The Third Word: Treasure the Name!

This week I continue a study of the 10 Commandments at a website dedicated to the purpose: www.10wordstoliveby.com. This is a small group fellowship and discipleship Bible Study designed for use by our church. I am publishing it on the web in draft form to invite public suggestions and comment. The study and the sermon go together, so if you are in the Indianapolis area, you are cordially invited to attend. However, even if you miss the sermon, a quick read of the lesson for the week and the ten accompanying Discussion Questions may be of interest to readers of this blog. I'll be back to my familiar routine of posting after the 10 Commandments series is wrapped up in 7 more weeks.

(Engraving by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld
[March 26, 1794 - May 24, 1872]

Illustration was published in "Die Bibel in Bildern" [1860].
Scan by Ivan Burmistrov.)

The Third Word: Treasure the Name!

This week our Small Group Fellowship and Bible Study groups take on the commandment that many people think of as the commandment against cussing. However, as we have learned about both the First Commandment and the Second Commandment, there is more at stake for believers in this commandment than appears at first glance. This Third Commandment is also intended to safeguard and preserve our lives. The LORD our God desires a relationship with us that is living and passionate. God wants to be close enough to us that we know his name and call on it frequently. Join us this week as we learn to keep the Third Commandment!

The Second Word: No Images!

(Baal from Ugarit. Image source, http://www.historywiz.com/images/neareast/baal-lg.jpg)

The Second Commandment: No Images!

This week I continue a study of the 10 Commandments at a website dedicated to the purpose: www.10wordstoliveby.com. This is a small group fellowship and discipleship Bible Study designed for use by our church. I am publishing it on the web in draft form to invite public suggestions and comment. The study and the sermon go together, so if you are in the area, you are cordially invited to attend. However, even if you miss the sermon, a quick read of the lesson for the week and the ten accompanying Discussion Questions may be of interest to readers of this blog. I'll be back to my familiar routine of posting after the 10 Commandments series is wrapped up in 8 more weeks.

This week our study groups take on the prohibition against the making of images. This Second Commandment, like the First Commandment, is intended by God to safeguard and preserve our lives. The Second Commandment works by keeping our relationship with God from being stunted and remaining at one stage of development. The Second Commandment provides continued evidence that the LORD our God, the living God, desires a relationship with us that is living and passionate. God wants us fully present in this relationship, not fixated on our own "man-made" ideas and pictures of who God is.

The First Word: No Other Gods!

Finally for this week, I have posted the first full article in the Ten Commandment series with 10 Discussion Questions for small groups. The theme of the study is the "1st Word" (Protestant-Reformed ordering) of God to us: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (KJV)

(Wikimedia Commons, 1768 parchment by Jekuthiel Sofer)

Ten Words to Live By: The Prologue

The first post in my series on the Ten Commandments is an introductory article with 10 Discussion Questions following for small group study.

Now Moses was there with YHWH forty days and forty nights.  He did not eat bread or drink water, but carved the words of the covenant on the tablets, the '10 Words.' (Exodus 34:28; see Deuteronomy 4:13 and 10:4)

Ten Words to Live By: The Ten Commandments for Daily Living

For the next 10 Weeks, I will be publishing a study for small groups on the Ten Commandments on a dedicated web site and will update the links on my blog. The home page for the new study is Ten Words to Live By.

Vanity and Eternity

The contrast between living for ourselves and living for the kingdom is stark. The things that seem to us most substantial are fleeting, no more permanent than the mist that disappears quickly in sunlight. The things that seem to us least substantial--the immaterial things--are eternal. Jesus says to invest in the kingdom for lasting results.


(Image source, http://www.eaglegiftsgalore.net/Papers/Morning%20Mist.gif)