A CALL TO UNITY – Adult Sunday School Lesson for 6/29/2014

“One God, One Name, One Worthy, of Our Praise!”

This review is brought to you by the Kentucky First Jurisdiction Church of God in Christ Sunday School Department.  

LESSON AIM: By the end of the lesson, we will; investigate the divisions within the Corinthian community; identify past hurts caused by divisions experienced with a faith community; and introduce methods of achieving unity with the Body of Christ.

BIBLE TRUTH: There should be no division in the Body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:10-17 | King James Version (KJV)

10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.

12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.

13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;

15 Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.

16 And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.

17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

We're now visiting one of the churches that Paul worked out! He started a church in Corinth and preached the unadulterated gospel to the very diverse group of people there. A year and a half later, he left and went to minister in Ephesus. This is when he gets a letter from Chloe (the Bible doesn't give us a lot of background of who she is, but theologians imagine her to be a merchant that Paul met and befriended.)

The letter that cliques and circles had formed in the church. Small groups were developing ideas and opinions, which were oppposing the ideas and opinions of the neighboring group...and they were all still a part of the same congregation. (Hopefully, this doesn't sound like anything going on in your own congregation today).

Paul also received a letter from the church at Corinth asking about topics such as marriage, the gifts of the spirit, benevolence for the poor and other things. They also reported that some of the church leadership was condoning the sexual immorality that Corinth was known for. Afet digging into it, Paul understood what was going on. As the founder of the church, many of the believers truly honored him, but they took it too far when they created a "I'm Paul's follower" clique. 

In the same manner, verse 12 outlines the other groups..."Apollos is my leader", "I'm with Cephas' (The Apostle Peter) group", and "I'm the real deal...I'm with Christ!" Each group was touting that their group was "right" and may have been in the mindset that since each of the groups were different, they couldn't be one team. Paul was very clear. Jesus Christ is the church's leader. No matter which preacher has led you to Christ, all allegiance should be to Jesus Christ. A righteous and godly leader will always emphasize this, and not allow followers to uplift him/her to the point where they overshadow Jesus Christ. Paul goes on to explain that he himself had not died for their sins, it was Jesus Christ crucified on the cross that affords each one of them the right to eternal life.

In moving on, Paul addresses that some may be putting more importance on the act of baptism, than that of salvation. Many also revered Paul because he was an eloquent speaker, full of illustrious words and stories. But he says in verse 17, that God hadn't sent him to tickle their ears with flowery words, instead, to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified for their sins. 

Side Note: UNITY AND UNIFORMITY are two different concepts. Surely, you know people from other denominations, other than your own. If you visited a Catholic or Methodist church, the service is quite structured and mainly quiet. However, in a Full Gospel, or Pentecostal service, people are singing boisterously, possible running around the church in outward expressions of joy, and the order of events can be highly unpredictable. The one principle commonality is Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 

Paul urged them to understand that no matter which church they were affiliated with, or how they came to know Christ, all roads should lead and connect to Jesus Christ and the parting of their sins. Since all roads lead to Christ, no matter where you are from, you should be in fellowship with other believers. The UNITING component of believers from various churches is always Jesus Christ.

Enjoy this YouTube vid of Maurette Brown Clark, proclaiming that there is only "One God!"

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HOPE FOR A NEW DAY– Adult Sunday School Lesson for 6/22/2014

“All the Glory Belongs to You Oh God!”

This review is brought to you by the Kentucky First Jurisdiction Church of God in Christ Sunday School Department.  

LESSON AIM: By the end of the lesson, we will; acknowledge the connection between God's promises to Israel for rebuilding the Temple and the Israelites' obedience to Him; appreciate the community's restoration of the Temple and God's restoration of the people; and articulate our thankfulness to God for the blessing bestowed upon us for our obedience.

BIBLE TRUTH: The Spirit of God is the source of our success.

Haggai 2:23 | King James Version (KJV)

23 In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of hosts.

Zechariah 4:1-3 | King James Version (KJV)

4 And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep.

2 And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:

3 And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof

Zechariah 4: 6-14 | King James Version (KJV)

6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.

7 Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.

8 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you.

10 For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

11 Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof?

12 And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves?

13 And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.

14 Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.

Last week we learned that God began to bless the Jews on that very day, because they persevered in obedience.

During this time, prophets Haggai and Zechariah were cheering Zerubbabel on to finish up God’s temple. God has already shown Zerubbabel that the latter house would be greater than the former house (Haggai 2:9). Four years later, Haggai shared God’s promise that Govenor Zerubbabel would receive a special blessing for taking on and completing this great work. It’s a signet ring! What’s so special about a signet ring? Zerubbabel’s great-grandfather, Jehoiachin, was referred to as the signet ring that God had removed from His finger (Jeremiah 22:24). Because he was obedient, God is making Zerubbabel into His signet ring, and this time, it will not be removed. Restoration has come back to Zerubbabel’s lineage!

Side Note: Never underestimate the potential of your children, grandchildren, and such. Our young people need encouragement and exposure to life’s experiences that their parents were not afforded. By pushing them to do more, you never know how someone in your lineage can be a point of spiritual, economical, or physical restoration to your family.

Moving to the book of Zechariah, we see that Zechariah is awaking from a vision. An angel asked him what he saw. Zechariah saw a golden candlestick with a bowl on it, seven lamps on top of that, and then seven pipes for the seven lamps.

Side Note: This is the picture of the Jewish menorah. Last week, we talked about the Jewish holiday, Hanukah, based upon a celebration of the restoration of the temple. The menorah is the seven-branched candelabrum used in the Jewish sanctuaries today.

Zechariah saw another vision of 2 olive trees and 2 branches and the two bowls, and he asked the angel for an explanation of it. The two branches represented the “Anointed ones”, Zerubbabel and Joshua. Both of these men were setting the stage of the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ. 

Side Note: At this point, some believe that the “Anointed ones” will change to Elijah and Moses, since they never tasted death. We must follow on to know!

God told Zerubbabel, I will make prosper you and give you the victory, but it won’t be because of your human authority or strength. It will be due to God’s spirit, and the supernatural work of God’s plan…not by power, not by might…truly God’s Spirit is the source of our success.

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LIVE PURE LIVES– Adult Sunday School Lesson for 6/15/2014

“From This Day Forward…”  Happy Father’s Day!

This review is brought to you by the Kentucky First Jurisdiction Church of God in Christ Sunday School Department.  

LESSON AIM: By the end of the lesson, we will; grasp Haggai's message of encouragement to press forward in rebuilding the Temple; realize that reneging on promises to God yields catastrophic results; and develop ways to commit to doing God's work on behalf of the community.

BIBLE TRUTH: Live honorably.

Haggai 2:10-19 | King James Version (KJV)

10 In the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying,

11 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Ask now the priests concerning the law, saying,

12 If one bear holy flesh in the skirt of his garment, and with his skirt do touch bread, or pottage, or wine, or oil, or any meat, shall it be holy? And the priests answered and said, No.

13 Then said Haggai, If one that is unclean by a dead body touch any of these, shall it be unclean? And the priests answered and said, It shall be unclean.

14 Then answered Haggai, and said, So is this people, and so is this nation before me, saith the Lord; and so is every work of their hands; and that which they offer there is unclean.

15 And now, I pray you, consider from this day and upward, from before a stone was laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord:

16 Since those days were, when one came to an heap of twenty measures, there were but ten: when one came to the pressfat for to draw out fifty vessels out of the press, there were but twenty.

17 I smote you with blasting and with mildew and with hail in all the labours of your hands; yet ye turned not to me, saith the Lord.

18 Consider now from this day and upward, from the four and twentieth day of the ninth month, even from the day that the foundation of the Lord's temple was laid, consider it.

19 Is the seed yet in the barn? yea, as yet the vine, and the fig tree, and the pomegranate, and the olive tree, hath not brought forth: from this day will I bless you.

We’re continuing to study the Jews and their process of rebuilding the temple. God has laid it upon Haggai’s heart to encourage them to good works again.

Some of the people felt intimidated while they were building, because they had seen the past buildings…Solomon’s Temple was glorious in size and definitely fit for the God of Wonders! Maybe this work would be laughable, because only a few hundred Jews were remaining to complete this task, which is a far cry from the 6,000 of them who existed before captivity. Nonetheless, Haggai encouraged them to understand the urgency, so they could resume life in obedience to the Mosaic Law. At this point in the scripture, the Jews have yet missed the point of what God has asked them to do.

Side Note: If God has given you a task, He always tells you the “what”, the “how”, and the “when”. All three of these components MUST be carried out to a “t”. The God we serve is precise and amazing! He gives us what we need to complete the task. However, with all of this instruction comes a warning; If you decide to deviate from the planned plan, consequences will follow. This is what the Jews experienced. Has this ever happened to you? God never changes!

So, the Jews actually listened to Haggai and began to rebuild the Temple. There was some doubt, there was some discouragement, but they DID began rebuilding, so that should have been good enough, right? WRONG!

Take a look into verses 12-14, and pay close attention to the answers of two questions.

If a person carries blessed food in his clothing, and touches unblessed food with the blessed food, does the unblessed food become blessed? Or, for simplification purposes… The priest said, “no”. And flipping this question: If a living person touches a dead body, and then touches any sort of food, does the food become unclean? The priest answered, “yes”.

The Mosaic Law was very clear is upholding the fact that moral uncleanliness can be transmitted, but moral cleanliness cannot.

Side Note: Let’s look deeper into this. Doctors, nurses, and health care professionals could relate to this scripture. If a person who is well, walks into a room of sick people, the sick people do not gain wellness. However, if a sick person walks into a room with well people, they can cause the well people to become sick. This is exactly what is being illustrated in Haggai.

God gave instructions on how His temple was to be repaired and erected. The Jews began bringing stones, jewels, gifts, and other embellishments from pagans gods and adding them to the architecture of the temple. The people assumed that since they were working on a holy temple, they would in turn, become holy. Not so.

Side Note: A ministry worker of the 21^st century, be care not to adopt the mindset of these Jews. Don’t think you’re heaven bound because you preach from a Bible or conduct ministry classes each week. If you hold a leadership position in the church, you must still pray, fast, and subject your will to God’s each day (sometimes even more that someone who does have the responsibility to lead others). Living a holy life comes first. Titles and positions have never mattered to God. He demands a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable always!

So, all this time, while the Jews were rebuilding, their efforts added up to NOTHING. Haggai brought them the unfortunate news that their work was considered uselessly unclean to God in verse 14. Haggai challenged them to really think about who they were serving and why. He opened their eyes and revealed to them what was happening to their crops. “Look around, God has decreased your crops by 50% [Math folks, look in verse 16 they received 10/20 of their usual shares] ; they only yielded 60% of their grapes [Math folks, again, they lost 20/50]. So, there was not a lot of new wine to go around.

At that point, the Jews understood and the prophet had their attention. But, Haggai said, “FROM THIS DAY FORWARD…” I will begin to restore you. The Jews of today celebrate this particular patch of scripture during a time we know as Chanukah, or Hanukkah (click to learn more).

Two lessons ago, Haggai came to these Jews and encouraged them to rebuild God’s temple. They did begin working, but because of their disobedience and failure to do things right, they were YET experiencing this decrement of their crops and prosperity. Even as they were building, they weren’t seeing God making their situation any better, instead, they became bitter. The words, FROM THIS DAY FORWARD were like music to their ears. God lifted the curse from their heads and began blessing them, just like He said.

Side Note: Sometimes, we can fall into exactly where the Jews are. We fall and fail, hear the voice of God though His word and through His prophet’s voice. We actually straighten up and fly right! After we take that step to become whole again, it seems that our situation is still suffering. Well, just like the Jews, sometimes, God’s punishment has to be carried out, even after we are restored. Once the punishment has taken its full course, we can experience the “FROM THIS DAY FORWARD” that He will always have for the faithful.

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TRUST GOD'S PROMISES – Adult Sunday School Lesson for 6/8/2014

“Show Them Some More Love!”

This review is brought to you by the Hope Temple Church of God in Christ Sunday School Department.  

LESSON AIM: By the end of the lesson, you will; know God's promises to the Israelites linked to His command to rebuild the Temple; trust that God pledges assistance and prosperity in response to obedience and how we can demonstrate it.

BIBLE TRUTH: God promises to bless is linked to our promises to obey.

Haggai 1:12 | King James Version (KJV)

12 Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him, and the people did fear before the Lord.

Haggai 2:1-9 | King James Version (KJV)

1 In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai, saying,

2 Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying,

3 Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing?

4 Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, saith the Lord; and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith the Lord, and work: for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts:

5 According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not.

6 For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land;

7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts.

8 The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.

9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts.

We’re yet studying the Jews and their process of rebuilding the temple. God has laid it upon Haggai’s heart to encourage them to good works agin.

Some of the people felt intimidated while they were building, because they had seen the past buildings…Solomon’s Temple was glorious in size and definitely fit for the God of Wonders! Maybe this work would be laughable, because only a few hundred Jews were remaining to complete this task, which is a far cry from the 6,000 of them who existed before captivity. Nonetheless, Haggai encouraged them to understand the urgency, so they could resume life in obedience to the Mosaic Law.

And, in case they needed the motivation, Haggai runs through all of the unfortunate things that will be the peoples’ punishment, if they failed to do the will of God, concerning rebuilding the temple.

Side Note: When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we know that we’re supposed to be living to live again. Laboring and building a kingdom on this Earth, should not be our priority (1 John 2:15 - Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.)  Why did God have to warn the Saints against this spiritual pitfall? Because we are human! He made each of us intellectual, and put inside of us a drive to create, build, plan, and project towards our future. All of this is GREAT, so long as we remember that our spiritual investments and building with Christ FIRST is the key to being blessed. Answering God’s call will always have to take priority, with no exceptions. When He gives a directive, there is always a choice to answer. In speaking with a man who has been wrestling with signs from God, he said, “I finally accept my calling to preach!” 3 times, God showed him that he was supposed to be a preacher. The first 2 times were apparent, but not enough to provoke the right response. So, he said God showed up in his dreams and showed him that he could carry out the gospel as a handicap man, with no arms. The next day, he was at a restaurant and sitting next to him was a man, with no arms, operating an iPad with his nose and lips. Would that finally get your attention? RIGHT!

So, Haggai goes through all of the unpleasant things that the Jews would experience (they were already feeling a lot of these things in their everyday lives) if they didn’t say, “Yes!” to God’s will.

Haggai is speaking to what 1:12 refers to as the “remnant” of the Jews. These Jews are the children of their parents who were delivered from Egypt. He reminds them of God’s promises to their forefathers. These Jews could relate to everything that their own parents went through because, remember, they have recently been released from captivity in Babylon. They are being asked to “trust” the Lord wholeheartedly!

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OBEY THE LORD– Adult Sunday School Lesson for 6/1/2014

“Finish What You've Started”

This review is brought to you by the Hope Temple Church of God in Christ Sunday School Department.  

Haggai 1:1-11; King James Version (KJV)

1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet unto Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, saying,

2 Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built.

3 Then came the word of the Lord by Haggai the prophet, saying,

4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?

5 Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.

6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.

7 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.

8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord.

9 Ye looked for much, and, lo it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.

10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.

11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.

The Jews had some unfinished business, and God had a man, Haggai, in place to make sure they had the motivation they needed to complete the job.

In this text, we find that the Jews have started rebuilding the temple to worship God. Somehow, their attention was refocused towards other things, for about 17 years after returning from captivity, until Haggai shows up. In verse 2, the people are saying, “It’s not time to rebuild the temple…”

Haggai had the burden of preaching for the people to continue working on the temple. God was looking for a place where He and Him people could reunite and have fellowship, as He has always expected from His people, in a sanctified place. Instead, we find that the people became distracted and “caught up” into building their natural homes, neglecting to really turn their hearts’ desires towards those things that would please God.

Side Note: Have you ever set out on a journey to complete a task and became completely side-tracked? This means that you lost focus and the REAL why, of why you began the journey in the first place. Music artist, Larnell Harris beautifully sings this song:

“There He was just waiting, In our old familiar place

An empty spot beside Him, Where once I used to wait

To be filled with strength and wisdom, For the battles of the day

I would have passed Him by again, If I didn't hear Him say

I miss my time with you, Those moments together

I need to be with you each day, And it hurts Me when you say

You're too busy, Busy trying to serve Me

But how can you serve Me, When your spirits empty

There's a longing in My heart, Wanting more than just a part of you

It's true, I miss My time with you (Watch the YouTube)”

It seems silly to image someone too busy “working” for God, to serve Him. But, unfortunately, there are some who work on an empty spirit.

Some of the people felt intimidated while they were building, because they had seen the past buildings…Solomon’s Temple was glorious in size and definitely fit for the God of Wonders! Maybe this work would be laughable, because only a few hundred Jews were remaining to complete this task, which is a far cry from the 6,000 of them who existed before captivity. Nonetheless, Haggai encouraged them to understand the urgency, so they could resume life in obedience to the Mosaic Law.

And, in case they needed the motivation, Haggai runs through all of the unfortunate things that will be the peoples’ punishment, if they failed to do the will of God, concerning rebuilding the temple.

Side Note: When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we know that we’re supposed to be living to live again. Laboring and building a kingdom on this Earth, should not be our priority (1 John 2:15 - Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.)  Why did God have to warn the Saints against this spiritual pitfall? Because we are human! He made each of us intellectual, and put inside of us a drive to create, build, plan, and project towards our future. All of this is GREAT, so long as we remember that our spiritual investments and building with Christ FIRST is the key to being blessed. Answering God’s call will always have to take priority, with no exceptions. When He gives a directive, there is always a choice to answer. In speaking with a man who has been wrestling with signs from God, he said, “I finally accept my calling to preach!” 3 times, God showed him that he was supposed to be a preacher. The first 2 times were apparent, but not enough to provoke the right response. So, he said God showed up in his dreams and showed him that he could carry out the gospel as a handicap man, with no arms. The next day, he was at a restaurant and sitting next to him was a man, with no arms, operating an iPad with his nose and lips. Would that finally get your attention? RIGHT!

So, Haggai goes through all of the unpleasant things that the Jews would experience (they were already feeling a lot of these things in their everyday lives) if they didn’t say, “Yes!” to God’s will.

Visit our International COGIC Sunday School Site