Category: God
Subject: God
COVID-19 (28) God is Our Refuge and Strength
During times of national and global distress, Psalm 46 is the believer’s friend. The Psalmist wrote:
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling” (1-3).
Those who place their trust in God have no need to fear, no matter the dangers that lurk. Surely what we are suffering through today does not compare to the removal of the earth or the casting of the mountains into the sea? God’s helps those who are His. We can trust Him.
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COVID-19 (27) How to Know God
There are a couple of interesting verses in 1 John 4 that are worth talking about. “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (7-8).
John’s claim is fairly radical. It is a way of defining what love truly is. Understand that most everyone thinks they know what love is. Because they hold their own definitions, and their definitions conflict with that of God’s, they will go so far as to call Christians unloving, when they are exhibiting true love!
COVID-19 (23) I Guess God is Needed After All!
In my time on earth, I have been amazed and saddened by the increasingly secular bent of our world. I freely admit that there are many problems with the religion that has been historically practiced in America. Sectarianism has been the norm, leading to conflict, confusion and division. However, there always seemed to be an acknowledgment of God in our country, and a recognition of the importance of faith.
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COVID-19 (15) Mr. Lonely
This article was inspired by an online Bible study by one of our members, Dennis Craig. His lesson was titled Learning the Value of Solitude. It was a great help to our members who are observing the shelter in place guidelines from local and state government.
Bobby Vinton wrote a song in the late 1950’s after being drafted into the military. He spent two years serving domestically, and wrote Mr. Lonely which later became a number one hit when released in 1964. Here are the lyrics, which more accurately describe a soldier sent overseas.
COVID-19 (1) Remember the Works of the Lord
I have decided to write what I hope to be a daily, short article, to help everyone at West Side (another others who read it) during this time of isolation from one another. I will at least do the weekdays, though I can’t promise which time of day it will be posted. (I’m not that organized!)
The 77th Psalm, a psalm of Asaph, begins as follows:
“I cried out to God with my voice— to God my voice;
And He gave ear to me.
In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord;
My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing;
My soul refused to be comforted.
I remembered God, and was troubled;
I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed” (1-3).
Today is a day of trouble for our nation, and brethren everywhere. We are concerned and anxious, and there is a tendency in times such as these to question. We appeal to God and we ask why? We complain, we feel overwhelmed. It is hard for us to focus on the blessings of God; to trust in His providential care; to see the possibility of an end to our suffering. We ask with the Psalmist, “Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies?” (9).
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The Patternists: Defining “My” God
I came across a survey taken last December by the Pew Research Center. The title of the survey, “When Americans say they believe in God, what do they mean?”
The survey sampling revealed that 80% of people believe in God, and another 9% believe in some kind of higher power/spiritual force. That’s 9 in 10 Americans.
However, of the 80% that believe in God, only 56% percent of them believe in God as described in the Bible. More and more individuals feel free to describe God in their own terms rather than the terms He used to describe Himself!
Sermon: Be Strong and of Good Courage
Lessons taught from Joshua 1: God keeps His promises. We must be faithful and obedient to Him. God is always with us. We need to encourage one another!
Sermon: The Origin of Math
Speaker: Josh Jackson
This lesson is a defense of God’s existence, using Romans 1 & Job 38,40 as texts.
Sermon: Remember!
Memories help us to avoid mistakes of the past, appreciate the present, and hope in the future!
Sermon: The God of Comfort
In 2 Corinthians 7, the apostle noted the comfort he received from Titus, when told of the Corinthians penitent hearts. God supplies comfort to His people. Often the people themselves are the source of that comfort, as they supply support and help to each other.
Sermon: The Attributes of God
The lesson looks at what the scripture reveals about the person, position and character of Jehovah.
Sermon: “When I consider Your heavens”
David’s contemplation of the night sky seems to have been the inspiration for Psalm 8. The Psalm shows that God is worthy of praise, both for His creative work, and his patronage of man.
Sermon: God Be Merciful to Us and Bless Us
Psalm 67 is a song of praise to God for His blessings, mercy, sovereignty and fairness. All nations should praise Him, and when we do, He bestows His blessings upon us.
Sermon: Why Do We Praise God?
We praise God because He the Sovereign Creator of all things. And, he deigns to show his mercy and love for us His creation. In short, we praise Him because He is worthy of our adoration!
Nebuchadnezzar VS Jehovah
2 Kings 25:9-10, describes the fall of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonian general Nebuchadnezzar. “He burned the house of the Lord and the king’s house; all the houses of Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire. And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down the walls of Jerusalem all around.”
The defeat of Judah was not because of God’s impotence. Nebuchadnezzar was God’s instrument of judgment, because of the sins of the Jewish people. Jeremiah had previously predicted Jerusalem’s fall. “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Because you have not heard My words, … this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years’” (Jeremiah 25:8, 11).
Nebuchadnezzar’s mistake was that he did not give God credit for his victory and his kingdom. Instead, he exalted himself and his own power. “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30). For his pride, idolatry, and rejection of God’s sovereignty, Nebuchadnezzar was humiliated (cf. Daniel 4:31-33); and his own kingdom was destroyed and made “perpetual desolation” (cf. Jeremiah 25:12).
The lesson? God is sovereign in the universe! As Jeremiah prayed, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You” (Jeremiah 32:17).
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