aug 3-9 manasseh
DESCRIPTION
Our little Church is using a Chronological Bible Reading Schedule by Skip Andrews. It can be found here: http://www.churchofchristduluthga.org/ Each Sunday a lesson is given from some of that week's reading. This lesson covers Aug 3-9.TRANSCRIPT
Our LessonOur Lesson
This week’s lesson is taken from
Max Lucado’sDevotional Bible
Raising ChildrenRaising Children
Situation: Because God loved Hezekiah, he healed him.
Hezekiah prayed, God healed, and the king lived. His son,
Manasseh, became the next king and led Israel into sin.
Raising ChildrenRaising Children
Observation: What a contrast! Hezekiah obeyed God and did
what was right. His son Manasseh, however, made
idolatry and defection from God a mark of his reign; and Hezekiah's
grandson Amon followed in Manasseh's wicked footsteps.
Raising ChildrenRaising Children
Inspiration: As a general rule, parents who follow
biblical principles in bringing up their children will see a
positive effect on the character of their children.
Raising ChildrenRaising Children
From a purely statistical point of view, children who grow up in
Christ-honoring homes are more likely to remain faithful to Christ in adulthood than kids
growing up in homes where the parents dishonor the Lord.
Raising ChildrenRaising Children
The truism of Proverbs 22:6 does apply. We're certainly not to think that God's sovereignty in salvation means the way we raise our kids
is immaterial. God often uses faithful parents as instruments in
the salvation of children.
Raising ChildrenRaising Children
Ultimately, however, your children's salvation is a matter
to be settled between them and God. Nothing you can do will
guarantee your kids' salvation.
Raising ChildrenRaising Children
To that end you should be praying to God and instructing your child—using all available means to impress the truths of the gospel perpetually on the
child's heart.
Raising ChildrenRaising Children
But ultimately a grown child's spiritual fitness
alone is not necessarily a reliable gauge of the parents' success.
Raising ChildrenRaising Children
Having said that, I want to stress that sometimes—I
should say often—parents are partly to
blame for their way-ward children's rebellion.
Raising ChildrenRaising Children
And it has been my observation over the years that parents are
generally more to blame for wayward kids than society, or
peers, or any of the other influences parents tend to
blame.
Raising ChildrenRaising Children
I occasionally encounter parents who have violated nearly every
biblical principle of parenting, who nonetheless come to the pastor seeking some kind of absolution from the responsibility for their
children's defiance.
Raising ChildrenRaising Children
They want verbal assurance that they are in no way to
blame; someone else is. Yet God Himself has given the
responsibility for raising children to parents.
Raising ChildrenRaising Children
Not to schoolteachers, peers, childcare workers, or other people outside the family—and therefore
it is wrong for parents to attempt to unload that responsibility or shift the blame when things go wrong.
(From Successful Christian Parenting by John MacArthur)
Raising ChildrenRaising Children
Application: If you are a parent, how would you evaluate your parenting skills? Study God's
rules of parenting. Take responsibility for raising your
children to honor and love God.
Raising ChildrenRaising ChildrenExploration: Raising Children
Deuteronomy 4:9 NET Again, however, pay very careful attention, lest you
forget the things you have seen and disregard them for the rest of
your life; instead teach them to your children and grandchildren.
Raising ChildrenRaising Children
Proverbs 22:6 NET Train a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not turn
from it.Ephesians 6:1 NET Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this
is right.
Raising ChildrenRaising Children2 "Honor your father and mother,"
which is the first commandment accompanied by a promise, namely, 3
"that it may go well with you and that you will live a long time on the earth." 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but raise them up in
the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Raising ChildrenRaising Children
Adam & Eve’s son Cain was the first murderer.
Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu did something so bad A fire flashed from the LORD and
burned them, and they died in the presence of the LORD.
Raising ChildrenRaising Children
Priest and Judge Eli’s sons are evil and The Lord causes them
to die.Samuel’s sons were evil also.
The people did not want Samuel’s sons to take his place
in leading them.
Raising ChildrenRaising Children
King David, a man after God’s own heart, had sons that did evil.
In our reading this week we found out King Hezekiah’s son
Manasseh led Judah to commit terrible sins against The Lord. In his case Proverbs 22:6 rings true.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
Situation: Hezekiahs son Manasseh succeeded him. Manasseh worshiped false gods as his ancestors had done. But God caused him
to turn from his sin.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
Observation: It was out of his great need that
Manasseh turned to God. The Lord hears our
prayers and shows great mercy.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
Inspiration: You know the story of Peter, the first sailor. Let me tell you about the second,
whose name was John.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
He had served on the seas since he was eleven years old, His
father, an English shipmaster in the Mediterranean, took him
aboard and trained him well for a life in the Royal Navy.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
Yet what John gained in experience, he lacked in discipline. He mocked authority. Ran with the
wrong crowd. Indulged in the sinful ways of a sailor.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
Although his training would have qualified him to serve as an officer, his behavior caused him to
be flogged and demoted.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
In his early twenties, he made his way to Africa, where he became intrigued with the lucrative slave
trade.At age twenty-one, he made his living on the Greyhound, a slave ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
John ridiculed the moral and poked fun at the religious. He even made jokes about
a book that would eventually help reshape his life: The Imitation of Christ.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
In fact, he was degrading that book a few hours before his ship sailed
into an angry storm.That night the waves pummeled the
Greyhound, spinning the ship one minute on the top of a wave.
Plunging her the next into a watery valley.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
John awakened to find his cabin filled with water. A side of the Greyhound
had collapsed. Ordinarily such damage would have sent a ship to the
bottom in a matter of minutes. The Greyhound, however, was carrying buoyant cargo and remained afloat.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
John worked at the pumps all night. For nine hours, he
and the other sailors struggled to keep the ship from sinking, But he knew that it was a losing cause.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
Finally, when his hopes were more battered than the vessel,
he threw himself on the saltwater-soaked deck and
pleaded, "If this will not do, then Lord have mercy on us all.”
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
John didn't deserve mercy, but he received it. The Greyhound and
her crew survived. John never forgot God's mercy
shown on that tempestuous day in the roaring Atlantic. He returned to
England where he became a ' prolific composer.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me!I once was lost,
but now am found,was blind, but now I see.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
T’was grace that taught my heart to fear, and
grace my fears relievedHow precious did that
grace appear, the hour I first believed
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
Thro’ many dangers, toils, and snares, I have
already come‘Tis grace hath brought
me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
bright shining as the sunWe’ve no less days to sing God’s praise Than
when we first begun.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
This slave-trader-turned-songwriter was John Newton.
Along with his hymn writing, he also became a powerful pulpiteer. For nearly fifty years, he filled pulpits and churches with the story of the Savior who meets you and me in the storm. (From In the Eye of the Storm by Max Lucado)
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
Application: Take the troubles you face today—disease,
alcohol, kids in trouble, cash flow—and wrap them in a
prayer: "Lord, have mercy, and teach me to see your way
through the storm."
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
Exploration: God Hears UsPsalms 18:6 NET In my distress I
called to the Lord; I cried out to my God. From his
heavenly temple he heard my voice; he listened to my
cry for help.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
Isaiah 41:10 NET Don’t be afraid, for I am with you! Don't be
frightened, for I am your God! I strengthen you — yes, I help you — yes, I uphold you with
my saving right hand!
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
Hebrews 13:6 NET So we can say with confidence,
"The Lord is my helper, and I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?"
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
King Manasseh was so terrible he covered the city in blood. He
also erected idols for the people to worship. This cuts to
the heart of the greatest command. Love the Lord your God with everything you have.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
2 Kings 21:16 NET Furthermore Manasseh killed so many innocent people, he stained Jerusalem with
their blood from end to end, in addition to encouraging Judah to sin by doing evil in the sight of the
LORD.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
2 Chronicles 33:11 NET So the LORD brought against them the
commanders of the army of the king of Assyria. They seized
Manasseh, put hooks in his nose, bound him with bronze chains,
and carried him away to Babylon.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
12 In his pain Manasseh asked the LORD his God for mercy and truly humbled himself before the God of his ancestors. 13 When he prayed
to the LORD, the LORD responded to him and answered
favorably his cry for mercy.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
The LORD brought him back to Jerusalem to his kingdom. Then
Manasseh realized that the LORD is the true God.
The Bible says Manasseh spent time undoing all the bad he had done such as tearing down the idols he had put up to worship.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
Acts 17:30 NET Therefore, although God has
overlooked such times of ignorance, he now
commands all people everywhere to repent,
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
Are we in need of repentance, turning back to God in some area of our lives? God wants us to Repent and confess
our sins to Him.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
1 John 1:9 NET But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins
and cleansing us from all unrighteousness.
The Lord Will Accept The Lord Will Accept RepentanceRepentance
If The Lord can forgive such a sinful man as King Manasseh
He will surely forgive each of us if we truly humble ourselves
and confess our sins to Him in Repentance.