Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

We kicked off our new series Life on the Altar by carefully looking at Romans 12:1 where Paul urges us to look at the mercies of God so that we will be living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to him. But how are we to become a living sacrifice? What does it look like to live life on the altar? The apostle Paul is going to give us a number of instructions and pictures to teach us what life on the altar looks and how we can become the living sacrifices God wants. Please open your copies of God’s word to Romans 12 and we are going to spend our time in this lesson looking at verse 2…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Be Transformed (Romans 12:2) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Zach Higgins.

No text available.

The post Ruled by A Moment (Judges 4-5) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Zach Higgins.

No text available.

The post Hold Fast To Their Testimony (Hebrews 12:1-2) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

I want to begin our study by reading the first two verses of 2 Chronicles 25. You will read that Amaziah was 25 years old when he began to reign. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly. At the very beginning of the account of Amaziah’s reign, the Chronicler wants you to pay attention to what happens to him. He did right in the eyes of the Lord, but not with his whole heart. We are left with some questions that we want answered. Why did he not serve with his whole heart? What did he do that brought this result about? What happens when faith goes missing, how does this happen, and what can we do to make sure this failure does not happen to us?

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post When Faith Goes Missing (2 Chronicles 25) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

The Basis

We have been looking at eleven chapters in Romans over the past few months. But it is important to notice that Paul does not start in chapter 12. We must know the first eleven chapters to appreciate what Paul is going to tell us that we must do. So how should we sum up all that we have looked at over these chapters in the book of Romans? The apostle Paul has a simple phrase to sum up what he has taught to us. He calls them “the mercies of God” in Romans 12:1. It would probably be helpful for to scan back through through eleven chapters to remember the mercies of God that Paul proclaimed…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post A Living Sacrifice (Romans 12:1) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

The message of Romans 9-11 is that the mercy of God is here. The mercy of God is available to all who will receive it. In Romans 9 we observed Paul asking us to consider what we are doing with God’s mercy. Is God’s mercy moving us to serve him or to resist him? In our second lesson from Romans 9:30-10:4 we saw that the reason people resist God’s mercy is because they are establishing their own way of righteousness. We do not want to do things God’s way. We want to do things our way and believe that we are saved and that we are God’s people. In Romans 10 we saw Paul teach that it is not too hard or too far out of reach to do what God has asked us to do. God has not asked the impossible from us. The problem is not that it is too hard but that we do not want to listen. If we believed, then we would be transformed in heart to obey the gospel. This brings us to Romans 11. As we come to Romans 11 I want us to think about why God keeps telling us about his judgment and his offer of mercy. Is God being mean or insensitive or uncaring by telling us about his wrath and coming judgment? This is a common response that people have to hearing about the idea of wrath, judgment, hell, and the like. I want us to notice where this teaching concludes in Romans 11…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Inclusion of the Gospel (Romans 11) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Zach Higgins.

No text available.

The post Ruled By Power (Judges 3) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

Have you ever considered something to be too hard to do so that you do not even try to do it? There have been things that I have looked at, maybe did a little research on it, and then decided that it was too hard for me to do. This has been particularly true when it comes to working on my car. I have watched videos, saw the degree of difficulty, and thought that there was no way that I could do what I am watching. What I want us to think about as we begin is that there are many things in life that we do not attempt because we think it will be too hard to do. Sometimes this thinking bleeds into how we look at serving the Lord. Moses addressed this in one of his final sermons to the people of Israel…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Hearing of the Gospel (Romans 10) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

There is great power in influence. We even have a term today for a special group of people that we call influencers. An influencer is someone that people listen to and, because of that, are able to use their good will to encourage people to do or not do things. Businesses understand the power of influencers and will try to pay them or send them free products so that they will review their product and influence people to buy their product or service. Influence is powerful. We have another term for influence called peer pressure. Because we care about what other people think and respond, we will do certain things because of their influence. Things that we would not consider doing we might consider doing because of the influence of others. Influence is powerful. This is the key message that we are going to study in this lesson from 2 Chronicles 21-24. In these chapters were are going to read three examples of influence. As we read about these influencers I want us to think about who is influencing us and who are we influencing…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Power of Influence (2 Chronicles 21-24) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

In our last lesson we looked at the mercy of the gospel. God’s mercy generates two outcomes: either people will respond to his mercy and be saved or people will reject his mercy and remain lost. God’s patient mercy brought about Pharaoh’s hardening of his heart. Further, God’s patient mercy toward Israel only brought about a further rejection of God. Before we look into the next paragraph in Romans, I want us to think about why it is so important for us to look at the example of Israel. Twice in Romans the apostle Paul has marked off all of the blessings and privileges that Israel experienced (cf. Romans 3:1-4; 9:4-5). In 1 Corinthians 10:1-5 he also lists off some of those blessings. But then Paul says these words: “Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness” (1 Corinthians 10:5). A few verses later Paul will say, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come” (1 Corinthians 10:11). These things are recorded for us so that we will learn from their example and not fail like they did. In Romans 9 we saw that it was not that God’s mercy or promises had failed. God was not the problem. God did what he said. God patiently offered mercy to Israel. So the word of God did not fail. So what happened so that the Jews are excluded and Gentiles have come into the kingdom of God? In Romans 9:30-10:4 the apostle Paul is going to explain what happened to Israel. In particular, he is going to help us understand why they failed so that we will not fail like they did…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Righteousness of the Gospel (Romans 9:30-10:4) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Zach Higgins.

No text available.

The post Ruled By Our Own Eyes (Judges 1-3) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

In our study of Romans we now come to Romans 9-11. These three chapters are considered the more difficult parts of this book. Volumes have been written about the meaning of these chapters. But are these chapters just deep theology and hard teachings that are reserved for intellectual academic studies? I think sometimes we can come across complicated scriptures and think that there is nothing there for us and these things are just for the academics to argue over. But I would like to remind us that all scriptures were given for the average person. Even scriptures that Peter may have called “hard to understand” (cf. 2 Peter 3:16) are scriptures that are given to all people. We recently looked at 1 Corinthians 1 in our Sunday morning Bible study where we learned that the Lord did not reveal these things to the noble, wise, or powerful (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18-31). The point is that you do not have to be someone special to understand what the Lord is teaching us. So I want to challenge you to want to know the meaning of Romans 9-11. I am going to challenge myself to not get lost in the weeds and get too deep into the details that I lose the message of these chapters. I will not speak on every verse but try to capture the meaning, paragraph by paragraph, as we move through these chapters. Lord willing, we are going to take four lessons to cover these three chapters so we can see the main message Paul is teaching about the gospel and what these things mean for our walk with Christ today…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Mercy of the Gospel (Romans 9) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

“What then shall we say to these things?” (Romans 8:31). Romans 8 is a glorious chapter that has wrestled with the conflict between being children of God and experiencing suffering. The defining mark of the Christian is being led by the Spirit and no longer being led by the flesh. If we live according to the desires and the will of the flesh, we will die (Romans 8:13). But if we live according to the desires and the will of the Spirit, we will live (Romans 8:13). But suffering challenges and tests the way we think about our relationship with God. But Paul has put forward an important truth for every follower of Christ to hear. We are children of God, heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ provided we suffer with him (Romans 8:16-17). But our suffering is so that we can be glorified with him (Romans 8:17). Paul then tells us that everything in God’s plan and everything in creation is moving us to our glorification. For those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28). This is what brings us to the important question Paul asks: “What then shall we say to these things?” You might notice that the rest of chapter 8 is filled with questions. People ask questions so that we will think and give a response. Paul is going to ask a flurry of questions so that we will think about our circumstances and our relationship with God and then provide the necessary answers. Open your copies of God’s word to Romans 8:31-39 and we are going to explore Paul’s questions so that the answers we give will provide hope and assurance as we see the love of gospel…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Love of the Gospel (Romans 8:31-39) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

Every year we are told to begin preparations because we live in south Florida. When June 1 rolls around we are told that we need to stock up on hurricane supplies. We need to have extra water on hand. We need to make sure we have batteries for flashlights and radios. Make sure your generator is ready to run. Have your trees trimmed back. There are many steps that are given to us so that we can be prepared for any named storms that head our way. But how many of us have done this? When the reminder on June 1 came, how many of us went through the checklist, made the necessary purchases, and have everything ready for this year’s hurricane season? I will not ask anyone to raise their hand. But if we did not make preparations, I want us to consider why not. Maybe we think we are not going to have a storm this year. Maybe we think we can get ready later. Maybe we think we will make preparations when we see the storm heading our way. Maybe we think we are ready and do not need to follow the recommendations given. We can be tempted to approach the return of Christ and our preparation in the same way. At the end of 1 Thessalonians 4, the apostle Paul wrote to those Christians about the future hope of Christ’s return. When Christ comes, we will be gathered together and always be with the Lord. But this leads to Paul’s instruction about being ready for Christ’s return. As Paul concludes his teaching about excelling even more, he wants these Christians to excel even more in readiness…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post More In Readiness (1 Thessalonians 5:1-11) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Zach Higgins.

No text available.

The post Jonah: A Prophet Without Love appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

The apostle Paul is writing to Christians to encourage their faith to grow further and deeper. While the Christians in Thessalonica are doing well, he is urging them to excel still more (1 Thessalonians 4:1). We have noticed that Paul is looking at areas in the Christian life that might be easily overlooked when trying to be pleasing to the Lord. Paul has written about holiness, exposing the problem of sexual immorality. Paul also wrote about love, exposing the problems of not aiming to live a quiet life, not minding your own business, and not working with your own hands. But in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 the apostle Paul is going to shift his discussion to the second coming of Christ. It seems in our religious culture that there are two perspectives when it comes to the second coming of Christ. One perspective is to scare everyone, suggesting that every world event or every change in the country’s culture must mean that Christ is coming back today. I think this has led to the other perspective which is to suggest that the second coming does not matter at all. The suggested idea is that it does not matter what we believe and there is no reason to study it because God wins in the end and he is going to come back. What we are going to notice in our lesson today that the apostle Paul did not subscribe to either of these perspectives. Paul did not ignore the topic but also did not try to instill a constant fear in these Christians either. What do we need to know about Christ’s return so that we can be pleasing to God? What hope are we to have in knowing that Christ is coming back? Please open your copies of God’s word to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 we are going to look at how we can excel even more in future hope…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post More In Future Hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

We left off in Romans 8 with a powerful proclamation about who we are in Christ. If we are living according to the Spirit, putting to death the deeds of the flesh, then the Spirit testifies that we are sons of God (cf. Romans 8:12-16). We have received the spirit of adoption so that we can be called children of God. If we are children of God, then we are heirs of God. We have a great inheritance awaiting us. But then the apostle Paul says something that might be surprising at the end of Romans 8:17. Paul does not end his thought by telling us that if we are children of God then we are heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. Paul concludes with an important condition: “provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”

I want us to think about what Paul is doing as we begin this lesson. Romans 8 is a glorious chapter about who we are in Christ. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). We have been set free from sin to live righteous lives before the Lord (Romans 8:4-5). We are adopted children of God and can cry, “Abba, Father!” (Romans 8:15). But if we are children of God and heirs of God, what are we supposed to make of the problem of suffering? What does it mean when we suffer? What should be our perspective about our relationships with God when we are crushed by trials? Paul is going to take us through this process to help us understand the role of suffering and the glory of the gospel…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Glory of the Gospel (Romans 8:17-30) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

We are in a series in which we are looking at how we have been called to more. In 1 Thessalonians 4:1 that these Christians in Thessalonica know how to walk and are living in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. But Paul instructs them to excel even more in being pleasing to the Lord. We do not want to become spiritually stagnant. We do not want to spiritually drift away or lose the zeal and love for the Lord that we had at the beginning. So Paul writes to encourage excelling even more in a passionate pursuit of the Lord. In our last lesson we saw Paul’s concern that we would excel more and more in holiness (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8). As we come to 1 Thessalonians 4:9-12 we are going to read another area in our lives where we can excel even more…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post More In Love (1 Thessalonians 4:9-12) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Zach Higgins.

No text available.

The post Wild Grapes (Isaiah 5:1-7) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

Paul is writing to the Thessalonian Christians asking them and urging them to excel even more in living a life that is pleasing to God. Paul does not want these Christians to become spiritually stagnant. Paul does not want these Christians to experience a spiritual regression. He urges them to grow and to keep on growing. Paul did not write to these Christians to discourage those who were striving to please the Lord in their lives. Rather, Paul wrote to warning them about letting up in their spiritual progress. He did not want their intensity for the love of the Lord to wane. He did not want them to become lukewarm or lose the love that they presently have. So it is important to hear what Paul is trying to do for these Christians and for us. Satan is trying to destroy us and destroy our faith. One of the ways he tries to destroy our faith is by tempting us to not continue to strive to be pleasing to the Lord. We are called to grow. We are called to more. Open your copies of God’s word to 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 and we are going to see how Paul is calling us for more holiness…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post More In Holiness (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

We are in Romans 8 where Paul is teaching us how we can have the good life, the transformed life, because there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (cf. Romans 8:1). We have been set free from the law of sin and death and have been enabled to obey Christ. We noticed in our last lesson that the first step is a change in the mind. We must change the way we think. We must change what we value in life. Paul said that those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh. Those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit (cf. Romans 8:5). The struggle with sin reveals that there are areas in our lives that we value more than the things of God. Now the apostle Paul is going to further motivate this change of thinking in our lives by showing us what we have in Christ. Open your copies of God’s word to Romans 8 and we are going to spend our time in verses 12-17…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Adopted Through the Gospel (Romans 8:12-17) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

There has never been a sport in which a successful athlete has ever said that he or she does not need to practice any longer. Michael Jordan is considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time. Yet he did not proclaim that he is such a great player that he did not need to practice. His desire for success continued to propel him to practice more and more. This is true not only for great athletes but also for any work or effort. Whether we are talking about music and entertainment or about education or career, no one can remain successful if they stop working at their craft. Yet one of the dangers of the Christian life is becoming content with our current level of faithfulness. It is easy to think that since we have hit particular levels of faithfulness or spiritual maturity that we can be content with that level…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Excel Even More (1 Thessalonians 4:1-2) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Zach Higgins.

No text available.

The post Crumbs from the Master’s Table appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

Romans 7 has proclaimed an important truth which is summarized in Romans 8:2. You have been set free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. The glorious words of hope are proclaimed in Romans 8:1. “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” But the message of “no condemnation” and being set free from the law of sin and death does not stop there. We have not been set free to return to the works of the flesh. We have not received the decree of “no condemnation” so that we would go on doing things that God condemns. Paul is going to direct us to the hope of the changed life. Paul is going to direct us to the new life, the good life, that is in Christ Jesus. Please open your copies of God’s word to Romans 8:4. We concluded our last lesson at this verse. But this is a transition verse, concluding the prior paragraph and opening a new paragraph that Romans 8 explores. Paul proclaims in Romans 8:4 that God sent his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. Paul is introducing an important direction for us. The righteous requirement of the law can be fulfilled in us. We have been set free to obey the Lord who has freed us and proclaimed no condemnation over our lives. But how can we do what the Lord has asked us to do? Romans 8 shows us what the good life is Christ looks like and how we can do it…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Mind of the Gospel (Romans 8:5-11) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

Job 42 might be the most confusing part of the book. You will notice that Job 42:10 reveals that the Lord restored the fortunes of Job and the Lord gave him twice as much as he had before. What are we supposed to make of this ending? Is the message that, after your trials, everything you lost will be restored to you? Is the message that once Job repented, then he was restored again? What is this ending communicating and how does it fit with the message of book about suffering and how God runs the world?

God Vindicates Job (Job 42:7-9)

The Lord will now bring the trial to a close. The Lord tells Eliphaz that his anger burns against him and against his two friends. Please note that Elihu is excluded from this condemnation. But notice what the condemnation is. These three friends have not spoken what is right about the Lord. So what were the three friends saying about God? It seemed like everything they were saying was about Job. But what they were saying wrong about God was that God inflicted suffering on Job to punish him for his sins. The book has been very clear that this is not what God is doing nor how he runs the world…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Vindication After Suffering (Job 42) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Zach Higgins.

No text available.

The post Unveiling the Heart (Philemon) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

The book of Job has now come to its conclusion where the Lord is now giving the final word about how he runs the world and the reason for Job’s suffering. The Lord has appeared in a whirlwind and is speaking to Job from that whirlwind. In Job 38-39 the Lord has challenged Job to answer the questions he has for him. Job has challenged God. But rather than providing answers to Job, God is telling Job to answer him. The nature of God’s questions to Job intend to make Job make sense of the creation. God runs the world in a way to save every person. God also runs the world in a way so that no person will boast in themselves but in him alone. At the beginning of Job 40 you will see that God’s questions have brought Job to confession. Job confesses that he is of small account and that he spoke too much (cf. Job 40:3-5). God’s questions have moved Job to humility…
To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Seeing God’s Power In Suffering (Job 40-41) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Zach Higgins.

No text available.

The post More Than a Miracle (Luke 17:11-19) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

The book of Job reveals everyone’s opinions about the reason for suffering and how God runs the world. Job has challenged that God has not treated him fairly. He does not think that God has not been right toward him because Job has been blameless and upright. Job’s friends have an opinion that Job must have sinned for all of this calamity to fall on him. Elihu has offered his speeches in which he disagrees with Job and with the three friends (cf. Job 32:1-5). Elihu defends God and challenges what Job has said about God. Elihu does not say that Job sinned and that is why he is suffering. Elihu says that Job’s words have been wrong about God. But there is one person we have not heard from in all of these discourses. We have not heard from God. We have not heard God speak since the first two chapters of the book when God and Satan were talking about the righteousness of Job. As Job and the three friends argued about how God runs the world, we did not know that Elihu was there, listening and then responding on God’s behalf. But even as all this was going on, they did not know that God was there, listening and about to respond on his own behalf. In Job 38 God himself will take the opportunity to speak. What I want us to think about for these final four chapters of the book is God’s message. What do you think God is going to say about suffering? What do you think God is going to say about how he runs the world? How do you think God is going to defend himself? How will God explain himself regarding what he has allowed Satan to do in this trial?

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Humility To See God When Suffering (Job 38-39) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

We have taken a break in our study of the gospel through the lens of the book of Romans. But we are returning to this wonderful book and we are going to see in Romans 7-8 the good life that God has promised to those who belong to Christ Jesus. Romans 7 is considered a complicated chapter. Paul has a few complicated chapters in the book of Romans. I want to make sure that we understand the big message in Romans 7. The way I believe I need to do this is by studying the whole of the chapter. This means that I cannot unearth every detail in this chapter. Rather, I want to communicate how Paul shows us the freedom that is found in the gospel. Please open your copies of God’s word to Romans 7 and we will see the function of the Law of Moses and what that means for all people…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Freedom of the Gospel (Romans 7) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

Job has said many words that need to be addressed. Elihu is in the process of challenging Job on the words Job has said against God. Elihu has been defending God from what Job has said during the time of this trial. Elihu is speaking on God’s behalf (Job 36:2). Further, Elihu declares that he is speaking God’s knowledge and wisdom to Job (Job 36:3-4). In Elihu’s final words, he is going to address one of the biggest issues people have with God and with suffering. The issue is how there can be suffering if God is good and is full of power and strength. If there is a God, then how can there be suffering? How can the righteous suffer if there is a God and this God has power over the world? When we are suffering we can wonder why God does not do something. Why doesn’t God help? Why doesn’t God act? Is God unable to deal with evil in the world? Is God unable to stop the suffering that takes place? Elihu is going to end his speech to Job, the three friends, and anyone else who is listening to him that God is not powerless when suffering…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post God Is Not Powerless When Suffering (Job 36-37) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Zach Higgins.

No text available.

The post Encountering Grace (Luke 10:25-37) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

Does God care when we are suffering? Does it matter to God when are going through severe trials? When we are going through trials we can be tempted to wonder if God cares about what we are experiencing. We can look around and think that God simply has no concern about what is happening to us. In our lesson today we are going to look at if God cares and how we should consider our cries to God when we are suffering and going through trials. We are in the middle of Elihu’s speeches to Job and the three friends. What Elihu is doing is giving explanations about how God runs the world. Not only this, and perhaps more importantly, Elihu is challenging Job for the words he has said about God and about how God runs the world. Open your copies of God’s word to Job 35 and we are going to continue our look at Elihu’s instruction to Job…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post God Is Not Uncaring When Suffering (Job 35) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

Jehoshaphat was king over the nation of Judah. He walked in the footsteps of David, seeking the Lord and being his commands. But his association with Ahab, the king of Israel, has caused him to compromise. His faithfulness to the Lord was negatively impacted because he wanted to be connected to Ahab. Jehoshaphat was condemned for loving the wicked and listening to them rather than loving the Lord and listening to him (cf. 2 Chronicles 19:1-3)…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Battle Is The Lord’s…Remember? (2 Chronicles 19-20) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

Job has said many words that need to be addressed. In Job 32-33 Elihu responds to Job who has contended that God was silent throughout his suffering. God is not silent in suffering but is speaking through suffering. Trials are protective and corrective, not punitive, transforming us and moving us closer to the image of God. But there is another charge that Job has made concerning God during his suffering regarding the justice of God. Open your copies of God’s word to Job 34 and you will notice the second message Elihu has for Job and those who are with them…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post God Is Not Unjust When Suffering (Job 34) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

Have you ever had a strong start at doing something, only to give out a little bit later? Maybe you started a project and you were excited to accomplish the task. But then the project, for whatever reason, remains unfinished. Maybe you started something but then found yourself in over your head. So you stopped and it remains incomplete. There are many things in life where we might have a strong start but then be tempted not to finish strong. The books of 1 and 2 Chronicles are not merely another account of the history of Judah’s kings. The Chronicler writes after the fall of Jerusalem to teach the people why they were exiled and how to be restored to the Lord. In our lesson today we are going to look at restoration through the life of King Jehoshaphat. But we are going to see a strong start in the reign of Jehoshaphat but also see a subtle drift away from that strong start…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Strong Start, Subtle Drift (2 Chronicles 17-18) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

For thirty-one chapters we have read about a lot of questions about suffering and the way God runs the world. The friends of Job have insisted that the way God runs the world is that the wicked suffer and the righteous do not suffering. Therefore, Job must have sinned. However, we know this is wrong because Job is blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning from evil (cf. Job 1:8; 2:3). Job has insisted on his own righteousness and that he has done nothing deserving of the suffering he is experiencing. Job is right about this. His suffering is not the punishment of God. Job and his friends are in a stalemate. The friends’ answer does not change. Job’s response does not change. So what is the answer? What is God doing in the world? What is God doing through suffering?

In Job 32 we read about a new person who have not seen before in the book. His name is Elihu. We are told in Job 32:4 that Elihu had waited to speak to Job because Job’s friends were older than him. But the three friends have failed in their discussion with Job. You will notice in Job 32:2-3 that Elihu is not happy with anyone. He is angry at Job because Job is spending his time justifying himself rather than justifying God. He is also angry with the three friends because they could not refute Job but had condemned Job in the process…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post God Is Not Silent When Suffering (Job 32-33) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Zach Higgins.

No text available.

The post The Journey of Faith (Habakkuk 3) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Zach Higgins.

No text available.

The post Be Perfect (Matthew 5:48) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Zach Higgins.

No text available.

The post The Expectation of Promises (Habakkuk 1:12-2:20) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

Job has been proclaiming the need for faithfulness when suffering. In Job 28 we see Job proclaiming to anyone who will listen that the fear of the Lord is wisdom. Turning away from evil is understanding (cf. Job 28:28). The friends of Job believed they had come to Job with wisdom to comfort and correct Job. But Job is able to see that they have not proclaimed wisdom. They do not have the words of God, even though they think they do. God alone possesses wisdom. God is the source of wisdom. What Job is going to do next is show his faithfulness before his suffering began and continued faithfulness through his suffering…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Faithful Through Suffering (Job 29-31) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

We are going to look at the final lament of this book. Please open your copies of God’s word to Lamentations 5. As you are turning to the final lamentation, I want to remind of us the grief journey Jeremiah has taken his people through. Lamentations 1 encouraged the people to honestly express to the Lord what has happened to them. Name and describe the suffering and give the hurt to the Lord. Lamentations 2 then helped the people with the struggle that they have in their grief. We looked at trying to reconcile how we can be going through what we are going through. We know that God loves his people and answers prayers. But things are not going the way we wanted or the way we expected. So our grief moves to trying to struggle with how these things could be. Lamentations 3 moves us to hope while in the darkness of grief. Lamentations 3 is not saying that everything is all better. The first 20 verses of Lamentations 3 continue describing the overwhelming pain of their circumstances. But the prophet tells us that when he is overwhelmed he sets his mind on the steadfast love of the Lord never failing. Every morning God’s faithfulness waits for us and is experienced. But the book does not end here. Lamentations 4 now moves us to accept our grief in our new circumstance. Though this is not the outcome we wanted, this is the outcome. This is the way things are going to be. Our hope is not that things must get better. Our hope is in God who will help us and deliverance through the many afflictions of this new reality. God pries the idols from our hands and compels us to trust in him alone. This sets us up for the final lamentation. How will Jeremiah end his series on grief and what will he teach the people now?

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Restoration After Grief (Lamentations 5) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

There is a section in the book of Job in which we see Job moving away from arguing with his friends. We might falsely over summarize the book and think that the middle is just Job and his friends arguing with each other. But the discourses with each other end in chapter 27. Each of the friends try to teach Job and Job responds with a rebuttal and offers further challenges. But in chapters 28-31 we see Job break into long discourses in which no one is arguing with Job or responding to him. This is an important section that can be quickly passed over in the middle of the book. In these chapters Job is going to proclaim what is necessary for enduring significant trials…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Wisdom Through Suffering (Job 28) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Zach Higgins.

No text available.

The post Blind to the Light appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Zach Higgins.

No text available.

The post Idle Minded appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

Why doesn’t the book of Lamentations end with Lamentations 3? Why not end on the high note of Lamentations 3? Why not stop at Lamentations 3:22-23? The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness! Why can’t we end on the faithfulness of the Lord? Why not sing the song that Annie sang, “The sun will come out tomorrow” and proclaim that tomorrow is only a day away? Jeremiah is teaching the people that even with a renewed hope in God’s faithful love and mercy, the reality is still the reality. Real hope needs to accept the real situation. The people of God are living a new reality and must prepare for the new direction God’s hand will lead them. Life goes on. But life is changed. This is where Jeremiah and the people are in the mountain of lament. While we maintain our hope in God’s love, we must forge forward in the new reality. Open your copies of God’s word to Lamentations 4 and we are going to look at how Jeremiah teaches the people to accept their grief in the new reality…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Accepting Our Grief (Lamentations 4) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

We have been looking at the suffering of Job. We have noted that his suffering and pain have been extraordinary. Further, Job’s friends have come to comfort and show sympathy to Job. But rather than succeeding, they have been miserable comforters to him. We have also noticed that Job’s suffering has caused him to feel separated from God. Job cries out that God has hidden his face from him and counts him as his enemy (cf. Job 13:24). Job longs for a return of God’s friendship (cf. Job 29:2-4). But rather than feeling close to God, Job feels hedged in by God (cf. Job 3:23). We can feel the same way when we are in the storm of suffering. We can wonder where God is. We can believe that God has turned his face away and no longer cares for us. A couple of lessons ago we addressed these false answers. But what I want us to focus our attention on in this lesson is how Job is able to move forward through his suffering. In fact, our next few lessons, Lord willing, are going to be an examination of Job’s words to learn and understand how we can work through our suffering and how to endure our hardships. But for today we are going to look at four statements that Job makes that teaches how to hold strong in our trials…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post I Know My Redeemer Lives (Job 9-19) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Zach Higgins.

No text available.

The post The Heart of Man appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

Lamentations 3 is a description on how to have hope while grieving. Jeremiah and the people of Judah are grieving and broken over the destruction of Jerusalem. It is a time of shock, loss, and anguish. We have seen in our study of Lamentations that grief is not a straight line. We saw the prophet teaching the people in Lamentations 1 to offer their honest cries to the Lord. In Lamentations 2 we saw the prophet struggling with what God has done. But in the midst of this struggle, the prophet has proclaimed in Lamentations 3 that he will have hope when he sets his mind on the steadfast love of the Lord (cf. Lamentations 3:21-22). We noted in the last lesson from Lamentations 3 that the author speaks about the battle of the mind. When he thinks about his bitter affliction, then his soul is bowed within him. But when he thinks on the faithful love of the Lord, then he can have hope. This sets before us how the prophet teaches his readers to move forward with hope. The point of Lamentations 3 is not to simply think positive thoughts. The point is to realize the hope we can have because of God’s unchanging love and compassion for his people. But this hope is not theoretical. The rest of Lamentations 3 teaches us how to apply the knowledge of God’s steadfast and faithful love to our grief. Open your copies of God’s word to Lamentations 3 and we are going to finish our look at this lamentation and see how God’s character gives us hope through our grief…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Hope In The Darkness of Grief – Part 2 (Lamentations 3:29-66) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

The purpose of Job’s three friends coming to see Job was to offer him comfort and sympathy (cf. Job 2:11). The friends have had many things to say to Job by the time we come to Job 16. Job has not found his friends to sympathizers or comforters. Listen to what Job says:

Then Job answered and said: “I have heard many such things; miserable comforters are you all. Shall windy words have an end? Or what provokes you that you answer? I also could speak as you do, if you were in my place; I could join words together against you and shake my head at you. I could strengthen you with my mouth, and the solace of my lips would assuage your pain. (Job 16:1-5 ESV)

Job calls his friends “miserable comforters.” All of their answers have been empty words and hot air. Notice in verse 4 that Job says that he could pile up words against them and shake his head at them like they have done to him. Instead, Job says he would strengthen and encourage them with his words, giving them comfort, rather than tearing them down…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Bad Counsel When Suffering (Job 4-27) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Zach Higgins.

No text available.

The post Blessed Are (Matthew 5) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

There is a temptation when reading or studying the book of Job to want to get to the end of the book. We are people who just want to get to the bottom line. We will be tempted to cut out the middle of this book and run to chapter 38 where God shows us or to chapter 42 where the resolution is offered. But the discussion that Job and his three friends have in chapters 4-27 are really important to understanding God and suffering. One of the reasons it is important to read these chapters is because these four people are talking about why Job is suffering. They are trying to come up with answers for suffering. They are trying to explain why Job is going through this trial. I want us to think about how this is exactly what we do. When trials come, what we also try to do for ourselves and for others is to explain why the suffering has come. We try to explain what God is doing. We are trying to make sense of our faith in God and how that relates to the suffering we are experiencing. We noticed in Job 3 from last week’s lesson that Job thinks that God has hedged him in (cf. Job 3:23). Job believes that this suffering indicates that God has turned on him and they are no longer friends with one another, but enemies (cf. Job 13:24; Job 29:2-4). So the friends now open their mouths and they are going to try to explain to Job why he is suffering. They are going to give Job the answers they think he needs to hear…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post No Easy Answers When Suffering (Job 4-27) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

We have been moving through the book of Lamentations looking at how the author of this book is teaching the people to grieve their suffering. Jerusalem has been destroyed. God had given the people over to the Babylonians because of their sinning against him. Even Jeremiah himself is having difficulties processing what he is seeing because the devastation is so vast (cf. Lamentations 2). We now come to the apex of this book of grief and lament. You will notice that Lamentations 3 is three times longer than the other poems in Lamentations. The other lamentations are 22 verses long, corresponding with the letters of the Hebrew alphabets. Lamentations 3 is 66 verses long, using the each letter of the alphabet three times. What we will see in this lamentation is the author moving the people from their struggle of grief to hope in the darkness of grief. In Lamentations 3 we will see the author use the word “hope” four times. Of the five lamentations, this is the only place where he speaks about hope. Therefore speaking about hope four times is quite notable since he does not use this word anywhere else in these poems…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Hope In The Darkness of Grief (Lamentations 3:1-28) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

Job has lost everything. Job has lost his possessions and wealth. Job has lost his way of life. Job has lost his ten children. Job has lost his health. Satan has taken Job to the edge of his life, yet Job still breathes. Job’s wife has told Job that if God is not going to protect him from suffering and hardship, then there is no reason to serve God. The logical thing to do would be to give up your faithfulness, curse God, and die. Job responds that such thinking is foolishness. In spite of all of his pain, Job has proclaimed critical faithful words. We will accept the good that comes from God and we will also accept the adversity (Job 2:10). We come into this world with nothing and we leave with nothing. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. No matter which happens, blessed is the name of the Lord (Job 1:21). In all this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrong (Job 1:22; 2:10). But now what? The book does not end. There are 40 more chapters of content regarding the life of Job. Further, the trial does not end. It is easy to leave Job right here, saying the right words, but not follow through with the rest of the account. But Job’s suffering did not stop at the end of chapter 2. Job’s faithful words have not changed the outcome of anguish in his life. We are not specifically told how much time has passed by when the friends of Job arrive. It is easy to think that when we read Job 2:11 that the three friends got in their cars, drove down the street, and came to Job’s house. But we are told that these friends live in completely different parts of the world. Job 7:3 indicates to us that Job has been going through this suffering for months. It has not been hours. It has not been days. It has not been weeks. This has been going on and on for months. Nights of anguish and sleeplessness (cf. Job 7:4). Every night trying to go to sleep, believing you are about to die, only to wake up again in continuing pain (cf. Job 7:7-8)…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Lamenting Our Suffering (Job 3) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

The book of Leviticus ends with hopeful instructions for the people. The message of Leviticus has been the message of holiness and atonement. God is holy and the people must therefore be holy. God will make the people holy through atonement and by giving them instructions to follow so that they can remain in fellowship with him. The final three chapters of Leviticus describe the rich blessings and provisions of God for his people for all areas of their lives. By seeing God’s provision and blessings for his people in the past, we will have confidence for our lives today that God will provide and bless us in Christ…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post REWIND: Hope In Jubilee (Leviticus 25-27) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

The book of Leviticus is the manual for knowing how we can remain in fellowship with God. God has come down and the glory of the Lord has filled the tabernacle (Exodus 40). Now that God is among his people, directions must be given for how the people can dwell with him without being consumed because of their lack of holiness. The first seven chapters describe the necessity for sacrifices to be able to remain in fellowship with God. Sacrifices are needed to deal with our sins. You can go online and read or listen to the lessons I did on these sacrifices that God prescribed and see how Jesus and his sacrifice is the fulfillment of those sacrifices…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post REWIND: The Need for a Priest (Leviticus 6-8) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

The book of Lamentations takes the reader on a journey of grief. In our last lesson we introduced the concept that the people of God are frequently pictured as expressing their grief. More than one-third of the Psalms are considered psalms of lament and grief. The book of Lamentations contains five poems proclaiming grief on the behalf of the people regarding the destruction of Jerusalem and the Lord’s temple. What we are doing in this series is looking at how the author of Lamentations is teaching the people how to move through the mountain of grief. In our first lesson we noticed how the author is showing that the people can proclaim their pain to God without complaining. In Lamentations 2 we are going to see the struggle that the author has and what he teaches the people to do while they struggle with their grief. Please open your copies of God’s word to Lamentations 2…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Struggle of Grief (Lamentations 2) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

How bad can your life get before you would challenge God and give up on him? How bad does the trial have to be before it would cause you to break? Satan is attempting to find out what it takes to break Job and his faith. We could read the first chapter of the book of Job and hope that this was the end of the account. Job suffered greatly but did not curse God. Job lost everything but he did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing. Now go and be like Job. But as you look at your copies of God’s word, you can thumb through the book of Job and see that there is so much more to say and so much more teach about suffering and the way God runs the world…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Rejection of Suffering (Job 2:1-10) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Zach Higgins.

No text available.

The post Mind Your Business (Matthew 25:14-30) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

Please open your copies of God’s word to Job 1. In our message last week we notice the question of suffering. The question of suffering regards your motivation for serving God. Suffering asks the question if we serve God for God or if we have ulterior motives. Suffering shows if we serve God for his blessings rather than serving God for the goodness and glory of God. Satan is the adversary, accusing God’s people of only serving God because God does good for them. Satan proclaims that Job will curse God if he made his life difficult. But God has full confidence in his people that they see the infinite value of God and are willing to give up anything to be with him and have a relationship with him. With the question of Job’s motivation on the line, we now watch what will happen to Job. As we read these events, please imagine if these things happened to you and how you would respond to suffering…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Response To Suffering (Job 1:12-22) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

We knew something was wrong but we did not know what. After having two other children, we knew that there was something that was not quite right. Our concerns were dismissed but we knew something was amiss with our third child. We went to all kinds of specialists, trying to determine what was the cause of the problem. Doctor after doctor, office visit after office visit, but still no answer. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe everything will be okay. But as we sat the doctor’s office with a geneticist in Miami, she brought us the bad news. The tests have confirmed that your daughter has Prader-Willi syndrome. I had never heard of this before. What is it? What does this mean? Is there a cure? Is there a treatment? How did this happen? What did we do wrong? Are they sure that this is right? What now? So we left the doctor’s office, walked to the car, and started the 90 minute drive home. There are no words to describe the various emotions that came over us. There were no words to say. There were no answers, no help, no comfort, and no way forward…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Loneliness of Grief (Lamentations 1) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

We are beginning a new series called God In The Storm in which we are going to look at the key teachings about suffering and trials from the book of Job. I want to state at the outset of this series that it is not my goal to cover every verse in the book of Job. About 10 years ago I did preach through the book of Job and I would direct you to find that series on our website so that you can listen or read those messages. My goal for this series is to take some of the key teaching messages that are found in the book of Job in an effort to give us hope and strength for the trials we experience in this life. Open your copies of God’s word to Job 1 and in our first lesson we are going to consider the question of suffering…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Question of Suffering (Job 1:1-11) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Zach Higgins.

No text available.

The post A Crown of Glory (Numbers 14) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

We have been looking at the regrettable decisions people made when they encountered Jesus. Imagine if you had the opportunity to hear Jesus teach. What would you think? Imagine if you had the chance to see Jesus perform a miracle. What would you have done? But I want you to imagine a slightly different opportunity. Imagine if you had been called by Jesus to follow him and had been following him for about three years. Imagine if you were one of the twelve disciples, the inner circle of followers that Jesus had called to be with him. Not only did you see what Jesus did publicly, but you also participated in the private discussions that happened during those three years. But then imagine if you catastrophically failed Jesus. What if you sinned so badly that you thought you could no longer be a disciple? For our final lesson in this series we are going to focus on one of the disciples named Judas. Please open your copies of God’s word to Matthew 26-27 and we are going to spend our time looking at the regrettable decision Judas made…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Judas and Guilt (Matthew 27:3-10) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

The prophecy of Jeremiah has been a book of failure. As we come to the end of our study of Jeremiah we are taking a moment to look back at the failure of the people of Judah. They have traded the Lord for things that are not gods (Jeremiah 2:10-11). They have exchanged the fountain of living waters for broken cisterns that cannot hold water (Jeremiah 2:12-13). They have refused to listen to the Lord through the prophet Jeremiah through all the Babylon invasions. The book has been a shocking explanation of how the people stubbornly refused to listen to the Lord. One of the worst examples of this was the king of Judah cutting the word of the Lord, column by column, and throwing it into the fire (Jeremiah 36). While the book has frequently described the sins and the failures of the people, there have been glimmers of future hope. The Righteous Branch was promised to come, bringing justice and ruling in righteousness (cf. Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15). A new covenant is coming in which God’s law will be written on the people’s hearts and God will forgive their sins (cf. Jeremiah 31:31-34). So how will the prophecy of Jeremiah end? We are going see God’s final message through Jeremiah to the people as well as an account of what happened to the final kings of Judah. As we read Jeremiah 50-52 we are going to see God’s future hope that his people will be graciously freed. Open your copies of God’s word to Jeremiah 50-52 and we are going to read five pictures of future hope for God’s people. As we read, be thinking about how this hope was speaking to the future people of God being graciously freed, including God’s people today…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Graciously Freed (Jeremiah 50-52) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

We have spending our time looking at the regrettable decisions people made when they encountered Jesus. Imagine that you had the opportunity to speak to Jesus. Imagine if you had the opportunity to see one of Jesus’ miracles. Imagine if you could ask Jesus one question. In Mark 10 we are going to read about another person taking the opportunity to ask Jesus a question. We considered a failed opportunity to ask Jesus a question when the man asked Jesus to tell his brother to divide the inheritance with him. But now another man has a chance to ask Jesus a question…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Rejecting Repentance (Mark 10:17-31) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Zach Higgins.

No text available.

The post Final Words (1 Timothy 1:15-17) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

We have been looking at different encounters that people had with Jesus. In today’s lesson we are going to look at a group of people who started following Jesus. As we look at this group, I want us to think about this question. Is there a wrong way to follow Jesus? Is it possible to follow Jesus in a wrong way? This is what the Gospel of John wants us to look at in John 6. Please take your copies of God’s word and turn to John 6. John 6 begins with Jesus on the other side of the Sea of Galilee and a large crowd is following him because they saw the signs he was performing (cf. John 6:1-2). You will then notice that this section records the miraculous feeding of the 5000. Please observe the response of the people in John 6:14-15. The people proclaim that Jesus is truly the Prophet who has come into the world and they are ready to make him king. Jesus withdraws from the crowd and his disciples get into a boat and cross the Sea of Galilee. This is when Jesus walks on the water and they reach the other side of the sea. This brings us to the moment that is before us in John 6:22…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Following Crowd (John 6:22-27) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

As you open your copies of God’s word to Jeremiah 46, I want us to notice how this section of the book of Jeremiah begins. It simply reads, “The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the nations” (Jeremiah 46:1). The majority of the book of Jeremiah has been God’s gracious call to his people to listen to him through Jeremiah’s teaching. But there is something that people of God and the world should never forget. God is not a God who only rules over his own people. God rules over the earth. God rules over the nations. God rules over the earth’s leaders. We can sometimes come to the prophetic messages that are directed to the various nations in history’s past and want to skim or skip over what God proclaims. But God is giving the world an important reminder when we come to scriptures like these. The Lord rules over the whole earth and is actively involved in what happens in the world…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Destroying Pride (Jeremiah 46-49) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

We are looking at the regrettable decisions people made when they encountered Jesus. Last week we noticed the person who interrupted Jesus’ sermon with his concern about receiving his portion of the inheritance. We are going to look at another encounter with Jesus. Open your copies of God’s word to Luke 4 and we are going to consider Jesus’ encounter in the town of Nazareth. You will notice that Jesus has begun his ministry and he goes to the synagogue in the town where he grew up (Luke 4:16). We know that Jesus is about 30 years old when he starts his earthly ministry (Luke 3:23). So Jesus has grown up in the town of Nazareth and the people in the town would know who Jesus is. Further, you will also notice that Jesus goes to the synagogue on the Sabbath which was his custom. For the whole of his life, every Sabbath Jesus has gone to the synagogue. Think about the people that you would know if you were going to the same church for 30 years and how familiar you would be with those people. The synagogue was a place for worship, teaching, and learning. It is worth noting as we begin that Jesus did not look down on the idea of going to the synagogue. If we would say that there was someone who did not need to go to the synagogue for worship, teaching, and learning, it would be Jesus. But Jesus went to the synagogue, as it was is custom, even as he began his earthly ministry. There are many aspects to a synagogue service. One of those aspects was a reading from the Law and the Prophets. Jesus takes this opportunity to read from the scriptures. Jesus unrolls the scroll and finds a place in Isaiah that we know as Isaiah 61 and reads from it. Jesus reads from the scripture that speaks about the arrival of the Christ who will proclaim the good news of the Lord’s favor. But after reading this prophetic scripture, what Jesus says next would have been stunning. Look at Luke 4:20-21…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Nazareth’s Question (Luke 4:16-30) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Zach Higgins.

No text available.

The post Increase Our Faith (Luke 17:5-10) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

We are starting a new series for our new year called, Should’ve, Could’ve, Would’ve: Regrettable Decisions When Encountering Jesus. What we are going to study in this series are different people who were given the opportunity to speak to Jesus and consider their encounter and what we can learn from that discussion. Each week what I want us to do is put ourselves in the shoes of these people who have this amazing moment to walk up to the Savior and talk to him. Imagine if Jesus were to visit the town you were living in and you had the chance to see him. What would you say and what would you do? The encounter with Jesus that I want us to start with for this series is found in Luke 12:13-21…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Man With An Inheritance appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Berry Kercheville.

No text available.

The post The God of Judgment appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

As we move into a new year, it is popular to make resolutions regarding how we will do things differently next year. A new year encourages us to think about having a fresh start, live different, and purpose to make some important changes in our lives. But we more importantly need to use this time think about the spiritual changes that we need to make so that we can present ourselves to God as instruments of righteousness and faithful servants. In Colossians 3 we read the apostle Paul teaching how to live as God’s chosen people (cf. Colossians 3:12). For our lesson today, I want to focus on three instructions Paul gives and use these as encouraging spiritual resolutions for 2026…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Onward: Launching Into a New Year (Colossians 3:15-17) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

What gives us the strength to be faithful and trust God to the end? All of us want to be faithful of our whole lives. We want to be strong in our faith and even stronger as we come to the end of our walk with the Lord. But how can we trust him all the way to the end of our lives and what motivation does God give us to trust him? We are going to look at the life of one of the kings of Judah named King Asa and see what God is teaching about the long road of faithfulness to him. Please open your copies of God’s word to 2 Chronicles 14…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Trust Him To The End (2 Chronicles 14-16) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

Romans 6 is showing us how we are to live differently because Christ set us free from the power of sin. In the first lesson we looked at how we have died to sin and are to live a new life. Our baptism represents this change as we unite ourselves to Christ. In the second lesson we looked at how sin is not our master. You have been set free and you have the choice to present the parts of your body to God as instruments of righteousness. These teachings are given to us so that we would be empowered by the grace of the gospel to put sin to death in our lives. The apostle Paul has one more encouragement for us in Romans 6 to break the chains of sin in our lives. Open your copies of God’s word to Romans 6 and we will spend our time in verses 15-23…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Fruit of the Gospel (Romans 6:15-23) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

How we look at our lives makes a big impact on the direction for our lives. We even use such illustrations in our culture to try to communicate that idea. For example, we will ask if a glass is half full or half empty. Obviously the answer is that both are true. But how you see things in life will strongly dictate the direction we will go. Jeremiah is dealing with a people who are looking at things in their lives in all the wrong ways. They think they are seeing life correctly when, in fact, everything they understand to be happening is the wrong way to look at life. In our lesson today we are going to look at how we look at our lives and consider how we look at life will dramatically affect the outcome with God. Open your copies of God’s word to Jeremiah 44 and we are going to look how we can look at life the wrong way which leads us into greater troubles…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Seeking Great Things (Jeremiah 44-45) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

Romans 5 has proclaimed the powerful work of Christ to reverse our condition as we were under the power of sin. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). But Christ’s magnificent, saving work requires a response. In our last lesson we noted the apostle Paul teaching that our baptism means something. Our baptism symbolizes our union with Christ. In baptism we are joining to Christ in his death and also in his resurrection. We join Christ’s death by dying to sin. We join Christ’s resurrection by being raised to walk a new life, knowing for certain that when he returns we will experience a final resurrection like his (cf. Romans 6:4-5). We participate in baptism and live out the meaning of our baptism. Now the apostle Paul is going to teach us a very important reality now that we belong to Christ and then teach us what we must do to live in that new relationship. Open your copies of God’s word to Romans 6 and we are going to focus our attention on verses 6-14…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Dying With the Gospel (Romans 6:6-14) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

We have been spending some of our evening lessons looking at how Jesus teaches and transforms Peter through the various discussions they have with each other. Jesus approached a man named Simon, called him to be an apostle, and changed his name to “rock” (Peter). Matthew 18 is another time when Jesus teaches Peter. The teaching moment is going to come from a question about forgiveness that Peter asks Jesus. It is tempting to go straight to the question Peter has. But the question about forgiveness is in the middle of a context of Jesus teaching about how we look at other people. So it is important to read what Jesus was teaching his disciples so that we can appreciate the reason for Peter’s question and better understand the answer Jesus gives. Open your copies of God’s word to Matthew 18 and we are going to consider the whole chapter as we learn how to forge forgiveness…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Forging Forgiveness (Matthew 18) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

Romans 5 is to be a life-changing chapter. Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God (Romans 5:1). Through Christ we have access by faith into grace in which we stand (Romans 5:2). We rejoice in hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:3). We rejoice in our sufferings because we know that our sufferings produce endurance, character, and hope (Romans 5:4). Since we have been justified by his blood, much more will we be saved by his life (Romans 5:9). If we were reconciled to God while were enemies, much more, now that we are reconciled will we be saved by his life (Romans 5:10). How is this possible? This is possible because the one man, Jesus, came and reversed and overthrew everything that the one man, Adam, did (Romans 5:12-21). Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more (Romans 5:20). So, sin is no longer in charge and no longer reigning. Rather, grace is reigning through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus (Romans 5:21). Romans 6-8 are built upon the good news that we have learned in Romans 1-5. For this month we are going to focus our attention on Romans 6 and we are going to learn how to break the chains of sin that desires to rule over us. Open your copies of God’s word to Romans 6 and we are going to focus on the first five verses…

To read more of this lesson click here.v

The post Risen With The Gospel (Romans 6:1-5) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

What do you think about? If you were asked to think about your typical day and consider your thoughts, what do you think about? What do you like to think about? What do you wish you had more time to think about? When you have down time in your day, what do you spend your time filling your mind with? We are talking about how to be anxious for nothing as the scriptures command in Philippians 4:6. In our last lesson we noticed that the apostle Paul tells us that we are to rejoice in the Lord always, overflow in reasonableness and gentleness so that all can see it, and to not be anxious about anything. The direction Paul gives that will lead to these outcomes is prayer with thanksgiving. Prayer with thanksgiving will lead us to rejoice in the Lord always. Prayer with thanksgiving will lead our lives to overflow with graciousness and gentleness for the world to see. Prayer with thanksgiving will lead our lives to be free from the strain of anxiety and worry. As Philippians 4:7 proclaims, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” But there is one more component that is necessary for the transformed life. Paul challenges us in Philippians 4:8 to evaluate what you think about. What does your mind dwell upon in the day?

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Set Your Mind (Philippians 4:7-8) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

A sermon from Brent Kercheville.

What do you do when God’s word is not your will? What do you do when God’s answer to your prayer is not the answer you wanted to receive from him? Jeremiah and the people have gone through great tragedy and judgment. The Babylonians have destroyed the city of Jerusalem and destroyed God’s temple. But these actions were directed by God as judgment on the people from rejecting him. Throughout the book of Jeremiah we have heard the warnings of God’s impending judgment for sins. But the people would not listen to God’s message. Rather than hearing the warnings, they tortured and persecuted God’s messenger, Jeremiah. Because of Jeremiah’s faithfulness, Jeremiah’s life has been spared (cf. Jeremiah 39:11-14). Jeremiah 40 opens with this recap of the events that have transpired…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Praying For My Answer (Jeremiah 40-43) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

A sermon from Brent Kercheville.

We have been studying the interactions that Jesus had with Peter through his ministry. We have noted that the one we know as Peter was born with the name Simon. Jesus gave Simon the name Peter which means rock. Throughout the gospel accounts we see Jesus teaching Peter and the apostles so that they could be his ambassadors when Jesus finished his ministry and ascended back to heaven. We are now toward the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry as we have been looking at Peter’s life. In fact, Jesus has just instituted the Lord’s Supper so that future disciples would remember his body and his blood of the covenant every Lord’s day. After telling his disciples that he was about to be betrayed by one of his disciples and instituting the Lord’s Supper, Jesus and his disciples sing a hymn and then walk from Jerusalem through the Kidron Valley to the Mount of Olives. Please open your copies of God’s word to Matthew 26 and we are going to look at a very important teaching Jesus has for Peter and the apostles. Jesus is going to teach on and expose in his disciples the problem of spiritual overconfidence…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Overconfidence (Matthew 26:30-41) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

A sermon from Brent Kercheville.

We have been looking at Romans 5 in which we read seven “much more” or “more than that” statements. The apostle Paul wants to show us what we have in Christ. In the first eleven verses of Romans 5 we learned that since we have been justified, we have peace with God, we have obtained access into grace in which we stand, we rejoice in our sufferings, we will be saved from wrath, we will be saved by his life, and we rejoice in our reconciliation. In Romans 5:12-21 we are going to see three more “much more” proclamations and we are going to see the hope of the gospel and the gift of the gospel available through Jesus our Lord. It has been my goal in our series in Romans this year to keep these messages simple and clear. I did preach line by line through Romans some years ago and those messages are available on our website. Romans 5:12-21 is considered a complicated text and I want to make sure that we do not miss the critical message of this paragraph. So we are going to observe some false concepts that are taught in this paragraph. But my greater focus will be on what this scripture is teaching us about the gift of the gospel of Jesus…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Gift of the Gospel (Romans 5:12-21) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

A sermon from Brent Kercheville.

The book of James gives a warning about a person who is double-minded.

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. (James 1:6-8 ESV)

The warning of this scripture of one of having divided loyalties so that we do not trust in the Lord yet for some reason are still coming to God in prayer. James is not speaking to the doubts we have because we do not know the future or wonder what is going to happen. We see many people in the scriptures wonder what is going to happen or not know what is going to happen next (see David in the Psalms). The problem is that you ask God not in faith, doubting, because you are double-minded with God. This problem is illustrated in the life of the nation of Judah in the book of Jeremiah. Open your copies of God’s word to Jeremiah 37-39 and we are going to look at the problem of being double-minded people with double-minded prayers…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Double-Minded Prayer (Jeremiah 37-39) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

A sermon from Brent Kercheville.

In our last lesson we began a series called Much More. In Romans 5 we read seven times where the apostle Paul makes a declaration and then tells us that we have even more than that (cf. Romans 5:3, 9, 10, 11, 15, 17, 20). We notice in our last lesson that the “much more” that Paul proclaims that is that we rejoice in our sufferings. In our text today we are going to see Paul give us three “much more” statements. Open your copies of God’s word to Romans 5:6-11 and we are going to see what more we have in Christ.

Before we can understand what the apostle Paul is going to show us, we need to remember what he taught in Romans 5:1-5. Paul has revealed that we have peace with God because we have been justified by faith through our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Romans 5:1). Further, we have obtained access into this grace in which we stand (cf. Romans 5:2). Finally, we rejoice in our sufferings because we know that God is at work in us. God is using our suffering to produce endurance which produces character which produces hope which will not put us to shame. Notice how Paul ends this idea. Our hope will not disappoint because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. This is a key place of hope for us. God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. The question that immediately arises is this: What does this look like? How do I know that I have God’s love? What should I be looking at in my life? This is where Paul is going and what Paul is answering in these next verses…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Reconciliation of the Gospel (Romans 5:6-11) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

A sermon from Brent Kercheville.

We have been looking at how Jesus goes about transforming Simon into Peter through the different teachings and interactions Jesus has with his apostle. I would like for us to open our copies of God’s word to John 13 where we will consider another important interaction between Jesus and Peter. As we come to John 13 we are told in the first verse that we are close to the cross. Jesus is in Jerusalem before the Passover and we know from the gospel accounts that this is the Passover in which Jesus will be betrayed, arrested, tried, and crucified. You will notice in verse 2 that Judas already has a plan in his heart to betray Jesus. But as we look at what Jesus is going to do for his disciples, I want us to pay attention to how Peter is responding to Jesus and how Jesus transforms Peter through his teachings…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post Let Jesus Serve You (John 13) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

A sermon from Brent Kercheville.

We are turning our attention to Romans 5 and our theme for this chapter is Much More. The reason for this theme is that this idea of “much more” is repeated throughout this chapter. Notice Romans 5:3 begins, “More than that” or “Not only that.” Verse 9 says, “much more” in the middle of that verse. Then in verse 10 we read “much more” again. Then in verse 11, “More than that.” Verses 15 and 17 also say, “much more.” Finally, in verse 20 we read that grace abounded all the more. Romans 5 keeps repeating how much more we have in Christ. The apostle Paul is going to tell us a reality that we have in Christ and then tell us how it is even better or more than we may realize. Open your copies of God’s word to Romans 5 and we are going to learn about the hope of the gospel…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post The Hope of the Gospel (Romans 5:1-5) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Andy Cantrell.

A sermon from Andy Cantrell.
No text available.

The post Glory in Light and Life appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Erik Borlaug.

A sermon from Erik Borlaug.
No text available.

The post Strengthened By Grace appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Erik Borlaug.

A sermon from Erik Borlaug.
No text available.

The post Wait on the Lord appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Andy Cantrell.

A sermon from Andy Cantrell.
No text available.

The post Glory of Sensibility and Good Deeds appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Andy Cantrell.

A sermon from Andy Cantrell.
No text available.

The post Glory In Excellence and Hope appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Erik Borlaug.

A sermon from Erik Borlaug.
No text available.

The post Lessons from the Wilderness appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Erik Borlaug.

A sermon from Erik Borlaug

The post Saul’s Envy appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Andy Cantrell.

A sermon from Andy Cantrell

The post The Glory of Joy and Contentment appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Andy Cantrell.

A sermon from Andy Cantrell

The post When God Glorifies His Children appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Erik Borlaug.

A sermon from Erik Borlaug

The post Understanding Emotions appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.

Speaker: Brent Kercheville.

What do you do when the battle is too big? It is easy to look at our life circumstances and our difficulties and think that the battle is too big for us. Depression and discouragement are not reserved for those who do not have a relationship with God. Even God’s people can grow weary and discouraged because of the obstacles they face in their lives. So what should you do when the battle is too big? Please open your copies of God’s word to 2 Chronicles 13 and we are going to look at a historical account about a king who faced a battle that was far too big for him and his people…

To read more of this lesson click here.

The post When The Battle Is Too Big (2 Chronicles 13) appeared first on Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ.