Blog

Spring 2018

Acknowledging God Most of us are familiar with the child’s mealtime prayer, “God is great, God is good; let us thank him for our food.” That prayer expresses a truth that is worth remembering and honoring in adulthood as well as childhood: God is indeed great. That greatness is on display in the studies of the upcoming quarter. Sacred Space Unit 1 begins with a lesson from Genesis 22, which records Abraham’s willingness to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering. When Isaac questioned where the lamb for such an offering was, his father, with the faith that became his trademark, replied, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering” (Genesis 22:8). And God did indeed provide a substitute, sparing Isaac. Certainly worth noting is the fact that the very place where this incident occurred (Mount Moriah) became the site of the magnificent temple built by King […]

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Winter 2017

Faith in action Many common expressions consist of noun pairs that seem to go together naturally. Think of salt and pepper, cause and effect, and macaroni and cheese. In the Bible, faith and works form just such a pair. The lessons for this quarter emphasize how important this combination is for any follower of the Lord. Faith and works go hand in hand in both Old and New Testaments. Committed Faith Within the first unit of study is the Christmas story (lesson 4). There we consider anew the account of the wise men, whose faith prompted them to leave home and follow a star to a distant land. Faith in action is also evident in the healing of a man who couldn’t walk (lesson 1), in the sending forth of Barnabas and Saul on the first missionary journey (lesson 2), and in the devotion of those same two men in […]

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Fall 2017

Covenant with God The concept of a covenant-making deity was virtually unknown to pagan religions of the ancient Near East. The impersonal nature of their fictitious gods contrasts starkly with the personal nature of the true God, the one who declares, “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3). He demonstrates that love through the covenants he makes with humanity. Signs from God A characteristic of God’s covenants is his provision of signs to accompany them. Such signs, or symbols, serve as reminders or visual aids. As such, they keep people aware of both their privileges and their responsibilities under the covenant at issue. This is necessary; for while God has a spotless record as a covenant keeper, humans are just as consistent in being covenant breakers. God knows all too well our tendency to forget or to be distracted from pursuing his desires for us. The covenant […]

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Summer 2017

God’s urgent call One evening some years ago, I helped serve what was called a midnight breakfast at the college where I teach. It was scheduled during final exam week in order to provide a break for the students, and faculty and staff were asked to help fill the students’ plates. Before we did so, we were told to put on a pair of plastic gloves in preparation for handling the food. “Do these come in different sizes?” asked one faculty member. “No,” was the reply. “One size fits all.” Our clumsy attempts to don the gloves revealed that that was not the case. Neither does “one size fits all” apply to how God calls people to serve him—or for that matter, to how people respond to his call. Both are illustrated time and again in this series on “God’s Urgent Call.” A specific call Consider our first unit of […]

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