The Time and Place of Jesus' Birth

Dates and locations can seem pretty boring on the surface. But God's word always offers exciting discoveries and this week's lesson is no exception. I've been fascinated at what the Bible has to say about when and where Messiah was predicted to come and why each detail is so important to telling us what the Messiah's true purpose would be: to serve as the spotless lamb of God who would be sacrificed in our place. Even the circumstances of His birth testify to His purpose! If you'd like to see this week's lesson notes, just click here.  Merry Christmas!

Add Micah 4:8 to This Week's Core Scriptures

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I want to give a heads-up that I failed to get a pretty important core scripture in your handout from last week that outlines our five-week study of Old Testament Prophesies of Christmas. 

That outline has Daniel 9:25-26; Micah 5:2 as the Old Testament Prophesies pointing to the time and place of Jesus' birth. We'll still look at those carefully, but you'll also need to be familiar with Micah 4:8 as key prophesy we will explore. I hope to have my full lesson notes posted later today or tomorrow. It is a fascinating study and I pray it will be a blessing to all of us.

John the Baptist: "The One Who Will Prepare the Way"

We begin our study of Old Testament prophesies that point to Christmas with a lesson about John the Baptist. Old Testament prophets told us of one who would "prepare the way" for the Messiah, and the scripture is clear that John is that prophesied messenger. Beyond the clear fulfillment of prophesy, what was the significance of John's ministry, his life, and his death to God's ultimate plan for salvation and redemption?  I'm posting this Saturday night, and look forward to a good discussion tomorrow morning. Lesson notes for this week's study can be found by clicking here.

As you prepare for subsequent lessons in this five-week series, please use this outline guide to help you plan your study of God's Word.

Outline for New Study Series: Old Testament Prophesy of Christmas

As we begin a new five-week study leading up to Christmas, we will examine five specific prohpetic categories from the Old Testament that pertain to the coming of Messiah, and specifically, to the circumstances surrounding His birth.

I've put together a five-week outline of the subject areas to be studied and the key scriptures that will be the primary focus of each week's study. For a copy of the outline, click here.

Matt's Notes Week Twelve: Ephesians 6:10-24

In week twelve, we conclude our study of the book of Ephesians. The Max Lucado book cuts the study four verses short (ending with verse 20), but I've chosen to go ahead and make our last lesson on the book include the full balance of it (through verse 24). The last four verses basically are a farewell from Paul, but every word of scripture is worthy of study, including these. Next week we will have a guest teacher, as Rachael and I will be out of town for the weekend. After that, we will begin a five-week study that will take us through Christmas and the end of the year. For this week's lesson notes on Ephesians 6:10-24, click here.

Vance Breshears Arrives!

Andrea and Reggie welcomed baby Vance into the world earlier today. He was born at 8 pounds, 5 ounces and 22 3/4 inches long. Mother and baby are doing well. Here's a picture of the little guy, only a few hours old:

The Breshears are at Cox South. Best guess is that they will be there all day tomorrow, spend the night, and hopefully head home sometime Thursday. On Sunday, we will have a sign-up sheet for providing meals for the Breshears over the next couple of weeks. Plan your casseroles!

Matt's Notes Week Eleven: Ephesians 6:1-9

This week's lesson focuses on two specific human relationships: parent/child and master/slave. The principles of the master/slave relationship have their most direct parallel to us in a boss/employee setting. This is the first week that I've had the blog up and running before writing my lesson notes. Consequently, I worked to make the notes a little more user-friendly. Instead of making notes to myself that only I would understand, I made the notes this week with potential readers (other than me) also in mind. It makes the notes longer than in past weeks, but it should be less frustrating to read this way. To see the lesson notes, click here.