Blog

LESSON 2: IT TAKES ONE, TO MAKE ONE

Before Jesus called us to make disciples He called us to become His disciples. He says in Matthew 11:28-29, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” If I think back on my best teachers I find a few commonalities. For one, they didn’t live in the theoretical world. They either had or were living what they taught. Practical, real world experience is critical. Otherwise we wouldn’t have the expression, “well at least that’s how it works in theory.”

The other thing that set apart these exceptional teachers was their passion for the subject they taught. It was a passion born of their own commitment to pursuing knowledge and understanding of their area of expertise. And it didn’t end. For them it was a life-long quest.

LESSON 1: THE ANTIQUES ROADSHOW – APPRAISAL IS THE KEY

Have you ever watched the “Antiques Roadshow?” I’ll admit I have paused, on a few occasions, to see what the fuss is all about. Personally I don’t get it. Paying lots of money for other peoples old stuff? What foolishness. Or is it? I look at these items and I see them and make a judgment…junk. However, someone skilled in appraising antiques looks at the same items and makes a very different judgment. I think there is a lesson for us here. Scripture tells us that the things of God, God’s Word, are foolishness to the “natural man” or the unbeliever. Does this mean that they can’t understand the words?

Does it look like Greek to them? I’ve heard complete heathens articulate the gospel message very clearly, so that cannot be what God meant. So what is it?

Download Teach, Lesson 1

SECTION 2: WHY BAPTIZE?

In beginning to discuss this very important topic, I should first recognize that there are several different views, held by good and godly Christians, regarding baptism, infant baptism, covenant baptism, etc. I will be teaching from the position practiced by Reston Bible Church, that is, that baptism is a symbolic sacrament to be participated in once by a professing believer in Christ. We commonly refer to this as believers baptism.

Thankfully there are many aspects of baptism on which most bible believing Christians can agree. For one, we all agree that believing Christians should be baptized. There is also general agreement about what baptism portrays. Let’s focus there.

Download Baptize

LESSON 3: MAY YOUR “LIFE SONG” RING TRUE

A couple of weeks ago we looked at what makes a good witness. One of those attributes was consistency. In a court of law the jury and judge will look at the witness and ask, “is this person credible?”, “does the life of this witness match their testimony, lend credibility, or not?”

To make matters worse, it is common for the opposing lawyer to pick apart the witness and undermine their testimony by trying to show that they are in fact unreliable and inconsistent. The opposing lawyer in our case is Satan himself. The accuser. Praise God that ultimately we stand on His promises and on His righteousness. Not our own. However, the accuser will seek to limit our effectiveness as witnesses to the gospel by magnifying the inconsistencies between our words and the lives we lead. The message is simple – “walk the talk!” Or as James 1:22 puts it, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”

Download Go, Lesson 3