Posts by Woodlawn Church of Christ (Page 43)
“Do you jump to conclusions?”
DISCUSSION The eastern tribes were returning home after a long time of fighting and being away from their families. As a remembrance and memorial to God, they built a monument. The other tribes got the wrong idea of what that monument was for. They believed it was opposite of what God would want. So now they are ready to go to war with their…
“Innocent until proven guilty”
DISCUSSION Under the old law you had to have cities of refuge; Places to go after someone had been killed and you had been the one to kill them. It was a place where you could get a fair trial, a fair decision on guilt or innocence. The key was you had to get to those cities before you were killed by the family that had lost a loved one.…
“Stop Being Selfish!”
DISCUSSION Joshua has spent 40 years wondering in the wilderness because people had been selfish and had not trusted in God. Now, finally, it’s time to divide up the land and before it’s even finished people are complaining. “I don’t have enough land, give me more.” Why do we always want things handed to us? We will complain about anything. These people are in a land flowing…
“Be Patient”
DISCUSSION In Joshua 12-15, we see a list of kings that have been defeated in the time of Moses. Then we see a list of kings that were defeated in the time of Joshua. Joshua is getting old and tired at this point in the book, and all the land has not been conquered yet. It will be in the time of Solomon before it is all…
“Don’t Underestimate the Enemy”
DISCUSSION A whole new generation circumcised after they crossed the Jordan. Why? Well the obvious reason is that God needs a commitment from us. Why did He wait until they were in enemy territory? The reason is, God will take care of us in any situation. He wants to take care of us. By performing surgery on these men, in enemy territory, they had to totally depend on God to protect…
“Flawed”
DISCUSSION As we read the first four chapters of Joshua, we see our new leader, Joshua, taking over for Moses. Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt at age 80. We know he doesn’t get to enter the promise land because he struck the rock (Numbers 20:11). Moses made other mistakes, (Mark 10:4 says that he gave the right to divorce and we know God was against that).…
“Trust”
DISCUSSION Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” -Matthew 4:5-6 The context of the…
“The Easy Answer”
DISCUSSION “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land…
“God’s Syllabus”
DISCUSSION For the last 16 years, I have had the privilege of teaching Bible at our local Christian high school. On the very first day of class, I have always presented the students with a syllabus. A syllabus is simply a document that a teacher gives their students that explain what the class will be about; but it also contains a list of the expectations…
“First fruits”
DISCUSSION In the New Testament, Christians are commanded to give on the first day of the week to “…put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper…” (I Corinthians 16.1). The idea is that when we are blessed, the first thing we should do is give back to God a portion of what we have prospered that week. I used the phrase “give back to God” on…
“Blameless”
DISCUSSION As the Children of Israel begin their conquest of the land of Canaan, God wanted to make sure that His people continued to be fully committed to His ways. To ensure that, He gave specific instructions for them to not “imitate” the pagan practices of the current inhabitants. His instructions for them were clear in Deuteronomy 18.13 “You shall be blameless before the Lord your God ”…
“The Passover & Communion”
DISCUSSION In Deuteronomy 16, Moses explains the details concerning the Feast of Passover. There is no way of us knowing just how long it had been from the time of the actual Passover until now, but one would assume it wouldn’t have been that long ago. If we recall, in Exodus 12 the Passover as it happened, is when God separated His people from their captors: the Egyptians. From that event, God…