Bible Commentary

In our sports-oriented society, winning victory is the major challenge for teams of all kinds. This is also true for nations at war.

In Luke 11:1, Jesus’ disciples requested that he teach them to pray, as John the Baptist taught his disciples.

The words of Paul we study today are intimate, reflecting the idea of the church as family, establishing guidelines that remind us of the importance and value of each person, regardless of gender, social standing or age.

The English word “provision” usually refers to food or physical needs, but in our text it would be more appropriate to speak of God’s providence, which covers the protective care of God or nature, equipping persons to face all sorts of difficulties and needs, not simply food.

There are two ways to measure a person's character: actions and words. I list actions first because words require practical expression. Paul addresses both areas forcefully because he understands that the world of the Roman Empire will pay no attention to this new Christ-centered religion if believers do not consistently model their faith by their teachings and actions.

If you open a concordance of the New Testament to look up the term “eternal life,” you will find that the Gospel of John and the First Epistle of John have more references to eternal life than any of the other New Testament books.

The last 50 years testify to heated debates and changes in Baptist thinking about leadership and gender. Some have insisted that the Bible clearly teaches women may not be pastors or deacons. Others insist that the pastor is “God's anointed” and a church should be obedient to the pastor.

Today begins a four-lesson study based on 1 Timothy, examining the primary areas of ministerial leadership. But this study is not about designing a job description for pastors.

Psalm 89 is a royal psalm that focuses on God’s faithfulness to his people in Israel. Faithfulness is an eternal characteristic of God that leads him into covenant with his people.

In biblical times, hospitality meant to entertain or receive a stranger into one’s home as an honored guest and to provide the guest with food, shelter and protection.