Are you sure? 1 John Study

At West Cannon Baptist Church, I am teaching the Genesis class.  

Our most recent study was an overview of the Old Testament, Genesis through Esther.

Our next study which begins February 11th, is "Are You Sure?" a study of 1st John.    

Here are a couple of things to get you thinking about this study.

• First John 5:13 contains the reason why the book was written.  “ These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life,  and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.”
• First John 3:16 is a great reminder of what the Christian life should look like especially when this verse is paired with John 3:16.
• A supplemental book, not one we are specifically using in class but one I might refer, is How Can I Be Sure I Am a Christian? by Don Whitney.   HERE is a link to Tim Challies' review of this book
• Assurance of Salvation is important to think about as it relates to your own life, the lives of those you are discipling and so many others.  

We will be studying this book in light of its purpose statement and in a way that will encourage you to study this and/or other books of the Bible with someone. 

The biggest challenges that will come out of this study is…

How are you loving others (your brothers and sisters at WCBC and others God has sovereignly place in your life)?

If you are not currently attending an Adult Bible Class, I want to encourage you to study this great book with us.

One of the resources we are going to use throughout the study is 

Fight Night: Philippians 3:7, 8

The Bible is the story of man's need for redemption and God's gracious provision!

These truths are evident throughout scripture.

Some passages quietly whisper this truth and other passages scream it out over and over and over again.

This week's Fighter Verses scream this truth.  

But whatever gain I had, I counted as lossfor the sake of Christ.Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake, I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

In Philippians 3:4 -6, Paul lists all of the reasons he has to be confident in his flesh but then he writes

"But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ."

The ONE THING we need is Jesus and more of him!

Whatever I have done to try to earn God's gracious gift is a loss. 
Later he writes it is not just a loss it is RUBBISH.

Another Paul, Paul Tripp, uses the following quote in many of his books and videos:  

Don't look horizontally for what can only be found vertically.

In his explanation of this quote Tripp writes, "Don't allow yourself to be seduced into believing that life can be found in the people, possessions, situations, locations and experiences of everyday life.  Remember, the role of created things is not to give you life, but to point you to the One who is the Way, the Truth and Life. Refuse to try to satisfy your heart with things that will never offer you the satisfaction that you seek." (1)

In our Wednesday Fight Night study, we briefly looked at Philippians 3:7 and 8 and then spent the rest of the Bible study time looking at the context of these verses.

Our study was a little different this week because I am preaching a message entitled "Forfeiture" from Philippians 3:7-9 this Sunday night at West Cannon Baptist.

We read Philippians 1 out loud and talked about these questions from One to One Bible Reading. (2)  

Context:  What can you learn about the person or situation to which the letter is written?

Observation:  Are there key connecting words (for, therefore, but, because) that indicate the logical flow of the passage?

Meaning:  How does the passage relate to Jesus?

1. https://www.paultripp.com/articles/posts/dont-make-resolutions-make-commitments
2. For more Bible study questions related to each genre in the Bible go to http://www.matthiasmedia.com.au/Samples/otobr/OTOBR-Sheets-for-copying-A4.pdf

For more about the Fighter Verses go to www.drodgersjr.com/p/fighter-verses.html

Value of Life

This Sunday is Sanctity of Life Sunday!

For a message on The Gospel, culture, and abortion from the book Counterculture by David Platt, click HERE and listen to the second message.

Here are two quotes from this resource 

“My hope is that we would believe the Gospel of Christ and that our belief would move us to engage our culture.”   

“We need to care for the baby in the womb as well as the baby’s mother as God cares for them.”

This is so much more than a political and social issue.  It is a spiritual and Gospel issue.

Why I Ain't Sanctity of Life Sunday is a thought-provoking article.  The article closes with the following two paragraphs.

But I also love Sanctity of Human Life Sunday when I think about the fact that I serve a congregation with ex-orphans all around, adopted into loving families. I love to reflect on the men and women who serve every week in pregnancy centers for women in crisis. And I love to see men and women who have aborted babies find their sins forgiven, even this sin, and their consciences cleansed by Christ. 

We’ll always need Christmas. We’ll always need Easter. But I hope, please Lord, someday soon, that Sanctity of Human Life Day is unnecessary.