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.