First United Methodist Church - DeRidder, LA

We start our three-week Back to School series [It's Academic] with a look at Ephesians 4:25-5:2 through the lens that while we cannot control the actions or reactions of others, we can and should be conscious of how our actions and attitudes can and do make a difference in our lives and the lives of those around us.

In the second-to-last of our Ten Summertime 'Suggestions' look at what are known as the Ten Commandments, we discover some realistic consequences to how we speak of others, and what how we speak to others reveals about our own faith, and our opinion about God's role in our lives.

You shall not steal. Not that hard of a commandment to follow, is it now? Maybe. Maybe not. In this week's installment we examine this commandment of God's in such a way that our eyes might be opened to some ways in which we may, indeed, be in violation of this simple 'suggestion.' The good news, though, is that when we take a bigger picture look at not only the what but the why of this command, it can literally change our lives because it gives us a new way to look not only at our stuff, but also that of those around us.

A commandment that is pretty universally known in many parts of the world, one shall not commit adultery, is one in which many take comfort, because we have not actually engaged in the physical activity of adultery. Or, on the other hand, we tell ourselves that it's no big deal because we are sexual beings. However, looking deeper into this subject, we discover a few things that might help us understand the far-reaching implications of adhering (or not) to this simple commandment.

The preview for this week's message was titled, simply, "Betcha We've All Done It..." A strange way to look at our God's prohibition on murder, correct? After all, a very small percentage of our population has actually committed the violent act of murdering another person. However, as the title of this message implicates, we might should go a little deeper for the true implications of this prohibition, especially in light of Christ's words as recorded in the Sermon on the Mount.

We reach the halfway point of our Summertime 'Suggestion' series by exploring one of the most emotionally challenging, misapplied, and misunderstood of what are known as the Ten Commandments - the directive to honor thy father and mother. Through this brief message, our hope and prayer is that you will experience this command in a different light, one that brings hope and peace.

In the fourth installation of our Summertime 'Suggestions' series exploring the Ten Commandments, we dive into one of the most universally ignored and potentially life-giving commandments - the observation of a Sabbath rest. Far more than 'just a day off' or 'go to church in the morning and do whatever you want the rest of the day,' the practical and spiritual implications of following this commandment have the potential to transform our lives and the lives of those we love.

Coming off a week where a very public political official made headlines by referring to the Bible to defend a secular political position, it was more than ironic that this week's installment of our series on the Ten Commandments brings us to the prohibition about using the Lord's name, well, as it is most well known, in vain. Through exploring this concept, we see the implications of the reality that as Christians, everything we do we do in the name of God, how we speak of God matters, and that our behavior as Christians shows what we think of God, amongst other things.

In the second installment of our summertime series on what are known as the Ten Commandments, we discover:

1. Boundaries help protect us from unintended consequence.

2. Ours is a God who deserves our sole devotion and worship.

3. Our decisions about our faith have consequences far beyond our comprehension.

We begin our 2018 Summer Worship series on the Ten Commandments (Ten Summertime 'Suggestions') by exploring the concept of having no other gods through the lens of what does the evidence of our lives say about who or what really is the most important 'god' of our lives?