Disciple Hour: The Family at Church: How Parents are Tour Guides for Joy (Week 1)
The Family at Church: How Parents are Tour Guides for Joy (Week 1)
Day 1: Tour Guides for Everlasting Joy
Deuteronomy 6:4–7 (ESV)
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
The author Scott Brown tells us the most important place you will ever take your children is the local church.
His goal is to maximize the sweetness and power of that experience.
He goes on to write that as members of a local church, you are sitting on a golden opportunity. God has designed the church to help parents show their children the riches of Jesus Christ.
Good Shepherds-
Parents are to be the shepherds of their children. Lead them to green pastures and the purest water. As good shepherds, parents are called to take the lead, you will think, pray, strategize, schedule and act.
Show your children the importance and the beauty of the local church.
What are ways you can do this? How can you be a tour guide to your children of the treasures of the Gospel found within the church?
Sermon: Living in Light of Christ’s Return 2 Peter 3:11-18
Truth Taught- Because Jesus Christ is returning and because all things will dissolve and be made new, therefore, we must remain steadfast, focusing on eternity not the things of this world that are perishing
Our current text for today will refer back to 2 Peter 3:7-10.
2 Peter 3:7–10 (ESV)
7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
Because this is going to happen. Because the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. Because the cosmos/universe will pass away. Because our solar system will be dissolved. Because the earth will also be remade by fire and all works exposed, how should we, as God’s people live?
Peter does not write this just to inform or just to stir up our minds to correct thinking but his desire is that we understand rightly and that right doctrine will lead us to right living. Orthodoxy must lead to orthopraxy.
We must realize, this is not theory. If it’s theory then we can all land on our own belief and come to our own conclusions and every idea is as good as the next. However, this is not theory. This is not theory but absolute provable reality. Since it’s reality we must change to accommodate what’s real. Reality changes how we live. So must the reality of the Second Coming of Christ. Read More
Disciple Hour: Exodus 25:1–9
Exodus 25:1–9 (ESV)
25 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the contribution for me. 3 And this is the contribution that you shall receive from them: gold, silver, and bronze, 4 blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen, goats’ hair, 5 tanned rams’ skins, goatskins, acacia wood, 6 oil for the lamps, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 7 onyx stones, and stones for setting, for the ephod and for the breastpiece. 8 And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. 9 Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.
We approach God on the basis of the blood covenant. We saw last time that the Israelites were invited up onto the mountain to worship God only after the Covenant was ratified. This was an extraordinary worship service.
There was a call to worship…God invited Moses and the other leaders up on the mountain.
There was a confession of faith, a reading from the Word, and even a celebration of communion as they ate a common meal together. The only thing they didn’t do was take up an offering. That’s what today’s passage is all about.
Let’s Pass the Plate!!
There are mixed feelings about a teaching on biblical giving. It’s a sad state when we allow the health and wealth scammers rob us the true church of the joys of giving. There are some who teach way too much on giving and then others won’t teach on it at all. I remember a pastor who would brag that he never had to preach on giving. That’s a sad statement because folks were left in the dark when it came to giving and tithing etc.
Well, here it is. It’s in the text so we are going to look at what God tells us about giving.
Did you know there are over 400 passages in the Bible that talk about money? Then there are many others that teach about stewardship. So, when people say preach the Word, well, it’s in the Word many times.
This begins the Tabernacle section of Exodus. It is the largest section in the entire Bible covering one subject, namely, the Tabernacle.
The Tabernacle is a very important topic and one of the richest types in the Bible. Its typology points us to our Savior in a many different ways.
Sermon: Thinking Correctly 2 Peter 3:1-10
Thinking Correctly 2 Peter 3:1-10
Truth Taught- Peter is out to help us think correctly about judgement
and the Lord’s return
2 Peter 3:1–10 (ESV)
3 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. 4 They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
1. Remember What the Prophets and Apostles Wrote (3:1-2)
3 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles,
Here Peter is giving the Church a great reminder. He wants to make sure they consider where truth comes from. He has greatly denounced those who were telling them lies and showed them and us how to spot false teaching. Rather than going to springs with no water or empty sea mists that produce no rain, rather than going to people who will tell you what you want to hear or prophecy whatever pays the most, he tells the early Church to go to the source.
Where do you get your information concerning spiritual things?
For the early Church there were two options. There were the false teachers promoting their heresy, saying things like there will never come a judgement. They promoted these ideas and could amass a following. The second place the early Church could get its information concerning spiritual issues was from the source, the Prophets and the Apostles.
Beloved, I pray this is where we get our information concerning eternal and spiritual matters. Go directly to God’s Word.
In scholarship it’s always best to go to primary source rather than a secondary source. An example…If I want to know what Martin Luther said about a particular text of Scripture, the best way is to go to the source. Go to what Luther wrote rather than going to what someone else said about what Luther wrote.
The same is true for us when it comes to what God said about a certain subject. Go to the primary source which is the Prophets and Apostles. They spoke and wrote God’s Word; they are the primary source. Don’t go to a preacher, a teacher or someone like that. They can be helpful but remember they are not the primary but a secondary source.
Peter tells the early Church to remember the predictions of the Prophets and Christ’s commands given to us by the Apostles…
Peter’s purpose in writing both his letters was to stir up their sincere thinking. He wants them to think correctly about eternal issues.
Beloved, we must thing correctly about eternal things. How important is correct thinking when it comes to eternal issues? The false teachers had wrong thinking and they were headed for judgement. So, it’s the difference between life and death eternally.
Here, the subject matter that the heretics are trying to refute is the 2nd Coming of Jesus Christ.
Disciple Hour: Exodus 24:9–18
Exodus 24:9–18 (ESV)
9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. 14 And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.”
15 Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 16 The glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 17 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 18 Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.
1. They Saw God and Lived to Tell About It (24:9-11)
9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.
I remember one day while working construction as an electrician there was an eclipse. I knew about what time it was supposed to begin and grabbed the welder’s welding hood and went racing outside to see it. So, I guess that day for a few minutes there was no electrical stuff being done and no welding either. The dark shield made it so you could see the sun and the moon together as the moon went over top of the sun.
Here in our text Moses and his friends see God.
We are well aware of the passages that tell us man cannot see God and live.
Exodus 33:20 (ESV)
20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”
However, we are told twice that Moses and the leaders of Israel saw God and then what’s also amazing is that they lived to talk about it.
Then to make things very clear and here’s where people struggle and often try to fix the text… they beheld God. The original is to set your gaze on. They not only saw God, something no one is supposed to be able to do but they gazed at God.
Verse 11 is written with a bit of a surprise. In other words, Moses the writer of Exodus, is just as surprised as anyone that they did not perish in the process.
11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel.
In other words, no harm came to them.
Nothing is said about God’s appearance. The Bible does, however, mention something rather strange.
10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. Read More
