By Gerald Gates How blessed we are that our God and Father, the one who created us, has given us ..read more

By Kathleen Chatot The gospel and epistles of John are loaded with scriptures on, “Jesus is the Light”.   1 John 1:5-7 (NKJV ..read more

by Gary Henry, taken from Daily Family Bible Studies, #130, pgs. 65-66 Especially in matters with serious consequences, it is ..read more

By Gerald Gates Luke 19:1-10 (NKJV) records what the bible says about the man Zacchaeus:  1 Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.  2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.  3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.  4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.  5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must ..read more

By Gerald Gates             Jesus spoke this parable to the multitude who came to him from every city, as we read in Luke 8:4-8 (NKJV): “‘A sower went out to sow his seed.  And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.  Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.  And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.  But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredf ..read more

By Gerald Gates, with thanks to Taylor Ladd whose lesson inspired this article. From Colossians 3:1-4 (NKJV) “…seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on things of the earth.  For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” Everyone is subject to the things of this earth.  God created us with ability to touch, hear, see, taste and to make choices and judgements based on what we set our minds on.&nbs ..read more

Gradual Growth [By Gary Henry, taken from Reaching Forward, pg. 28] “…till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13, NKJV). We are an impatient people, and when things need to be fixed, we prefer them to be fixed quickly. If there are problems, we demand instant solutions, and we have little tolerance for delay in obtaining the results we seek. In our culture, the concept that some plan might take a lifetime to be accomplished is unthinkable. Long before that, we would hav ..read more

For The Joy Set Before Us [By Robert Haynes] “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2, Legacy Standard Bible). As we go about our lives, it sometimes feels like the promise of what’s ahead can fade into the background of everything around us. When we forget what lies ahead, we’re most vulnerable to turning away. How did Jesus stay focused on His purpose? He recalled that there would be joy in heaven. That He would return to God as He was ..read more

How Effective Was Ehud In Freeing God’s People?!?! [By Phillip Chatot] Throughout the Bible, we read about God using all kinds of people to accomplish His will and achieve victory in the battles against the enemies of the Hebrews. One particular person is Ehud. And we read about him in Judges 3:12-30. One of the key themes about the Book of Judges is that the Israelites were always in a cycle of repeated rebellion against God. The Israelites drifted away from God and worshiped idols and NOT GOD. Because of their rebellion they were enslaved and oppressed by Moab.  The Moabites were led by ..read more

From A Child’s Point of View [By Caroline Piner] This year’s focus is a return to the basics of what we believe and our foundations. As a parent and a Bible class teacher, I can’t help but think of what teaching the Bible to a child looks like. We help them to understand everything in God’s word, from the order of the books of the Bible to what each of those books say to how they should shape our lives. This process is exciting and fun, teaching songs to little babies and hearing them say “God” for the first time and seeing older children make connections from one story to another. The more I ..read more