Tag: Sin

Means of Grace: Prayer

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Sunday School Class // February 4, 2024
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This is a lesson I prepared for a Sunday School class and is based on the video series “The Basics of the Christian Life by Sinclair Ferguson | Ligonier Ministries” (Lesson 5)

Luke 11:1 (ESV)
Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.”

One of the most important teachings on prayer in the Bible is given by Jesus in response to the disciples asking him to specifically teach them to pray. They had witnessed the intimate heartfelt prayers of their Teacher and they wanted to learn how to pray in this same manner. Jesus then gives them this model prayer that we call the Lord’s Prayer found in Luke 11:1-4 and Matthew 6:9-13. There are three main aspects that we will focus on, but first and foremost we must remember that this model prayer of Jesus is a call for daily prayer to our Father. Jesus begins this prayer by telling us to seek the Father for our daily bread. Our call to prayer is nothing short of a continual humbling of our hearts to come before our loving Father in our weakness. We don’t just come when we think we need something from him. We come each and every day to ask him for our daily bread. For we are in desperate need of his provision and our hearts and minds need to be continually reminded of this fact.

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Means of Grace: God’s Word

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Sunday School Class // January 28, 2024
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This is a lesson I prepared for a Sunday School class and is based on the video series “The Basics of the Christian Life by Sinclair Ferguson | Ligonier Ministries” (Lesson 4)

2 Timothy 3:14–17 (ESV)
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

God has spoken and opened his heart to us through His Word. There are a myriad of ways to learn about God that are not the Bible itself. One can easily find himself listening to teachings, lessons, podcasts, stories, and even watching movies or television shows. These can all be helpful supplements but they are not meant to replace our daily engagement with the Bible. It is through the Scriptures that we become familiar with the heartbeat of God. The Bible is God’s chosen means to convey his heart and speak to our souls. It is not enough to just talk about the Bible or even learn its facts. Our Father wants us to meditate on His Word and listen. Listen to the Words of God written and kept for his children. Words that will convey the unconditional love of our heavenly Father.

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Belonging to the Church

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Sunday School Class // January 21, 2024
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This is a lesson I prepared for a Sunday School class and is based on the video series “The Basics of the Christian Life by Sinclair Ferguson | Ligonier Ministries” (Lesson 3)

Matthew 16:18 (ESV)
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Peter’s Confession | Matthew 16:18

Peter’s confession is the central point of the gospel and is essentially the heart of the ministry of Jesus. Although Jesus came to save individuals, he is also building a community of believers. This was difficult for the disciples because they didn’t truly understand the purpose of the Messiah, as evidenced immediately after this confession when Peter was rebuked for being a hindrance to the mission of Jesus. To better help the disciples (and us) understand this community-building aspect of his ministry, Jesus gives several word pictures to illustrate.

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Being a Christian

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Sunday School Class // January 14, 2024
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This is a lesson I prepared for a Sunday School class and is based on the video series “The Basics of the Christian Life by Sinclair Ferguson | Ligonier Ministries” (Lesson 2)

Genesis 1:26 (ESV)
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

How would you describe yourself as a Christian?

This is an important question that we must be fully prepared to investigate and truly understand. Our identity in light of God’s declaration in the Bible is vital to our spiritual walk. If we are well grounded with a Biblical understanding of who we truly are in Christ, we will not be easily swayed and led astray by the ever-changing currents of our culture. We must truly reflect and meditate on what God’s word says about our identity and who we are. Two distinct pictures in the Bible help us better understand and answer this question: being a child and being a servant.

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Becoming a Christian

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Sunday School Class // January 7, 2024
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This is a lesson I prepared for a Sunday School class and is based on the video series “The Basics of the Christian Life by Sinclair Ferguson | Ligonier Ministries” (Lesson 1)

John 8:12 (ESV)
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 

Walking in Spiritual Darkness

  • John 8:12-20 
  • Darkness hinders our understanding of the gospel
  • We live according to the flesh (worldly)
  • Lies we tell ourselves

In this section, Jesus tells the listeners that they are walking in spiritual darkness and are in dire need of the spiritual light that is Jesus himself. Though he was speaking to people who were not already his disciples, his followers needed to be reminded of this every day. We are easily led astray by the lies we tell ourselves and often wander off the straight and narrow path of obedience. We grow more accustomed to living in the world and our fleshly desires cloud our ability to both see and respond to the gospel light.

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Make No Provision

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But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Romans 13:14 (ESV)

This week I have been meditating and focusing my thoughts on this verse from Romans where Paul sums up his teaching on how love is the fulfillment of the law. I was leading a small group through the larger passage of verses 8-14 and we spent a good amount of time discussing what this verse looks like in our lives as we seek to not only put on Jesus but to make no provision to gratify our fleshly desires. This really is a double requirement in life as it would be difficult to have one and not the other. How can we put on Christ, but continue making provision for sin? How can we stop making provision for sin, if we are not putting on Christ? Paul’s encouragement and challenge is to do both at the same time. For as we put on Christ, we will necessarily want to rid ourselves of those fleshly desires and no longer seek their gratification.

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Deceptive Mind

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Journal Entry // May 31, 2021

Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.

Proverbs 28:26 ESV

This statement in Proverbs cut me deeply this morning. There have been several good passages this past week that pricked my heart, but I was not faithful in my reflections and meditating so they did not get captured. There is this tendency in my heart to trust my mind. I find it rather easy to contemplate and think deeply about my desires and I am learning that my mind is both deceptive and easily deceived.

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Concealed in the Heart

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Journal Entry // January 2, 2022

if I have concealed my transgressions as others do by hiding my iniquity in my heart, (ESV)

Job 31:33

What do we do with our sins and transgressions against God’s holiness when we try to conceal them? Are we ever really truly able to conceal them? Job states that people try to conceal their sins by hiding them in their hearts. I don’t think I have ever truly thought about what happens when I am hiding, concealing, and covering up my sins. I haven’t put a lot of thought into the possibility that in an effort to hide my sins (both from God and from others), I am storing them in my heart. Where else would I be hiding them though? By storing all my “hidden” sins in my heart I have created a breeding ground for future sin and transgression. The Bible’s solution to this propensity is confession. Confession of my sin to both God and others. Confession of the hold that sin has on my heart and mind is the pathway back to freedom in Christ. The promise of Christ is to cleanse my heart of this “hidden” filthiness and restore the fellowship of the Spirit within me.

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Come Out of Babylon

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Journal Entry // December 28, 2022

Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; (ESV)

Revelation 18:4

Am I living in Babylon? The description of a great city that is driven by power and focused on pleasure sure sounds a lot like these modern times. The illustration and indictment of the Lord against Babylon as the sins of the city are listed to be judged can easily be seen in our culture and times. So the answer to the question of whether I am living in Babylon is a definitive, yes. With this being true, I need to be mindful of the call to come out of this culture. The call to come out is important because it is a warning message that the corrupting influence of this power-driven and pleasure-seeking culture will ensnare everyone it touches if we are not mindful and watching. The warning from the Lord is to come out of Babylon completely. To leave and not get caught up in their sins of lusting after power and pleasure. The call is to be holy, separate from, just as Christ is holy.

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Refusing to Repent

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Journal Entry // December 26, 2022

They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory. (ESV)

Revelation 16:9

In my reading through Revelation, I have now reached a point where the bowls of God’s wrath are being poured out in judgment upon the earth. It is a frightful and terrible thing to read through these seven bowls of wrath and consider the full weight of God’s holy and righteous judgment upon this world. The different sections of this destruction are increasing in the amount of destruction they bring. First, there were the seals, then there were the trumpets, and now there are the bowls. Whereas the seals and the trumpets were limited in the scope of how they inflicted the people, a quarter and a third respectively, these bowls will reveal the wrath of God being poured out upon all things. And the people who are being afflicted with these bowls of God’s wrath are responding in their full depraved nature. When the full wrath of God is revealed upon the earth, there is an expectation and a hope that the hearts and minds of the people bearing witness through the infliction of these plagues will turn from their evil ways. There is an expectation that God’s righteous wrath will cause the people to repent and bring glory to God alone. What we see instead is that the people double down on their hatred of God and they curse his name.

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