Sunday School lesson for 4/23

Greetings,

As I begin to get back into the grove of posting Sunday School lessons, I'd like to first take a moment to thank God for the various changes taking place in my life! I got married in December of 2016, and my beautiful wife Brittany is carrying wonderful Son, Colin Jr. Its very hard to believe at times, but I'm grateful for what God has entrusted me with over these past few months. Tomorrow's Sunday School lesson is taken from the book of Romans. The lessons begins in chapter 5 verse 1, "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope." I love how the Bible pieces all of this together. We go through things to make us stronger!

The lesson then goes to Romans 8:31-39. "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter."  Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,  nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Powerful set of scriptures!
I look forward to getting back in the grove of personal study and working on these lessons! Thank you Lord for everything! Your grace is everlasting.

God bless!

Bible Prophecy being fulfilled today

Hello my loved ones. I felt led by the Spirit of God to reiterate an "End Times" prophecy that I believe we see vastly growing today.

As mentioned in the Book of Revelations, Chapter 13 takes place during the tribulation period. We see in verse 7. "And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations." Who is "him?" Him, as described in verse 4 is the beast, in which Satan, (the Dragon) has given power to. We see that the beast has been given power over all nations during this Tribulation period. Another scripture set I'd like to point out is found in verse 16 and 17. "And he (Satan) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." What this is saying, and we all heard about this growing up, is that this same wicked One, will have power over the revenue and people won't be able to eat or make a living with out the mark (worshiping Satan)

The reason all this sparked up for me was I stumbled across Barack Obama's United Nation's speech he gave a few days ago. It can be found at (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b7J8JuLj1E) if you'd like to check it out.  We know the United Nations was formed after World War 2 to prevent another war like those from happening again. Well intentions one may say! However, the Bible speaks of a "One World Order" as revealed in the Book of Revelations, that the Beast will rule over during the Tribulation period. I'm not saying anyone now is that Adversary, or the time is now..I just want to share how the events occurring in our world today are paving the way for God's word, found in the Bible, to fulfill itself. A few eyebrow raising points I gleamed from listening to Obama's entire speech was first, his constant push of a "Better model" of unity among nations. He stated to "Push going forward with international rules all nations must adhere to." Another note I took from his speech is the World Bank and International Monetary Fund established and how that should be expounded on as well. (Perfect opportunity to regulate spending/commerce)

I don't consider myself extremely superstitious, just take a moment and ponder how what appears to be taking place, is leading to what Daniel visioned in Ch 7 and what Revelations 13 tells us during the Tribulation period..More to come!!

Lesson for 8/14

Hey all, the Sunday School lesson for tomorrow comes from Romans 9:6-18. Its titled, "Living under God's Mercy" The title itself here speaks substantial volume, one may interpret this in such a way that this is referring to "everyone." I encourage you to read these set of verses and understand the context. Last week we spoke we mentioned in Romans 8:28 that, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Very good, which may pose the question of what about those who don't love God? In verse 17 of this lesson we see Paul use the example of Pharaoh during the time of Exodus. It says, "For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same PURPOSE, I have raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout the earth." We recall from the time of Moses, Pharaoh constantly refused to release the people of Israel from their bondage in Egypt. This verse is saying although Pharaoh didn't love God, He still was used to fulfill God's purpose and plan for the Isrealites. Think about it, if Pharaoh, an oppressor would have freely let the people of Israel go, that would've been okay - but God probably would not have been as glorified as much. With Pharaoh carrying out his purpose as oppressor, the Isrealites were able to witness the power and glory of God; ranging from turning the river into blood in Exo. 7:17 to parting the Red Sea in Exo. 14:21. Exodus 7 reminds us that Pharaoh's heart was hardened, which is why he refused to let the Isrelaites go. Verse 18 of this lesson says, "therefore hath God have mercy on whom He will have mercy, and who he will, he hardeneth. Powerful! I pray this makes sense, but again, it would not have been the same if Pharaoh's purpose didn't get carried out. To apply Romans 8:28 to the time of Exodus, we recall that all things work together for the good to those that love God; the Isrealites loved God! We know that Pharaoh didn't love God, so things didn't work together for him, yet both served according to God's purpose. Pharaoh remained hardedned, which led to the witnessing of God's miraculous glory as He freed His people from bondage. Paul's purpose in this teaching was to reveal to them who the true decedents and inheritors of God's promise. I encourage you to read the entire Roman's 9!

God bless and thanks for reading!

Lesson for 8/7

Hey all, the Sunday School lesson for tomorrow comes from Romans 8:28-39. Its titled "Safe in God's Love" The lesson begins with the well know verse 28 - "And we know that all things work together for the good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." - Lets take a moment to reflect on what was just stated. Regardless of how the circumstance may seem at the moment, we trust that ALL THINGS are working together for us! As we carry out the mission and purpose God has for our lives, He is working each and every aspect out far beyond what we can even think or imagine! Verse 29-30 "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called: and whom He called, them He also justified: and whom He justified, them He also glorified." - To break this down, we know that being a follower of Christ, professing our faith is a choice, a decision we make. God knows our every being, but as we look at this - To be predestined in this context is to be determined or arranged ahead of time. Us, the believer's destiny is already known, ordered, and arranged ahead of time for a specific purpose of being conformed, or made into the representative nature of Jesus! Please comment your thoughts, but I believe its similar to a template that's enabled the moment we accept Christ; not predestined in regards to when we were born physically, but when we were born again spiritually! - as Christians, we know and believe that all things are working out for those who love God. With that faith in mind, we know we are saved and have the victory at the conclusion of things! The Christian destiny is already known, and is revealed more and more as God sees fit to reveal to each of us! Without causing controversy, Paul continues to explain this to the Christian's in Rome. During that time, the firstborn was considered very valuable and given specific responsibilities, but also special privileges, as God gave to Jesus. We too, are destined by God to be conformed to the image of Jesus, spiritually "that we may be the firstborn of many brethren." As God's love everso manifests, we are justified, then glorified for the love we show and allowing Him to enable us to do what He has called us to do. If God be for us, who can be against us? Please continue to read on for deeper revelation. I'd like to exemplify and conclude with the closing verses. "In all these things (trials, tribulations, persecution, distress, heartache, depression, famine, what ever else we may face/currently facing) we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us!" Verse 38, "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  - Amen.

We are safe in God's love!!

Thanks for reading.

Lesson for 7/31

Hey all, the Sunday School lesson for tomorrow comes from Romans 6:1-4,12-22 "Death Becomes Life" This is a very fascinating set of scriptures that honestly speaks and teaches itself! If we briefly recall from previous lessons, we know that as believers in Christ, we are saved by grace. Its not about our works, but what Jesus did! Here we find verse 1 of Romans 6, Paul poses the question, "Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? You could imagine Paul asking this because as humans, we often try to find a loophole or reason within our thoughts to make something wrong, seem right. "Someone may say well, if I go ahead and lie or fornicate, just to name a few, God will keep forgiving me! So i'm good, right?" Wrong! As proclaimed followers of Christ, we acknowledge that we have died to our sins! Not to say we won't make a mistake or mess up at times; but we are not to continue to LIVE in it. Meaning, day after day after day with no effort of doing better. Verse 4 "For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives." The lesson jumps to verse 12, but I challenge you to read 5-11 for an even deeper revelation! Verse 12, "Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give into sinful, lustful desires." Very challenging at times, to speak for myself. But we must stand strong and deny our flesh; One way is stay rooted in prayer and reading, another way could be surrounding ourselves with other believers, on top of that, distancing ourselves from unwise areas or situations helps tremendously too. The lesson continues on, Verse 13-14 - "Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. We should use it to do what is right for the glory of God! Sin is no longer our master, and we no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God's grace." The powerful verse 17 says "Thank God, Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey that doctrine that was delivered to you." Pause, ever remember going to church because your parents made you? Or sticking with something that you really didn't want to do, but you had to? You may have felt someone would judge you otherwise, or you may have been "doing church" to impress someone. Well to tie this together; now we as Christians go to church, sing, minister, encourage, put our best effort forward, because we feel compelled to! We fellowship or have bible study or small groups, because we wholeheartedly want to better serve God! We are not BOUND by same law the Pharisees were inflicting back then, however Paul is telling us that because we are made new in Christ, that should MOTIVATE us to try and keep it! For example, we know the law says do not kill, so as Christ followers, we aim to upkeep that law by not killing others, whether physically, verbally, or emotionally. Sin should not be our master, we should live each day striving to please our Heavenly Father more and more. I encourage you to continue reading, I will close with the last verse 23 of this lesson. "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal live through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Thanks for reading, God bless!

Lesson for 7/24

Hey all, the Sunday school lesson for tomorrow comes from Romans 5:1-11. Its titled, "Not Without Hope." As I began to read this lesson, I fell in love with what Paul is writing here. Its a powerful set of scriptures that honestly speak and teaches itself. Verses 1 - 5 "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  And not only that but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. - Those first verses are amazing, my favorite began with the transition into verse 3. What it is saying is, we can rejoice too, when we run into problems and trials. For endurance develops strength of character, which in turn strengthens our confident hope of salvation. It kind of reminds me of working out, we condition, tear our muscles, only to build them up and make us stronger! The lesson continues -  " But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.  And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation."

Enough said right there! This, the pinnacle belief of our faith; we must remember, that without hope or faith, it is impossible to please God; our hope is found in Jesus Christ, who died and rose for our sins so that we  may be reconciled! Gods love has been poured into us, may we continue to rejoice in the midst of adversity and keep confident as we acknowledge our hope of the salvation we are promised.

Thanks for reading - leave a comment!
God bless

Lesson for 7/17

Hey all, the Sunday school lesson for tomorrow comes from Romans 3:21-31. Its titled "God Sets Things Right." Our lesson continues on in our series where Paul is addressing the Jews of Rome. As a brief recap, we recall the Jews of that time and how they withheld the Mosaic Law to the highest standard; they were self-righteous and believed their works alone would give them eternal life. Here we find Paul in verse 21 saying, "But now God has shown us a way to be made right with Him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago." Verse 22, we are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For all have sinned, and come short of the Glory of God. Verse 24, "Yet God freely and graciously declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins." To pause for a moment, again we recall the Jews of that time who did not want to believe Paul's teaching here. They were still stuck on obeying the law and refused to believe Jesus was the Messiah. They felt Paul's teaching of "grace" gave people free reign to do what they wanted; If we look at Ephesians 2:8 we see that  "For by GRACE you have been saved through FAITH, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God." Again, the Jews of that time were big on their self-righteousness; Paul reminds them that as Jews, they are no better than the Gentiles. Verse 25 "For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.." God declares sinners to be right in His sight when they believe in Jesus. Can we boast that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, verse 27-28 brings out that is not based on obeying the law. Its based on faith! Whether Jew or Gentile, there is only one, and He makes people right with himself by faith! As we reflect on what Paul is saying, let us note that it is not about our works, or self-righteousness, but it's about what Jesus did! We can't make it on our own strength, but our trust should be in God, through Christ Jesus! God sets things right, in the midst of any and everything that may be transpiring in our lives, and in this world right now. We must have faith that God is in control, "for without faith, it is impossible to please God." - Hebrews 11:6.

Thanks for reading, God bless!!