SBC Voices is giving $100 worth of books away this week. Here are the titles:
John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion
The Meaning of the Pentateuch– John Sailhamer
The Trellis and the Vine– Colin Marshall and Tony Payne
Click here to learn more and enter the contest.
The IMB reports that Christian relief efforts have begun in Haiti after a deadly earthquake. What a privilege to know our monthly Cooperative Program giving, rummage sale fundraiser, and Lottie Moon offering are contributing to this ministry. Let’s pray for all those helping with the relief efforts, and that the name of Jesus will be magnified through this.
Southern Baptists are mobilizing to assess disaster relief needs after the largest earthquake in more than 200 years rocked Haiti the evening of Jan. 12.
The initial Southern Baptist disaster relief effort will be led by Florida Baptists, who have had ministry relationships in Haiti for more than 20 years and currently have six staff members who live and work in the country, said Jim Brown, U.S. director for Baptist Global Response, a Southern Baptist relief and development organization. The International Mission Board does not have long-term personnel stationed in the country.
Initial funding for the relief effort will be provided by the IMB’s disaster relief fund. You can contribute to the relief effort at gobgr.org.
Read the whole article here.
Last Sunday, we began a “behind the scenes” look at our salvation. We are considering how a person comes to Christ, and what role God plays in this dramatic event. The best place to begin is with the condition of the unbeliever apart from Christ. So we studied Ephesians 2:1-3 and discovered three points:
1. The Condition (Ephesians 2:1-2). The Bible says quite bluntly that we are “dead” without Christ. Because of our sin nature, there is absolutely no life in us. Other passages describe us as spiritually blind, deaf, enslaved, and in rebellion, and totally unable to please God (Romans 8:6-8).
2. The Consequence (Ephesians 2:3). The result of this terrible condition is that we are all under God’s wrath. We rightly deserve eternal torment in hell because of the heinous nature of our crime against God.
3. The Challenge. Here’s the dilemma. We are spiritually dead and racing down the broad road to hell. And there’s absolutely nothing we can do to fix the situation. Nothing. (We’re dead, remember). We cannot change our hearts any more than an Ethiopian can change his skin, or a leopard can remove his spots (Jeremiah 13:23). But here’s the good news: What is impossible for man is possible for God! By sending His Son, God has redeemed us and made us alive in Christ! (Ephesians 2:4-9).
Questions for thought and discussion:
• What does it mean that I am “dead in my trespasses and sins”?
• Do our “good works” earn favor with God? Why or why not?
• Have I trusted in Christ alone for forgiveness and eternal life?
• Read 1 Corinthians 2:4. Can our clever techniques ever draw an unbeliever to Christ?
• If Ephesians 2:2-3 depicts the lifestyle of an unbeliever, how could we describe the lifestyle of a believer?
• Write out a prayer of thanksgiving for what God has rescued you from, and what He has done for you.
Sunday’s sermon has been posted to our podcast site and is now available for free download.
From the ProtectMarriage blog:
…Monday, January 11th, trial will begin in the San Francisco courtroom of Judge Vaughn Walker in the federal case of Perry v. Schwarzenegger. The Perry case is about Proposition 8 which restored the traditional definition of marriage in California, to be sure, but it is also about much more.
What is at stake in the Perry case is not just the right of California voters to reaffirm the definition of marriage as only between a man and a woman; a federal court decision overturning Proposition 8 could also ultimately nullify the people’s vote on marriage in 45 states and the federal Defense of Marriage Act passed by Congress in 1996…
Many believe this trial will be the “Roe v. Wade of marriage,” and expect it to go all the way to the Supreme Court. Please be in prayer in the days ahead for the judge, attorneys, sponsors, and consultants who will be involved in the case. May God’s truth prevail, and may the presentation by ProtectMarriage be both gracious and convincing.
Related post:
Basics of Biblical Greek Grammar
After introducing the Greek alphabet and word structure, Mounce helps students gain a solid control of Greek nouns (ch. 5-14). He then moves on to indicative mood verbs (chs. 15-25) followed by participles, non-indicative mood, and other troublesome verbs (chs. 26-35). The appendix itself, full of charts and paradigms, is worth its weight in gold.
I’m currently teaching a beginning Greek class with about 15 lay people at our church using the 2nd edition textbook. Mounce is such a clear teacher that any student with self-discipline could actually teach himself the language. Using Mounce’s Greek Workbook
Please note: there is now a Third Edition
Pinch Of Clay 