I've had an Epiphany!

Art: Elijah Fed by an Angel Artist: Ferdinand Bol Worship Theme: Have you ever faced a frustrating, seemingly impossible task? For Christians, believing all of Jesus’ promises and loving others as he loves us sometimes seems out of the question. In today’s lessons, though, we see how Jesus gives us the ability to fulfill impossible tasks by giving us the Bread of Life. Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing (John 15:5).  But with God, nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37 ). Old Testament: 1 Kings 19:3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah , he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." 5 Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." 6 He looked...

About a month and a half after the Lord miraculously led the Israelites out of Egypt , they came to the Desert of Sin . Just think only 45 days ago they had seen the last of the plagues, the death of the firstborn sons of Egypt , both cattle and people. Only 45 days since the Lord has instructed the Israelites to carry out the Passover meal and put the blood of lamb on the doorposts and beams of their houses to spare the lives of their firstborn from the angel of death. Only 45 days after God’s presence led the Israelites by means of the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. Only 45 days after the Lord miraculously held back the waters of the Red Sea so Israel could cross over on dry ground, and only 45 days after the Lord allowed the waters to return and drown all the chariots and horsemen of Egypt . Exodus 16:2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD's h...

Joker believes in chaos. As the Clown Prince of Crime, he always has some scheme that is completely bonkers. He lives in a world where life has no meaning, so he doesn’t care what kind of suffering he brings. Sometimes he will hurt others just to prove that life has no purpose. No one can protect you. Is the Joker right? Sometimes it’s easy to believe. Look around; there’s all sorts of terrible things happening in the world. Is everything meaningless? Is he right to want to watch the world burn? Is life just a big joke? At one point, the Israelites thought that life was a big joke. They had been taken away from their homes and forced to live far, far away. They had no stability in their lives anymore. And into this chaos, God arrives and he says, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord , “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11) Even in this place, God planned to give them a future. It wasn’t all...

Spider-Man found a way to be bigger and stronger. He got a new outfit! But this wasn’t just some new clothes. His new costume was made of an alien – and the alien was alive! The more Spider-Man wore his new suit, the angrier he got. Spider-Man had to go through a real struggle. What was better: being stronger, or controlling his anger? In the end, he decided it was better to be weaker and gave up that terrible alien suit. But that suit went out and found someone new to wear it. And that new villain was called Venom. The alien suit wanted to rebond with Spider-Man. It offered all the strength that Spider-Man used to have… all he had to do was give in to his anger. Do you ever want to be stronger? It’s not a bad thing to be stronger! But sometimes we need to consider what real strength is. Sometimes when we get angry, we fell stronger. Other people listen to us way more. Sometimes we feel stronger when we’re mean. After all, people obey us and we get to have our way more. ...

Psalm 38:4 My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear. Psalm 32:5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Our theme for Training Camp this year was “Training Camp Assemble.” With the explosion of superhero movies in the last few years, we took the opportunity during Bible study to examine some of the superpowers of these heroes and see what the Bible has to say about them. With Captain America we studied what God has to say about loyalty to the government. We examined how Superman receives strength from the yellow sun and becomes weak around Kryptonite and used that to study the strength of our New Man in Christ and the weakness of our Old Adam in our sinful flesh. We evaluated the differences between righteous anger and sinful anger by analyzing Bruce Banner’s anger which causes him to become the Hulk. We discussed the differen...

Hebrews 13:7-8, 17-21 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. … 17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. 18 Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. 19 I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon. 20 May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. The day after my family and I returned from our Canada trip to watch four...

Lex Luthor loathes Superman. Before Superman came, everyone loved Lex Luthor. He was an inventor and businessman who helped the city of Metropolis so much! But once Superman came, everyone loved him instead. So Lex Luthor became a villain and tried to destroy Superman! Have you ever felt that way? Maybe the teacher liked someone more than you. Maybe your brother or sister got all the attention. Maybe no one ever realizes all the good things you do. Do you ever feel like Lex Luthor? Wait a second! Does that make you a villain and the other person Superman? That’s kind of scary, thinking you might be like a villain, isn’t it? We have this supervillain inside us called the sinful nature. It always wants more. “My stuff!” And it hates it when someone gets what it thinks belongs to it. “The teacher should be giving me that praise! My parents should be giving me that money! My friends should be liking me more!” Lex Luthor never had to hate Superman. They could have team...