November 24, 2024 – Worship

Worship the Lord

Principle Topic – God's Plan for Our Personal Redemption

Focus Verses (KJV)- Psalm 148:1-14 KJV

Focus Verses (NLT)- Psalm 148:1-14 NLT

(Pop-up references come from courtesy of Faithlife Reftagger)

The Key Verse -

(In King James Version):

"Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.." (Psalm 148;5 KJV)

The Key Verse -
(In New Living Translation):

What shall we learn from this lesson :

Context :

We don't know who wrote Psalm 148 but his/her writing is heavy with thanksgiving and gratitude to God for what He has done for us. And the word "us" includes all creatures for God gave life to us all. Even though that is true for all of us, many of us have a hard time expressing the love that we should have.

The type of love that we should have for God and for our fellow human beings is called Agape love. The characteristics of this type love includes having an unconditional, selfless, and sacrificial nature. This is often described as the most valuable or highest form of love. We may go a lifetime without experiencing agape love.

To be a person that loves God on the agape level means we will do anything to the maximum level that will please Him. We will love our neighbors as we love ourselves and will love God with our soul, mind, and heart.

We will find ourselves praising the Lord throughout the day. Psalm 148 is all about praising God and is one of the Psalms in the book of Psalms that comprise the section called the "Hallel" and each begins and ends with the word "Hallelujah!" (Praise the Lord in Hebrew). Hallel is comprised of Psalms 113-118.

Another collection of Psalms is called the final Hallel and is comprised of Psalms 146-150.

All of creation should praise Him including Angels, and all those in Heaven and all those on earth. Nature should praise Him including the mountains and hills. Both young men and old men; Kings. and princesses are to praise Him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 1, 2024 – Wisdom

Principle Topic – Wisdom for Righteousness

Focus Verses (KJV)- Proverbs 3:1-12 KJV

Focus Verses (NLT)- Proverbs 3:1-12 NLT

(Pop-up references come from courtesy of Faithlife Reftagger)

The Key Verse -

(In King James Version):

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." (Proverbs 3:5 KJV)

The Key Verse -
(In New Living Translation):

What shall we learn from this lesson :

This section of Scripture is primarily focused on wisdom. Proverbs is the logical best book to serve as the starting point because much of the book was written by King Solomon. He is well-known for the wisdom given to him by God. He is known for stories told in the Bible about his wisdom.

Solomon's father was King David and his mother was Bathsheba.

God later appeared to him in a dream, asking what Solomon wanted from God. Solomon asked for wisdom in order to better rule and guide his people. He could have asked the Lord for wealth or anything else but he chose Wisdom.

Solomon advised his son to trust in God with all his heart and to believe that God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and loves us. Solomon used wisdom to advise his sons on how to live.

Much of his advice centered around being faithful to God and trusting in Him to guide our actions. And yet, with all of this focus on wisdom, it was his foolish and sinful behavior that led to his spiritual downfall and his unfaithfulness to God.

In 1 kings 11:3 it says that Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Some of the pagan women he was involved with led him into idolatry to the extent that he built shrines to some of the false gods the women worshiped.

This only goes to show us that none of us are immune to temptation. We must be vigilant and careful to avoid Satan's traps that can bring the best of us to ruins. Before that happens there is a way to stop our sinful activities from destroying us as it did Solomon. That way is to just stop doing whatever sinful behavior we are involved in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 8, 2024 – Divine Timing

Principle Topic – Sowing and Reaping in God's Divine Timing

Focus Verses (KJV)- Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 14-15 KJV

Focus Verses (NLT)- Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 14-15 KJV

(Pop-up references come from courtesy of Faithlife Reftagger)

The Key Verse -

(In King James Version):

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:" (Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV)

The Key Verse -

(In New Living Translation):

“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NLT)”

What shall we learn from this lesson :

Ecclesiastes 3 is a chapter in the Book of Ecclesiastes in the old testament of the Christian Bible. The chapter is often read during Catholic funerals. It's said that the chapter's message is that our life is orchestrated by God with His purpose in mind.

It is said then that God has a timetable for all those in His providence which includes us. When something happens to us and we say that it was God's will that statement could very possibly be true. "There are no accidents in God's world," many Christians believe. A person's steps are directed by the Lord can be supported by some Scriptures as listed below.

Proverbs 16:90

Proverbs 20:24

Some Christians believe there is no such thing as luck, chance, or an accident and that all things are orchestrated by God's providential will (Proverbs 16:33 NLT.)

We must make a decision how to accept life. We could accept life as it is and as it happens and trust God to take care of us. The other option is to accept life as an ever-changing variable that is controlled by God with input through our prayers.

The one thing that is common for both approaches is that "God controls life."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For access to all chapters of the King James Version Bible in audio and visual formats, visit the Audio-Bible.com web site.

For other versions (NIV, New Living Translation, etc.) of the Bible in audio and visual formats, visit the World Wide Study Bible page of Christian Classics Eternal Library site. Also visit the New Living Translation web site.

Some information on this page may be referenced from the NLT Study Bible, the Standard Lesson Commentary, Precepts for Living, Commentary by David Guzik, and gotquestions.org. Frederick L. Marsh is the commentary author of the information contained in the Sunday school segment of this website. He is the author of the book: "The Book of the Holy Spirit: Joyful living." The opinions expressed in the Sunday school segment of this site are his alone.