Sunday School Lesson for December 30, 2012: Christ’s Love for the Church (Ephesians 5:15–6:9)

1 Samuel 1:13

Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk



1 Samuel 1:14

and said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.”



1 Samuel 1:15

“Not so, my lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the LORD.



Isaiah 28:7

And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer: Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions



Ephesians 5:18

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,



Accept no substitutes. Before Christ, many of us indulged in any number of carnal pleasures in search of a spiritual experience. We were tempted to drunkenness, debauchery, ultimately disaster by the allure of a transcendent experience that would, somehow allow us to escape the bounds of our physical limitations to ascend to some otherworldly existence, if but only for a moment. The verse above, Isaiah 28:7, seems to indicate that that the prophets and priests of ancient Israel were not above imbibing in strong drink as a way to get into the spirit (small ‘s’). In the early church, Paul is warning the new believers at Ephesus not to succumb to the temptation of a temporary ‘high’, but rather, to be filled with the Spirit of God, a prolonged experience with and in the very Presence of God, accessible through the shed blood of Christ Jesus.



Ephesians 1:13

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,



And now that you’ve been filled, stay filled… with worship…



Ephesians 5:19

speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,



God’s idea of a deep, continual spiritual experience:



Ephesians 5:21

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.



A life of submission is spiritual.



Ephesians 5:22

Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord.



1 Peter 3:1

Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives,



Ladies first. Why?



Proverbs 31:30

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.



If there is a reason to draw attention to yourself, should not that reason be godliness? New clothes, fancy outfits, make up, hair, you name it.. nothing more beautifully adorns a woman than the Spirit of God. Partnered with a Godly man, she becomes, in most cases, the ‘better half’ of a real power couple. The first example of covenant on the earth was the marriage covenant. Where is there a more powerful agreement than between a husband and wife who are on one accord.



Ephesians 5:25

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her



Colossians 3:19

Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.



1 Peter 3:7

Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.



If the goal is spirituality, how many of us ‘really spiritual men’ are praying regularly with our wives? Do we recognize that that they are co-heirs with us of the Grace of God? While scripture teaches that there are none given in marriage in Heaven, Peter (above) implies that a husband and wife share in the eternal inheritance in Glory. What does that look like? Fellas, love your wives as Christ loves the church and gave Himself for her. If we are blessed with a wife (I am), love her (I do). The Bible tells me that Christ saw me (and you, us) and the thought of us being joined with Him as the Church brought Him joy as He endured the suffering and shame of the cross. Husbands, love your wives like that.



Colossians 3:20

Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.



Is this even possible? :)  As a dad, I must believe that it is and I must repeat it over and over, oftentimes to myself. :) The responsibility is mine’s to train them for obedience to their mother and me first, then to the Lord. After all, the whole point of godly marriages is to produce godly offspring unto the Lord. Did you know that?



Malachi 2:13-15

13 Another thing you do: You flood the LORD’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. 14 You ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.

15 Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring.[a] So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.

“Be fruitful and multiply”, He commanded them. God seeks to populate the heavens and the earth with godly people. That will be accomplished through the preaching of the Gospel and through the raising of godly children. He desires to expand and mature his Church from generation to generation. With families as the active units within a church, children have a great inheritance awaiting them if their parents will persevere..

Joel 2:28

[ The Day of the LORD ] “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy

Let me close with this: Our kids have work to do. Kingdom work. God intends that blessings flow from generation to generation, that within the inheritance apportioned to you and your wife, that it would be increased as it abounds to your children and grandchildren.

Be encouraged. God is not finished with us yet. Blessings!

.wb

Sunday School Lesson for December 23, 2012: Alive in the Light of Christ (John 1:1-14; Ephesians 4:17–5:14)

Proverbs 8:27

I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep,



Genesis 1:1

[ The Beginning ] In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.



Genesis 1:3

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.





Merry Christmas! We celebrate the birth of Jesus this week, but are reminded in the first segment of this week’s lesson that, before the beginning, He is, and that the day that we celebrate as his ‘birthday’ was, in fact, the day that God launched His plan on earth, in earth in the person of His Son for our redemption. And so we rejoice. We rejoice in the understanding that God saw fit to love the unlovable, to free us from the bondage of sin and cleanse us in his marvelous light. Our hearts sing with joy as we are reminded of the great burdens that have been removed from us by the appearing of His Son. We have been given life eternal, and more than that, we’ve been given a place in which to live it (a new Heaven and a new Earth) and a family (the Church) with whom to share it. More so, our eyes have been opened. We were once blind and could not see. We’ve been given the precious gift of being able to behold Him; Jesus, full of Grace and Truth. More beautiful, more magnificent, more lovely than anything imaginable. Jesus. It is of no wonder that we that we are in awe of Him, that the very thought of Him sometimes takes our breath away. His name is Marvelous, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Savior! The very thought of Him brings joy! Let us be reminded that, while every day is cause for celebration in the life of Christians, Jesus is the reason for this Season!





Psalm 56:13

For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life.



Psalm 89:15

Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, LORD.



1 Thessalonians 5:5

You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness.





In the second part of this week’s lesson, we return to Ephesians, where Paul exhorts us to succumb to righteousness, to give in to Life. To shun the works of evil and live a life of self-control, peace and love in Christ, Jesus. Be encouraged beloved. It is a process. A process that will continue for as long as we abide here on earth. The beauty of our predicament is that Christ is with us. Every moment of every hour, we are not forsaken. Our hope is not in our ability to overcome by ourselves, but rather, our ability to overcome through Christ. Please read the passages below from Ephesians 4 and 5. Paul, “the prisoner of the Lord”, pleads with us to remember what we believe, to practice what we preach and to be ever mindful of whose we are and whom we serve. We are the children of God. We demonstrate that in our behavior before Him and our love towards others. Walk in the light. Celebrate the abundant life He has imparted to you by putting that life on display: a life full of truth, righteousness and godliness. Hate sin, reject darkness, stand for righteousness. Love one another. Live a life of humility before God and man. And….enjoy the journey.





Blessings and Peace be upon you as we celebrate our Savior, Jesus Christ this Christmas!



.wb

Sunday School Lesson for December 16, 2012: Part of One Body in Christ (Ephesians 4:1-16)

Psalm 133:1


How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!



2 Chronicles 30:12

Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the LORD.



Colossians 3:14

And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.



I’ve been absent from this space for some time. Please bear with me as I feel my way through. As I write this this week, the nation is gripped in sadness over the death of some twenty seven people, most of whom are children, in the state of Connecticut. Please remember these families in your prayers. In what should be the most joyous time of the year for most of us, as we celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, so often turns into a time of loneness, despair and hopelessness for so many who are overwhelmed by the pressure of day to day life. Both within the Church and without, there are people whose burdens are great. I would point all of us to Christ, who never allows a burden greater than we can bear. The beauty of the celebration surrounding this season is that it allows us to re-calibrate, to re-focus our hearts toward our Lord, to find a place of quietness and comfort in Christ.

In that vein, let us turn our attention to this week’s lesson. Please note that Paul is writing to us from prison. Even so, he regards himself as “a prisoner for the Lord”. Paul encouraged his readers from a place of desperation. Being a Christian in Ephesus in Paul’s day, would not have been an easy task. Ephesus was a place full of ‘spiritual wickedness in high places’. Idolatry was prevalent, as was corruption and greed. Believers were challenged on every hand to compromise their beliefs in order to ‘get along’. It was important to Paul to encourage the believers in Ephesus to bond together in unity and to understand that they were one in and with the Lord of all creation, Jesus Christ. His opening plea for unity points out that there is the strength of their bond was that they are literally part of one Church, one Hope, one Baptism, one faith, one Spirit, one Father; God and one Lord; Jesus. If God is with you, who can be against you? I’m reminded of Elijah asking God to reveal his ‘Host’ to his servant.

2 Kings 6:17

And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, LORD, so that he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.



Beloved, it is no small affair to be part of the driving force of all creation. You are never alone. You are never abandoned.

Paul goes on to reveal God’s purpose for us, that we become mature believers, not tossed to and fro by every challenge that comes our way. I won’t spend much more time here except to say this: a mature body of believers is a body that is poised to deliver the redemptive power of the Gospel to a starving world in Love. Jesus ascended into Heaven, but he left us here. He left us here, with His Holy Spirit in order to minister to the lost, the hopeless, the despair-ate (desperate). Let’s get to work.



Selah,

.wb