After Paul was converted to Christ, he was really a changed man! In Acts 22, a few years later, Paul speaks to a group of angry Jews and what he said on that occasion might be called his sermon on change. He explains who he used to be, what happened when he came to Christ and what God wanted him to do afterward. In his message from so long ago, there are lessons for us to learn today.
Ephesians 5:22-33 seems like a text about marriage, right? Well, it is but it's also about something much bigger than just marriage. Paul explains that this passage is actually explaining the mystery of Christ and the church through the husband and wife relationship! There's much to learn here about marriage between spouses and about Christ and the church.
Acts 17 is the well know discourse to the Athenians about "the Unknown God." The theological points in this sermon are so powerful, but this lesson's main emphasis is to see how Paul used cultural awareness to share Jesus on that occasion. Since our culture is very similar to the one in first century Athens, we should really pay attention and incorporate this knowledge into our outreach today.
Matthew chapter one contains the great story about the "marriage" of Joseph and Mary and the Son of God born into their trust. In this lesson we cover points of interest like the genealogical accounts, Jewish marriage betrothal, the virgin birth and the characteristics of the great marriage of Joseph and Mary. Most importantly, we are reminded of why Jesus came into this world!
The church, in its first few years of existence, went through some tough times. One of those times was during the reign of Herod Agrippa I. As he stretched out his hand to harass the church in those days, in Acts 12 we learn three things Christians ought to do during these kind of times.
If you are married or plan to get married you need to pay attention to the marriage of Abraham and Sarah. Not only can we learn about the ups and downs that every married couple will experience, we also learn about the trials and triumphs of faith.
It's amazing how much we can learn about ourselves from the first few chapters of the Bible! It is also interesting how some of those same lessons apply to marriage, one of the major themes of Genesis. Today, we would be wise to learn the same lessons that Adam and Eve learned about marriage and apply them to our marriages today!
God established three great institutions to give order to the world: the home, the church and civil government. Romans 13 describes the Christians responsibility to the state under which one lives. In doing so, Paul shares three compliments about people who represent the authority. This lesson is our way of saying thanks to first responders.
Jesus made seven "I am" statements in John's account of the Gospel. The second of the seven is "I am the light of the world" (John. 8:12). This lesson takes a brief look at what that means.
An evangelist is someone who tells the good news of Jesus. Literally, Jesus became the embodiment of the good news. In the famous encounter with the sinful, Samaritan woman in John 4, Jesus demonstrates what an evangelist should do. In this study, we learn from him.
