Annie Armstrong Offering

We have heard the past two weeks of an upcoming special offering known as "The Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions." Personally, I had never before heard of this special offering. A quick search on Google, returned a link to the following informative website. The following is a quote from the main page that summarized the purpose of this special offering:

Through gifts to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering®, these missions personnel [5,300 North American Mission Board missionaries throughout the United States and Canada.] are enabled to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Because every dollar given to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering® goes to direct support of
missionaries and their ministries, Southern Baptists are confident
offering gifts are an investment in eternity.

Historical background information, including a short video, on Annie Armstrong can be found on the "Who is Annie" tab.

Jeremiah 23:6 - Spurgeon

Jeremiah 23:6 is the text from which we get the name of God Jehovah Tsidkenu, the name we are studying for this week's lesson. I did a search over at the Bible Bulletin Board (see link on the sidebar on the right) for that verse. One of the results was a sermon that was preached by C.H. Spurgeon titled "The Lord Our Righteousness." It was originally preached on June 2nd, 1861 when he was about 27 years old. The text of the sermon can be found here. If you have some time this week, read over the sermon (it is 12 printed pages). It will, no doubt, increase your understanding of this important topic.

Jehovah-Tsidkenu

The Men's first hour Bible study class will be moving on to lesson 7 in our ongoing series on The Names of God next Sunday, March 4, 2007. We have been using as our guide lessons written by Don Fortner and published on his website: www.freegrace.net. Lesson 7, Jehovah Tsidkenu-The Lord our Righteousness, can be found here. Please read over the lesson and the associated references in the Bible and come prepared to share what you have learned this week on Sunday morning. Also, please feel free to use the comment link at the bottom of this post or any other post on this site to begin a conversation about any point relevant to the particular post.

Abel was Able

Sermon outline from Feb. 25, 2007 by Pastor Scott Stout

Abel was Able

Hebrews 11:4
Hebrews 12:1-2a (2a is "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith...")
Genesis 4:1-12

I. Abel Offered
Hebrews 11:4a "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain..."
Romans 10:17
Isaiah 53:7
I Peter 1:18-19
John 1:29 "...Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world."

II. Abel Obtained
Hebrews 11:4b "...by which he obtained witness that he was righteous..."
Ephesians 2:8-9
Titus 3:5
Romans 3:9-12
John 14:15

III. Abel's Outcry
Hebrews 11:4c "...and by it he being dead yet speaketh."
Hebrews 12:24 AMP
Luke 23:33-34

Heroes of the Faith

Sermon outline from Feb. 18, 2007 by Pastor Scott Stout

Heroes of the Faith

Hebrews 12:1-2

A. Let Us Lay Aside
Hebrews 12:1 "...let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily beset us..."
James 1:14-15
Colossians 3:5-9

B. Let Us Run
Hebrews 12:1 "...and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,..."

C. Let Us Look Unto Jesus
Hebrews 12:2 "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith..."
Matthew 14:28-30
II Timothy 4:7

The Lord Is My Shepherd: An Anthology

I found this interesting web page today as I looked at some of the Google search results on the phrase "The Lord Is My Shepherd." This page is a compilation of 29 different Bible versions' rendering of the 23rd Psalm. It is interesting to see how similar many of them are AND how different they are.

Scripture Memorization (TMS)

Many of you know that I am a big proponent of memorizing verses in the Bible. I have been amazed at the number of times in my life when I am involved in a conversation with someone, or in some sort of situation and a memorized verse comes to mind that informs my understanding. Many times it has happened when someone asks me a question, expecting a certain result, and the answer that comes back surprises them because it is quoted scripture and not just an opinion. The staff of the Navigators have developed a set of Bible verses that are organized into topics that when memorized can provide a scriptural knowledge base on a broad range of applications. They call their system the "Topical Memory System." It is available for purchase as a book along with companion flash cards, but they also list the verses and the topics on their website. Perhaps people don't memorize Bible verses because they don't know where to start, or what verses to memorize. If that is the case, I would encourage you to choose one verse from the list, let us know about your choice by leaving a comment on this article, and then work at committing that one verse to memory, and then let us know you have made that verse, that part of God's word, part of your being by reciting it to one or all of us sometime in the next few weeks. It will help you grow in your relationship with Jesus and will honor and glorify Him.

JEHOVAH RA-AH Continued

The continuing subject for this week's men's Bible study class on Sunday morning is Lesson 6 in the series by Don Fortner, The Names of God. There is a lot of material already on this blog regarding Lesson 6, and I will continue this week to post more as I find it. We got through about verse 3 in the lesson, which is about halfway. Please come to class ready to discuss the material.

Welcome Joe Gearo

I see that Joe Gearo has gone through all the steps to become an author on this blog. Welcome Joe! We all look forward to the articles you might initiate as well as your insights on the things that others have written.

Psalm 23 - The LORD is My Shepherd

Tom Steller, the Pastor for Leadership Development and Dean of TBI (The Bethlehem Institute for Bible, Theology and Missions), has written a sermon titled "The Lord is My Shepherd". The transcript of the sermon can be found here. Pastor Steller breaks the Psalm down into into three main points: 1. The Disposition of the Shepherd; 2. The Provision of the Shepherd; and 3. the Motive of the Shepherd. One of the things I liked about this particular sermon was that it did not strictly adhere to the order of the verses--rather it jumped around a bit within the Psalm. I also found that many of the points that Mr. Fortner makes (in our lesson for this week) are re-enforced by Mr. Steller in this sermon.

What area of this sermon did you particularly enjoy?

The Navigators

From time to time we have heard Pastor Stout mention his involvement with The Navigators during his enlistment in the US Air Force. Have heard of the strong discipling influence that organization, and in particular his personal mentor, had on his life. Therefore, today, I thought I'd post a link to The Navigators website and add it to the side bar on the right. Furthermore, in the coming days, I'll probably highlight some areas of their website that could be of particular use to our church body as we endeavor to "become disciples of Christ and to help others to become disciples of Christ."

JEHOVAH-RAAH III

A concise article on JEHOVAH-RAAH at Blue Letter Bible (see previous article) can be found here. Although the article is short, it can be useful in forming our understanding of this Name of God. There are also links within the article that lead to other references of the name JEHOVAH-RAAH in the Old Testament.

JEHOVAH-RA-AH Additional Material

The folks over at Preceptaustin.org have a great collection of articles, including a set on the Names of God (the set includes 2 articles on this week's topic JEHOVAH-RA-AH). I previously highlighted their site when we were studying the lesson on JEHOVAH-NISSI. There is generally a large amount of background on each topic. Usually it is presented using a sort of question and answer approach. This approach works good for me because it helps me to develop the skill of asking questions around the topic and then letting the answers inform my understanding of the subject matter.

Note: I have put a link to Preceptaustin.org in the links sidebar on the right.

Welcome Andy Roberson

We just set up Andy Roberson as an additional author for this blog. We are looking forward to his contributions from time to time.

JEHOVAH-RA-AH

Next Sunday, February 18, the we will be moving on to Lesson 6, JEHOVAH-RA-AH, The Lord our Shepherd, in our study on the Names of God as outlined by Don Fornter, the pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Danville, Kentucky. The text for the lesson can be found here. Please read over the lesson this week, become familiar with the material and come ready to contribute during the first hour next Sunday. Also, feel free to leave comments here during the week so we can begin to have a dialog about this lesson prior to meeting together on Sunday.

9 Marks

While on my afternoon Internet break today at work I came across an interesting website called 9marks.org. According to the website, their mission is as follows:

We believe the local church is the focal point of God's plan for displaying his glory to the nations. Our vision is simple: Churches that reflect the character of God. Our mission is to cultivate and encourage churches characterized by these nine marks: Expositional Preaching, Biblical Theology, Biblical Understanding of the Good News, Biblical Understanding of Conversion, Biblical Understanding of Evangelism, Biblical Understanding of Membership, Biblical Church Discipline, Promotion of Christian Discipleship and Growth, Biblical Understanding of Leadership.

I took a couple minutes to look over the first Mark, Expositional Preaching, and found it very interesting. I have added this site to the links area over on the right sidebar. I look forward to looking over each of the lessons contained under each of the 9 Marks.

Do any of the 9 Marks stand out as particularly interesting to you?

JEHOVAH SHALOM II

As I was reading the lesson for this week, I came across the following statement by Mr. Fortner:

This quarrel between God and man is a mutual quarrel. God is angry with man; and man is angry with God (Zech. 11:8; Rom. 8:7). It is a universal quarrel. All the sons and daughters of Adam, without exception, are born as children of wrath by nature (Eph. 2:3). God is angry with men. Those who tell unregenerate, unbelieving men and women, or even children, that God loves them, make a terrible presumption that is without warrant in Holy Scripture. God is angry with the wicked everyday. God loves righteousness and hates iniquity; and all men, by nature, are iniquity. God only loves sinners in Christ and for Christ’s sake. In Christ, God is love. Out of Christ, God is a consuming fire. No one has any basis for thinking that God might love him until he believes on Christ. Our faith in Christ does not cause God to love us. It is the result and evidence of God’s love (I John 4:19; Heb. 11:1).

I stopped and thought for quite some time on this statement (I added the emphasis in bold above). I know I have certainly been guilty of telling an unregenerate person that "God Loves Them." According to Mr. Fortner, I have no business doing that because I am presuming something that is not mine to know. I looked up the references that Mr. Fortner sprinkled throughout his text. Consequently I feel that this subject could stand quite a bit of scrutiny and could possibly necessitate a pretty big shift in the approach that one might take toward evangelizing the 'lost.'

What are your thoughts on this portion of this week's topic?

Are there any other statements in this week's lesson that jump out at you as this one did to me?

Shalom (שָׁלוֹם)

Curious what a secular resource might include regarding the word Shalom, I looked up the Wikipedia.com article on the word Shalom. The etymology (word origin) section was of particular interest to me. It says the following:

The word shalom derives from the root shin-lamedh-mem (ש.ל.ם), which has cognates in many Semitic languages, and means completeness, fulfillment, wellbeing, harmony, a concept usually encapsulated by translation in the word peace.

Hence usage of shalom in the Hebrew Bible often refers to conditions related to peace: safety, health and prosperity of individuals and nations.

This understanding of the origin of the word ties in nicely to some of the points that Don Fortner makes in this week's lesson regarding JEHOVAH-SHALOM and the completeness, fulfillment, wellbeing, and harmony that one can have with God only in Christ our Peace.

JEHOVAH-SHALOM

The continuing subject of the Sunday Morning Men's Bible Study class is the Names of God. The jumping off point for the lessons is the study of the same name authored by Don Fortner. This week's lesson (Lesson 5), JEHOVAH-SHALOM can be found here. Please read over the lesson prior to attending on Sunday Morning and come ready to contribute with your insights. Also, any discussion of the topic ahead of time is welcome and can be done by commenting on this article using the comment link below.

Conflicts

Sermon outline from February 4, 2007 by Pastor Scott Stout

The Conflicts

II Corinthians 5:18-19

A. The Conflict That Was

• Genesis 1:1
• Job 38:1-7 (NIV)
• Ezekiel 28:13
• Psalms 103:20-21
• Ezekiel 28:14-18
• Isaiah 14:12-15

B. The Conflict Within

• Genesis 3:21

C. The Conflict Without

• Luke 23:20-21; 24; 32-33
• Hebrews 13:11-12
• Leviticus 16:27
• II Corinthians 5:20-21

Bible Bulletin Board

Another great resource for extended Bible study is the Bible Bulletin Board (I have added it to the links on the sidebar as well). It contains broad array of searchable topic areas including, Gospel GEMs (Great Evangelical Messages), Sermons and Articles, Charles Spurgeon Collection, George Whitefield Collection, John MacArthur Collection, Recommended Books for Christians and numerous others all of which are searchable using the 'Google Powered' search field on the site. A search using the key-term 'Nissi' yielded this result. I haven't had the opportunity to read the articles in the returned search items yet, but I will endeavor to get the through the most relevant ones prior to this Sunday's class.

Jehovah Nissi - Additional Resource

I found this extensive article this morning on the subject of understanding Jehovah Nissi - The LORD is our banner. One of the things I like in particular about this article is the format. The author takes you through a series of questions that lead you to the understanding of the topic that they are advocating. Asking questions about a topic and then seeking out the Biblical answer is a discipline that we could all stand to practice more.

Have you found any additional resources regarding Jehovah Nissi in your own study this week?