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What a wonderful thing it is to know that there is predictability, observable and continuous patterns, and repeatable experiences within our universe. How awful it would be if there was no order, no ability to plan, and no sense of normality in our lives and world. Scripture tells us that it is God who has given laws and has brought order from chaos. Please read and discus...

We picked up this week where we had left off and that was that it is our job to make sure that the Gospel is in its right place; in the open on a stand. This is done by our declaring the Gospel to those around us. We talked about the heart of the Gospel: 1) Christ lived in our place. Discuss what His substitutionary obedience to God means. He lived a perfect life of obed...

We started off by looking back at where we have been, refreshing our minds and focusing on things that had not been emphasized (read and talk about verse 20; ask for any insights or observations). The person who has a root within themselves is one whose root remains in the midst of all of the things that frustrate and hinder the seed in others. Therefore, while satanic op...

Please discuss the following thoughts: We noted on Sunday that even though the thought of people remaining in unbelief and willfully remaining there is an awful thought, there is comfort in knowing that our all wise God is infinitely more merciful than we are, is free from causing or delighting in sin, and is working out His good plan according the the counsel of His own w...

We ended our last sermon by saying that Jesus left the crowd without an explanation or an exposition of His parable. He simply told His parable(s) and left them at that. While Jesus did not only teach in parables and He did use explicit teaching at times with the crowds, the sense is that His use of clear and explained teaching diminished as His ministry went on. Additiona...

Phenomena of Revival...

The Lord has been dealing with blind unbelief. From the scribes and their rejection of the Holy Spirit's work to Jesus' family who were embarrassed and provoked by Christ's behavior, Jesus has been interacting with those who would not genuinely listen. We began by talking about different forms of listening. It was noted that we listen in various ways, namely with our eyes...

A New Year's Prayer...

The Christian life is full of tests. Christianity has never been about short burst energy, but is about faithfully continuing in the will of God through the relentless testings we encounter in our walk. The danger is that we begin to drift in the face of testing, rather than persevering tenaciously in the midst of it. Sometimes we begin to drift without realizing it, foll...

The way that God determined to continue the ministry of Jesus was through His apostles (sent one's). We mentioned how remarkable and Divine this plan was in that God would ordain such simple and common men to begin to carry out a global plan in days without the modern means of communication that we enjoy today. Discuss: What does this say about the way God works? In vers...