Articles for tag: John the Baptist

December 12, 2016

Christian Standard

Lesson for December 18, 2016: The Forerunner of the Savior (Luke 1:1-23, 57-66)

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 the December 11 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  Musicians have their warm-up acts, knights have their introducers, kings have their cupbearers, and the Messiah had his forerunner. A forerunner is a predecessor, literally someone who runs before. For Jesus that person was John the Baptist. John the Baptist ran before Jesus. Today”s text backs up from last week”s lesson. Before Gabriel made the

December 5, 2016

Christian Standard

Lesson for December 11, 2016: The Affirmation of the Promise (Luke 1:39-56)

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 the December 4 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  Few things feel as good as affirmation. Is this because we are so insecure or our self-esteem is so poor? Or is it because we rightfully long for proper affirmation? While in Israel this past summer, our tour group affirmed our tour guide, Mike, at the Garden Tomb. Alan Ahlgrim spoke words of affirmation and

November 28, 2016

Christian Standard

Lesson for December 4, 2016: God Promises a Savior (Luke 1:26-38)

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 the November 27 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  One thing that we can take to the bank is that God always keeps his word. He does not make a promise and then fail to keep it, and God could not have made a greater promise to the world than the promise of sending a Savior. During this Christmas season we are studying Luke

September 12, 2016

Christian Standard

Lesson for September 18, 2016: Foundations of the Earth (Isaiah 40:21-31)

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 the September 11 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  There are such things as primal realities. Examples include the law of gravity, DNA, and math formulas such as 2 + 2 = 4. Primal realities are things that are original or primitive. They are of first importance, fundamental, and foundational. We have some of these in our text today. As we turn the corner in the

March 9, 2015

Christian Standard

Lesson for March 15, 2015: The Spirit of Truth (John 16:4b-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 March 8 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Sam E. Stone  The Holy Spirit”s role was noted on several occasions during Jesus” earthly ministry. When John the Baptist immersed Jesus in the Jordan River, the Spirit descended in the form of a dove (John 1:32). When Jesus was teaching Nicodemus, he emphasized the need for all sinners to be born of water and the Spirit (3:5). Worship of God is to be

December 30, 2013

Christian Standard

Lesson for January 5, 2014: Honoring the Sabbath (Luke 6:1-11)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. ______ By Sam E. Stone Questions about fasting arose early in Christ”s ministry (see Luke 5:33-35). It seems as though the disciples of John the Baptist joined the Pharisees in asking Jesus questions about fasting. Mark suggests that the questions were asked on one of the fasting days observed by both the disciples of John and the Pharisees (see Mark 2:18). Luke records five criticisms in a row from the Pharisees with two of them claiming a violation of the Sabbath.

November 25, 2013

Christian Standard

Lesson for December 1, 2013: The Angel Foretells Jesus” Birth (Luke 1:26-45)

By Sam E. Stone For the next two months our lessons are taken from Luke”s Gospel, presenting “Jesus and the Just Reign of God.” Luke is the longest of the four Gospels and, in fact, is the longest book in the New Testament. Angels are shown throughout to be special messengers from God. Early in chapter one, Luke records the visit of the angel Gabriel when he brought hope to a priest, Zechariah (Luke 1:8-23). He and his wife, Elizabeth, had no children and they were “both well along in years.” The angel told him his wife would bear a

July 15, 2013

Christian Standard

Lesson for July 21, 2013: Fasting and Praying (Ezra 7:1″“8:23)

By Sam E. Stone The book of Ezra is composed of two sections: chapters 1″“6 record how the Jews returned from captivity to rebuild the temple; chapters 7″“10 describe how Ezra came back to Jerusalem and led reforms. A period of some 57 years passed between the end of Ezra 6 (515 BC) and the beginning of Ezra 7 (458 BC). During this time, the events described in the book of Esther took place.   Plans for the Trip Ezra 7:6-10 The second section of the book begins with a listing of Ezra”s credentials. Ruben Ratzlaff notes, “Like many of

October 15, 2012

Christian Standard

Sticky Conversations: Alcohol

THIS IS THE FIRST IN A SERIES OF FIVE “STICKY CONVERSATIONS”   By Tim Harlow In matters of opinion, beer? “In matters of faith, unity; in matters of opinion, liberty; in all things, love.” It”s such a beautiful sentiment, but how do we know which is which? There wouldn”t be 30,000 different sects of Christianity in the world if it were really that easy. Consider the subject of alcohol. It”s always been confusing to me because, as I grew up in the Christian church, I was always told alcohol was bad/sinful. But Paul told Timothy to drink some wine for his

April 13, 2012

Christian Standard

What”s Missing?

By Ron Downs Something seems to be missing in many churches today when it comes to the issue of salvation. There is strong emphasis on believing in Jesus. There also seem to be strong emphases on confessing Jesus and baptism. But it seems there is little or almost no emphasis on repentance. Repentance has been dropped from the church”s vocabulary. John the Baptist came preaching repentance. Jesus preached repentance. Both John and Jesus made repentance the heart of their message. The message on Pentecost was not to accept Jesus and be baptized, nor was it to ask Jesus into your

March 12, 2012

Christian Standard

Lesson for March 18, 2012: Water Turned to Wine (John 2:1-12)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. ______ By Sam E. Stone Last week we studied the introduction to the fourth Gospel, the Prologue. John told next how Jesus began his ministry by being baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River (John 1:19-34). Then he began choosing his disciples. Andrew and Peter were the first to follow Jesus (vv. 35-42). Next he called Philip and Nathanael (vv. 43-51). Today”s text immediately follows these events.   Hope for a Miracle John 2:1-6 On the third day a

March 5, 2012

Christian Standard

Lesson for March 11, 2012: The Word Became Flesh (John 1:1-18)

This treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson is written by Sam E. Stone, former editor of CHRISTIAN STANDARD. ______ By Sam E. Stone Before the world was created, God existed. The first words of the first book in the Bible read, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). John”s Gospel starts by affirming this truth. Since his was the last of the four Gospels to be written, John took an approach different from the other three. In today”s text, he takes us from eternity past to eternity present.   The Word in Eternity John

July 14, 2011

Christian Standard

Outrageous, New, and Glorious

By Ethan Magness   We are shocked by Jesus” words about the bread, “This is my body” (Matthew 26:26, author”s emphasis). We are shocked by the is. Much like the crowds who went away sad in John 6, we get lost in parsing verbs and miss the truly shocking nature of this sentence. The disciples were not shocked by the word is. The disciples understood stark metaphors. They were shocked by his use of the word my. This is because this meal already had meaning. The bread had meaning. The wine had meaning. The herbs had meaning. This meal was

June 27, 2011

Christian Standard

God Does Not Have a Plan for Your Life

By Jennifer Johnson “God”s plan for your life isn”t a map you see all at once, but a scroll unrolled a little at a time, requiring faith,” Rick Warren recently tweeted. “God will accelerate his plan for your life as you put your trust in him. God is giving you victory sooner than you think,” says Joel Osteen. Less prominent Christians champion the theology as well. In responding to a new believer”s question about his career, a contributor to Bible-Knowledge.com writes, “God will now be the one to fully guide you into whatever jobs he will want you to have. .

January 31, 2011

Christian Standard

Lesson for Feb. 6, 2011 Jesus Is the Messiah (Mark 8:27″“9:1)

This week”s treatment of the International Sunday School Lesson (for February 6) is written by Rick Walston, senior minister with Marion Church of Christ, Rochester, Minnesota. Jesus Is the Messiah (Mark 8:27″“9:1) By Rick Walston What are life”s most important questions? “Where will I go when I die?” “What will I do with my life?” “Whom will I marry?” Some might say the answers don”t matter as long as we are asking the right questions. But answers are important, and the most important question of life must be answered correctly because its implications are eternal. Jesus asked his disciples this

April 25, 2010

Christian Standard

God in the Cinema

By Joseph C. D’Alessandro Slow fade up from black. We hear the shuffling of feet and hushed whispers interrupted by the voice of a lecturer discussing the frescoes on the wall depicting the life and death of John the Baptist. The camera pulls back to reveal a group of exchange students looking up at the image of John”s head on a platter. The sight is familiar, yet also wonderful, dramatic, inspirational, and mysterious. This was the scene when I began my journey toward God. Much like the illiterate masses of the 15th century, I was ushered into a relationship with

February 21, 2010

Christian Standard

Breakfast on the Sea of Galilee

By Cheri Lynn Cowell I froze. My senses heightened. The Sea of Galilee spread out before me like the Table of Christ, as the rock is called over which the quaint chapel we”d just exited was built. From this rocky shore Jesus called out to the disciples, “Have you caught anything?” “No,” they replied. “Throw your nets on the other side of the boat,” he shouted. Peter and the other men had gone back to what they”d known before the ground-shaking events of the last several weeks””they”d returned to fishing. Yes, they”d been with the resurrected Lord several times. Yet,

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