In this lesson we are going to focus our attention to understand that when most people hear the term idols they often make the mistake of believing it means worshiping a statue, or a figure or form of some kind that represents a god, or gods. That is far from the truth. Then and now, there are forms of idol worship having nothing to do with any physical form or idol whatsoever. Fact is many participate in idol worship—never having molded, fashioned, or carved a single image. We tend to think “O’ how silly people are who worship and serve statues” That is just dumb. How foolish it is to bow down to an object created by mans hands. . .How foolish that some wear a crystal—and believe that it has mystical powers. But listen, just because we don’t see a physical complement made from metal, stone or wood—don’t think what we are doing isn’t connected to vain idol worship. Many because of this misunderstanding, fall into thinking of—well—I don’t have any statues, figures, or carvings in my house—therefore, I can’t

There is a song the Lord’s people sing that says, “Some glad mornin’ when this life is over I’ll fly away To a home on God’s celestial shore
I’ll fly away”. What the world teaches is quite the opposite. What does the world teach you? The National Association of Biology Teachers stated, “The diversity of life on earth is the outcome of evolution: An unsupervised, impersonal, unpredictable…” (NABT). In other words no hope of life beyond this life, no Creator behind the magnificent design we see everywhere we look. Nothing personal, your born, you live, you die and you’re eventually eaten by worms and forgotten.

God’s people are not like them, for we are not without hope! We rejoice, knowing we have eternity awaiting us and our Faithfulness is Power! We know every soul will enter eternity – whether it be eternity with the Father (Heaven) or separated from the Father (Hell). When we are faithful to the LORD our God, we live for the promise of His coming, waiting for Eternity, WAITING TO SEE THE FACE OF GOD!

WAR 2 Corinthians 10:45 “For the weapons of our warfare are not [a]carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”

We Are At War! War is a terrible thing. The war we have fought over the years have caused the deaths of millions and has forever separated families and friends. “The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking… the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker.” ~Albert Einstein

Einstein was right the bomb was powerful, but wrong that the solution lies in man’s heart. “O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jeremiah 10:23). If left to man, was becomes common place. Thankfully today exists something much more powerful the atom bomb, and much greater than the heart of man. That is the Word of God, which when release has power to change the way men think — to change the heart of a man, to save what is assuredly lost.

One of the most powerful and helpful things a Christians can do is to live life with eternity as a goal. Living for eternity causes us to keep our eyes fixed on the things above, on the wisdom of God, and that promise of the coming of the Lord Jesus. Looking to the reward, a place in heaven with God our Father where we will spend eternity with Him, without pain, without tears, and without death. We are living in this old sinful world that is not our home—waiting for the city above “which has foundations—whose builder and maker is God” (Heb. 11:10).
In this lesson our main focus will be from 1 Thessalonians and verse 3 where Paul writes, “remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father,” (1 Thess. 1:3).

THE RESSURRECTION CHANGED EVERYTHING — “One Day Living He loved me, dying He saved me, buried He carried my sins far away, rising He justified freely forever, one day He’s coming, o glorious day” a song Christians often sing. What we want to do in this lesson is consider two men, as recorded in Luke 24, who were changed because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And more importantly we will see how valuable this is for us today.

In the beginning God, made the heavens and the earth and on the sixth day of creation we read that, “…God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (v.27). Question? Does God have eyes? Peter wrote, “For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil” (1 Peter 3:12). Answer is clear, yes God has eyes. Therefore, it is a reasonable conclusion that when God made man, man had eyes.
The problem is that not every man uses this gift from God to his own advantage. In fact most are willfully blind to many things of God, blind to the plane teaching of the scripture concerning righteousness, worship, godly living, and even salvation. We read “the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you[f] shall surely die.” (vs.16-17) and continuing to chapter 3 and verse 6, Eve, “saw that the tree was good for food, that it was [a]pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate” and then so did Adam. 

The desire she had, and Adam caused them both to close their eyes to the Lord and commit sin. That is what the Bible means when we read, “whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2 Cor. 4:4). In this lesson we will study about two kinds of blinders called “spiritual blinders” There are the kind that men wear–which keep them from seeing, and accepting the truth of God’s word and blinders that the man of God wears that allow his to see the things of righteousness, truth and stop looking for the things of the world. Most wear spiritual blinders preventing them to see things the way your Creator, and your Savior do. 

The good news is that there are Spiritual blinders that keep us from worldliness, from the spirit of error, from the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life – 1 John 2:16. Join with me as we study this topic. . . 

We have been examining our spiritual wellness in regards to serving God and this our final lesson in the series is asking the question “How well do you Love?” Jesus taught the two greatest commandments of the Law spoke of love two ways. 1. To love God – (Matt. 22:34-38) and 2. to love your neighbor – (Matt. 22:39-40). Love is without a doubt, a major theme throughout the whole Bible, and Jesus taught many things related to love. So in this lesson we ask the question, “How Well Do You Love?” and begin with understanding that there are different kinds of love.

People today thrive on instant gratification we have learned to be impatient—we just don’t like to wait for things. Whether it’s a video that just won’t buffer, we lose our patience when we aren’t granted the instant gratification we desire. We can’t live without our Keurig instant coffee, our high-speed internet, and cell phones of which the millennial generation especially struggles with this, because they have grown up in a world filled with technology that caters to and sustains that desire. All these technological advances have robbed many of us of our patience—and literally decreased our ability to withstand waiting. Now in this 5th chapter of James, he turns to the issue of patience—with the idea that we are serving God—the journey may be long—but we are to establish ourselves—preparing ourselves for the journey. Understanding that James is not talking about controlling yourself at the grocery store when the line is long or behind the wheel when the car in front of you is driving slower than you want to go. Rather James is looking at the Christian’s ability to endure suffering—and the afflictions and the difficulties of life.

Have you read, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35), and, “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of [a]necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7). When it comes to giving many people are misinformed because of inaccurate information that is taught in denominational churches across the land and throughout the world. Many still impose the “tithe” which is no longer applicable in the New Testament church that Christ built. Many still are given weekly envelops with a dollar amount on them, which the giver is obligated to pay. Some, have a system of increasing yearly the amount each member “owes”. All this is sinful, and if that is what “your church” is doing–you are in the wrong church. 

Don’t mistake me, proper giving is a blessing and it is of great importance. It is commanded of the members of the body, the church and is to be collected only on the first day of the week  (1 Cor. 16:1-2). In this lesson we will examine the three types of givers, and then how, when and with what attitude the child of God should have. We will also consider some different ways a Christian can give over and above the collection on the Lord’s day. 

How much do you have? If you live in this country, and work, you likely have more than you need. But is having sinful? James answers that question in the 5th chapter of his book written to the twelve tribes where he says, “2 Your riches [a]are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days” (James 5:2-3). We know that physically riches and possessions are inanimate objects—not alive—no soul—no spirit and therefore they cannot in themselves be sin, but the questions James answers is: What does make our riches and possessions become sin to us? Where is the line drawn between righteousness and unrighteousness as it pertains to what we possess? At what point should we begin to “weep and howl” (v.1) so that we don’t allow what we have to become sin and cause us to loose our souls?