Because we only record half of our lessons right now (group discussions are hard to capture), some names don't show up as often. We'll try to change that in the future. :) —Luke
Meet some of our speakers!
Kevin Smith. Israel thought they were doing what God wanted with their festivals and sacrifices. God diagnosis? They are unacceptable. He then offers a prescription to cleanse them.
Lucas Necessary takes a look at something that churches of Christ are often known for: NO INSTRUMENTS ALLOWED! We all look at Ephesians 5, Nadab and Abihu, and try to figure out what God was actually conveying. Note: When I asked about Acts 15, it should actually be Acts 21. —Luke
Paul Schmied (usually rather too shy to be caught on podcast) leads a lesson looking at the word, "AMEN!" You know you've used it, but do you know what it meant to those in Biblical times? Listen in as we learn!
“I was gone due to job obligations, and thus a gap in the podcasts. I apologize! Please don’t beat me. ”
Lucas Necessary presents some cold, hard statistics: churches of Christ are in an increasing decline, losing their own members and their children. Why? What is the purpose of the assembly? We look at how we can get off track and miss the WHY behind the WHAT. That is, the reason we assemble and do the things we do.
PowerPoint here, because Lucas flies through some of the reading in this.
Kevin Smith. The Lord's Supper is about remembrance of our Savior's sacrifice, celebration of His resurrection and anticipation of His return. It requires unity and humility within the Body of Christ lest we partake in a careless manner. PDF here.
Kevin Smith. The Jews believed the goal of true wisdom was a proper relationship with God. Jesus discusses how a proper relationship with God includes man's relationship with each other in the Sermon on the Mount. Want the lesson plan? Click here!
Lucas Necessary leads the class in a look at various theories on the Old Testament, as well as current problems for evolutionary theory and the genetic destiny of life on earth. PowerPoint is downloadable here.
Kevin Smith. The Jews thought loving God meant keeping a checklist where the Law was concerned. They forgot God wanted their hearts. Solomon reminds us that true wisdom is a right relationship with God. Attitude matters!
“The 11/8 class was PowerPoint Jeopardy, so I didn’t post it! We had a blast, though. ”
Kevin Smith. During his big test to find meaning in life, Solomon sought purpose from work. What he found was work without God is like [SPOILER ALERT—Luke] trying to tame the wind...completely pointless.
Lucas Necessary brought in an item he had procured which no person in the history of the universe had ever seen before, and we had proof of it. The class learned about genetics, the Hunger Games, the universe, the beginning of life, and God. Plus we watched 3 short videos (below) and saw numbers so big that we couldn't comprehend them. You can look at those big numbers by clicking here to download the lesson's visual component.
The first video is starts at 10:46, the second at 24:10, and the third at 39:00.
Video 1
Video 2
Devlyn Arnell recently became a Marine, and he has a great message that will truly encourage anyone. People, the devil and our attitude keep us from being happy, but if we can do some simple things that Paul shows us in Philippians, we can be happy no matter what! Listen here to hear the future of Christ's church on this earth, and to find your encouragement in life! [I personally rate this 5/5 stars.—Luke]
Kevin Smith. Solomon says that attempting to find meaning in life apart from God is like attempting to tame the wind. Absolutely pointless!
Luke and the adult class look at some insidious, sub-surface ramifications of secular reasoning. Today they discuss free will, Stephen Hawking, and whether or not morality exists. Check out the PowerPoint here. Below are the videos that we watched during the lesson.
Lucas Necessary continues a look into science and Christianity. Today we look at Richard Dawkins, free will, and determinism.Francis Collins, the Director of the National Institute of Health, and former Head of the Human Genome Project, wrote "The Language of God." His predecessor as Head of the HGP, Jim Watson, was an atheist. Since they're both top-level scientists, what divides them must not be their science, but their world-view. Today we start really digging into the serious and logical conclusions of atheism.
You may want to check out the videos attached to this lesson, as well as the PowerPoint.
Kevin Smith. What happens when the wisest man on earth ignores God's commands? Well bad things for him, but an excellent lesson for us!
Kevin Smith addresses us on the first cold day since spring—blast, but we will rejoice always! Wisdom is extremely important and yields great rewards. Solomon discusses these benefits in Proverbs 3.
Lucas Necessary and the adult class discuss whether or not the Old Testament is historically reliable. Is it just a bunch of fables? Since we forgot to record last week [Actually, I just forgot to hit the record button.—Luke] , you can at least get some of the information on the New Testament on this PowerPoint.
Kevin Smith. God granted King Solomon unsurpassed wisdom. Solomon shared some of this wisdom with Israel and us when he wrote the book of Proverbs. He begins by discussing the purpose of wisdom in Proverbs 1:1-7.
Kevin Smith. If God told you to request anything of Him, what would you ask Him for? Solomon got the chance in 1 Kings 3:1-15. He asked for wisdom which greatly pleased the Lord. Download the PDF here!
Lucas Necessary discusses how every Christian is required to be a leader in some capacity, and everyone else in the room makes better points than he does! Take a listen and learn about how you can get better at leadership, even if it's "just" leading one person to Christ.
—Note, I did not attach the PowerPoint for this lesson as I feel it's very easy to understand. If you would like it, please contact me through the contact form. It's primarily designed for ages 13-30. ~Luke
Kevin Smith. Following Jesus is the most important decision a person can make. Jesus tells 2 parables to illustrate the fact that this decision should not be entered into without careful consideration. Check out the slides here.
Kevin Smith. Jesus tells twin parables surrounding great finds. Being a disciple of Jesus and being under God's reign is very expensive, but it is both of great value and brings joy beyond anything imaginable. Check out the slides here.
Lucas Necessary challenges us to learn to answer the question, "If God created the universe, who created God?" We learned to not only answer it, but to better understand the very nature of God, and to be able to firmly persuade—that is, to create faith—in those who do not believe, as well as enhancing our own. The slides, which have additional info that you might need, can be downloaded here.
“The 8/30 evening message is missing! I forgot to make sure that Dale was wired up. Sorry about that, and man, it was a killer message, too!—Luke”
Lucas Necessary challenges us to understand the nature of God by asking, "Are we looking for worship in all the wrong places?" We cover a ton of delicious detail on this topic. How is worship defined now? How was it defined in the Old and New Testament? Why is "worship service" never in the Bible? How will understanding what and where worship occurs change our lives?
The slideshow has CRITICAL visual aids. Download it here.
An inductive study of every time the word worship is used in the NT. We used it as well.
Kevin Smith relates how Jesus tells a parable contrasting a king/lord who forgives a colossal debt and a servant who is unwilling to forgive a much smaller amount. He relates it to God's forgiveness of man and man's responsibility to follow suit by forgiving others. Miss a verse or just want to follow along? Download the slideshow here.
Lucas Necessary leads a class about spiritual gardening. Listen as our family discusses why God is the most beneficent organ donor, and what our new spiritual DNA allows us to do. What will you plant in your garden? What will you reap? Start at 5:35 to skip the opening prayer, where we threw out ideas to pray for what's been on our minds recently! Miss a scripture reference? Look it up on the slideshow here.
Kevin Smith gives a lesson about how Jesus tells a parable centered around stewardship, commitment, and love to illustrate how God has entrusted His people with His message and His mission. Download the slideshow here.
Lucas Necessary takes us through a review of what we've learned in the series over the past two months. Key points are:
- The assembly of the saints —> The daily stuff.
- Our spiritual destiny —> A mighty army.
- Accountability and the conscience of a warrior —> First step is always honesty.
- Winners, not sinners —> We’re called as saints.
Download the slideshow here. Next week: The Laws of the Harvest.
“Due to a recording mistake, there is no audio for the week of 8/09/2015. Sorry for my error! —Luke”
Kevin Smith gives an awesome lesson on Luke 18. Listen and learn about how we come before God in prayer matters! Jesus paints a picture of two very different men praying two very different prayers. Only one of them was acceptable in God's eyes. Click here to download the slideshow and follow along.
Kevin Smith presents a great message! Where is God in the midst of all the bad news? He welcomes us to come to Him in prayer because He is still the ultimate authority. He is still the God of justice. You can download the slideshow here!
Lucas Necessary continues a "pseudo-series" on Christian character and how to be an effective warrior. This time we discuss the need to admit it if we sin, and God's beautiful blessing of giving us a perfectly clean conscience—and what that empowers us to do!
Lucas Necessary discusses calling Bible things by Bible names—did you know that the New Testament never mentions a worship service? From there, we learn about the spiritual necessity of cleaning the inside of the cup, and not just making the outside looking sparkling.
If you'd like, follow along with the slideshow here.
Kevin Smith shows that the Jews had a misguided view of the coming Kingdom of God. Jesus warned them not to place their hopes in the physical nation of Israel because dark times were on the horizon.
If you'd like to follow along with a presentation, you may download it here in Powerpoint form.
Lucas Necessary presents a message about our destiny, and how ignoring it can cause us to have an awesome collapse. He uses a trailer for the Hobbit to show some spiritual concepts, discusses ISIS and Ezekiel, and challenges us to choose today what we are doing for the Kingdom.
From 4:00-5:40 watch the clip we viewed in the youtube link below.
To follow along with this message, download the slideshow here.