Bucket Full of Grace

Open up to the Book of Hebrews Chapter 1 Thesis: The Miracle of the Message is that JESUS Himself is the Message of God to your life. Let’s begin with a question.   Do you want to hear God speak?  Have you ever said in a moment of desperation, “O God, if you would only speak! If I could only hear your voice. If you would only talk to me and not be so silent!” I have said those words. And I have found the Lord patient with me and tender in his rebukes. One of the rebukes I have heard is found in the beginning of Hebrews chapter 1. What these verses teach very loudly and plainly is that God is not silent. God is not withdrawn and uncommunicative. Hebrews So I think that Apollos wrote the book of Hebrews, He was really intelligent, well-spoken and educated, he reasoned from the Old Testament expertly and the book doesn’t have the characteristic writing style of word-usage of the Apostle Paul… but it doesn’t matter who wrote the book of Hebrews and I think that’s why we can’t kno...

Character Study Challenge Studying the lives of bible characters can be a great way to add method to the madness of bible study.  I will be reteaching a class on Bible Study Methods at my church starting next month and I love a good challenge.  As part of my personal bible study over the next few months, I want to learn about biblical characters and apply what I learn... so I say go big or go home.  I plan to do 133 biblical biographical character studies and we'll see how long that will take... posted here for your reading and commenting pleasure.  I've done many word studies in the past and am continuing to do so with my fruits of the spirit study .  I've also studied the biblical context of praise and worship songs in a 30 day challenge. Subscribe to the email thingy over on the side of the pate and it will send new posts to your email whenever I write them.  If you would like to study along with me, here is the order I will be researching the characters...

Biblical Name or Picture Scripture References First Impression and Observations Outline of Life General Insights [Answers to Questions] Questions to ask in a Biographical Character Study Character Qualities Defined Bible Truths Illustrated in Life Summary of Lessons Learned from Life Personal Application[s] Transferable Concepts Check out the rest of my Biblical Character Studies Here

Scripture References Genesis 17-50 Exodus 2-6, 32-33 Leviticus 26:42 Numbers 32.11 Deuteronomy 1:8, 6:10, 9:5, 9:27, 29:13, 30:20, 34:4 Joshua 24:2-3 1 Kings 18:36 2 Kings 13:23 1 Chronicles 1:27-34, 16:16, 29:18 2 Chronicles 20:7, 30:6 Nehemiah 9:7 Psalm 47:9, 105:6, 105:9,105:42 Isaiah 29:22, 41:8, 51:2, 63:16 Jeremiah 33:26 Ezekiel 33:24 Micah 7:20 Matthew 1:1-2, 1:17, 3:9, 8:11, 22:32 Mark 12:26 Luke 1:55, 1:73, 3:8. 3:34, 13:16, 13:28, 16:22-30, 19:9, 20:37 John 8:33-58 Acts 3:13, 3:25, 7:2-32, 13:26 Romans 4:1-18, 9:7-8, 11:1 2 Corinthians 11:22 Galatians 3:6-4:22 Hebrews 2:16, 6:13-15, 7:1-10, 11:8-19 James 2:21-23 1 Peter 3:6 First Impression and Observations Abraham's life really began with his covenant with the lord at the age of 99. He wasn't perfect but he was obedient. He was concerned with his descendants and what would come after him but was willing to sacrifice it all when asked to by the Lord. He was gracious to people and generous, which made people also be...

Check out my Biblical Character Study Challenge to do 133 Biographical Studies Reputation  1. Who wrote what we know about this person?  2. What did people say about him? What did his friends say about him?  3. What did his enemies say about him?  4. What did his family (wife, children, brothers, sisters, parents) say about him?  5. What did God say about him?  6. Why do you think God allowed this person to be mentioned in the Bible?  Tests of Character  7. What were his aims and motives?  8. What was he like in his home?  9. How did he respond to failure? Did he get discouraged easily?  10. How did he respond to adversity? Did he handle criticism well?  11. How did he respond to success? Did he get proud when praised?  12. How did he respond to the trivial and mundane things in life? Was he faithful in the little things?  13. How quickly did he praise God for the good or bad things that happened to him?  14. How...

Sermon: John 13:1-20 Jesus Washes the Disciples Feet: Sermon Notes Anecdote : One summer when I was in college, I was working at Beaver Camp and on the weekend we all went to Lowville Mennonite for church.  Some of the people I worked with were Mennonite and the camp was Mennonite so I wanted to see what the church was like instead of staying comfortable in my Pentecostal/Charismatic roots.    So…. the sermon that day was on John 13, just like we are studying together today, where Jesus washes His disciples feet and tells them that they should do likewise.   Unlike today, after the sermon, everyone paired up male with male and female with female and went single file into a small room off of the sanctuary and washed one another’s feet.  It was a powerful and memorable thing that sticks with me now 20+ years later.   My brain was swirling with thoughts: “I’m glad I took a shower this morning.” “It’s been really hot, I wonder how badly my feet smell.” “I ...