Concordia Adult Bible Class

During the holidays, there are parties to attend and presents to buy and relatives to visit and too many things to do! The stress of the season can steal joy from the season. It is important that, rather than overscheduling ourselves, we take time for rest and, when we need it, be willing to ask for help.

It is easy to get so focused on the gifts of Christmas that we forget about the Gift of Christmas! Materialism is rampant not only during the holidays, but in our society, all year long. In Luke 12, Jesus tells a parable that reminds us that the earthly things we store up for ourselves are not nearly as important as the spiritual inheritance that is ours in Christ.

Sometimes, we get so caught up worrying about what we have stored up, we forget that, no matter how much or how little we may have on this earth, God has something fantastic in store for us – nothing less than a crown of righteousness. In a world that test and try our faith, we can be confident that our faith will be vindicated when Christ returns.

If we are going to store up things, what things should we be storing? Jesus invites us to store up things that are imperishable – things that last into eternity. Thus, in this life, we ought to store up God’s Word in our hearts and we ought to store up people in our lives, for these treasures last.

The first principle of stewardship is this: no matter what we may store, it ultimately belongs to God. Any store house is finally God’s house. To help us understand this, God has given us a tithe. In the tithe, we not only give to God, we give back to God, since everything we have comes from Him in the first place. When we give back to God, we learn that God continues to give us what we need and even beyond what we need.

Soli Deo Gloria explains how we should live. Everything we do should be connected to Christ. In this way, we have no spiritual life and everyday life, we only have a Christ-centered life. Do you do everything with Christ in mind?

When it comes to understanding God, it can be all too tempting to trust ourselves rather than God’s Word. We try to trust our consciences, our culture, or our comprehension. But going beyond God’s Word either allows us to create a God in our own image (Mark 7:1-13) or saddles us with burdens we cannot bear (Matthew 23:4).

They way in which we receive God’s grace is through faith. We trust that God wants to forgive and save us. If we seek to work for what God has given, we are saying that God’s work is not enough. Do we trust God’s work so completely that we do not try to add to it or augment it?

Grace is when God gives us what we do not deserve. In a culture that works on merit, that can be difficult for us to accept! Yet, even if grace goes against our cultural senses, it is a deep spiritual need – for each and every one of us.

Grace is when God gives us what we do not deserve. In a culture that works on merit, that can be difficult for us to accept! Yet, even if grace goes against our cultural senses, it is a deep spiritual need – for each and every one of us.