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By David Watson

Benchley, August 7, 2011

• Acts 8:26-40
• Was the eunuch a Jew? It’s possible. The scripture does not specifically say.
• He put forth much effort to worship God.
• Acts 8:27-28 – He was traveling several hundred miles to worship God and had acquired scripture to read from on his trip.
• Do we put forth this much effort?
• I Peter 2:2 – We should long for the scripture.
• I Timothy 4:6,13 – We are to be nourished on the words of the faith.
• Romans 3:1
• He was humble.
• II Kings 5:1,13 – Naaman let his pride get in the way of serving God.
• Acts 8:27-30 – The eunuch displayed no arrogance when Philip met him.
• Note: This was not Philip the apostle. He was one of the seven men chosen in Acts 6:5.
• I Timothy 1:6-7 – The Ethiopian did not bluff his knowledge and neither should we.
• He didn’t procrastinate.
• Acts 24:25 – Felix procrastinated when he heard Paul.
• We must not put off serving God. Serve Him today, don’t wait for some perfect time in the future to be spiritual!
• If we serve God we can go on our way rejoicing like the eunuch!

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By Jesse Jenkins

Benchley, July 31, 2011

• I Corinthians 15:19 – Without faith in Christ, life is meaningless.
• Christ came to give real meaning to life.
• Things that do make life worth living:
• Have THE faith to live by
• Romans 1:16; II John 2-4
• Have A faith to live by
• Hebrews 11:6; Acts 15:9; II Peter 2:5; II Peter 1:1-12
• One’s faith is no stronger than the time he spends with the word of God.
• II Corinthians 5:7; Ephesians 4:14 – Do not be tossed about by false doctrine.
• Have a work to live for
• Acts 20:35
• We are to save self, glorify God, and save others.
• Galatians 6:1; Hebrews 4:9,11
• Have a fit self to live with
• True happiness comes from serving God
• John 15:11; Romans 14:22; Acts 16:22-30; 5:41

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By David Watson

Benchley, July 24, 2011

• Jonah: You can’t hide from God.
• Psalms 139:1-12
• Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 – God is aware of everything that we do.
• Matthew 12:36 – God hears every idle word.
• Hebrews 4:13 – Everything is open and laid bare before God.
• I John 1:9-2:2 – We must face what we’ve done and confess.
• Stephen: Be willing to serve.
• Acts 6:1-5 – Stephen chosen to serve.
• Acts 7:51-58 – Stephen stoned for preaching the truth.
• I Timothy 3:1 – Elders must desire the work.
• II Corinthians 8:10-11
• Abraham: Stand on God’s promises.
• John 8:39-40
• Hebrews 11:8-10,17
• Romans 2:6-11 – God promises to render to each of us according to our deeds.

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By Jesse Jenkins

Benchley, June 5, 2011

• I Corinthians 16:13-14 – Act like men!
• II Peter 3:18; 2:1-2
• Hebrews 5:12-14 – There were those among the Hebrews that had not grown as they should.
• II Corinthians 13:5 – Examine yourself.
• Child or man
  • Child:
    • Milk
    • Demands attention
    • Tears over small things
    • Takes blessings for granted
    • Have own way
    • No sense of obligation
    • Self-centered
    • Ask for trifling things
    • No stickability
    • Refuses to admit mistakes
  • Man
    • Meat
    • Needs no applause
    • Weeps only over things that matter
    • Thankful
    • Submit to Christ and others
      • Romans 12:10 – Outdo one another in showing honor.
      • I Corinthians 1:10 – If we submit to one another, we can come to one mind on matters of judgment.
    • Accepts obligation
      • I Corinthians 12:19 – We all have our own part to play.
    • Christ centered
      • Matthew 6:33
      • Philippians 2:4-7 – Look out for the interests of God first so that you can serve Him.
    • Ask for things that matter.
    • Steadfast
      • I Corinthians 15:58
    • Ready to correct mistakes
      • Psalms 51:10-13 – David repents of his sin with Bathsheba
      • James 5:16 – Confess your faults.
      • We all make mistakes. We must have humility to asmit them and make them right.
      • Philippians 3:14-15
• The way to grow
  • II Peter 1:5-12
  • Hebrews 5:14

By David Watson

Benchley, June 1, 2011

[Sorry, no audio for this lesson due to technical difficulties.]

• Mark 9:35 – We are not to try to compete with each other to be first. We are to show humility. This applies even to elders, deacons, and preachers, who are to be servants. We are all ultimately merely servants of God.
• Mark 9:38-40 – This does not authorize any kind of “independent religion,” i.e. “I can be in fellowship without being a member of the church or practicing ‘traditional’ worship.” We must all obey the same commandments from God.
• Mark 9:43-48 – We must do whatever it takes to remove sin from our lives. The message here is figurative, but we must sometimes take drastic measures to get away from sin.
• Mark 9:49 – This could be referring to the purifying effect of persecution.

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By David Watson

Benchley, January 23, 2011

• Education
  • Forgiveness and righteousness lead to life!
    • Romans 6:1-7,21-23; Ephesians 4:20; Colossians 3:4
• Attitude
  • We renew ourselves to be in the likeness of God.
    • Colossians 3:1,10-11; Ephesians 4:23-24; 2:10; Romans 6:11
• Action
  • Serving the Lord!
    • Romans 6:17-18
    • Ephesians 4:32; 5:8-10,15-116; Colossians 3:12-13 – actions we must add to our lives
    • Colossians 4:18 – God wants us to succeed!

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By Jesse Jenkins

Benchley, November 28, 2010

• John the Baptist – Matthew 11:7-11 – Courage
  • Matthew 14 – John the Baptist stands up to Herod
• Nathaniel – John 1:47 – Purity
  • II Corinthians 10:4-6; Colossians 3:17; I John 1:7; I Peter 1:22-23
• Mary – Mark 14:3-9 – Service
• Roman centurion – Matthew 8:5-10 – Unusual faith
  • Mark 5:25-34
• Canaanine woman - Matthew 15:22-28 – Great faith
• Poor widow – Mark 12:43-44 – Sacrificial giving
• Leper – Luke 17:11-19 – Gratitude
• Mary – Luke 10:42 – Spiritual minded
• Whosoever – Matthew 5:17-19 – Do and teach

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By Hal Hammons

Benchley, October 8, 2010

• Why we fly
  • To reach our Savior
    • Christianity is all about Christ; Christ is all about excellence (Colossians 3:1).
    • We lose our lives (Matthew 16:24-25) to adopt His (Galatians 2:20).
  • To reach our potential
    • We should not settle for anything less than our best (Philippians 3:12-16).
    • Our “best”so far isn’t enough (Romans 3:23; Ecclesiastes 7:29).
    • Jesus saves us to change us (Romans 12:1).
    • God helps diligent motivated seekers find His path (Hebrews 11:6).
• Why we fear
  • Too challenging.
    • God’s big blessings require a big effort (I Timothy 4:10).
    • What we should fear is losing our birthright because we were not brave enough to claim it (Hebrews 4:1-3).
  • Too different
    • Getting comfortable in our successes is a reason for change, not inertia (Deuteronomy 32:11).
    • God pushes us to excel, but He is there to catch us when we falter.
• Jesus says, “Come”
  • It’s possible:  Jesus wouldn’t ask something of us we could not deliver (Matthew 14:28-29).
  • It’s taxing:  Jesus will put you to work if you come to Him (Mark 1:17; Ephesians 2:10; John 9:4).
  • It’s costly:  He calls it “a pearl of great price” with reason (Matthew 13:45-46).
  • It’s rewarding:  The rest He provides (Matthew 11:28) is worth the effort.
• Jesus will save
  • We rob ourselves of “walk on water” moments because we doubt His power to see us through (Matthew 14:3031).
  • Jesus will pick us up so we can try again (Philippians 1:6).
• Jesus can calm the sea
  • Jesus may remove our problem, or he may just empower us to deal with it (Philippians 1:12-14).
  • Either way, no storm can separate us from Jesus (Romans 8:38-39).
  • He will shake our house for us today if we ask.

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By Jesse Jenkins

Benchley, September 26, 2010

• II Thessalonians 3:10 – Here is an example of Christians being commanded not to help one who is in need.
• II Thessalonians 3:17 – This may mean that although Paul may have dictated the rest of the epistle to a stenographer, Paul signed the letter with his own hand.
• I Thessalonians 1:9 – We must live to serve God if we are to have a hope of heaven.
• I Thessalonians 4:13-18 – There are few things more comforting to someone who has lost a loved one than this passage.

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By David Watson

Benchley, August 15, 2010

• Nehemiah 8
• They stood up (out of respect)
  • I Thessalonians 2:12
  • Hebrews 3:7-8,12,17; 4:1-2,12
• They listened up (to understand)
  • Nehemiah 8:2; 4:6 – In Nehemiah 4, they had a mind ot work.  In Nehemiah 8, they had a mind to listen.
  • Ephesians 3:4
  • II Timothy 2:15,2
• They lived up (to the standard)
  • Nehemiah 8:6
  • Nehemiah 8:14,17-18 – They started serving God in a way that they hadn’t since the days of Joshua.
  • I Timothy 3:14-15 – We have instruction on how we should live.