Christian Education
This page contains the content of Christian Education post. It is one of the ways we use to extend the teaching ministry of the Church to our members, our friends and the world. It is a supplement to the teaching that goes on in classrooms, meetings, and other gatherings of the Church where Christian theology, doctrine, and instruction is taught. We are welcomed and encouraged to comment on any of the messages by clicking the “SS Preview” link you want to comment on, going to the bottom of the page and filling in and Submitting the Reply at the end of the message. Most of the post will have audio playback so you can listen to as well as read them. We hope you are blessed, enlighten and inspired through our Christian Education forums and invite you to join us at any of our meetings.
07
Dec '17
SS Preview Dec. 10, 2017
07
Dec '17
Greeting Members and Friends
It time once again for our weekly Sunday School preview so thanks for joining me and welcome back. The Winter Quarter entitled “Faith In Action” explores faith as both belief and action. The December unit in the Quarter is entitled “The Early Church Proclaims Faith in Christ” and it reveals what the early leaders proclaimed about living our faith in Christ. This Sunday’s lesson is entitled “Faith to Discern”.
Discernment is the ability to look beyond the surface to see that which is not obvious or hidden. Discernment is a key component of faith. It helps us to see motives and intentions that help to explain the reasons people do and say some of the things they do. Since we walk by faith and not by sight, it is important to have the ability to see things that are not clearly seen with our natural senses. To hear the voice of the Holy Spirit requires an ability that goes beyond our natural senses. Because He is other worldly, the Holy Spirit’s way of communicating is not natural to our world and senses. We must be able to discern if, when and how He is communicating with us through methods and ways that are not always obvious.
In our lesson today, the church was able to discern that the Holy Spirit wanted them to separate and send Barnabas and Saul on a special mission. Notice that the text does not specify how, through whom or the method the Holy Spirit used to speak to the church. It is important to see that they were able to determine He was speaking and what He said. Because this was such a big step for the church, they prayed and fasted for the success of this first missionary journey and for Barnabas and Saul. As they entered each city and town, they would have to rely on the Holy Spirit to know what to do, where to go and what to say in each new circumstance. Each place and situation would be different in some way from the previous one and they would have to learn from each encounter.
The text tells of one particular encounter where a prominent individual in the eyes of the people opposed the spread of the gospel. People sometime perceive that the gospel is somehow harmful to them and their interest and will oppose it and stand it the way. Saul, who is also Paul, discerned what this individual was up to and his motivation. Additional he discerned that the Lord wanted to stop this man from interfering with their mission in that city by rendering him blind. Like Paul, we must learn to discern the voice of God and by faith act upon what He tells us. You can get a better understanding of this lesson by reading the daily SS readings found in your SS book which can also be accessed through our website and mobile app. Well, that’s all for this week’s preview. Be sure to join us in Sunday School this week for a fuller discussion of this lesson and the general topic of Faith In Action. So, until then
Grace and peace
Pastor Jordan
SS Preview Alert
As you know, we have been experiencing some problems with notifications to our mobile app users. Tomorrow we will be sending out our weekly Sunday School preview. This alert serves as a test and heads up to look for the preview tomorrow. Thanks,
Pastor J.
30
Nov '17
SS Preview Dec. 3, 2017
30
Nov '17
Greeting Members and Friends
It time once again for our weekly Sunday School preview so thanks for joining me and welcome back. This Sunday we will begin the Winter Quarter entitled “Faith In Action” that explores faith as both belief and action. The Quarter is divided into 3 Units. The first or December unit is entitled “The Early Church Proclaims Faith in Christ” that reveal what the early leaders proclaimed about living our faith in Christ.
The first lesson in this unit is entitled “Faith in Jesus” and will be the subject of this Sunday’s lesson. Our main task as Christians is to have faith in Christ and help to cultivate that faith in others. This is what occurred when Peter and John encountered a known lame man and helped him to walk. First, they had faith in Christ and through that faith led the lame man to believe he could get up and walk. Secondly, they wanted everyone who witness this miracle of healing to know that all the credit for it goes to Jesus Christ and Him alone. Thirdly, they wanted them to know that they knew who Jesus is because of the part they had in His execution and the fact the He is no longer dead, but alive. Finally, they offered them the opportunity to place their faith and trust also in Jesus by letting them know He will be returning when all things are restored according to the will of God.
Our faith also must be one of action. It is not enough just to say we have faith in Jesus, but our actions, the things we do and say must be a witness or testimony to our belief in the promises of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And through our actions we demonstrate our faith and can then invite and led others to have faith also. Just like Peter and John we must always be careful not to look for or receive glory and praise for anything we do or that is done for Christ. But always allow Him to receive all the glory and praise for whatever is done in His name and on His behalf. You can get a better understanding of this lesson by reading the daily SS readings found in your SS book which can also be accessed through our website and mobile app. Well, that’s all for this week’s preview. Be sure to join us in Sunday School this week for a fuller discussion of this lesson and the general topic of Faith In Action. So, until then
Grace and peace
Pastor Jordan
27
Nov '17
SS Preview Nov. 26, 2017
27
Nov '17
Greeting Members and Friends
It time once again for our weekly Sunday School preview so thanks for joining me and welcome back. “An Everlasting Covenant” is our November unit focus. This Sunday’s lesson entitled “Remembering the Covenant” is about how to think about and partake of the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Supper is one of two ordinances or observances in the Missionary Baptist church. The other one is baptism. Both of these were commanded of the Lord and both serve a special role in the church.
The Lord’s Supper was instituted by our Lord in order for the church to remember and refocus on His mission, the sacrifice that was made on behalf of the church and our role in carrying on the work Christ left for His church to do. The scripture text of the lesson indicates that the church at Corinth was not observing this sacred ordinance in the matter it is intended. Evidently, they were incorporating it in their social gatherings or “love feast” where food and wine and other social practices of their day and culture were taking place even to the point of excess.
To partake of the Lord’s Supper in this matter was “unworthy” of the ordinance and made light of the blood and body of the Lord. To do such a thing also brought into question the sincerity of their repentance of their sins and commitment to the Lordship of Christ. But they were young in the faith, unfamiliar with the requirements of a holy God and were still engaging in many of the ungodly practices of their culture. They had to be taught the proper way to do things and be weaned off of the ungodly habits they were accustomed too.
The Lord’s Supper is therefore a solemn separate time set aside in the life of the Church for the members to reflect on the sacrifice of the Captain of our salvation and to examine our own lives in light of that sacrifice. It is a time for the body to reassert its bond to one another and commitment of fulfill the Great Commission of our Lord to reach the world with the gospel. We must be careful not to repeat it too often that it becomes meaningless ritual or too infrequent that we lose sight of the urgency and focus of our calling. To get a fuller understanding of this lesson read the daily SS readings found in your SS book and on our website and mobile app. Well, that’s all for this week’s preview. Be sure to join us in Sunday School this week for a fuller discussion of this lesson and the general topic of an everlasting covenant. So, until then
Grace and peace
Pastor Jordan
22
Nov '17
SS Preview November 19, 2017
22
Nov '17
Greeting Members and Friends
It time once again for our weekly Sunday School preview so thanks for joining me and welcome back. “An Everlasting Covenant” is our November unit focus. This Sunday’s lesson entitled “Mediator of the New Covenant” is about how Jesus Christ has made it possible for man and God to be reconciled or brought back together and the resulting relationship He made possible for us to have with God.
A mediator is one who helps to make peace or bridge the gap between parties who have something separating them. Our sin separated us from God and wouldn’t allow peace to be made between us. Jesus mediated the problem by being willing to die for our sins and in our place if we in return will repent of our sins and accept God’s forgiveness through His blood. The writer of Hebrews audience was mainly Jewish Christians who were familiar with the Mosaic covenant. He makes the point that this new covenant mediated by Christ is so much more user friendly than the one mediated by Moses. It is designed to remove the fear experienced by the participants in the previous covenant. Being spiritual in nature, it is much more reassuring because it has a heavenly mediator and it removes the guilt of sin. It allows God to become more approachable that in previous covenants.
The spiritual setting of this covenant is in heaven where God abides in the holy city along with the angels and of course our Lord Jesus Christ instead of the physical setting Mt. Sinai where the people or beast couldn’t approach the mountain and fear gripped them all. Because of the closeness we are permitted to get to God, we must pursue holiness and peace and not allow anything to spring up, take root and defile us. Such things would come between us and our new relationship we have with God and undermine the peace we now have with God.
God will shake or move anything created or that can be moved to make His promise to us come to pass. Therefore, we need to respond with a worship and reverence that is worthy of what He has done, is doing and shall do for us. Anything less and we can expect to be consumed by the fire of His justice. To get a fuller understanding of this lesson read the daily SS readings found in your SS book and on our website and mobile app. Well, that’s all for this week’s preview. Be sure to join us in Sunday School this week for a fuller discussion of this lesson and the general topic of an everlasting covenant. So, until then
Grace and peace
Pastor Jordan
09
Nov '17
SS Preview Nov. 12, 2017
09
Nov '17
Greeting Members and Friends
It time once again for our weekly Sunday School preview so thanks for joining me and welcome back. “An Everlasting Covenant” is our November unit focus. This Sunday’s lesson entitled “Promise of a New Covenant” is about God’s promise of a more personal individualized relationship between Himself and His people and about taking that relationship to a higher spiritual dimension.
At the time of this lesson, Israel had existed as a divided nation of North and South for many years under different kings. The Northern kingdom fell first to the Assyrian empire. The Southern kingdom survived for another 135 years before falling to the Babylonian empire. God used both of these empires to judge His people for their unfaithfulness. God used His prophet Jeremiah to foretell of this new covenant to His people just before the fall of the Southern kingdom. God uses Jeremiah to remind His people that they have no one to blame for their trouble but themselves. He had been faithful to them, but they had been unfaithful to the covenant He made with their fathers. So after they had suffered enough for their disobedience, He would make a new and better covenant with them.
The new covenant will not be just outward, but would affect them inwardly. It would become a part of them and not just something written down and read to them. And while God felt that He needed to judge His people for their unfaithfulness, He also reassured them He had not abandoned and forsaken them and never will nor ever stopped loving them. Some may wonder if this covenant is so much better than the previous covenant, why not start with this covenant to begin with. I can’t answer that question. I only trust and believe God has His own reasons for doing things the way He does them and they are always in the best interest of His people.
This new covenant began taking shape with the return of the first exiles back to the promised land their fathers were forced to leave after their captivity to foreign powers. Many of those who returned began to see God for the just, but merciful God He is. They began to develop a stronger personal relationship with God of the kind their fathers didn’t have. This new covenant relationship could only go so far without the Holy Spirit. But because of the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ and the shedding of His blood on the cross and His resurrection, salvation and the Holy Spirit is made available to all and all are able to know and experience the full mercies and extent of the new covenant Jeremiah foretold about nearly 2600 years earlier.
As a result, we shall receive a greater condemnation than them because we have available to us so much more than what they had available to them. To get a fuller understanding of this lesson read the daily SS readings found in your SS book and on our website and mobile app. Well, that’s all for this week’s preview. Be sure to join us in Sunday School this week for a fuller discussion of this lesson and the general topic of an everlasting covenant. So, until then
Grace and peace
Pastor Jordan
02
Nov '17
SS Preview Nov. 5, 2017
02
Nov '17
Greeting Members and Friends
It time once again for our weekly Sunday School preview so thanks for joining me and welcome back. “An Everlasting Covenant” is the November unit focus. This Sunday’s lesson entitled “Faithful God, Unfaithful People” is about God’s response to idolatry, zeal and unfaithfulness.
The idolatry involved the men of the nation of Israel during the days of Moses. They allowed themselves to be seduced into idol worship practices of a neighboring culture that involved sex with the women of that culture. Religious worship involving sex acts were common among people in those days. Their behavior angered the Lord and He commanded Moses to put all those guilty to death by public hanging. Their sin was so widespread and known, that only a public demonstration of God’s judgement would be a sufficient answer to their offense.
While grieving over what was going on, a leader of one of the tribes flaunted or paraded his idolatrous sex act before the people in open defiance of God’s law and judgement. While others stood by and did nothing, one man rose up and killed them both. This is the zeal of the lesson. God was so impressed with this man’s intense defense of His holiness and judgement, that He ended a plague that had already destroyed 24000 people with no end in sight and made an everlasting peace covenant with him and his descendants.
The last part of the lesson addresses the unfaithfulness of the priest Eli and his sons. While his sons were guilty of gross abuse and neglect of their priestly office, Eli, their father, was guilty of not disciplining them and allowing them to carry on that way. As a result, God stripped their family of their priestly role and privileges and gave them to another Levitical house. In doing so, God fulfilled His covenant He made to Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron during the reign of King Solomon.
These are the main thoughts I see coming from the lesson. The first point is that God will judge idolatry. People who choose to worship other people and things will face the wrath of God both here and now and in the final judgement. Secondly, we who see and know what is going on must be willing to stand up and confront the evil going on in our society. And finally, we must be true to our calling or we will face the same judgement as the idolaters and unbelievers. To get a fuller understanding of this lesson read the daily SS readings found in your SS book and on our website and mobile app. Well, that’s all for this week’s preview. Be sure to join us in Sunday School this week for a fuller discussion of this lesson and the general topic of an everlasting covenant. So, until then
Grace and peace
Pastor Jordan
26
Oct '17
SS Preview Oct. 20, 2017B
26
Oct '17
Greeting Members and Friends
It time once again for our weekly Sunday School preview so thanks for joining me and welcome back. “Called into Covenant With God” is the October unit focus. This Sunday’s lesson entitled “God’s Covenant with the Returned Exiles” is about a renewed commitment to an existing covenant.
After their deliverance for Egypt, God made His covenant with Israel at Mt. Sinai. After the death of Joshua who followed Moses as their leader and led them into the Promised Land, the children of Israel began to depart from the covenant their fathers made with God. They did better at times than others, but the overall trend was toward disobedience. Finally, as punishment for their continual disobedience, God allowed other nations to destroy Jerusalem and carry the children of Israel into captivity.
After 70 years in exile, the first of the children of Israel were allowed to return to their homeland. But they did not return as free people but as servants or subjects of the Persian empire. Their first great project after their return was to rebuild the temple. This project could have been completed in 6 years, but ended up taking 23 years. When the third wave of exiles returned led by Nehemiah, they finally rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem.
Today’s lesson takes place right after the completion of the wall. The whole nation of Israel gathered together as they did at Mt. Sinai but this time in Jerusalem to hear the reading of the Law of Moses and the covenant their fathers made with the Lord. Over a period of several days they listened to the Law for part of the day and confessed their sin the other part of the day. They took full responsibility for their sins and those of their fathers and acknowledged that God was fair and just in His treatment of them. They also acknowledged that God was merciful and true and brought them back to the land He gave to their fathers as an inheritance.
At the end of this period of hearing the Law and confessing their sin and the sins of their fathers, they all signed a covenant agreeing to keep and obey the Law of Moses and keep the covenant God made with their fathers. So, this lesson is about second chances and the mercy of God to do what should have been done right the first time. There is a limit to what God will tolerate. He gave Israel many opportunities to repent and keep His covenant before they were exiled.
In this lesson, the children of Israel acknowledged this fact and vowed not to repeat the mistakes of the fathers. To get a greater understanding of this lesson read the daily SS readings found in your SS book and on our website and mobile app. Well, that’s all for this week’s preview. Be sure to join us in Sunday School this week for a fuller discussion of this lesson and the general topic of God’s call into covenant. So, until then
Grace and peace
Pastor Jordan
26
Oct '17
SS Preview Oct. 29, 2017
26
Oct '17
Greeting Members and Friends
It time once again for our weekly Sunday School preview so thanks for joining me and welcome back. “Called into Covenant With God” is the October unit focus. This Sunday’s lesson entitled “God’s Covenant with the Returned Exiles” is about a renewed commitment to an existing covenant.
After their deliverance for Egypt, God made His covenant with Israel at Mt. Sinai. After the death of Joshua who followed Moses as their leader and led them into the Promised Land, the children of Israel began to depart from the covenant their fathers made with God. They did better at times than others, but the overall trend was toward disobedience. Finally, as punishment for their continual disobedience, God allowed other nations to destroy Jerusalem and carry the children of Israel into captivity.
After 70 years in exile, the first of the children of Israel were allowed to return to their homeland. But they did not return as free people but as servants or subjects of the Persian empire. Their first great project after their return was to rebuild the temple. This project could have been completed in 6 years, but ended up taking 23 years. When the third wave of exiles returned led by Nehemiah, they finally rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem. Today’s lesson takes place right after the completion of the wall. The whole nation of Israel gathered together as they did at Mt. Sinai but this time in Jerusalem to hear the reading of the Law of Moses and the covenant their fathers made with the Lord.
Over a period of several days they listened to the Law for part of the day and confessed their sin the other part of the day. They took full responsibility for their sins and those of their fathers and acknowledged that God was fair and just in His treatment of them. They also acknowledged that God was merciful and true and brought them back to the land He gave to their fathers as an inheritance. At the end of this period of hearing the Law and confessing their sin and the sins of their fathers, they all signed a covenant agreeing to keep and obey the Law of Moses and keep the covenant God made with their fathers.
So, this lesson is about second chances and the mercy of God to do what should have been done right the first time. There is a limit to what God will tolerate. He gave Israel many opportunities to repent and keep His covenant before they were exiled. In this lesson, the children of Israel acknowledged this fact and vowed not to repeat the mistakes of the fathers. To get a greater understanding of this lesson read the daily SS readings found in your SS book and on our website and mobile app. Well, that’s all for this week’s preview. Be sure to join us in Sunday School this week for a fuller discussion of this lesson and the general topic of God’s call into covenant. So, until then
Grace and peace
Pastor Jordan
19
Oct '17
SS Preview Oct. 22, 2017
19
Oct '17
Greeting Members and Friends
It time once again for our weekly Sunday School preview so thanks for joining me and welcome back. “Called into Covenant With God” is the October unit focus. This Sunday’s lesson entitled “God’s Covenant With David” is about a covenant God made that prepared the way for Jesus to become King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
David, like Abraham, had a special relationship with God. David was the second king of Israel. He loved and trusted God from His youth. He was called a man after God’s own heart and one that would fulfill all of God’s will. David was anointed by the prophet Samuel on direct instructions from God to replace Saul, Israel first king who God could not rely on and rejected because he would not be obedient to His word. David was also a mighty warrior and won many battles because God was with him.
After God had given David victory over his enemies, peace and prosperity, David wanted to do something special for God. David wanted to build a temple or house of worship to place the holy things of God inside and to have a place for God’s people to meet and for God’s presence to dwell and manifest itself. But the Lord knew of David’s plan and desire to build a house or temple for Him and instructed the prophet Nathan to go and relay a message to David. God sent word to David saying that He knows he wants to build him a house but his son would build Him a house instead. Tell him also that that I (God) would build David a house or dynasty.
God would establish His covenant with David and his son and set up David’s throne to be an everlasting throne. This everlasting throne is currently being occupied by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You see, Jesus’s earthly father Joseph and husband of Mary the mother of Jesus is a direct descendant of David. Jesus was also born in Bethlehem which is the called the “city of David”. Therefore, Jesus is referred to as “the Son, Root and Offspring of David”. Because He is David’s descendant, Jesus is the fulfillment of the covenant God made with David as a result of David desire to build a house for God and the relationship they had.
To understand this covenant is to understand that Jesus just didn’t show up out of thin air but His appearance was part of God’s plan of redemption which He worked through covenants with Abraham and his descendants after him. To get a greater understanding of this lesson read the daily SS readings found in your SS book and on our website and mobile app. Well, that’s all for this week’s preview. Be sure to join us in Sunday School this week for a fuller discussion of this lesson and the general topic of God’s call into covenant. So, until then
Grace and peace
Pastor Jordan
