Holy Spirit

Fit for Life: Spiritual Disciplines for Committed Christians – Prayer

/ Bob

In 1 Timothy 4:7-8 we read that we are to train, that is discipline, ourselves for Godliness. Physical training we are familiar with in our body-image culture, but while bodily training is of some value, Godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. Furthermore, we are told in Philippians 2:12-13 that we are to work out our own salvation knowing that it is God Who is at work in us for our sanctification and for His will.

Too often prayer is what we resort to in time of need. We turn to God when the crisis overwhelms us – when we seem to be losing control of our well-ordered world. However, we must discipline ourselves to live in constant, two-way communication with the Father. Then and only then can we face life’s challenges with the peace that only He can provide.

In Sunday’s class, we looked at what prayer is and then we went into a closer look at The Model Prayer of Christ, more often referred to as The Lord’s Prayer. In doing so we dove into the world of 1st Century Jewish thought and practice concerning prayer. The Model Prayer has become so familiar that we fail to see the significance of each phrase and the meaning behind every word. And in failing to see the significance we have become those who Jesus described in the verses just before The Model Prayer – heathen who speak vain repetitions because they think that they will be heard for their many words.  (Matthew 6:7)

This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, June 4, 2023. It is part of a series of Bible study sessions entitled Living the Agape Life – a Bible study curriculum developed by Bob Young with input from the members of the Agape Life Class. Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com .

Handouts are also available at: fromthebackporch.org .

Website – FromTheBackPorch.org

Twitter – From the Back Porch @ nationalfast

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Email – fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com

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Do You Believe in Jesus? Proclaim It!

/ Bob

Philip, one of the seven deacons chosen to administer the food distribution in the early church was a man full of the Spirit. As persecution rose against the church in Jerusalem, Christians left Jerusalem and, in so doing, began the spread the gospel to Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the world. Philip was preaching and performing miraculous signs and wonders in Samaria when he was told by the Spirit to go a desolate place and find an ethiopian eunuch who needed to know the Christ. He did as he was instructed and made the long journey.

The result of his obedience may well have led to the evangelization of the continent of Africa. There is no way of knowing who will be saved when we are obedient to God’s call to proclaim the gospel and there is no way of knowing how far reaching that proclamation will live on long after we have done our part. God knows and that is why He leads us in the first place.

May we always be responsive to the call of God on our lives – the call to trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior; the call to serve Him with our lives; the call to proclaim His Name to all we meet. Furthermore, may we always be diligent to study His Word so that we can rightly handle it and use it in that proclamation and may we always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks us the reason for the hope that is in us. (1 Peter 3:15)

Next week “We’re Off on the Road to Damascus” as we remember the conversion of the Apostle Paul.

This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, May 22, 2022. It is part of a series of Bible study sessions from The Gospel Project – a Bible study curriculum developed by Lifeway Christian Resources. Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com

Website – FromTheBackPorch.org

Twitter – From the Back Porch @ nationalfast

Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas

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Trusting Christ in Life and Death

/ Bob

Christ is trustworthy in every aspect of life. He gives us power to live and grace to die when the time comes. No where in scripture is this more evident than in the life of Stephen, one of the first seven deacons in the early church. It was said of Stephen that he was “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 6:8 offers this description of Stephen: “Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed amazing miracles and signs among the people.” This was a man who knew how to live.

He lived his life boldly in the power of the Spirit who filled him. And he spoke boldly, even in the face of extreme opposition. The evidence of the filling of the Spirit in the members of the early was that they “spoke the word of God boldly.” (Acts 4:31) When Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, spoke things happened – big things – explosive things – violent things – deadly things. He was stoned to death for his words spoken in the fullness and power of the Spirit.

And that’s when Stephen showed us how to die. In that moment when the storm was raging all around him, he looked up and saw heaven and Jesus ready to receive him. His death just a few moments later was met with peace and the calm assurance that he was releasing his very spirit into the hands of his Master, His Lord, His Savior.

Stephen knew that Jesus could be trusted in life and in death and lived his life boldly as the Spirit filled him and led him. And that same indwelling Holy Spirit gave him grace to die boldly. We are in a life and death situation every day. May we experience the same boldness in living and dying as we go forth “full of faith and the Holy Spirit.”

This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, May 1, 2022. It is part of a series of Bible study sessions from The Gospel Project – a Bible study curriculum developed by Lifeway Christian Resources. Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com

Website – FromTheBackPorch.org

Twitter – From the Back Porch @ nationalfast

Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas

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Transformed by the Spirit – Part 2

/ Bob

In the second chapter of Acts we are told of the birthday of the church. 120 followers of Jesus were gathered together as Jesus had instructed them to do. Then, with the sound of a violent, rushing wind the fire of the Spirit entered into the room and rested on each of those gathered there. In response to the commotion, people came to find out what was going on. What happened next amazed them. The followers of Jesus began to speaking to them about Christ, but in the languages of those who came to see what was going on. Well over a dozen different languages were heard by the people who spoke those languages. Sometimes the word “awesome” is used almost in a trite way, but this was an AWESOME display of the Spirit’s power.

There were those who scoffed and even accused the disciples of being drunk. I personally have never been around someone who got drunk and then started speaking fluently in a foreign language that they did not previously know, but when you’re trying to explain something away you’ll grasp at anything. Peter responded to them with the first sermon ever preached at church. God’s Spirit spoke through him and moved those who heard. The church grew from 120 to over 3,000 that day. Hallelujah.

Today’s lesson focused on Acts 2:41-47 – the characteristics of that first church. They learned from the teaching of the apostles. They ate together. They prayed. They shared their faith and they shared their money and belongings, helping out any of the group who were in need. We as individual Christians must follow their example by praying and worshiping; reading and studying God’s Word; fellowshiping with other believers and helping them in any way we can; and sharing our faith with those around us. And we as the church must also be worshiping and praying; reading and studying God’s Word; fellowshiping together; and sharing our faith and resources with the community in which we have been planted. This is what the first church did and the Lord added to their number DAILY those who were saved. God gave us the blueprints for the church. The first church followed the plan. So should we.

Next week we will move into Acts 3 to see how the Spirit moved through the apostles as they moved about in the city.

This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, March 20, 2022. It is part of a series of Bible study sessions from The Gospel Project – a Bible study curriculum developed by Lifeway Christian Resources. Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com

Website – FromTheBackPorch.org

Twitter – From the Back Porch @ nationalfast

Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas

Transformed by the Spirit – Part One

/ Bob

Following His resurrection Jesus was with His disciples and “He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise. ‘Which,’ he said, ‘you have heard me speak about; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit in a few days.’” (Acts 1:4-5) Shavuot was only 10 days away and they did as Jesus had commanded them – they waited.

Shavuot is a celebration of the day that God gave the Torah to His people on Mt. Sinai. It occurs 7 weeks after the first day of Passover. The Greek term used for this celebration is Pentecost which means fiftieth – the 50th day after Passover and our Christian Pentecost is the 50th day after Easter. It is so fitting that the One Who gave the Law on Mt. Sinai on Shavuot would also give us the Holy Spirit on the same day. It was a fulfillment of the promise made to the nation of Israel in Jeremiah 31:31-33:

“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

At Pentecost the very Spirit of God filled His believers, transferring the written Law of God into a personal understanding of Who He Is and who we are in Him. Jesus said that He did not come to abolish the law, but rather to fulfill the law. (Matthew 5:17) He fulfilled the law on the Cross and He completed the full purpose of the law by giving us His Spirit to guide us into all truth including the truth of the law and the truth of grace. Acts 2 marks a new beginning for God’s people – an opportunity to live intimately with the One Who Was and Is and Evermore Shall Be.

Next week we will continue to look into Acts 2 – the Birthday of the Church – to see what this new beginning means for us in the here and now.

This Bible study was presented to the Agape Life Bible Study Class of the First Baptist Church in Brenham, Texas, on Sunday, March 13, 2022. It is part of a series of Bible study sessions from The Gospel Project – a Bible study curriculum developed by Lifeway Christian Resources. Handouts with slide content can be requested at: fromthebackporchintexas@gmail.com

Website – FromTheBackPorch.org

Twitter – From the Back Porch @ nationalfast

Facebook – From the Back Porch in Texas