Saturday, December 27, 2014

Jesus’ Model for Prayer

January 4, 2015 Background Scripture: Luke 11:1 – 13 Lesson Passage: Luke 11:1 – 13 Prayer is the focus of this month’s Sunday School lessons. What a wonderful way to begin our year of Sunday morning study. I think it is fitting that the series begin with Jesus’ Model prayer found in the Gospel of Luke. On an occasion when Jesus had finished praying, one of his disciples requested that he teach them to pray just as John the Baptist had taught his disciples to pray. The gospel accounts give many occasions where Jesus prayed. Jesus did not repeat the words of the prayer found in our lesson today on any of those occasions. Therefore, we refer to this as the Model Prayer because Jesus gave it to his disciples in answer to their request. I think it is prudent to understand the context out of which Jesus presented this model to his disciples before we dare attempt to dissect this prayer model. Based on the request of Jesus’ disciple, either Jesus had not previously taught them concerning the nature or method of prayer or it was not clear to the disciple that Jesus had already taught this lesson and perhaps he had missed the point. Nevertheless, this disciple had observed Jesus’ prayer life and at least some of them were familiar with the prayer life of John the Baptist also. The scriptures teach that at least two of the disciples of Jesus had previously followed John the Baptist before they became followers of Jesus. John the Baptist was a man of prayer and apparently he taught his followers to be as well. Jesus was teaching the same thing except he did it by example. I believe that students are most receptive and ready to learn when they come seeking instructions. There are two times when followers make excellent students: first when they have a desire to know and secondly when they feel the need to know. Note that the request is not to be taught “how” to pray but to be taught “to pray”. Of course if you know “how to pray”, situations in life will teach you “to pray”. Now let’s consider some points to be learned from this model prayer. God should be approached reverently and not in a casual or flippant attitude or disposition. God should be respected for His perfect holiness and divine sovereignty. The only completely righteous desire we could ever have is for the manifestation of God’s will in our lives and in our midst. God is the only one who is able to forgive us for our sin and cleanse us of unrighteousness. We should seek divine forgiveness for our sin and offenses towards God. Our will should align with God’s will such that we are willing to extend to others the same thing that we desire of God for ourselves. Regardless of how temptations come in our lives, we should seek God’s deliverance from them. Jesus went on to show his disciples how we expect certain reactions or behavior from people who are limited and we should learn to channel those same types of expectations towards God, who is all-powerful. Therefore, we should ask for what we have need of, seek for the things we desire, and go to the proper source to receive them. God is the only source who is unlimited. Robert C. Hudson December 24, 2014

Monday, December 22, 2014

Worship God’s Son

December 28, 2014 Background Scripture: Matthew 14:22 – 36 Lesson Passage: Matthew 14:22 – 36 Jesus performed many miracles during his earthly ministry. According to the Apostle John, most of Jesus’ actions are not recorded because the earth cannot contain all of the books that would be required to record all of Jesus’ actions. However, when we consider what has been recorded of the miracles of Jesus, it is easy to reach the conclusion that none of the miracles were performed to impress people. In fact, many times the religious and secular leaders sought to test Jesus by requesting a sign. Jesus refused to do miracles as a sign to impress people. On the other hand, Jesus worked miracles because he had compassion for people and he wanted others to have faith and believe in him so they could have eternal life. In our lesson today, Jesus had sent his disciples on a journey across the sea while he went to a secluded place to pray. The disciples encountered a storm while traveling on the sea which prevented them from reaching their destination. From his place of seclusion, Jesus saw the disciples struggling against the storm and walked out on the water to where they were. Fear gripped the men as they saw Jesus walking on the stormy sea. They doubted that it was Jesus and thought that it was a spirit. After a brief exchange which led Peter to get out of the boat and walk on the water towards Jesus, Peter was rescued and he and Jesus joined the other disciples in the boat. The storm ended when Jesus got in the boat and they were miraculously and instantly on the other shore. The disciples’ irrational fear when they thought Jesus was a spirit out on the water turned into reverent fear of Jesus’ divine nature and they worshiped him as the Son of God. The disciples’ destination was the land of Gennesaret. Apparently the disciples told the residents of Gennesaret about Jesus’ identity. Those residents gathered all of the sick among them and brought them to where Jesus was located so they could touch the hem of his garment and be cured. Here we see some of the acts that John said were too much to write. As many persons as touched the hem of Jesus’ garment were made completely well. Each person undoubtedly had their own story. Some may have been born with afflictions while others perhaps contracted them later in life. Whatever the case might have been, each person had a story to tell. The healing of the sick in Gennesaret reminds me of the priority we often place on physical needs and desires. Matthew does not tell us if any of the healed was saved as a result of the miracle. We are only told that they were healed. How many times have we encountered the Son of God through prayer and was only concerned with physical needs and desires rather than our spiritual needs? The sick of Gennesaret sought the hem of Jesus’ garment. Today, many of us seek a blessing from the hand of the Savior. The real blessing comes from seeking his face and worshiping the Son of God. Robert C. Hudson December 22, 2014

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Give Glory to God

December 21, 2014 Background Scripture: Luke 2:1 – 20 Lesson Passage: Luke 2:8 – 20 Our lesson centers on giving glory to God. There are expressions within a language that are used to praise someone and hold them dearly in high esteem. We give glory to a person by using these expressions. Glory is the gracious praise or thanksgiving we extend to someone. When we speak of a person’s “glory days”, we speak of a period of time when they are esteemed highly among others for some feat or display of excellence. One eventful night in the land of Judea some shepherds were astonished at the sight of an angel and the shining brightness surrounding him. They were greeted by the angel and told to not be afraid. The angel gave them an incredible report that on that day, a Savior had been born for them. After the shepherds were told how to recognize the newly born Savior, the angel was suddenly accompanied by a large number of heavenly beings who were praising God for His gracious gift to the people of the earth. And then they were all gone. Just the shepherds remained. All the shepherds had to go on was an unexplainable experience and a statement concerning the birth of a special baby. How remarkable that lowly workers would have their nighttime routine of flock watching and protecting interrupted by a display of heavenly beings with an announcement that was sure to turn the world upside down. This was an awe-inspiring event. The shepherds decided to temporarily put their flock in danger and go to Bethlehem to seek this wonder of God. They were convinced that what they had experienced was a true revelation from the Lord. They hurried to Bethlehem seeking the sign the angel had given them. After they found the baby, Mary, and Joseph, they began to tell others about the revelation they received concerning the child. The shepherds’ report did not create a jubilee of praises but rather an air of suspicion. While others tried to figure out what had happened, the shepherds rejoiced because they knew the realness of their experience and that their findings concerning the child’s environment to be as the angel had announced to them. The shepherds praised God and gave Him glory because they believed the angel’s report and had seen the baby for themselves. Others that heard the shepherds’ testimony only wondered about the things they said. I believe that all Christians desire that our testimony move others even as the experience that gave us the testimony moved us. However, we can truly rejoice and give God glory because we know that our experiences are similar to the testimony we receive of others. If it seems that others are not inclined to praise God and give Him glory, it could be because they lack the experience that causes us to rejoice at God’s handiwork. Our praise or adoration for God is not spontaneous but the proper response based on our experience. It is not that we compare our experiences to what has been said or written, but that we first receive a report and then experience the goodness of God based on the report. If the shepherds had remained in the field that night, then all they would have had would have been the experience of seeing and hearing angels. But because they were obedient to the angel’s instructions, they experienced much more. Then they rejoiced and gave glory to God. Robert C. Hudson December 9, 2014

Monday, December 8, 2014

Make a Joyful Noise

December 14, 2014 Background Scripture: Psalm 95 Lesson Passage: Psalm 95:1 – 7A I find it easier to appreciate Psalm 95 in the context of other religious faiths of the world that have a large number of followers or practitioners. In some of these other religions, the practitioners create a god for whatever area of their life they want to affect. If it is material wealth, they create a god of money and worship it in the hope of being blessed by this god they have created. In polytheistic cultures, the people worship many gods with each god having a specific area in which to reign. The ancient Egyptians are an example of this. The ancient Egyptians worshiped a god of the sun and another god of agriculture and yet another god of fertility. In fact, there were at least ten gods under consideration when God sent the multiple plagues against the land of Egypt during the days of Moses. Each plague was an affront against one of the gods worshiped by the Egyptians. On the surface, all of this seems convenient for a person faced with the many concerns about everyday life. Each concern can be handled by a different god. At least that’s how it can appear on the surface. However, when I step back and take a long look at this type of thinking, it is clear that these gods are no more than products of someone’s imagination that others have bought into. If you are outside on an August day with a clear sky and it is 100 degrees, you can close your eyes and imagine that it is 32 degrees but the temperature will not change. It will still be 100 degrees. The gods we create in our minds have no power and we can not make them respond by devoting ourselves to them. The human mind is capable of so many things—including a great imagination. When our imagination controls our actions, we can be very creative but we can also confuse ourselves and lose touch with reality. There is only one living God and we did not create Him but rather, He created us. No one went seeking for Him and somehow discovered Him. He revealed Himself to us. He told us about our beginning and the creation of the physical universe. He also told us about the spiritual world we do not see with our eyes. He taught us “cause and effect” based on spiritual principles. He taught us the real meaning of love by revealing His love for us. He watches over us and everything we do. He listens and hears us when we pray—that is, talk to Him. As we come to know His will for us and do it, He responds according to everything He has told us. His character is unchanging and self-existent. He is sovereign and not subject to be controlled by anyone. Although we are born into this world with a terminal condition called sin, He saves us from this condition when we turn to Him and trust Him and His provision for us. We readily praise Him for the things He has done. We freely sing loud these praises. The excitement of the personal relationship He allows us to have with Him causes us to sing forth with joy of heart. As we consider what we know about His person, we bow down and worship Him. We can not comprehend the fullness of who He is but we praise and worship Him for that we do know and have experienced. There is nothing we can imagine that compares to the reality of who He is. This is enough to cause us to offer Him the sacrifice of praise—the fruit of our lips. In this season as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Robert C. Hudson December 8, 2014

Monday, December 1, 2014

Worship Christ’s Majesty

December 7, 2014 Background Scripture: Hebrews 1 Lesson Passage: Hebrews 1:1 – 9 Many of us stumble in our attempt to grasp the fullness of Jesus’ majesty or majestic glory. So often our minds race back and forth between the manger in rural Bethlehem and the cruelest of all capital punishment instruments, the cross of Calvary. At the manger, we try to imagine a baby being born heir to the throne of Israel and how that should color our perception of him. At Calvary, we try in desperation to be okay with God’s method of divine justice against man’s sin. The stretch of time from Bethlehem to Calvary leaves me with the conclusion that we cannot sufficiently comprehend the person of Christ in the absence of his eternal nature. On the one hand, the stretch of time between the manger and the cross is comprehensive enough to allow us to appreciate the man Jesus. On the other hand, most of the information we have to work with on an intellectual basis revolves around the last three years prior to the encounter on Calvary. It is truly during this time that the character of Jesus becomes even more unimaginable. The human mind is not capable of simultaneously entertaining two conflicting thoughts in a way that the two would be treated equally. We tend to resolve this mental conflict by either ignoring it altogether or we only accept some of the facts and discard the remainder. There is a right answer to this seemingly irresolvable conflict. What does not add up for us “in time” makes perfect sense “in eternity” when measured against the word of God. God’s word makes all of the facts from Bethlehem to Calvary make sense. In fact, this is the only way for it to make sense. The word of God declares that the world will not come to know God through the wisdom of man. It is only through faith or absolute confidence in God’s word that eternal truths are revealed. In other words, it is impossible to comprehend the majesty of Christ through intellectual means. God purposely frustrates man’s attempt to know Him through our pursuit of earthly wisdom. The men of Babel found themselves in a situation where they could no longer communicate with each other when they attempted to build a tower that would reach God’s throne. We cannot come to God on our own terms. Even Adam’s attempt to gain wisdom without God led all humanity down a very dark path that leads to destruction. The biblical record shows that God has continuously reached out to man throughout the history of mankind. From the early days, He did so by using the prophets to deliver His divine decrees. For the last two millennia, God has spoken to us through His son, Jesus, and the Spirit of Christ who is the Holy Ghost. Jesus delivered unto us the grace of God that saves us from our sin. The Spirit of Christ constantly reveals to us the person of God and His workings in our lives. It is through this revelation that we understand that Jesus set aside his glory to come in the form of man to save the world from sin. When we believe in Jesus and indeed rely on him, then we begin to get glimpses of his glory and acknowledge his majesty. We love him because he first expressed love towards us. We worship him because of who he is. He is worthy to be worshiped and we look forward to the day that we will worship him when we see him in the fullness of his majesty. Robert C. Hudson December 1, 2014