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Apr 13
8

This Week’s Catechism – 4/7

Doctrinal Standard #63

  • Q. What is the fifth commandment?
  • A. The fifth commandment is: Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

Memory Verses

  • Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old (Proverbs 23:22, ESV)

Scripture

  • Study Passage: Mark 7:1-23
  • Support Passages: Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16; Ephesians, 6:1-4; Matthew 15:1-20; Proverbs 23:22-25; I Timothy 5:1-2; Romans 13:8-10
  • Bible Story: John 19:26-27

Thoughts

  • “The first authority we have over us is our parents’ authority. As we grow, we find other kinds of authority we must honor as well. All human beings are required, first of all, to fear God. He is the Creator and the King of all things and we owe Him complete respect and obedience. In all areas of life, God has established authorities we must honor. God gives certain people the task of providing for and protecting others. Parents provide for and protect their children. Husbands provide for and protect their citizens and pastors and elders provide for and protect their churches.
  • These people cannot do the tasks God has given them to do if they must constantly argue with those who are under their care about what is best. So God has given them authority. The people under them are to respect them and obey them. People in authority are always right. But, unless they command us to disobey God, we must respect and obey them. When we fail to show respect for authority, we show disrespect for God, who put certain people in positions of authority.” [1]
  • “In concluding our discussion of the fifth commandment, we note that it contains ‘a promise of long life and prosperity (as far as it shall serve for God’s glory, and their own good,) to all such as keep this commandment.’ We have seen that this commandment is not primarily concerned with individuals. We are not to think, then, that every individual who strives to keep this commandment will enjoy a long life. We are rather to understand this commandment to mean that preservation of God’s covenant people as a continuing community will depend upon their fidelity to this command. In other words, when we (as God’s covenant people) live under a strong sense of God-given authority (in family, Church, and nation) we will be preserved by the Lord. But when we become careless and indifferent about this principle of God-given authority, the result will be the loss of those blessings which can be ours only when these institutions are strong. When parents no longer teach their children to obey them, for example, it is no surprise that they grow up to have little or no respect for those who hold office in Church or state. When family fails, the Church is weakened, and the nation struggles to control the violence of its citizens.” [2]

Discussion Questions

  • What is the fifth commandment?
  • The command is to honor your father and mother. What does it mean to honor someone?
  • In addition to honoring your father and mother, who else are we called to honor?
  • Why does honoring your parents prepare you to honor others in authority?
  • If you struggle to honor your parents, what does this revel about your heart towards God? Explain. What needs to be done?
  • The fifth commandment has a promise attached to it. What is the promise? Is this promise for individuals or for the greater community of faith? (See third point in “Discussion” section).

[1] Meade, Starr (2000). Training Heart, Teaching Minds. Phillipsburg, New Jersey, USA; P&R Publishing Company.

[2] Williamson, C.I. (2003). The Westminster Shorter Catechism – 2nd Edition. Phillipsburg, New Jersey, USA; P&R Publishing Company.

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Mar 13
25

This Week’s Catechism – WSC #62

Doctrinal Standard #62

  • Q. What are the reasons for the fourth commandment?
  • A. The reasons for the fourth commandment are these: God allows us six days of the week to take care of our own affairs; He claims the seventh day as His own; He set the example; and He blesses the Sabbath.

Memory Verses

  • “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9,ESV).

Scripture

  • Study Passage: Exodus 20:8-11
  • Support Passages: Deuteronomy -15, Genesis 2:2-3; John 20-21; Hebrews 4
  • Bible Story: John 20:11-18

Thoughts

  • Prior to the giving of the Law, we find the first Sabbath established by God. In six days God created and on the seventh day he rested. God had provided an example and established a pattern of life that mankind should follow.
  • Not only did God model the Sabbath principal for mankind to live out each week, he also uses the Sabbath as tactile lesson that teaches us about Christ, eternity, and the great love he has for us. For six days we are to toil, sweat, and battle with the temporal, mundane, sinful thing of this world.  God has given us one day to free and release us of these obligations. In other words, the Sabbath is to give us a “taste” of eternity in paradise. It’s that sense of joy and freedom at the end of the work week that Sabbath serves as a reminder of what eternity awaits but much more magnificent. If we are not intentional we can easily miss this great blessing and miss the opportunity to teach our children through the very day that the Lord provided.
  • Another unique aspect about the Sabbath is that the Lord has only partially fulfilled this feast of the Lord. The atonement of Jesus Christ fulfilled the Sabbath in that we have rest from our work to gain righteousness before God but we have not fully entered into his eternal rest. While we are righteous and forgiven of our sins we still have a sin nature. We are still called to put away the sin in our lives. We still have work to be done in our sanctification. Therefore, we have not fully entered into the Sabbath rest which Jesus has paid in full. Once the new kingdom of our Lord is consummated, we will then enter into the full Sabbath rest that Jesus has provided.
  • Hebrews chapter 4 is a good chapter on this topic.

Discussion Questions

  • How many days did God give us to do work? How many days to rest and worship?
  • When was the first Sabbath practiced?
  • What does the Sabbath give us a glimpse of?
  • How has Jesus fulfilled the Sabbath?
  • How has the Sabbath not been fulfilled?  When will it all be fulfilled?
  • Read Hebrews 4 and discuss what you observe.
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Mar 13
18

Catechism Insight – Doctrinal Standard WSC #60 & 61

Doctrinal Standard #60-61

  • Q. How do we keep the Sabbath holy?
  • A. We keep the Sabbath holy by resting the whole day from worldly affairs or recreations, even ones that are lawful on other days. Except for necessary works or acts of mercy we should spend all our time publicly and privately worshipping God.
  • Q. What does the fourth commandment forbid?
  • A. The fourth commandment forbids failing to do or carelessly doing what we are supposed to do. It also forbids treating the day as unholy by loafing, by doing anything in itself sinful, or by unnecessary thinking, talking about, or working on our worldly affairs or recreations.

Memory Verses

  • “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; 2 to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night” (Psalm 92:1–2, ESV).

Scripture

  • Study Passage: Acts 20:6-12
  • Support Passages: Exodus 16:22-30; Psalm 92; Isaiah 66:23; Luke 4:16; Leviticus 23:3; Ezekiel 23:36-39; Colossians 3:16-17
  • Bible Story: Nehemiah 13:15-22

Thoughts

  • “8. The Sabbath is kept holy to the Lord by those who, after the necessary preparation of their hearts and prior arranging of their common [ordinary or domestic] affairs, observe all day a holy rest from their own works, words and thoughts about their worldly employment and ­recreations,30 and give themselves over to the public and private acts of worship for the whole time, and to carrying out duties of necessity and mercy.”[1]  Isa 58.13; Neh 13.15-22. Matt 12.1-13.
  • “When the catechism speaks of ‘worldly employments and recreations,’ it simply means those things that God calls us to do on the six days of the week appointed for this purpose. These things are the things that we do to fulfil our task in the world – the task that we will one day lay down never to resume, because it is appointed to us to die and then be judged.” [2]

Discussion Questions

  • What type of things should we avoid on the Sabbath?
  • What things should we do on the Sabbath?
  • Why do you think God gave mankind a Sabbath?
  • Do you think the Sabbath is a curse or a gift for man? Explain
  • God tells us in six days we shall do our work. What does this teach us about procrastination?

 


[1] Masters, Peter (1982). The Baptist Confession of Faith 1689 – Notes by Peter Masters. Ashland, Ohio, USA; BookMasters, Inc.

[2] Williamson, C.I. (2003). The Westminster Shorter Catechism – 2nd Edition. Phillipsburg, New Jersey, USA; P&R Publishing Company.

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Posted in Devotional Thoughts, C.I. Williamson, Fourth Commandment, London Baptist Confession of Faith 1689, Lord's Day, Sabbath, Westminster Shorter Catechism, Family Devotional Guidelines, Phil Anady, Acts 20, Nehemiah 13, Psalm 92, Posted by Phil. No Comments

Mar 13
10

Catechism Insight – Doctrinal Standard WSC #58 & 59

Doctrinal Standard #58-59

  • Q. What does the fourth commandment require?
  • A. The fourth commandment requires us to set apart to God the times He has established in His word – specifically one whole day out of every seven as a holy Sabbath to Him.
  • Q. Which day of the week has God designated as the Sabbath?
  • A. From the beginning of the world until the resurrection of Christ God established the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath. From that time until the end of the world the first day of the week is the Christian Sabbath.

Memory Verses

  • “For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:7–8,ESV).

Scripture

  • Study Passage: Romans 14:1-12
  • Support Passages: Deuteronomy 5:12-14; Genesis 2:2-3; I Corinthians 16:1-2; Acts 20:7; Revelation 1:10
  • Bible Story: Numbers 15:32-36

Thoughts

  • The London Baptist Confession of Faith 1689 provides some insight to this command to keep the Sabbath. The excerpt below is from chapter 20 section 7 and 8 of the LBC with brief comments from Peter Masters.
  • “7. As it is the law of nature that in general a proportion of time, by God’s appointment, should be set apart for the worship of God, so He has given in His Word a positive, moral and perpetual commandment, binding upon all men, in all ages to this effect. He has particularly appointed one day in seven for a sabbath to be kept holy for Him.28 From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ this was the last day of the week, and from the resurrection of Christ it was changed to the first day of the week and called the Lord’s Day.29 This is to be continued until the end of the world as the Christian Sabbath, the observation of the last day of the week having been abolished. 28 Exod 20.8. 29 1 Cor 16.1-2; Acts 20.7; Rev 1.10.8. The Sabbath is kept holy to the Lord by those who, after the necessary preparation of their hearts and prior arranging of their common [ordinary or domestic] affairs, observe all day a holy rest from their own works, words and thoughts about their worldly employment and ­recreations, 30 and give themselves over to the public and private acts of worship for the whole time, and to carrying out duties of necessity and mercy.”30 Isa 58.13; Neh 13.15-22. 31 Matt 12.1-13. [1]

Discussion Questions

  • What does the 4th commandment require?
  • What should our Sabbath day consist of?
  • What day does the catechism say the Sabbath should be observed?
  • What was significant about the first day of the week that would make the day change?
  • How is this command related to the first three commands of the Ten Commandments?

[1] Masters, Peter (1982). The Baptist Confession of Faith 1689 – Notes by Peter Masters. Ashland, Ohio, USA; BookMasters, Inc.

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Posted in Devotional Thoughts, Fourth Commandment, Lord's Day, Sabbath, Westminster Shorter Catechism, Family Devotional Guidelines, Numbers 15, Romans 14, Posted by Phil. No Comments

Mar 13
4

Catechism Insight – Doctrinal Standard WSC #57

Doctrinal Standard #57

  • Q. What is the fourth commandment?
  • A. The fourth commandment is: Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Memory Verses

  • “And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27–28,ESV).

Scripture

  • Study Passage: Exodus 31:12-18
  • Support Passages: Exodus 20:8-11; Deuteronomy 5:12-15; Hebrews 4:1-10; Ezekiel 20:10-13; Genesis 2:1-3; Isaiah 58:13-14; Jeremiah 17:19-27; Matthew 12:1-14
  • Bible Story: Matthew 12:1-14

Thoughts

  • There is some debate and confusion over the Sabbath and its place in the Christian’s life. Lord willing, within the next couple months, there will be a couple sermons dedicated to studying and presenting the biblical view of the Sabbath and how it applies to Christians.
  • The catechism insists and the scriptures support that the fourth commandment to keep the Sabbath is a moral law. There are a couple reasons for this conclusion. “(1) The first reason is that the Sabbath is a creation ordinance. This means that this commandment did not come in at some later time in history, after many people had already lived and died. (We note that this was the case with the civil and ceremonial laws of Israel.) We know this because Genesis 2:2-3 clearly states the fact that God created the world in the space of six days, and then rested. Since man was made in God’s image, it was for man’s benefit that God ‘blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it’ (Gen. 2:3). It is sometimes said that the Sabbath commandment does not go back to the time of creation. Yet the commandment itself (Ex. 20:11) says that we are to remember the Sabbath because ‘in six days the Lord made heaven and earth… and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.’ The commandment itself claims a creation origin. Therefore, we hold that it is binding for all men in all ages. (2) The second reason for saying that this commandment is moral is the fact that God wrote all Ten Commandments on two tables of stone (Ex. 31:18). God gave all the other laws and commandments to Israel through the hand of Moses. But these ten were given by His own hand. So God himself made a distinction between these Ten Commandments and all other laws. He showed us that these ten belong in a class by themselves. Since few will deny that most of these laws are moral (Binding everyone everywhere), it would require very strong evidence to prove that this commandment is not moral. This we do not have. (3) The third reason for saying that this commandment is moral is the fact that the New Testament nowhere teaches us that this commandment is abrogated. Or, in other words, the New Testament does not say that we have no Sabbath today. Jesus, speaking of the Ten Commandments, said, ‘Think not that I am come to destroy [or abrogate] the law… I am not’ (Matt. 5:17). Paul says, ‘Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law’ (Rom. 3:31). This is the constant teaching of the New Testament: the Ten Commandments of God do remain in effect. No doubt this is the reason why the early Christians Church kept a day holy to the Lord. It was the first day of the week (Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1, 19; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2) which was observed as the Sabbath.” [1]

Discussion Questions

  • Read the 4th commandment from both Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5. What two things does the Sabbath require?
  • Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). Jesus seems to suggest that the Sabbath is a gift to mankind. Discuss your thoughts.
  • What are three biblical reasons why the Sabbath still applies to Christians? (Refer to thoughts section).

[1] Williamson, C.I. (2003). The Westminster Shorter Catechism – 2nd Edition. Phillipsburg, New Jersey, USA; P&R Publishing Company.

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Posted in Devotional Thoughts, 4th Commandment, C.I. Williamson, Creation, Law, Lord's Day, Sabbath, Westminster Shorter Catechism, Family Devotional Guidelines, Phil Anady, Exodus 20, Exodus 31, Mark 2, Matthew 12, Posted by Phil. No Comments

Feb 13
25

Catechism Insight – Doctrinal Standard WSC #55 & 56

Doctrinal Standard #55-56

  • Q. What does the third commandment forbid?
  • A. The third commandment forbids our treating as unholy or abusing anything God uses to make Himself known.
  • Q. What is the reason for the third commandment?
  • A. The reason for the third commandment is that the Lord our God will not allow those who break this commandment to escape His righteous judgment, although they may escape punishment from men.

Memory Verses

  • “And if you swear, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness, then nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory” (Jeremiah 4:2,ESV).

Scripture

  • Study Passage: James 3:1-12
  • Support Passages: Isaiah 26:8,29:13; Matthew 5:33-37,23:16-23,26:63-64; James 5:12, Malachi 1:6-14,2:2,3:13-15; Jeremiah 7:4-11,30-34; Proverbs 30:9; Deuteronomy 18:10-14; 2 Timothy 4:3-4
  • Bible Story: Leviticus 24:10-16

Thoughts

  • “We saw in the last question and answer that, when God commands us not to misuse His name, He is concerned with our attitude toward Him. The third commandment covers more than just our attitude toward God’s name. It also requires a reverent attitude toward everything God uses to make Himself known. We saw in the last question and answer that God makes Himself known to us through all things: His names, titles, and attributes, His regulations for coming to Him and for growing in godliness, His Word, and His works.
  • This third commandment requires us to use all these things to grow in our knowledge of God and in our obedience to Him. It requires us not only to use these things, but to use them with reverence. At the same time, of course, there are things this commandment forbids. We are forbidden to show irreverence, or disrespect, to any of the things God has given to make Himself known to us. God forbids us to treat these things as though they were ordinary things. We must treat them as holy. We may not abuse these things or fail to use them as God intended them to be used. God insists that we honor Him as He ought to be honored.
  • We are to use God’s Word and use it reverently. Sometimes, children who have grown up in Christian families, attending Christian churches, behave as though they are tired of God’s Word. Instead of bringing their Bibles with them to use them in a Sunday school class, they do not even want to use one the teacher lends them. They excuse themselves by saying things like, ‘I already know this.’ Such children show disrespect for God’s Word.
    People also misuse God’s Word by using verses from it to teach things it really does not teach. These people use one or two verses instead of using all of God’s Word. They make those verses say things God never intended His Word to say. The apostle Peter wrote about Paul’s epistles, which are a part of the Word of God. He spoke about people who were making Paul’s letters say things they did not really say. Read what he said about such people in 2 Peter 3:16. People also misuse God’s Word when they call their own opinions ‘the word of the Lord.’ People will say things like, ‘The Lord told me to do that,’ or ‘God spoke to me.’ They are really talking about a feeling or an opinion that they have had. God has told us everything He has to say to us in the Bible. He does not speak in any other way.” [1]

Discussion Questions

  • What does the third commandment forbid?
  • What are the different ways God makes himself known?
  • How could people abuse or treat these things as unholy?
  • Have you every abused or treated these things as unholy?
  • What does this reveal about your heart?
  • If we find ourselves sinning in this area what should we do to correct this?

[1] Meade, Starr (200). Training Heart, Teaching Minds. Phillipsburg, New Jersey, USA; P&R Publishing Company.

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Posted in Devotional Thoughts, Law, Third Commandment, Training Hearts Teaching Minds, West, Family Devotional Guidelines, Phil Anady, James 3, Jeremiah 4, Leviticus 24, Posted by Phil. No Comments

Feb 13
18

Catechism Insight – Doctrinal Standard WSC #53 & 54

Doctrinal Standard #53-54

  • Q. What is the third commandment?
  • A. The third commandment is: You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
  • Q. What does the third commandment require?
  • A. The third commandment requires the holy and reverent use of God’s names, titles, qualities, regulations, word, and works.

Memory Verses

  • Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock” (Isaiah 26:4, ESV).

Scripture

  • Study Passage: Jeremiah 23:5-6
  • Support Passages: Exodus 6:3; Psalm 83:18; Genesis 22:14; Judges 6:24; Psalm 68:4; Philippians 2:9-11
  • Bible Story: Exodus 17

Thoughts

  • “’O Lord, our Lord,’ says the Psalmist, ‘how excellent is thy name in all the earth’ (Ps. 8:1). What the Psalmist means is that God’s name is not a mere word – not an empty title. No, God’s name means something. And it means something because God has revealed his name in all the earth. The whole world is a revelation of the meaning of God’s name. Just as the name Rembrandt has meaning because of His works of creation and providence. We do not really know God’s name, in other word, until we learn His fame! This is what Jesus meant when he said, ‘I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world’ (John 17:6). Jesus revealed God the father to the disciples. This He did by doing the great works of God before them. From this we see that God’s name really includes everything that reveals God as He records for us, without error, the revelation that God has made of himself. Names such as Lord, Father, Creator, etc., are a part of that revelation. So are titles, such as omnipotent, Counselor, Comforter, etc. We learn that God is holy, merciful, just, etc. And we hear His word, and (through the record of Scripture) learn of His works. All of these help us to understand what it means to say God, or Lord. It is when we learn to know God as He really is, and then speak His name, that we begin to understand what this commandment is concerned to teach us.
  • The popular view is that a man takes God’s name in vain only when he uses that name in a profane manner. We say that God’s name is taken in vain when men swear or curse. And, of course, this is an example of taking God’s name in vain. People will sometimes excuse themselves on the grounds that they do not really mean it when they use God’s name this way. They will say they do not even realize that they are using God’s name – they do it without even thinking. But this is the very thing that the third commandment condemns. The word ‘vain’ means exactly this: carelessly or without thought. It means to use a very important word as if it had no high and holy meaning.
    But let us imagine that this is all that the third commandment teaches us! No, in order to understand the meaning of this commandment more clearly we need to ask a question. What does it mean to take God’s name? Literally it means to ‘lift up’ that name. It means that we lift up the name of God and identify ourselves with Him. We can illustrate this by thinking of what a woman does when she marries. She takes her husband’s name. If she really means it when she takes her marriage vows, she takes her husband’s name permanently (‘till death do us part,’ she will say). She does not take his name in vain! In a similar way, a Christian will confess his faith before men. He will vow – or swear – before men that he takes Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. And it is this, above all, that the third commandment is concerned with. We must be certain  – when we confess our faith – that we really mean it. We must be certain that we do not take His name in vain! ‘Be not rash with thy mouth,’ says the Bible, ‘and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth; therefore let thy words be few… When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou has vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay’ (Eccl. 5:2, 4-5). It is so easy to go through the motions, and say the words, without deep sincerity of heart! It is easy to have the form of godliness, while denying power thereof!” [1]

Discussion Questions

  • What is the third commandment? Read it from either Deuteronomy 5 or Exodus 20.
  • What does it mean to take the Lord’s name in vain?
  • What does God’s name represent?
  • How is saying that you are a Christian but living like the world taking the Lord’s name in vain?
  • How is just going through the motions while singing, praying, reading, or listening to God’s word also taking the Lord’s name in vain? Explain.
  • What does this reveal about our heart?
  • What  do we do to help overcome this sin problem?

 


[1] Williamson, C.I. (2003). The Westminster Shorter Catechism – 2nd Edition. Phillipsburg, New Jersey, USA; P&R Publishing Company.

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Feb 13
11

Catechism Insight – Doctrinal Standard WSC #52

Doctrinal Standard #52

  • Q. What are the reasons for the second commandment?
  • A. The reasons for the second commandment are that God totally rules over us, that we belong to Him, and that He is eager to be worshipped correctly.

Memory Verses

  • “The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down into silence. 18 But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 115:17–18, ESV).

Scripture

  • Study Passage: Psalm 115
  • Support Passages: Exodus 20:5, Deuteronomy 4:24, 5:9, 6:14-15, Exodus 34:10-17, James 4:5
  • Bible Story: John 2:13-17

Thoughts

  • “God totally rules over all He has created, which means He totally rules over us. Kings have the right to command their subjects to approach them in the way that they desire. How much more does God, the King of all, have the right to tell His subjects how He wants them to worship! Beyond that, we, who are God’s people through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, have committed ourselves to serving Him forever as our Lord and Master. We are to be eager to serve Him. We should be glad that He has told us how to worship Him so that we can do as He wills.”
  • “Because God made all things, all things belong to Him. That includes us. Because God bought His people for Himself with the blood of His Son, we doubly belong to Him. We belong to Him because He made us and because He bought us for Himself. God has the right to do as He pleases with us, His creatures. When He tells us how to come to Him in worship, we are to obey Him.”
  • “The reasons for the second commandment are that God totally rules over us, that we belong to Him, and the He is eager to be correctly worshipped. God is eager to be worshiped because He is worthy of worship and because the highest good for man is to worship God. God is eager to be worshiped correctly because worship that is other than what He has commanded harms man and insults God. As the Israelites prepared to enter the land God had promised them, God told them that He would make them able to drive out the people who had been living there. This was because those people served other gods. Their worship of idols was extremely offensive to God. He warned the Israelites that, when they entered the Promised Land, they must destroy all the idols and places of worship these people had used. They must not leave anything that might tempt them to worship the true God incorrectly.” [1]

Discussion Questions

  • Does God rule over all mankind? Explain.
  • In addition to being created by God, why do Christians belong to God?
  • Why is God eager to be worshiped?
  • Is your heart eager to worship God? Explain.
  • Explain how God desires to be worshiped.

[1] Meade, Starr (200). Training Heart, Teaching Minds. Phillipsburg, New Jersey, USA; P&R Publishing Company.

Posted in Devotional Thoughts, Catechism, Family Devotional Guidelines, Phil Anady, John 2, Psalm 115, Posted by Phil. No Comments

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