminded immediately of Paul’s words in 1 Cor 3:16-17, 6:19 admonishing the Corinthian Christians that they are God’s temple, and the Holy Spirit dwells there. What is your priority to build the house of God? Have you neglected it?

For those of you who remember, LifeWay had another lesson titled “Commitment” on 10/13/02, based on John 6:1-71, with focal passages 6:41-47, 60-69, and key verses 6:67-68. I’ve posted my lesson outline , which has the illustrations I used in teaching that lesson on commitment.

BTW, the Andes Mints were a big hit in class last Sunday! I think people understood the importance of Humility as the key ingredient to life with Christ. I likened it to the mint oil used to flavor Andes Mints.

Promised benefits—PPT slides for Zephaniah

To end the lesson on “Humility”, make a promise flower out of construction paper and have members write God’s promised benefits from Zeph 3:9-20 on the pedals and attach them with pushpins to the flower (mounted on a cork board).

As promised, I’ve posted my PowerPoint slides that I plan to use Sunday. As always, any comments you have are welcomed!

See it coming

We are studying Zephaniah this week preparing to teach the lesson, “Humility” out of the LifeWay Explore the Bible series on the Minor Prophets. What circumstances prompted the prophet to write the book?

The NetBible dictionary commentary on Zephaniah fixes the date of its writing around 630-625BC, and during that time, it suggests that an advancing Scythian army threatened Judah. The resulting destruction was described as a judgment, or "day of the Lord".

To help members relate, you might consider sharing a modern day story, “Razing leaves workers saddened”, which describes the destruction of a once great company (that even encouraged its employees to attend church). A corporate takeover attack failed (like the Scythian attacks on Judah), but crippled the leadership of the company. The story mentions pride, greed, shame, poor leadership and the ultimate demise of the company. Workers could “see it coming.”

What is God showing you out of Zephaniah that you want to teach to your class?

Settle for the best chocolate

While preparing to teach this week’s lesson, “Humility”, I was reminded of the admonition: “don’t settle for less” when I read Zeph 1:12. The Judahites had settled into ruined state of pride, and basically settled for less. How are we doing the same today?

Recipes for flavoring chocolate call for use of oils rather than extracts since extracts contain water, which ruins the chocolate (it thickens and becomes hard). Illustrate this to your class by passing out creamy chocolate for members to taste versus pieces of hard, bitter chocolate. Which is best is obvious. Say, in a similar way, a wrong ingredient, like pride, can ruin one’s life. Why settle for less? Avoid pride.

Humility

The April 29 lesson from 1 Peter 5:1-14 was “Act with Humility”. This week we have a lesson entitled “Humility” based on Zephaniah, which described the sin of Judah, their need to repent, and the coming Day of the Lord.

Kathryn Aragon’s commentary helps us see Judah’s unfaithfulness and disobedience as a form of pride, which connects the lesson passage to the topic of humility. She goes on to remind us of “our great value in the eyes of God”, which reminded me of Zeph 3:17, or the fact that the LORD will rejoice over His people with singing. Wow! I can’t wait to hear that song!

Members may not be ready Sunday to hear another lesson where God announces judgment on Judah and its surrounding nations. We have our work cut out for us this week! What is it today that members “can’t wait to hear?” See if you can come up with a top 10 list of “can’t wait to hear list.” Here are some starter ideas:

10. Hear Paris Hilton’s thoughts on mandatory minimum sentences
9. The sound of John McEnroe's voice
8. E.F. Hutton’s advice on surviving as a corporation
7.
…
1. Zephaniah’s prophecy about the Day of the Lord (see chapters 1 thru 3).

Don't be discouraged

A lesson plan as a series of 20 questions for “Await God’s Timing” was posted by FBC in Chester, Il. It occurred to me that the mere existence of the book of Habakkuk is testimony that God does answer prayer. He is working His ways in His time. Like Habakkuk, we might be unable to see God working today, but reading God's answers in the book will increase your faith and knowledge about God. I hope the Lord has answered your prayers about your class this week, and that you are ready to teach a great lesson from Habakkuk!

PowerPoint presentation on Habakkuk

Paul Coulter offers a PowerPoint presentation on Habakkuk, which I think can be helpful in preparing this week’s lesson, “Await God’s Timing”. As Christians prepared to give a defense for our hope, we should be ready to give an answer to the question: “Why does God allow evil?” But Paul Coulter asks an interesting question, “Are we more caught up with blessings than with God?”

Petty Tyrants

While reading the LifeWay Adult Commentary on Habakkuk for the lesson, “Await God’s Timing”, I wondered if we are enabled to see God at work among the nations today just as Habakkuk was commanded so long ago (see verse 1:5)? Why would God issue such an imperative if we unable to discern His handy work?

The Holman Bible Dictionary has an article on Habakkuk that gives a good outline of the book (follow the link and see the bottom of the page). The article describes King Jehoiakim as a petty tyrant, which is an interesting perspective. Consider having a discussion of petty tyrants in your lesson. I'm sure members will relate, but the Holman article makes a more important link from Habakkuk to Paul to Martin Luther. God is amazing!

Await God’s Timing Habakkuk 1:1-3:19

Sunday's lesson went very well. As one anonymous commenter suggested, I didn’t make the leap to “fighting injustice”. Instead, I ask members to privately confess sin and seek forgiveness from the same LORD that we talked about in Nahum.

A 115 of you downloaded the PowerPoint slides for the lesson. That was 35% of the unique site visitors from Thursday thru Sunday. As a ministry, I think the slides might be useful to more teachers, but there is not a simple way to reach other teachers to let them know about the blog. If you are interested in helping me do that, please forward a link to your Education minister with a note asking him to forward it to his buddies at other churches. Thanks!

This week lesson “Await God’s Timing” is based on Habakkuk. It's a good one. You know the expression, “a watched pot never boils”. It was like that with Habakkuk, who observed the surrounding evil and wondered why God was slow to save. God’s revelation helped him, and it will help us learn to wait confidently on the Lord.

Carole Waina wrote the LifeWay Extra this week and to help members start thinking about time she offers an interesting introductory activity to have people mentally count and discuss the meaning of the clocks, watches, or other time pieces they have in their homes, as well as discuss key phrases like 24/7 and 356 days a year.

A different idea is to get members thinking about how impatient we can be. Have you ever gone to a movie and found yourself looking at your watch during the show? Have you ever changed lines hoping to find one offering faster service? What makes us impatient? You’ll find lots of suggestions on how to develop patience, but none are better than learning to trust an Almighty God.

Some last thoughts

In finalizing my PowerPoint slides, it occurred to me to be sure and have members locate verses in their Bibles as I teach. It's important to be able to find a passage in Scripture and practicing in class never hurts!

I know you all are pondering "What should we learn from Nahum?" Top of mind is "How does it apply to our lives today?" Join me in prayer that God will make His message from Nahum clear to us today.

Affirm God's Justice: Nahum PPT Slides

In working thru the lesson, I decided to take a more expository approach and cover chapter 2 as well. Phrases came to mind like "they got what they deserve" and "you can run but you can't hide" as I put together the first draft of my PowerPoint slides. Of course feel free to help me with any feedback you have regarding their content.

Significance of Nineveh's fall

We are studying Nahum in an Explore the Bible lesson entitled “Affirm God’s Justice”. As an analogy to how Judah rejoiced at the fall of Nineveh, the LifeWay Adult Commentary mentions how the fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of the East German government brought joy to all of Germany.

The Jews had a covenant relation with Yahweh, who had used the Assyrians to judge Israel, the northern kingdom, and campaign against Judah in 701 BC. Nahum prophesied that the LORD would zealously keep His covenant with Judah and judge the Assyrians—Nineveh fell in 612 BC (remind members of the vicious nature of the Assyrians by reading about their destruction of Judean city of Lachish).

Affirm God's Justice

Co-teacher Curt did a great job yesterday setting a context of the history of Edom and Judah before teaching Obadiah. So I’ve been doing some background reading today on Assyria to prepare for Sunday’s lesson: "Affirm God's Justice" based on Nahum 1:1-3:19, or specifically Nahum 1:1-3, 7-8; 3:1-7,19.

Mark Rathel’s commentary on the lesson is useful for background material if you don’t have access to the Biblical Illustrator articles: “The Historical Setting of Nahum”, and “God’s Jealousy”. Read the BI articles if you have them!

I admit that when I read Nahum’s book, it’s style left me wanting. However, now that I understand it is a book of poetry, I will approach the text differently.

To introduce the lesson, I was thinking of the phrase “got what was coming”. Hopefully I can find a useful news story, or video to use in opening the lesson.

Obadiah slides

PowerPoint slides presenting a study of Odadiah seems well done. Another seemingly well done PPT presentation on Obadiah is offered in PDF format. Did you know Obadiah is the littlest book in the Old Testament?

Drink every last drop

In Mark 10:38, Jesus asked the disciples “Can you drink the cup I drink?” His immediate destiny was death on a cross. He was asking the disciples if they could consume that same destiny, which they could not.

Relating this helps us know God better by giving us insight into how He thinks. To pick up on the idea of ‘drinking’, Obadiah 1:16 says that Edom drank in Jerusalem when they took part in Judah’s destruction—pillaging Judah, killing fugitives, handing over survivors, and boasting and rejoicing. They consumed (drank) Judah’s affliction with joy.

Now the word drink is used again in 1:16b to indicate the nations (they) that God uses to destroy Edom drink continually. In other words, these nations would destroy Edom (drink in the affliction of the Edomites) and continue (keep on drinking the Edomite destruction). Wow! Edom would be destroyed and then it would keep on being destroyed.

Verse 1:16c makes this even more clear by saying, “they (the Edomites) will drink and drink” of their affliction and become “as if they had never been.” The Edomites would consume their own destruction (drink) continuously to the point where it would be as if they had never existed. Only an incredibly powerful, and wonderful God could destroy evil so thoroughly.

To illustrate this, pour some drinking water in a small cup. Ask a class member to stand in front of the class and hand them the cup. Ask the person to drink it all, and hand the cup back to you.

When they hand back the cup, make the point about how God will thoroughly destroy evil. Ask the class if the cup is empty? Many will say yes because they just saw someone drink all of it. However, a few drops will remain in the cup. Hold it up and turn it upside down and let these drops fall. Explain that God caused the evil Edomites to drink every last drop of the destruction they afflicted on Judah.

Thorough

The Edomites didn’t “Accept God’s Leadership,” and verses 5-7 in Obadiah impressed me. God would be thorough in His judgment of Edom. While they could expect others (robbers, grape pickers, friends) not to be systematic, meticulous or comprehensive, they should expect God to be the opposite. He would completely and utterly judge their nation. No one would be exempt.

This teaches us how God thinks. He leaves no stone unturned. The Edomites would be completely pillaged and destroyed. For example, if cancer surgery is performed, we like to hear “we got it all”. We want to know that the cancer was completely and thoroughly excised. In the same way, the Judahites wanted to know that all of the “evil” Edom would be judged. God assured them that this would be the case. God is good.

You might search for a news story where “we got it all” is good news and use it to help members understand how Judah might have reacted to hearing Obadiah words in verses 5-7.

Accept God's Lordship

We are studying Obadiah this week. It is a prophecy against Edom (the descendants of Esau). They thought their homes were impregnable based on their high-cliff location, but the Lord makes clear they would be brought down. Their pride and arrogance would lead to their destruction. They failed to “Accept God’s Lordship.”

Once, I had an elderly man tell me that he thought he was bulletproof, meaning he was not going to die anytime soon. He said this because of his healthy lifestyle, regular physical exercise, and his current good health. Shortly after saying that he was diagnosed with colon cancer. God was merciful and he lived thru the surgery, but for sure, the experience altered his perspective.

A video of a soldier foolishly testing a bulletproof-vest ballistic plate looks like a hoax (or staged) to me. Nevertheless, it illustrates how arrogance can be deceiving. If it’s real, I can’t imagine a mindset that would allow someone to hold a target in the manner portrayed in the video. Maybe you can think of a movie scene where arrogance is demonstrated, but failure happens afterwards.

Site update and Sunday's PPT slides

As an update on traffic to this site, according to http://www.statcounter.com/, we ended May with an average of 636 returning monthly users (see chart for monthly numbers January ’07 thru May ’07) out of an average 1,464 unique-monthly visitors. That’s up from the 2006 numbers of 400 returning monthly users and an average of 1,046 unique-monthly visitors.

As you can see, a lot of people come to this site each month, but I assume there are many more Explore the Bible teachers who are still unaware of the site. If and when it ever reaches 2,000 returning monthly users, then I guess it will have tipped. How many Explore the Bible teachers would you guess are out there?

It’s still confusing however that few of you ever leave a comment. It’s difficult for me to believe that fellow Bible teachers have nothing to say, or do not want to interact with other teachers. But you are proving me wrong!

I uploaded the first draft of my PowerPoint slides for Sunday’s lesson “Appropriate God’s Mercy”. The lesson over promises and under delivers somewhat, I think. More material is needed on repentance and the indwelling the Holy Spirit. Anyway, please let me know what changes you recommend to the slides. I’d appreciate it!

Focus on repentance?

In his commentary on this week’s lesson, Dr. Sam Tullock mentions that Joel is quoted 39 times in the New Testament. Mark Rathel says the meaning of Joel—“Yahweh is God”—summarizes the message of the book. And her lesson commentary, Kathryn Aragon likens repentance—a change in thinking—to that of peeling thru the layers of an onion: both bring tears. Her commentary helps me understand one approach to this lesson is to focus on repentance. While it’s more comfortable to focus on God’s mercy, it may be more necessary to take up the issue of repentance.

Everyone is aware that peeling an onion can cause tears, but can that be used as an illustration to help members understand the nature of true repentance?

Before/after pictures

We are studying Joel 1:15-16, 2:12-13, 18, 25-32 this week in a lesson titled “Appropriate God’s Mercy”. Picking up on yesterday’s post, the fact that anyone survived such a plague of locust is a demonstration in itself of God’s mercy. Moreover, God sent Joel afterwards to explain to the people how to get right with God, which, I think, was an act of mercy.

By way of analogy, it is interesting to parallel our lives with those of Judah back then in a “before and after” picture. The before image is that of lives of plenty, full of pride, that are destroyed by some discipline from God, and the after portrait pictures people with contrite hearts.

Here is a question for you. If you think God warns us today, or disciplines us as He did the people of ancient Judah, do you think God will also send someone afterwards to help us get back on track with Him (as He sent Joel to the people of Judah)? Or do you think that our possession of the Bible and the indwelling Spirit today are sufficient? Do you have an example situation where a person that helped after a disaster was considered a godsend?

Appropriate God's Mercy

How do you plan to create interest in this week’s lesson, “Appropriate God’s Mercy”, which is based on Joel 1-3? A typical idea is to begin with an illustration of some disaster and ask if it can be interpreted as a warning from God. Joel’s prophesy was delivered on the heels of a plague of locust. He interpreted the locusts as a warning about impending judgment on the “Day of the Lord”.

In the past I’ve used Paul Revere’s ride as an example of a warning, and the hearers responded!But the major idea of this lesson seems to revolve around knowing that God is merciful. Maybe we should begin the lesson with an illustration of mercy (everyone survived this crash)? Why?

Presentation slides

Ninety five (95) of you downloaded the PPT slides from last week's lesson. I didn't put together slides for this week's lesson "Maximum Effort is Required", but Dennis McCallum from Xenos offers these slides on 2 Peter 3 that may be helpful.

"I'll be right back"

Regarding the issue of how God accounts for time, the LifeWay commentary notes on page 134 that “We are simply not in a position to make a judgment on this matter.” This reminded me of Rick Warren’s statement, “It’s like trying to explain the Internet to ants. They can’t understand it.”

After reading 2 Peter 3:8-10, for the lesson “Maximum effort is required”, I thought of several ideas for illustrations.

1. Suppose you are in a meeting room with a few peers and your waiting on the boss to attend the meeting, but he is late. Would you wait for him/her? Some peers may want to leave the room, but because you understand your boss as a person, you might say, “He’s coming, let’s be patient.” Likewise, Jesus is coming again. You encourage the others to be patient.

2. Suppose you and a few other acquaintances are waiting for a friend of yours to meet for dinner at a restaurant. Well after the expected arrival time, he/she is still a “no show.” Everyone else is hungry and wants to go on in and eat. You decide to be patient and wait since you know your friend. You are in a position to make a better judgment than one of the others with you, for example, who doesn’t know your friend. That person might say, “I guess they're not coming.” He/she loses patience and argues to go on in and eat. People that don't know Christ will claim that he is not coming.

3. Lastly, you’re walking your dog in the park, and you need to go inside the pavilion for a minute, but your dog is not allowed to enter (he is a dog). You tell him “I’ll be right back,” but he still gets frantic as you attempt to walk away. You go on in anyway and then return to find that your dog is nowhere in sight! He was not capable of understanding that you’d come back soon. It would be like an ant trying to understand the Internet.

Anticipation

The lesson “Maximum Effort is Required” from 2 Peter 3 is concerned with how our anticipation of Christ’s return affects our daily living. One way to illustrate anticipation is to take a new bottle of Heinz ketchup with you to class. As you start your lesson, open the bottle cap and hold it upside down as you talk. Believe me, it will take a good while before it comes rolling out! Everyone will watch in anticipation.

As another way to model “anticipation” and its affect on living, modify this anticipation/reaction guide to fit this lesson and have members complete it before and after the lesson.

For example, fill in the guide with seven (7) statements (see below). Members will write an A or D indicating they agree/disagree beside each statement before you teach. Teach the lesson, and then have members respond again (A/D). If the seven statements are intriguing, members will listen and react to your lesson in anticipation of hearing your answer to each of the seven statements. That is, they will “live in anticipation”, which models how Christians should live in view of the imminent return of Christ.

Seven sample statements (or make up your own):

1. The “last days” Peter mentions refers to the final days in the tribulation period leading up to Christ’s return
2. The Bible teaches two different “Second Comings” of Christ (1 Thes 4, Matt 24)
3. Relying on the truth of “all things continue as they have since the beginning”, uniformitarians argue that the present is the key to past
4. The Genesis flood is an example of God’ intervention in human history
5. You didn’t want me to make up all seven did you?
6. You add your statement here
7. and here!

Maximum Effort is Required

Key concepts for illustrations came to mind as I read thru 2 Peter 3 regarding this week’s lesson, “Maximum Effort is Required”. This included how to illustrate a promise kept and slowness.

Here is a news story about a promise kept that might be useful. For the idea of “slowness” (verse 9), I thought about coupling that with verse 8 by using a video containing both slow motion and fast forward footage to illustrate how a day is like 1000 years, or a 1000 years is like a day.

Watching footage in slow motion can be very boring, but it does illustrate how we tend to lose interest in watching for the return of Christ.

PPT slides for 2 Peter 2

In lesson preparation, the moment of truth for me comes when I try to write my outline, or write the final bullet points on my PowerPoint slides. That’s when I knuckle down and try to get it right. My class members will read it, or hear it, and it must be true to the meaning of Scripture as the Spirit intended. Based on prayer for God’s guidance and my simple understanding, please accept my PowerPoint slides for this week’s lesson “Spiritual Error is Rampant.”

Please note, I struggle with how deep to dive into phrases like “who bought them” in 2 Peter 2:1. If it's only briefly mentioned, I neglect an opportunity to explore more deeply what Peter possibly meant. Moreover, I can only teach what I know, but I don’t want to confuse people, or take the lesson down a ‘rabbit trail’, so I made some slide notes to help explain my thinking.

The last thing any of us wants to do is to make errors on this lesson! So please comment if you feel like I'm missing a key point! Thanks in advance!

Sifting flour, spam blocking, and plastic

As I made homemade biscuits this morning I thought about the lesson “Spiritual Error is Rampant”, which is based on 2 Peter 2:1-22. I recalled decades ago my mother had to sift the flour when she made biscuits. This removed debris as well as an occasional bug that could be found in flour back in the 50’s. It reminded me that we have to sift the words we hear from Bible teachers, or material we read on the web to make sure it is free from error.

A more modern idea came to mind reading 2 Peter 2:18, where Peter mentions that false teachers lure, or bait people, like fishing, as they appeal to lustful desires and sinful human nature. Today, email spammers “phish” by making an appeal to the same lustful desires and sinful nature. We use spam blockers to arrest such messages before they reach us. In the same way, we must filter Bible teaching and preaching to eliminate erroneous material.

One more idea comes from verse 3, where Peter used the adjective plastos, from which we get our word plastic, to describe the words used by false teachers. Their words are molded like plastic to sound good, but they are deceptive and false. This reminds me of products that are made of plastic and look good, but they don’t last. They eventually are unsatisfying. Can you think of examples of where plastic is used today that really creates a deception? For example, a car bumper made of plastic looks good, but it doesn’t offer any real protection.

Misdirection

“Spiritual Error is Rampant” is the lesson title this week, but so is the presence of false teachers. As teachers our goal this week is to (1) help members identify the characteristics of spiritual error, (2) denounce it and (3) uphold the truth.

Writing for Watchman Fellowship Expositor, James Barker identifies Heresies: Then and Now, which is worth reading.

As a former football player, I remember the value of misdirection plays, like the wingback counter (see diagram). The play was very successful against a defense that over pursued. A false teacher successfully uses misdirection to get his overly eager followers to take their eye off the ball (the gospel of Jesus Christ).

Example false teachings today

As we study 2 Peter 2:1-22 this week and the lesson “Spiritual Error is Rampant”, we need to identify examples of spiritual errors today. But Peter addressed teachings that damaged the gospel, not just flawed interpretations of particular passages. How about the question of “Who is Jesus Christ?”—(See the conclusion of the article).

What examples can you cite?

Spiritual Error is Rampant

This week we are studying 2 Peter 2:1-22, which makes clear that Spiritual error is rampant. Google the phrase, “Toronto Blessing” and you’ll see a number of example videos posted where people imitate animals and sound out animal noises supposedly as part of a worship service. Adult members may be shocked to see such goofball antics, but it represents just the tip of the iceberg of false teaching in the church today.

The past (God's Word) is the key to today

While on a Grand Canyon trip last year, I heard Dr. Andrew Snelling deliver a message based on 2 Peter. As a geologist, he described a basic uniformitarian mantra “The present is the key to the past.” He made the point that when people deliberately forget God’s word, it’s a spiritual issue, not a scientific issue.

As I read 2 Peter 1:12-21, verse 19 tells me that the key to today is the past! That is, God’s word written so long ago is a trustworthy source of light today. We only have to read the Word to understand the times we are living in.

You might consider using a flashlight as an object lesson at this point and liken it to God’s word. You’d have to turn off the lights in the room, and use the flashlight to illustrate how it can illuminate a dark place.

Sticky notes

This week we are studying 2 Peter 1:12-21, where we are reminded that “God’s Word is Essential”.

Post-it-Notes are a top selling office product used to help remind people of things they need to remember. At the beginning of the lesson, pass out sticky notes to members in your class while telling the story of how sticky notes were invented.

An objective of this lesson is to get members to remember to study God’s word each day. They can write Post-It-Notes during the lesson to help them remember to do this and place them as reminders at home, in their cars, and at work!

Slides for "Growth is Intentional"

I failed to post my PPT slides before teaching "Growth is Intentional" from 2 Peter 1, but I think some of you will still find them useful, so click here to download them.

Fertilize for growth

Spiritual “Growth is intentional” and so you need some fertilizer. Right? According to these PPT slides by Mark Hatfield, the ideal “Savior’s Fertilizer” is found in 2 Peter 1:1-11.

Up the Down Escalator

While studying our lesson “Growth is Intentional”, I read about the need for balance in our lives between legalism and complacency (see footnotes 1 and 9).

As teachers we must guard against false teaching and depend on the Holy Spirit to guide our class members and us into the truth. Has the Spirit lead you to understand Peter’s main point in 1 Peter 1:1-11?

The “Therefore” in verse 10 makes it key. Christians can be sure, or confident in their salvation. God has given us everything (v. 3) to escape corruption so that we won’t fall away and regress in our faith, for example, like believers did in Hebrews 5:11-13. Rather than digress and fall victim to false teaching we can grow more Christ-like by consistently applying Bible teaching about Jesus Christ to our lives.

To me, living in the world is somewhat akin to walking up a down escalator. The Spirit leads us to move upward in maturity, but the world forces us down if we cease to consistently apply Godly teaching in our lives. If we stop growing, the world will put us right back where we started (in terms of Christian maturity).

If you don't like the idea of walking up a down escalator, consider instead the idea of walking uphill to summit a mountain peak as illustrated in the photo.

Lucky, or what?

We are learning this week that “Growth is Intentional” from 2 Peter 1:1-11. Peter mentions perseverance in verse 6, which brings to mind the adage that “practice makes perfect”, not luck.

I remember an offensive drill that ball carriers practiced to help them learn not to fumble. A running back ran with the football on a narrow path between two lines of defenders who forearmed, shoved, and otherwise tried to force him to give up the ball. He would enter the shoot on one end and the defenders would knock him around as he made his way to the other end, hopefully still carrying the football.

Like a running back that learns to hold on to the ball in trying times, a Christian perseveres in the faith during life’s trials. We learn to do this by practicing the dicipline of prayer, living in personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and regular fellowship with other Christians.

This article discusses the role of “luck” verses “hard work and determination” in the success of a basketball team. From a Christian perspective, there is no such thing as luck because the Bible teaches that God is in control.

Accountability

Regarding this week’s lesson: “Growth is Intentional”, hard and fast accountability is key to successfully completing one’s responsibilities (see “accountable measures” in point 6 of this article). Lack of accountability permits lack of follow through on our commitments. For example, read the paragraph that mentions, “follow through” in this story about Washington Mayor Fenty. Notice the complaint that he loses interest in projects (and doesn’t dig into details). Those closest to him chose not to hold him accountable.

What means of accountability have you established for yourself in order to help you keep your spiritual commitments? For example, members could use their Bible study attendance record as an accountability measure, or some accountability questionnaire. Progressive members can try using accountability buddy.

Intentional growth

A believer's spiritual growth must be intentional, it won’t happen automatically, or even stay in stasis. This first lesson: “Growth is intentional” from 2 Peter 1:1-11 teaches us to take responsibility for our own spiritual growth. Are you one to make excuses? Or do you like to blame others? Taking responsibility requires that we do neither of these.

One time when I wanted to coast for a while an old coach said to me, “You’re ether growing or dying!” He was right. Jesus said, “Whoever has will be given more, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away.” Believers are given understanding of the gospel, but they must make every effort to grow spiritually. Do you take responsibility for your spiritual growth or do you make excuses?

The question I have is this: why are we apathetic about growing in spiritual maturity? Do we not understand the benefit? Are we satisfied only with salvation and ignorant of a great inheritance? Are we conditioned to take only what comes easy and discard that which requires effort? Why do we spoil by inaction a better life?

I’m just starting to study this lesson, and praying that God will teach me what needs to said this Sunday. I hope you are excited about studying 2 Peter, too!

Humbling experience

Commenting on “Act with Humility”, Dr. Sam Tullock wondered why Peter included the phrase: “a witness of the sufferings of Christ”. He speculates that Peter recalled his own human weakness and the “circumstances of his greatest failure.” After emphatically declaring he would rather die first, Peter denied knowing Christ three times before the cock crowed just as Jesus predicted.

How humiliating that must have been for Peter. It’s said that others taunted him by whispering, “cock-a-doodle-do” as he passed by.

Hearing this mocking makes me weep at the thought of my own failures, but I thank God for a loving Savior—Jesus Christ.

Firm up

Step 4 of “Act with Humility” is based on 1 Peter 5:8-14. These verses highlight a promise of what God will do to help suffering believers. My summary is that he will firmly equip believers, give them a firm resolve, put them on a firm foundation, and stiffen them spiritually for whatever persecution lays ahead. The words firm and stiffen stand out.

Hairspray comes to mind as a possible tool to illustrate this. Gusty wind persecutes the best coiffure. Using hairspray, both women and guys (now days) firm and stiffen their hair before venturing outside (where windy torments abound). Help me out here. Is this an idea with any merit?

The way to humility

Alfred Ellis offered twelve ways to humility, which I can no longer find on the web. Below is a copy I made about two years ago. Many people asked for copies of this slide after I presented it. Taking these steps will help us “Act with Humility”.

1. Routinely confess your sin to God. (Luke 18:9-14)
2. Acknowledge your sin to others. (James 3:2, James 5:16)
3. Take wrong patiently. (1 Peter 3:8-17)
4. Actively submit to authority…the good and the bad! (1 Peter 2:18)
5. Receive correction and feedback from others graciously. (Proverbs 10:17, 12:1)
6. Accept a lowly place. (Proverbs 25:6,7)
7. Purposely associate with people of lower state than you. (Luke 7:36-39)
8. Choose to serve others. (Philippians 1:1, 2 Corinthians 4:5, Matthew 23:11)
9. Be quick to forgive. (Matthew 18: 21-35)
10. Cultivate a grateful heart. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
11. Purpose to speak well of others. (Ephesians 4:31-32)
12. Treat pride as a condition that always necessitates embracing the cross. (Luke 9:23)

Act With Humility

This week is the last lesson from 1 Peter, entitled “Act with Humility”, and it’s based on 1 Peter 5:1-14. A past lesson “avoid arrogance” (opposite of humility) with PPT slides may give you some alternate ideas for teaching this week. Another past lesson from Hampton Road Baptist Church teaching us to “Consider Others” (with PPT slides that I used) may also be helpful in your preparations this week.

Also, here are some past blog entries, which mention “humility”, or “consider others”. These verses from 1 Peter also present an opportunity to discuss Baptist church polity, but that may take the lesson in a different direction.

Stay Focused ... PPT Slides

Click here to download the PPT slides I plan to use Sunday.

I won't have time tomorrow to update them, but if you have an idea to improve the presentation, please post it!

Thanks!

The end is in sight

It’s hard to keep going. You’re tired, discouraged, almost overwhelmed, but the “end is in sight”, so you persevere living as a Christain. You operate in the Lord’s strength and live according to His will for His glory. This is what I understand 1 Peter 4:7-11 to say.

You might share insights learned by “keeping on, keeping on” to reenforce the idea that we grow by learning to persevere.

Grow in maturity

Several of the commentaries on this week’s lesson mention the idea of ‘urgency’ due to Peter’s opening remark: “The end of all things is near.” This lesson can help us grow in maturity, which we urgently need to do. Why? The maturity we enter heaven with is all we will ever have, and Christ’s return is near, so we need to get busy growing.

Yesterday I mentioned Kathryn Aragon’s Suffering Quotient Quiz, which she proposed as a means of demonstrating how we react, not how we should respond. I think I’ll use it immediately after I set the context for God’s purposes for us.

To learn to respond maturely in stressing situations, we should discipline ourselves to think before we act and feel (TAF). A friend once taught me not to feel, act, and think (FAT). That’s a reaction. Here is a page discussing TAF, but it is not written from a Christian perspective.

Suffering Quotient

Staying focused is another element of this week’s lesson “Stay Focused on God’s Purposes” that demands some context. If you Google search “How to stay focused” you get pages of recommendations on how to stay focused at work, at school, etc, but an article written in the 1600’s tells how to spend a day with God. I like its message on our ultimate purpose (1 Corinthians 10:31), which coincides nicely with 1 Peter 4:16.

I also like Kathryn Aragon’s quiz to measure our “Suffering Quotient”. And her message on how we should respond verses react is important, too. It fits with James’ admonition for Christians to operate in wisdom from above.

Stay Focused on God's Purpose

The lesson title this week “Stay Focused on God’s Purposes” begs that we set a context of “God’s Purposes,” which needs to be narrowed down to what's relevant for this lesson. You might consider asking members to identify God’s purposes in 1 Peter 4:7-19 as you read the background passage. Have an assistant list these on a marker board as they are called out.

Richard Dodge, writing in the LifeWay Extra, offers a suggestion to open the lesson with a discussion of the meaning of “fan” which leads to the idea of “fanaticism”, but I don’t know if this is a good thing since Peter the apostle suggested that Christians should be zealots in doing good (1 Peter 3:13).

Resolve

1 Peter 4:6 presents another difficult verse to interpret. I like the insight given by Dr. Grant C. Richison, of Campus Crusade for Christ and former Baptist pastor. His reference to Peter’s focus on the “historic past” makes sense. His underlying principle “Christians face an altogether different future than the lost” should strengthen a believer’s resolve, especially one in the midst of persecution for Christ’s sake. Even though they lost the game, this coach is happy with the team’s resolve. Makes me wonder if Christ is happy with my resolve.

Confusion

Tim West, pastor of Hornsby Baptist Church, Hornsby, TN, suggests an interpretation of 1 Peter 3:19-20 that “presents some extreme difficulties” according to the LifeWay Adult Commentary (p. 77). Mark Rathel, professor of theology at The Baptist College of Florida, carefully dissects the passage to conclude that Jesus did not descend into Hell.

1 Peter 3:21 can also be misunderstood to imply that baptism is a sacrament. However, baptism is representative, or symbolic and is a pledge of obedience following repentance and confession of Jesus as Lord. Salvation is by the grace of God through faith, a gift from above.

How do you plan to present these difficult to interpret passages in your class so as to avoid confusion?

What hope do you have?

LifeWay’s Adult Extra, by Richard Dodge, for this week’s lesson “Prepare for Suffering” highlights how people take offence by statements that are politically incorrect by today’s standards. He indicates how Jews were possibly offended by the gospel in Peter’s day, which led to Christian persecution and suffering.

How do you react to stories like Christians are losing America? With what hope can we encourage each other? How is Christian hope different from wishful thinking?

Measuring device

I like David Self’s sports preparation analogy in his commentary on this week’s lesson, “Prepare for Suffering”. No matter what our endeavor is, we prepare in advance for what eventualities may come. Christians are taught that they will suffer for Christ’s sake (eg. 2 Tim 3:12, 2 Cor 1:5, Rom 8:17, Phil 3:10), and Kathryn Aragon does a good job of helping us understand how to prepare.

Reading her comments makes me think of displaying a variety of measuring devices (say a ruler, a balance scale, a weight scale, etc.) and have members say which device is useful for what problem. Afterwards, ask how should we measure ourselves regarding our actions and our motivations, for example, are we people pleasers? Do we adhere to God’s Word? Do we apply wisdom of the world, or the wisdom of God? Consider a recent incident in your life and your response. What measuring device did you use?

Prepare for Suffering

Bayleaf Baptist in Raleigh, NC posted a bit of LifeWay material for this week’s lesson “Prepare for Suffering”. On cursory analysis, we prepare for suffering using the same strategy we’d use to prepare for any coming difficulty. For example, a bear prepares for winter by storing body fat in the fall. From a spiritual perspective, what reserve does a Christian strengthen, or store believing that persecution is sure to come?

The short answers are to prepare by assimilating God’s Word, establishing Christian friendships, and maintaining a close walk with Jesus Christ. All of these will contribute to sustaining faith when difficult times come. A handout similar to this one might be a helpful tool for this lesson. Members could complete it as you teach.

Sonshine posted an in-depth set of study questions for this lesson, and Manchester Baptist Church, Manchester, MO, posted the shorter list below:

About what should Christians be passionate? (3:13)
For what might others ask Christians to give a defense? (3:15b)
Where is Jesus now? (3:22)
How should believers live the rest of their lives? (4:2)

In a sense, we are always preparing for some eventuality. How are you preparing to teach this week’s lesson? Do you rehearse your lesson presentation?

Interesting visuals

I’ve been looking for interesting (and accurate) PPT slides concerning Luke 24 that you could incorporate into your lesson. Slides from Barry Chant give an Easter account with some interesting visuals.