FOCUS OF THE MONTH
Starting over again with the God of another chance
SCRIPTURE OF THE WEEK
(2) Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. (3) So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days’ journey. — Jonah 3:2-3 (KJV) (ESV)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Sister Cornelia Booker – January 7 – Class 06
Sister Annie Faulkner – January 9 – Class 03
Call (605) 472-5694, access code 4558-62#; Reference 24# to listen to a review of these lessons.
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Overview/Theme:
Sunday – Jesus came to this world while we were in ruins. However, He left us rejoicing together over the victory at the old rugged cross and gave us our freedom from sin.
Monday – No matter what our past lives have been or what others may even think about us now, God sees our heart. He’s able to use ordinary men to do extraordinary work for His Kingdom. Are we willing to yield and thankfully serve Him?
Tuesday – We as humans have a tendency to worry about everything. However, being a child of God teaches us to cast our cares on Him. Let’s begin to seek the alternative to worry and trust God to sustain us in difficult times.
Wednesday –Jesus may not always respond to our desperate cry at the time we want; however, He’s still the I AM. Let’s trust His presence.
Thursday – In our quest to win souls to Jesus, we must not be partial toward anyone. Our welcoming God opens His arms wide to whosoever believes in the Lord, Jesus Christ.
Friday – God’s love compasses us about. His infinite dimensions protect us in all circumstances of life. Continue to rejoice in the victory won at Calvary, meditate on the vastness of God’s love and trust Him to keep us day by day.
Saturday–
***The English Standard Version (ESV) stands in the classic mainstream of English Bible translations over the past half-millennium. The fountainhead of that stream was William Tyndale’s New Testament of 1526; marking its course were the King James Version of 1611 (KJV), the English Revised Version of 1885 (RV), the American Standard Version of 1901 (ASV), and the Revised Standard Version of 1952 and 1971 (RSV). In that stream, faithfulness to the text and vigorous pursuit of accuracy were combined with simplicity, beauty, and dignity of expression. Our goal has been to carry forward this legacy for a new century.
To this end each word and phrase in the ESV has been carefully weighed against the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, to ensure the fullest accuracy and clarity and to avoid under-translating or overlooking any nuance of the original text. The words and phrases themselves grow out of the Tyndale-King James legacy, and most recently out of the RSV, with the 1971 RSV text providing the starting point for our work. Archaic language has been brought to current usage and significant corrections have been made in the translation of key texts. But throughout, our goal has been to retain the depth of meaning and enduring language that have made their indelible mark on the English-speaking world and have defined the life and doctrine of the church over the last four centuries.
The ESV is an “essentially literal” translation that seeks as far as possible to capture the precise wording of the original text and the personal style of each Bible writer. It seeks to be transparent to the original text, letting the reader see as directly as possible the structure and meaning of the original. More about the ESV translation philosophy….***
Monday, January 7, 2019 – An Ordinary Man – 1 Samuel 16:1-7
Focus: God sees the hearts of ordinary people. No matter what others think about us, allow God to use us to do extraordinary work for His Kingdom.
Scripture(s): Jeremiah 29:11; 1 Chronicles 28:9-10; Judges 6:11-16
Tuesday, January 8, 2019 – An Alternative to Worry – Matthew 6:25-34
Focus: An alternative to worry is to cast our cares on the Lord. Trust Him to teach us how to take action and sustain us in difficult times.
Scripture(s): Proverbs 3:5-6; Psalm 55:22; Psalm 56:3, 4, 11; 1 Peter 5:6-10
Wednesday, January 9, 2019 – What Kind of Savior Is He? – John 6:47-51, 60-66
Focus: Jesus may not always respond to our desperate cry at the time we want, however, He is still the I Am that I Am. Trust Him!
Scripture(s): John 3:16, 18, 36; Psalm 42:6-11
Thursday, January 10, 2019 – Our Welcoming God – Acts 10:34-38
Focus: We must never be partial toward anyone. Our welcoming God opens His arms to whosoever believes in Jesus Christ.
Scripture(s): Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 9:38-40; Romans 14:10-13, 17-19
Friday, January 11, 2019 – Infinite Dimensions – Ephesians 3:16-21
Focus: God’s love compasses us about. His infinite dimensions protect us in all circumstances of life. Trust Him and meditate on the vastness of His love.
Scripture(s): Romans 8:31-39
Thoughts from Sister Clovia Thompson –
Studying, Doing and Teaching the Word of God
Our governing scripture for the 5AM Ministry is, 2 Timothy 2:15. We study to show that we are committed to connect to God daily. At the onset of this New Year, let us go deeper in our commitment and do what Ezra did in Ezra 7:10 “For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.”
Ezra 7:10 is one of the Bible’s best summaries of what it means to be a faithful servant of God’s Word. This is a wonderful verse to enhance our Bible study. There are three things Ezra was committed to do and he had them in the proper order. Ezra had his heart set on studying, doing and teaching the Word of God. This was his heart’s commitment, the direction of his life, and the intention of his soul. Ezra is telling us in this verse: “5 AM members don’t just do it; 5AM members, study it, do it and teach it!”
Let’s set our hearts to do the Word of God. By doing that we will live the Word that we study. What good is it to study the Bible unless we also live it?
“My friends, make time for God every day so He will have time for you.”— Sister Clovia