The church of Christ on McDermott Road

The illusion of supreme happiness is always before us. We might think, after we eat a delicious meal, “I can now die a happy man,” but soon we forget that satisfied feeling and we are hungry again. The preacher of Ecclesiastes discovered the “hevel” of every pleasurable pursuit. It seems like there ought to be something that satisfies […]

The Preacher of Ecclesiastes applied himself to observing the world to figure out how it all works. You might say he become a philosopher and was determined to understand, “wisdom and knowledge” as well as “madness and folly.” But even in that pursuit there was frustration and sorrow, because human wisdom is also “hevel.” The more you think […]

We have all experienced the frustration of seeing how things should be, but when we reach out and try to grab our expectations they often disappears in our hands like a cloud of smoke. The Hebrew word for smoke or vapor is “hevel,” and that is how the Preacher of Ecclesiastes describes everything on earth, “all is hevel.” […]

Once again emphasizing the collective nature of the church and the collective responsibility of every Christian, Paul says that every saint should be equipped “for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” No congregation should see itself as having only one, or even a handful of “ministers.” Ministers are not just paid staff members. […]

Tonight we discuss how Jesus dealt with anger and frustration by talking about him cleansing the temple. What does the cleansing of the temple teach us about Jesus? What does the cleansing of the temple teach us about the right way (or the wrong way) to get angry? This will be the final lesson in […]

Similar to his point in Romans 12, Paul again emphasizes that the church is like a body. The Spirit of God dwells in the collective body the way an individual’s spirit dwells in an individual. As the Spirit fills the church, he gives various gifts “for the common good” (vs. 7). So often, when we talk about the […]

If there was any first-century church that needed to be reminded of the collective nature of the church, it was the Corinthian church. They were a divided church and may have even struggled with some individualistic tendencies, living as if their individual behaviors did not impact the rest of the body. Some of the members of the Corinthian […]

Welcome to our Wednesday night class. We are discussing Jesus’ example of humility. What does it mean to humble ourselves the way Jesus humbled himself? What is humility, according to the teachings and example of Jesus?

This is one of the passages in which Paul compares the church to the “body” of Christ. He acknowledges our individuality and our diversity, but says, “We, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another” (vs. 5). In other words, we all belong to each other and not only to ourselves. Our gifts, […]

Our final example of patience is that of the apostle Paul. Describing his life to Timothy, he used words like, “patience” and “endurance.” Paul suffered through imprisonment, stoning, beating, and ridicule from both believers and unbelievers. But he was not surprised that he was mistreated. He understood that suffering goes with the territory, saying, “All who desire to […]

In this lesson, we discuss Jesus’ obedience – how he prioritized his Father’s will above his own. This study’s scripture is Matthew 26:36-46.

Surely David got tired of waiting for Saul’s reign to end. Surely he got tired of being hunted and chased. It must have crossed his mind that if he killed Saul, all of his running would be over and perhaps he could assume the throne even sooner. However, David refused to take a shortcut to God’s promises. He […]

We study Matthew 9 and Luke 15, Jesus eating with “tax collectors and sinners.” We will discuss how Jesus is our example of how to show compassion and to whom we should be sharing compassion.

Faith is all about waiting for the fulfillment of God’s promises, always believing they will be fulfilled….even on days when it seems impossible. Abraham “patiently waited” for God to keep his promises, never seeming to lose hope that God would come through. The writer of Hebrews used the story of Abraham to encourage Christians to “patiently wait,” saying […]

In this lesson, we study Matthew 4, Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. We discuss how Jesus should be our example of endurance and perseverance.

When we think of the story of Job, we may not think of him as being “patient.” After all, he spent much of the story complaining about his situation and insisting he was being treated unfairly. But patience does not require us to remain silent about our situation. Rather, patience requires us to endure and persevere, to stick […]

Jesus did not spend all of his time teaching, preaching, healing, and helping. He had a regular practice of withdrawing to desolate places to pray. When we carry heavy burdens, we need to follow Jesus’ example and carry them to God in prayer.

The Jewish Christians to whom the Hebrew letter was written were suffering persecution. The persecution was causing their faith to waver and many had already abandoned the church. The audience is encouraged to keep their eyes on Jesus, no matter what storms they face, because he is the “pioneer and perfecter” (NIV) of our faith. […]

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (Scripture: John 3:16-21)

Proverbs 29:2 says, “When the wicked rule, the people groan.” The world was groaning under the rule of wicked kings and kingdoms since the beginning of time…but then Jesus came to be king. All heaven and nature are invited now to receive their King and joyfully sing that he “rules the world with truth and grace.” When we […]