Bible Study

Bible Study equips Christians to read, understand, and apply Scripture with clarity and confidence. Explore Bible-based articles on interpreting the text, studying context, asking good questions, and forming habits that help individuals, classes, and small groups grow in God’s Word. You’ll find guidance for using study tools, leading discussion, teaching the Bible, and connecting Scripture to daily life without losing the meaning of the passage. Whether you’re new to studying the Bible or helping others learn, this hub offers practical help for faithful, fruitful Bible study.

April 19, 2019

Christian Standard

Wrestling with Scripture

I Began Preaching on Problematic Bible Passages to Help People Grow Deeper in Their Convictions and Biblical Understanding   By Ryan Rasmussen Do you ever put off hard things? You know they’re important and often necessary . . . but they’re hard. Some time ago, I realized I was doing this with my preaching. It’s not that I was shortchanging the process. I wasn’t “borrowing” sermons from famous preachers or recycling old manuscripts. Honestly, I didn’t notice my tendency until reading something in Mark 4. After Jesus preached the parable of the sower, his followers asked why he often taught

April 15, 2019

Mark Scott

Lesson for April 21, 2019: Follow the Risen One (Mark 16:1-11)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 4 (weeks 13-16; March 31–April 21, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Aim:  Believe the startling reality of Christ’s resurrection. ______ Clark Pinnock said, “The biggest objection to Christianity is that it seems too good to be true.” But it is true. Christ has been raised from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:20). That fact alone compels us to follow the Risen One.

April 8, 2019

Mark Scott

Lesson for April 14, 2019: Follow the Miraculous One (Mark 8:14-26)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 4 (weeks 13-16; March 31–April 21, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Aim:  Let Christ’s miracles move you to believe he is God’s Son. ______ Miraculous events make up 31 percent of Mark’s Gospel. With only two discourses in the book, the accent is clearly on the deeds of Jesus. Jesus is portrayed as no mere slight-of-hand magician but as a true

April 1, 2019

Mark Scott

Lesson for April 7, 2019: Follow the Intriguing Teacher (Mark 4:24-34)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 4 (weeks 13-16; March 31–April 21, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Aim: Listen thoughtfully to Christ’s teaching and respond with growing faith. ______ Jesus really was a master teacher. Of course, it was his identity as the Son of God that made his words most important. But also outstanding was the variety of his supporting material. In the preaching of Jesus

March 25, 2019

Mark Scott

Lesson for March 31, 2019: Follow the One with Authority (Mark 1:16-28)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 4 (weeks 13-16; March 31–April 21, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Aim:  Recognize Christ’s authority and his call on your life. ______ By Mark Scott  Today we begin an eight-week series from the Gospel of Mark. This series will lead up to and beyond Easter. The first four lessons emphasize following Jesus. The last four lessons emphasize trusting Jesus. Since we

March 18, 2019

Mark Scott

Lesson for March 24, 2019: God Blesses Those Who Forgive (Joseph)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 3 (weeks 9-12; March 3–24, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Text: Genesis 45:1-15; 50:15-21 Lesson Aim: Seek the blessing of healing, which comes through forgiveness ______ By Mark Scott  “When deep injury is done to us, we never recover until we forgive. . . . Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future” (Mary Karen Read, last journal entry before being

March 11, 2019

Mark Scott

Lesson for March 17, 2019: God Blesses the Unexpectant (Sarah)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 3 (weeks 9-12; March 3–24, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Text: Genesis 21:1-7 Lesson Aim: Trust that even a small faith brings the Lord’s blessings. ______ By Mark Scott  Sometimes God is just off-the-charts good—like in his creation of the world (Genesis 1:31), in blessing the just and unjust (Matthew 5:45), in his plan to save Jew and Gentile (Romans 11:33-36), in supplying all our

March 4, 2019

Mark Scott

Lesson for March 10, 2019: God Blesses the Repentant (Judah)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 3 (weeks 9-12; March 3–24, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Text: Genesis 37:26, 27; 44:17-34 Lesson Aim: Experience the blessing of God through repentance. ______ By Mark Scott  The website for futurologist Leonard Sweet is called “Preach the Story.” The thesis of the website is that in all the little stories of the Bible there is the embedded big story of God’s plan to rescue

February 25, 2019

Mark Scott

Lesson for March 3, 2019: God Blesses the Faithful (Isaac)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 3 (weeks 9-12; March 3–24, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Text: Genesis 26:3-6, 12, 13, 23-33 Lesson Aim: Have confidence that God blesses those who live by his promises. ______ By Mark Scott  A Sunday school children’s song contains the lyrics, “Every promise in the book is mine, every chapter, every verse, every line.” Cute song. Bad hermeneutics. The fact is that we participate in

February 18, 2019

Mark Scott

Lesson for February 24, 2019: God Is with You When You Feel Outcast (Ishmael/Hagar)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 2 (weeks 5–8; February 3–24, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Text: Genesis 21:8-20; 17:19, 20 Lesson Aim: Know that even when others abandon you, God will not. ______ By Mark Scott  Headings matter. The New International Version titles this text, “Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away.” The English Standard Version titles this text, “God Protects Hagar and Ishmael.” The first heading emphasizes Abraham’s duty. The latter

February 11, 2019

Mark Scott

Lesson for February 17, 2019: God Is with You in Your Oppression (Joseph)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 2 (weeks 5–8; February 3–24, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Text: Genesis 39:1-4, 19-23 Lesson Aim: Be assured that God will never forsake you in times of trouble. ______ By Mark Scott  We sometimes use the expression, “There is light at the end of the tunnel,” when we want to emphasize that good is on the way and that soon our “tunnel experience” will end.

February 4, 2019

Mark Scott

Lesson for February 10, 2019: God Is with You in Blessed Times (Jacob)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 2 (weeks 5–8; February 3–24, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Aim: Don’t forget that God is the source of your blessings. ______ By Mark Scott  Long ago Jewish prayers often started, “Blessed be he . . .” Prayer began with blessing God. The irony is that God, who deserves all the blessing, has blessed us (Ephesians 1:3-14). Surely we experience difficult days on this

January 28, 2019

Mark Scott

Lesson for February 3, 2019: God Is with You in Your Failings (Adam and Eve)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 1 (weeks 5–8; February 3–24, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Aim: Know that God is with you even when you make mistakes.. ______ By Mark Scott  The word closer sums up much of the Bible’s content. God is always wanting to get closer to people. Even in our text today God is pictured as walking in the garden (near Adam and Eve) in the

January 21, 2019

Mark Scott

Lesson for January 27, 2019: God Is Pleased with Faithful Obedience (Abraham—Genesis 12:1-7; 22:15-19)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 1 (weeks 1–4; January 6–27, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Aim: Faithfully obey the Lord and experience his rich blessings. ______ By Mark Scott  Faith in God is like a muscle in the body. It has to be stretched to be strong. Each of the Old Testament people we have studied this month had their faith stretched. Abel stretched his faith with his sacrifice.

January 14, 2019

Mark Scott

Lesson for January 20, 2019: God Is Pleased with a Prayer of Faith (Eleazar—Genesis 24:7-9, 40)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 1 (weeks 1–4; January 6–27, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Aim: Be confident that the Lord hears your prayer of faith. ______ By Mark Scott  Prayer is hard to understand. It only works because a merciful God wills it to work. How can God be sovereign and yet open to our suggestions? But God invites (commands?) his people to pray. He is hurt by

January 7, 2019

Mark Scott

Lesson for January 13, 2019: God Is Pleased with a Faithful Walk (Enoch and Noah—Genesis 5:21-24; 6:8–7:1; 9:1)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 1 (weeks 1–4; January 6–27, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Aim: Walk with the Lord and experience his goodness and blessing. ______ By Mark Scott  Chapters 4 and 5 of Genesis contrast. Genesis 4 is filled with ugly things (murder, pride, and regret). Genesis 5 is filled with good things (long life, faithfulness, prayer, and comfort). Years ago Wilbur Smith and Wilbur Fields marked

December 31, 2018

Mark Scott

Lesson for January 6, 2019: A Gift of Faith that Pleases God (Abel—Genesis 4:2-16)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 1 (weeks 1–4; January 6–27, 2019) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Aim: By giving of our first and best we exhibit a pleasing faith like Abel. ______ By Mark Scott  Things went downhill fast after the serpent deceived our first parents in Genesis 3. Adam and Eve failed to trust the goodness of God and embraced a culture of death. Sin can cause even our

December 24, 2018

Mark Scott

Lesson for December 30, 2018: Whole World (Luke 24:36-48)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 13 (weeks 49–53; December 9–30, 2018) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Aim: Give witness to the name of Jesus for the whole world. ______ By Mark Scott  Perhaps you’ve heard the advice, “Buy what you’re selling.” You wouldn’t expect a Ford salesman to drive a Chevy. On the threshold of a new year Christians may well want to ask, “If we are not convinced that

December 17, 2018

Mark Scott

Lesson for December 23, 2018: Whole Prophecy (Luke 2:1-14)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 13 (weeks 49–53; December 9–30, 2018) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Aim: Marvel at how God wholly fulfilled prophetic promises in Jesus. ______ By Mark Scott  One evidence that the Bible is divine is the record of fulfilled predictive prophecies. The Bible was written over a period of 1,500 years by at least 40 different human writers. The evidence of fulfilled prophecy is extremely faith

December 10, 2018

Mark Scott

Lesson for December 16, 2018: Whole Life (Luke 19:1-10)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teaches preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in issue no. 13 (weeks 49–53; December 9–30, 2018) of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ Lesson Aim: Let Jesus transform your whole life. ______ By Mark Scott  The ultimate objective of preaching and teaching is not just conveying information. It is achieving transformation (Andy Stanley, Communicating for a Change). Believers often know more Bible than they are living. If anyone needed a transformation of his whole life it was Zacchaeus

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