Articles for tag: Ozark Christian College

March 6, 2017

Kelly Carr

Lesson for March 12, 2017: Great Love (Ephesians 2:1-10)

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 the March 5, 2017, issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  The Bible is not flat. While all Bible verses are inspired by God, not all verses are created equal. Some verses point more strongly than others toward the big story. God has his own way of highlighting the big things of the book. What is it that makes a Bible passage stand out so? Is

February 27, 2017

Christian Standard

Lesson for March 5, 2017: Perfect Love (1 John 4:7-19)

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 the February 26, 2017, issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  God”s primary identity must become our primary activity. That identity and activity in a word is love. A loving God was all but unheard of in ancient Greece. The false gods they believed in were often more immoral than humans and had to be appeased””not embraced due to their love. But in a stunning statement

February 26, 2017

Christian Standard

The Best Sermon I”ve Ever Heard (20)

By Arron Chambers Christian leaders, some of them preachers themselves, tell us about a sermon they can”t forget””and maybe you won”t either. Bob Blanshan Bob Blanshan, his beautiful wife, Sarah, and three children live in Crowley, Louisiana, where he serves as the children and family minister at Forest Park Church of Christ. He grew up on the other end of the Mississippi River in northern Minnesota, attending a church just six miles from the Canadian border. Bob is fortunate to have heard a lot of great preaching throughout his lifetime, including his father, Dale Blanshan, and his grandfather, Bob Blanshan,

February 20, 2017

Christian Standard

Lesson for February 26, 2017: Christ Creates Holy Living (Galatians 5:18″“6:10)

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 the February 19, 2017, issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  Jesus taught that good trees bear good fruit and bad trees bear bad fruit (Matthew 7:18). Christian freedom allows believers to bear fruit like healthy bushes and trees. Christians are to live in moral excellence. But this is not so we can look at others with moral smugness, but rather so we can serve others

February 6, 2017

Christian Standard

Lesson for February 12, 2017: New Birth Brings Freedom (Galatians 4)

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 February 5, 2017, issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  Today is Abraham Lincoln”s birthday. Were he still living he would be 208 years old. We know him as the 16th president of the United States and also as the Great Emancipator. He not only signed a freedom document, he also saw the country through a terrible civil war. Freedom is not easy. The birth of

February 1, 2017

Christian Standard

Ozark Christian College to Celebrate 75th Anniversary

Nationally known speakers and hundreds of alumni and friends will converge on the campus of Ozark Christian College in February as the college honors its 75th anniversary. OCC”s annual Preaching-Teaching Convention will take place Feb. 20″“22 on its campus in Joplin, MO. This year”s convention, “A Jesus People,” welcomes best-selling authors and Ozark grads Kyle Idleman and Jon Weece, as well as the college”s former president, Ken Idleman, among many others. The convention begins Monday evening and includes a special 75th anniversary celebration at the annual President”s Banquet on Wednesday. The convention also offers events for college alumni, networking lunches,

January 23, 2017

Christian Standard

Lesson for January 29, 2017: Praise God with All Creation (Psalm 148)

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 January 22, 2017, issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  “All Creatures of our God and King” was created around the 1900s, but the lyrics go all the way back to St. Francis of Assisi (1225). The hymn contains several stanzas. In the first five stanzas a portion of creation is beckoned to give God praise (one””sun and moon; two””wind and clouds; three””water and fire;

January 16, 2017

Christian Standard

Lesson for January 22, 2017: Praise God the Creator (Psalm 104)

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 January 15, 2017, issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  The Creator is separate from his creation. He transcends nature. Creation is awesome. The Creator is more awesome. The disciples found this out when a storm arose on the Sea of Galilee. It was one thing to face the storm (Mark 4:35-38). It was quite another thing to face the one who could calm the

January 9, 2017

Christian Standard

Lesson for January 15, 2017: Praise God the Provider (Psalm 65)

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 January 8, 2017, issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  “Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.” Our Jewish friends call this the Traditional Ha-Motzi Blessing, which is recited before eating bread on the Sabbath. Psalm 65 may be something like a predecessor to that prayer. It praises God for his provision. The superscription

January 2, 2017

Christian Standard

Lesson for January 8, 2017: Praise God with a New Song (Psalm 96)

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 January 1, 2017, issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  The Psalms improve your song. If your song is exuberant, a psalm will sound like seventy-six trombones in a marching band. If your song is a lament, the psalm will sound like the blues. For every season of the heart, there is a psalm. Much like the preaching of Jesus, there is something for everyone.

December 26, 2016

Christian Standard

Lesson for January 1, 2017: Praise God for Creation (Psalm 33:1-9)

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 25, 2016, issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  Mother Nature is not God”s wife, but creation is God”s gift. It is therefore obvious that God”s people praise him for that gift. And it is right to start that praise on the first day of a new year. Creation arose from the character and power of God and finds its foundation in his identity.

December 24, 2016

Christian Standard

Mexico Ministry Making Difference for Deaf, Families

By Jennifer Johnson Jesus often told the people listening to his teaching, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.” In the United States we understand that for the deaf, “hearing” must happen with eyes and teaching must happen with hands using American Sign Language. But what about those in other countries who can”t hear and have no signs to see? Michelle Zuñiga, an Ozark Christian College graduate, learned both Spanish and sign language to bring the gospel to the deaf in Matamoros, Mexico. Zuñiga approached Workers for Mexico Mission with the idea of reaching the deaf in Mexico in

December 19, 2016

Christian Standard

Lesson for December 25, 2016: The Savior Has Arrived (Luke 2:1-21)

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 18 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  “The Savior has arrived.” That is quite a headline. Big news. Make no mistake””this is a big day for the church. Joni Eareckson Tada said, “If God can become man, then everything else is easy.” Paul Scherer, who taught homiletics at Princeton Theological Seminary, said, “God came walking down the stairs of heaven with a baby

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 4, 2016

Christian Standard

To Women, By Women: GUIDING LIGHT

By Jenny Knowles Juliet Rose Hardee burst into tears when she heard a magazine wanted to know more about Guiding Light, the faith-based residential program for women overcoming addiction and abuse that she started and directs. A local TV station called for an interview the same day, and Hardee was overcome with the thought that more people will hear about the ministry. Guiding Light is in its ninth year. It was birthed in Hardee”s personal story of childhood abuse, prostitution, and drugs (see “From Vile to Victory” in the July issue of Christian Standard). Her life changed when she was

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

November 22, 2016

Mark A. Taylor

Good Smells, Great Lives

By Mark A. Taylor I got to the Lexington Center at 1:15 Saturday afternoon, a little before I”d promised to be there. We were planning a special 2:00 event in our International Conference on Missions booth, and the attendant had promised to be there at 1:30 to help us get ready. But as soon as I entered the exhibit hall, I knew she was already on the job. I could smell the popcorn popping. Soon the aroma was filling the whole, huge facility. And even before our announced start time, we relented and allowed the people lining up to grab

November 21, 2016

Christian Standard

Lesson for November 27, 2016: First and Last (Revelation 22:8-21)

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 20 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  On this first day of Advent we consider the last passage of the Bible. God had the first word (Genesis 1:3), and he will get the last word (Revelation 22:20). Our lessons this month have gone to great length to describe the Holy City. Words fail us to describe its beauty. Sometimes the beauty of

November 20, 2016

Christian Standard

Studying the City: Ozark Christian College

By Jennifer Johnson Several of the colleges and universities affiliated with our movement understand the need to reach their own cities while preparing students for an urban future. Here”s what one of them is doing. ________ OZARK CHRISTIAN COLLEGE Joplin, Missouri At first glance, Ozark seems an unlikely place to study urban ministry. “Most of our students come from small-to-medium-size towns,” says Mike Ackerman, professor of church planting and New Testament. “Some of them have never even been to a large city. But we need to care about cities because the world is moving to cities.” Previous study opportunities included

November 14, 2016

Christian Standard

Lesson for November 20, 2016: Living Waters (Revelation 22:1-7)

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 13 issue of The Lookout magazine, and is also available online at www.lookoutmag.com. ______ By Mark Scott  So much of our environment and lives have to do with water. Think of how much of the earth is water. Think of how much of the human body is water. Israel is a dry land in the midst of various bodies of water. Our older son purchased a T-shirt in Israel for his oldest

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