Articles for tag: Jeremiah

Lesson for August 30, 2015: A Plea to Return to God (Malachi 3:1-12; Matthew 7:12)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the August 23 issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. StoneÂ During the past three months we have seen how various Old Testament prophets took God”s demand for justice to the people. We have considered Amos, Micah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah. Though their careers spanned several hundred years, they preached a single message: the nation”s relationship to God called for faith and obedience. When the prophet Malachi came on the

August 3, 2015

Lesson for August 9, 2015: A Choice to Be Just (Ezra 7:1, 6, 21-28; Jeremiah 7:1-15)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the August 2Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. StoneÂ Jeremiah is one of the best-known Old Testament prophets. He tried valiantly to save the people of Judah from falling to Babylon, but was unsuccessful. After King Josiah”s positive changes, the nation had again slipped back into sin. As Jeremiah warned, the Hebrew people were facing God”s certain judgment. Before the end of the book, events surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem

July 27, 2015

Lesson for August 2, 2015: A Redeemer in Zion (Isaiah 59; Psalm 89:11-18)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the July 26Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. StoneÂ This lesson begins the final month in this quarter”s study about God”s desire for justice, as outlined by various Old Testament prophets. God expects his people to know right from wrong and then to do what is right. Justice is as serious a requirement for Christians today as it was for the people of Israel in Bible times. Isaiah 59 climaxes

July 13, 2015

Lesson for July 19, 2015: What the Lord Requires (Micah 6)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the July 12Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. StoneÂ During the first two weeks of our study of Micah, we have considered chapters 2 and 3. Micah soundly condemned those prophets who were leading the people astray (3:5-7). They were much like the nation”s leaders whom he also condemned. The prophets would say to the people, “Is not the Lord among us? No disaster will come upon us.” C. F.

July 6, 2015

Lesson for July 12, 2015: No Tolerance for Corrupt Officials (Micah 3)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the July 5Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. StoneÂ Micah began his prophecy with a scathing indictment of all who held administrative and judicial positions in the state (chapters 1, 2). These leaders had been placed in authority to serve the people, while in reality they were using their status to rob them (Micah 3:1, 2). The prophet described the leaders” cruelty in mistreating the people with a dramatic figure

June 29, 2015

Lesson for July 5, 2015: No Rest for the Wicked (Micah 2)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the June 28 issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. StoneÂ During this month we will focus attention on another of the “minor prophets”””Micah. He lived during the time of the divided kingdom. Some of the tribes of Israel had broken away from the northern kingdom, with its capital in Samaria. The southern kingdom continued to be headquartered in Jerusalem. Micah was a contemporary of Isaiah. While Isaiah preached to the

June 22, 2015

Lesson for June 28, 2015: God Will Never Forget (Amos 8)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the June 21Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. StoneÂ This month we have focused attention on Amos, one of the most important of the minor prophets. As James E. Smith pointed out, “The oracle which follows the fourth vision may have been delivered in Judah during a second phase of Amos”s ministry. In any case, these verses contain one of the strongest indictments against covetousness found anywhere in the Bible.”

April 20, 2015

New Testament Theology & Bible

Lesson for April 26, 2015: Watch Out for Deceivers (1 John 5:6-12,18-20; 2 John)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the April 19 issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. StoneÂ Deceivers are all around us. While the last two letters from the apostle John are characterized by his emphasis on the importance of love (as in 1 John), he was equally strong in his warnings about false teaching””2 and 3 John are the shortest documents in the New Testament, but they address serious and important issues. Although they deal with

April 6, 2015

Care & Counseling Grief & Suffering

Forgiving God

By Chad Ragsdale Not long ago I was asked to preach a sermon as part of a series on forgiveness. It was a good idea for a series. There are few things as “Christian” as forgiveness. My topic was a little different from the ordinary sermon on forgiveness, however. I was asked to preach a sermon on forgiving God. I admit I didn”t have the best attitude about the topic. Forgiving God seems like a modern man”s dilemma. Modern man has attempted to kill God but continues to be haunted by his presence. God, the hero, is dismissed and mocked

March 23, 2015

Living in Captivity

By Cathy Mogus The divided nation of Israel was in political, moral, and spiritual decline when God called Jeremiah to become its prophet. The priest wasn”t happy with his new role. Apparently writing letters””not-so-nice letters””to the captives in Babylon was part of his job description. But there was an upside. Jeremiah had the privilege of informing his displaced countrymen, especially their spiritual leaders, that God had a plan. It boiled down to something like this: “Like it or not, you”re not leaving Babylon for 70 years. So quit dreaming of going home and get on with your lives.” He then

March 15, 2015

Church Leadership

Balm in Gilead

By Jay Engelbrecht There is balm in Gilead, To make the wounded whole; There”s power enough in heaven, To cure a sin-sick soul. The opening line of an old African-American spiritual answers Jeremiah”s rhetorical question, “Is there no balm in Gilead[?]” (Jeremiah 8:22, King James Version*). In Marilynne Robinson”s novel Gilead, I discovered balm for my soul. The novel”s narrator, a fictional Iowa preacher named John Ames, is dying. He uses his remaining days to write an account of his life for his young son. Three sentences in Gilead changed the way I view 1 Corinthians 15:51-53, which reads: Listen,

January 19, 2015

Lesson for January 25, 2015: Powerful Prayer (James 5)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the January 18Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. StoneÂ This month”s theme, “Learning to Pray,” helps us consider the topic of prayer as found in the books of Luke, John, Hebrews, and James. We have already reviewed Jesus” model for prayer, his prayer for his disciples, and his intercession for us.Â The letter of James is one of the most practical books in all of Scripture. The writer emphasized not

December 13, 2014

Culture & Public Square Justice

A Biblical View of Poverty

By Mark W. Hamilton A paradox confronting modern Western Christians is this: we who are rich serve a Lord who was poor. At the first Christmas, Jesus and his family did not hang their stockings by the chimney with care. Instead, they haunted stables and fled their home as refugees. Nor did things improve for the adult Jesus, who survived on the generosity of women who embraced his message of the kingdom.Â Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor” (Luke 6:20); “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or your body, what you will wear” (Matthew

October 13, 2014

Lesson for October 19, 2014: I Will Call on God (Job 5; 24; Psalm 55:12-23)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the October 12 issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. StoneÂ Last week”s study focused on Job 19. After that section, more attacks followed by Job”s friends, Zophar (chapter 20) and Eliphaz (chapter 22). They continued to insist that Job was guilty of serious sin. To them, all that happened to him was obviously God”s punishment for wrongdoing. Job, however, declared his wish to have access to God”s presence so that

September 29, 2014

Lesson for October 5, 2014: Yet Will I Rejoice (Job 1; Psalm 56; Habakkuk 1″“3)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the September 28 issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. StoneÂ All that is known of the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk is found in his short book. Even this does not tell us his genealogy, nor when he prophesied. Most Bible students place him as a contemporary of Jeremiah (627-586 BC). The book begins with God raising up the Babylonians as an instrument to punish Palestine. Habakkuk delivered two complaints to

September 22, 2014

Lesson for September 28, 2014: Future Peace and Joy (Jeremiah 33)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the September 21Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. StoneÂ In last Sunday”s lesson Jeremiah was being held in a courtyard prison by King Zedekiah (Jeremiah 32), and he is still there in today”s text. Jeremiah repeated with fuller explanation his prophecy of the one great king called “the Branch,” who would one day come and fulfill the promise of an eternal throne. Jeremiah had been prophesying in Jerusalem for some

September 15, 2014

Lesson for September 21, 2014: Anticipation of a New Future (Jeremiah 32)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the September 14 issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. StoneÂ Despite all that was going on around them, the people of Israel still had reason for hope. This month”s studies in the book of Jeremiah explain why they could have such confidence that much better days were ahead. Many years before this time, God had given the land of Canaan””the promised land””to his people. The Law of Moses contained specific

September 8, 2014

Lesson for September 14, 2014: Hope for the Future (Jeremiah 31)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. It is published in the September 7Â issue ofÂ The LookoutÂ magazine, and is also available online atÂ www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. StoneÂ Jeremiah is often called “the weeping prophet” because of the sad news he had to bring to his people. But he also held out hope for them. Following 70 years in Babylonian captivity, a remnant would return to the promised land (Jeremiah 23:3). They would rebuild Jerusalem and be the source of great rejoicing (31:7-14). His message encouraged the captives to

September 1, 2014