Theology &amp; Bible

Lesson for June 11, 2017: Gideon (Judges 6-8)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the June 4, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ Damon Runyan said, “The race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong, but that”s the way to bet.” That is, unless you are God. When God is in the equation, swiftness and strength are not necessary. He can make up what anyone lacks. Gideon”s self-confession was neither swift nor strong.

May 29, 2017

Lesson for June 4, 2017: Deborah and Barak (Judges 4, 5)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the May 28, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ The book of Judges is one of the darker books of the Bible. It covers a time frame from 1370 to 1040 BC. God called several leaders to help Israel during those dark days, but none of them achieved the status that Joshua or Samuel enjoyed (the leaders who bookend this period). We associate judges

May 26, 2017

What It Means to “˜Examine”

By Randy Gariss The Lord”s Supper is about celebration. After all, the meal points to the love of Christ, forgiveness of sins, the coming of the kingdom, and other wonderful repercussions of the cross. Yet, in the midst of the joy there is another imperative from Paul, one with more sobering overtones. We are each told to “examine” ourselves. Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread

May 22, 2017

Lesson for May 28, 2017: Pervasive Love (Jonah 4)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the May 21, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ God”s love is pervasive (expanding, spreading, and permeating). Jonah”s love was narrow, miserly, and shrunken. The angry prophet desperately needed to get on the same page with the Lord when it came to his wide embrace of all people. That is the story of Jonah 4. Last week”s lesson dealt with forgiveness. Jonah could announce

May 19, 2017

Communion with You

By Randy Gariss If the idea of a one-person wedding seems bizarre, so too does the idea of personal Communion. There are many things in the Christian life you can do on your own. You can study, pray, fast, sing, worship, and serve all by yourself. But why is there not even a hint in Scripture about taking the Lord”s Supper alone? When Christ initiated Communion, it was in a group (Matthew 26). When Communion is described in the book of Acts, it is in a group (Acts 2:42). The same is true in 1 Corinthians. A study of Scripture

May 15, 2017

Lesson for May 21, 2017: Forgiving Love (Jonah 3; Nahum 1″“3)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the May 14, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ God”s forgiving love was in place for Nineveh but also for Jonah himself. The God of the Bible is the God of the second chance, and Jonah got his. The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. Even though Jonah was a reluctant prophet who did not have forgiving love in his

May 8, 2017

Lesson for May 14, 2017: Preserving Love (Jonah 2)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the May 7, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ God is so high that he can help us when we feel so low. In fact only God can help us when we are in what John Bunyan called the “slough of despond” (Pilgrim”s Progress). The preserving love of God is what came to the rescue of Jonah at his literal and figurative lowest point

May 1, 2017

Lesson for May 7, 2017: Sustaining Love (Jonah 1)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the April 30, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ The book of Jonah is minor due to its size, not due to its content. The book touches upon some major biblical themes””God”s sovereignty in creation, God”s love for the nations, Jesus” resurrection, and the high priority of obedience in the lives of the Lord”s servants. In this story we see the prophet Jonah running

April 24, 2017

Lesson for April 30, 2017: Protecting Love (John 10:1-15)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the April 23, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ John”s Gospel is rich in metaphor. A key verse in our text today is v. 6: Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. One would think that Pharisees could understand the protecting love metaphors of gates and sheep, given their culture and biblical history. Sometimes

April 20, 2017

Doctrinal Issues & Debates Theology & Bible

Signs of the Apocalypse?

Timothy W. Ross How did the presidential election turn out for you? How are you feeling about the realities of Washington in 2017? Regardless of our politics and preferences, we all have probably been bruised by the news of recent months. As they say in West Africa: “When elephants fight, all the grass suffers.” Whether your buttons are popping with pride at the success of the Trump Revolution, or whether you are still checking real estate prices in Canada, the Word of God has an apocalyptic message for us. Apocalyptic Scriptures are charged, vivid, sometimes hard-to-understand pronouncements that interpret the

April 17, 2017

Lesson for April 23, 2017: Reconciling Love (Romans 5:1-11; 8:31-39)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the April 16, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ How did the facts of Jesus” death on the cross and his empty tomb set things right between God and humanity? How to articulate the atonement is of great debate among scholars today. Twelve different New Testament words and at least six different models have to be examined. Many of those are in Romans. Romans

April 10, 2017

Lesson for April 16, 2017: Victorious Love (John 19:38-42; 20:1-10; 1 Peter 1:3-9)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the April 9, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ God”s victorious love unites with his resurrection power to bring life out of death. Out of the watery chaotic mass of the earth God brought light (Genesis 1:2, 3). Out of the death of Egyptian bondage God brought a new people (Exodus 14:30, 31). Out of the Babylonian exile God brought a remnant home (Ezra

April 6, 2017

New Testament Theology & Bible

Coming Near

By Jennifer Johnson One of the most commonly quoted verses from Eugene Peterson”s The Message Bible is John 1:14: “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.” This metaphor for the incarnation is referenced so often because, like all good poetic language, it succinctly describes a profound truth: Jesus not only came to earth to be with us, he came to be one of us. Following Jesus means following his example and “incarnating” the gospel in our own neighborhoods. Sometimes this means tutoring children or planting a church. For Salt & Light, it meant offering opportunities to

April 3, 2017

Lesson for April 9, 2017: Saving Love (John 3:1-21)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the April 2, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ This famous text contains the teachings of Jesus, the questions of Nicodemus, and the saving love of God. This late-night conversation between Jesus and this Pharisee led to a bright sunrise of teaching concerning saving love. Birth |Â John 3:1-5 In each section of our text there is a rhetorical device (verses 3, 5, and 11).

March 31, 2017

In Remembrance of Me

By Becky Ahlberg Do you remember your first Communion? The first time you held the bread and cup and accepted the invitation to this table offered by the Lord himself upon your baptism and commitment to him? How old were you? Where were you? Who else was there? For some of us, that moment was decades ago; for some others, it might be this very day. For all of us, it is a call to remembrance. We”re called to remember our commitment. We”re called to remember our community here in this place and to remember Christians around the world. And

March 27, 2017

Lesson for April 2, 2017: Shepherding Love (Psalm 23)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the March 26, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ David”s music comforted King Saul (1 Samuel 16:23), but the lyrics of the shepherd”s 23rd psalm comfort us all. Who hasn”t been moved by the words of this most famous passage? It has been read at more funeral services than any other psalm. It underlines God”s comfort, provision, discipline, guidance, joy, reception, and affirmation. This

March 24, 2017

Amazing Love!

By Becky Ahlberg One of the universal truths we consider when we gather around the Communion table each week is to remember the amazing love of God. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sin” (1 John 4:10). God incarnate showed his love in his willingness to bear the shame, endure the cross, and be the bridge that brings us back into relationship with him. All these things are illustrations of his indescribable love. One of the first Scriptures most of us memorized is

March 20, 2017

Lesson for March 26, 2017: Restoring Love (Joel 2)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the March 19, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ God”s love is perfect, great, and matchless (the subjects of the former three lessons). But because humans are involved, God”s love must also be restorative. David Brymer sings a worship song entitled “Restoration.” The people during the time of the prophet Joel would have liked that song. Regardless of when the book is dated, the

March 13, 2017

Lesson for March 19, 2017: Matchless Love (John 15:1-17)

Dr. Mark Scott wrote this treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson. Scott teachesÂ preaching and New Testament at Ozark Christian College, Joplin, Missouri. This lesson treatment is published in the March 12, 2017,Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark ScottÂ Matchless means peerless; no equal; unsurpassed. When we speak of God”s love for us, it is matchless. Our text is in the middle of what is called the Farewell Discourse of Jesus. The content stretches from John 13″“15. It was the night of his betrayal. In an upper room somewhere in Jerusalem, Jesus met with

March 6, 2017

Kelly Carr