Westmeade Smith Sunday School Class

It's Not A Resolution

2012-01-24T09:30:00.003-06:00

It's not a resolution, it's a lifestyle. I am not talking about losing weight although I need to do that too. I am talking about getting into God's Word every day. A lot of times we will make resolutions to be better this year about reading His Word. We don't need another resolution. We need a change in lifestyle. We need to change our priorities and put God first on that list. Once we make it a lifestyle, that is when we start growing spiritually and becoming more like Christ. As Christians, that should be our goal.

2nd Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Class Cookout

2011-07-17T20:22:00.002-05:00

I had a great time at the cookout. Thanks to everyone for bringing food. I look forward to our next event. Maybe I will be able to convince Drew that I am not Jody at that one.

Acts 2:42
They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

It's nice to be clean

2010-11-20T18:05:00.009-06:00

Just got back from our camping trip (see pics below) and I was a little dirty to say the least. It sure is nice to get a shower and get all the dirt and grime off and get rid of that smell (Jenny wouldn't come within 3 feet of me). Just like camping, sin makes us dirty & smelley. Isaiah 1:18 says, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." No matter how dirty we get, God can clean us. If you give your life to Jesus Christ, you will be cleansed and unlike the shower that I just took, God's cleansing is for eternity.

Thanks to all that were able to go camping this weekend. I had a great time and look forward to doing it again.

The Bible already told us!

2010-09-22T06:31:00.004-05:00

I read an article yesterday that was titled the following,"Computers Explain How Moses Parted the Red Sea". Here is the first paragraph in the Fox News article: "Moses might not have parted the Red Sea, but a strong east wind that blew through the night could have pushed the waters back in the way described in biblical writings and the Koran, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday." The article goes into detail about how wind could have parted the waters as long as it was it the right speed and the water was shallow enough. Here is what the Bible says,
"Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all the night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on the left." Exodus 14:21-22
Obviously it was God that parted the sea and not Moses. The above passage tells us that. It says that Moses stretched his hands out and God parted the sea by using a strong east wind. It amazes me that the world will look everywhere to try and explain something when the answer is plain and clear in the Bible. I don't have a problem with trying to determine how scientifically it could have happened but don't be surprised when we can't fully figure out how it happened. We can't limit God to our scientific understandings.

Change

2010-08-05T11:24:00.003-05:00

A couple of definitions of the word change found in the American Heritage Dictionary are as follows:
- To undergo transformation or transition
- To go from one phase to another

We all go though change sometime in our lives. Sometimes it is good and sometimes it is not so good. Sometimes we want the change and sometimes we don't. The one thing about going through change that we need to remember is that we aren't alone when we are going through it. We have friends, family, and most of all Jesus to walk with us. And as we stay in the will of Jesus, as we walk with Him, as we talk with Him, as we follow and serve Him, He will get us where He wants us.

Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Living to Please God

2010-06-15T22:40:00.002-05:00

As Christians, we know our lives should please God. We should strive to please him every day with every action. God tells us how to please Him. Read 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 to see what God says.

Refill

2010-05-19T21:17:00.004-05:00

As most of you know I need to get my propane tank for my grill refilled. It is kind of hard to cook with a gas grill with no gas. Well, Jake and I went today and got it refilled and we grilled out hamburgers for dinner. They were pretty good if I do say so myself. Our spiritual lives are a lot like a propane tank. Sometimes we need to be refilled. Acts 4:31 says After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.This was not the first time that these believers were filled with the Holy Spirit. They were first filled with the Holy Spirit back in Acts 2 at Pentacost. As the early belivers needed to be refilled, we too need to be refilled with the Holy Spirit from time to time. Once we are filled with the Holy Spirit, we will be able to speak the word of God boldly. So what do we do to get refilled? That is easy, ask God then be obedient to His Word.

Tim Hawkins - Medication Side Effects

2010-04-22T21:29:00.000-05:00

T-Ball Lesson

2010-04-22T06:35:00.005-05:00

Jake is playing T-Ball this year and I am finding myself yelling a lot of instructions to him during the game. Get Ready, Pay Attention, Get your glove out of your mouth, look at the ball, Get Ready, Get Ready. I was thinking about our last game last night and the one phrase I seem to yell the most, Get Ready! That not ony applies to T-Ball, it also applies to our spiritual lives as well.

2nd Timothy 4:2 tells us to be prepared in season and out of season.

In a nutshell, Paul is telling us to be ready. To get our kids ready in T-Ball, we teach them what to do in different situations of the game. It is the same way in our spiritual lives, we must read the Word of God to know how to handle any situation and answer any question. In T-Ball we practice hitting, running and catching. We need to practice, we need to share the Good News as much as possible just like we are getting ready for the big game. God has a mission for us, he gives us the tools and the words; all we have to do is Be Ready.

HE HAS RISEN!

2010-03-31T20:43:00.001-05:00

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " Then they remembered his words.

Luke 24:1-8

What is your Passion?

2010-03-21T20:56:00.002-05:00

Passion is defined as a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept. We all have passions. Some are passionate about football, baseball, basketball, soccer; others are passionate about hunting, fishing, cooking, eating, or whatever. What would your life look like if you (that includes ME) were passionate about sharing Christ? How would that affect those around you; your spouse, children, friends, co-workers, strangers? What would be different in your daily life? How would your focus change? We are only 2 weeks away from Easter. More than any other time of the year, our focus should be on Christ and sharing His Good News with everyone. This Saturday we have the opportunity to go out into our neighborhoods and pass out scripture and invitations to our Easter service. Those that accept our invitation will hear the Gospel and that is something we should be passionate about.

No, this is not Jenny when she was 3

2010-03-18T20:02:00.001-05:00

Blessed Be Your Name

2010-03-06T09:49:00.001-06:00

3 words

2010-02-23T20:16:00.004-06:00

I was trying to think of something to put on this post today. I thought about writing about my failures, the times that I have let God down already this week; I thought about writing about how God has blessed me, forgiven me, saved me but I just couldn't find the right words. Then it came to me, three words :

GOD IS GOOD
GOD IS GOOD
GOD IS GOOD

He forgives and forgets. He makes us holy, He saves us. He lifts us up, He comes to us and He wants us to come to Him. He loves us unconditionally. GOD IS GOOD.

Mark 10:18
"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone.

Christ-like

2010-01-19T19:49:00.003-06:00

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”—Mohandas Gandhi

That is a sad statement. We are called to be like Christ yet there are a lot of times in our lives that we are not. Instead of being like Christ, we become stumbling blocks.1 Corinthians 10:32 says 'Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—'. So the question is, how can we not become a stumbling block to others? First we need to have a relationship with Christ, then we need to know His Word and we must put that knowledge into action. Jeremiah 6:16 says 'This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.'... We are to walk in the ways of God and if we do that then we will be like Christ. The rest of that verse from Jeremiah goes on to say "But you said, "We will not walk in it". Don't be that person.
Matthew 4:19-20 - "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him. Jesus is calling you, follow Him.

Tim Hawkins Comedy

2010-01-02T20:37:00.001-06:00

A large Hot Chocolate Please

2009-12-11T06:20:00.003-06:00

It was cold this morning so I decided to stop and get a hot chocolate. I pulled up to the drive through and ordered a large hot chocolate and was promptly told that the largest size they have is a medium. 'The largest size they have is a medium'. Does that sound odd to anyone else? How can you have a medium when you only have 2 sizes? There are things in this world that I just don't understand. As I was leaving with my 'medium' hot choclate I started thinking about an article I read yesterday in USA Today that puzzled me even more than the large/medium debate. The article was titled "More US Christians mix in 'Eastern', New Age beliefs". Now the title of the article is troubling enough for me. How can someone calling themself a Christian have 'New Age' beliefs? The article goes on to talk about how many americans change their religious affilitations many times during their lives, go from church to church trying to have their needs met, believe in reincarnation, believe hororscopes and that yoga is a spiritual experience. It gets worse! Toward the end of the article I read the following statement:
'Despite Americans' overwhelming allegiance to someone they call God (92%), in Pew's 2008 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, 70% said "many religions can lead to eternal life," and 68% said "there's more than one true way to interpret the teachings of my religion."'
How can someone call themself a Christian and believe that there is more that one way to heaven? John 14:6 says, "Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Now let me break that down for you, NO ONE goes to heaven without believing in and following Jesus Christ. Jesus is the ONLY way. People in this world will try to confuse us and try to get us to change our belifes to match theirs. We must stay alert and hold strong to what the Word of God says. We are not being intollerant when we say that Jesus is the only way. It would be more intolloerant to allow someone to go the Hell because you don't want to risk upsetting them with the truth. That is what Satan wants. He wants us to be afraid to stand up for our beliefs, he wants to confuse.

Ephesians 6:11
Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ...

The Bible is God's Word. Jesus IS the only way.

Millions of Years - give me a break!

2009-10-22T20:37:00.005-05:00

If I said I was going on vacation for 14 days, I’m sure no one would ask me, ‘Now, did you mean you’ll be back in two weeks, or are you speaking metaphorically, and you’ll actually be returning 14 years from now?’ Yet many people continue to question our all-knowing God when He says He created in six normal-length days and rested on the seventh, ‘Did you mean one week, or a few billion years?’

It drives me crazy when I hear someone say something is millions of years old. The earth is not millions of years old. Want proof? Visit the Answers in Genesis website and you will find all kinds of information on the age of the earth and a lot more stuff. Enjoy.

www.answersingenesis.org

Things not to say to your wife

2009-10-22T20:31:00.000-05:00

Neighbors

2009-10-04T20:36:00.003-05:00

I used to be in the habit of coming home from work, waving at my neighbor as I pull into my garage, close the garage behind me and go inside. But that was before Jake, my 4 year old, taught me what it means to be a neighbor. Jake doesn't let me or any of our neighbors just wave and go inside. He meets you at the car before you have time to get out. If you try to go inside he makes you promise to come back out. Then he waits on you to come back out. Jake loves his neighbors. He knows all their names and he likes to spend time with them.

Galatians 5:14
The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

We can't show love to our neighbors unless we spend time with them. What do you know about your neighbor? Do you know their name, their kids names, where they are from, what they do for a living, what their favorite football team is? If you know any of these you are doing well but to really show love to them we need to know what their spiritual lives are like. Do they go to church? Do they have a relationship with Christ? If we really love them, like Jesus tells us too, then we should care about where they spend eternity. I encourage you the next time you see your neighbor out when you come home, don't just wave and go inside; talk to them, invite them to church, tell them about Christ.

Romans 13:10
Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

A time for celebration???

2009-09-27T20:07:00.002-05:00

Check out the score at the end of this video.

I Love Long Weekends

2009-09-02T07:19:00.005-05:00

Luke 5:16 says, “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

Time is precious. I never seem to have enough of it so with Labor day a few days away and I get an extra day off, there is a lot of stuff I want to do. I want to sleep late, go fishing, hang out with Jen and Jake, work in the yard (well maybe I don’t want to do this but I need to), grill out hamburgers, catch up on my computer stuff, ride bikes with Jake, etc… I love long weekends because they give me a chance to do some of this stuff. But I can’t think of a time when a long weekend was coming up and I thought to myself, ‘Great, a day off, I get to spend more time with Jesus.’ Why not? Why don’t I think this way? Shouldn’t I? I tell God during the week, sorry Lord, I just didn’t have enough time today to talk with You, to read Your Word, to tell others about You. So when I get that extra day off I know I should spend more time with Jesus, but I DON'T. What is my excuse? Why don't I?

Psalm 14:2
The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.

Spending time with God is not something that we should have to find time for. It should be something that is always part of our lives.

So, how are you going to spend your long weekend?

Job's Wife

2009-08-04T09:08:00.001-05:00

Job 2:9 – His wife said to him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!”

It is easy to berate Job’s wife when we hear her seemingly insensitive words. But think about what she had just been through. All her children had just been killed and her husband was now inflicted with painful sores. Job was not the only one suffering, she was suffering as well. We are sometimes quick to make jokes about Job’s wife and how Satan spared her to torment Job. But she was in pain. She was hurting. I can imagine her asking why and not hearing a response. I can imagine her struggling to get up each day and carry on with life. I can imagine her looking at her husband, loving him but not able to comfort him and he not able to comfort her. She is not unlike a lot of us when we go through difficult times. We struggle with day to day activities, we sometimes get to the point that we don’t want to talk to anyone including God. Just like Job’s wife, we sometimes abandon our faith when times get difficult.

Job 2:10
10He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

Job does a powerful thing in the midst of his hurt, he worships. Notice Job doesn’t ask the three questions we always ask when tragedy strikes.

1. WHY is this happening to me?
2. WHERE is God?
3. WHEN will my suffering end?

It’s not necessarily wrong to ask why, when He was suspended between heaven and earth on the cross Jesus asked, “why?”

Matt 27:46"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

But just as no answer came to Jesus on the cross we have no promise in God’s Word for the WHY, WHERE, and WHEN questions. Here is where we need to reword our question with HOW. HOW O Lord are you going to help me through this? How is this hurt going to strengthen my relationship with you? How are you going to work this out for my good?

Remember, God doesn’t always give us what we want but He always gives us what we need.

God had a purpose behind Job’s suffering, and the same is true for us.

A Day at the Beach

2009-07-01T15:04:00.004-05:00

The beach is great. Getting to spend time with Jen & Jake, play in the pool and even get in the ocean makes for a great vacation. I don't know how someone could look out at the ocean and not know that there is a God. The view is great, especially from the 14th floor (man this is high). The one thing I don't like about the beach is the sand, go figure. It gets all over you and you just can't get it all off. Eventually it just starts to irriate, and if you have a sunburn, well you know how that feels. Satan is a lot like the sand, he can get all over you and cause all kinds of problems. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:7, ...there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. That is the way sand feels to me, after a while it just torments me. The best way I know to keep the sand from irritating is to stay out of it but that is hard to do when it is all around. So what should we do? How do we keep Satan from tormenting us like the sand does to me? Ephesians 6:11 says "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes." Basically, we are to get into God's Word. By doing that, we can keep all that irritating & tormenting stuff away.
Hope you are having a good week. See you Sunday, I'm going to the pool now (no sand there). David

Jesus is Watching

2009-06-22T06:58:00.000-05:00

-Late one night, a burglar broke into a house he thought was empty.
-He tiptoed through the living room but suddenly he froze in his tracks when he heard a loud voice say: "Jesus is watching you!"
-Silence returned to the house, so the burglar crept forward again.
-"Jesus is watching you," the voice boomed again.
-The burglar stopped dead again. He was frightened. Frantically, he looked all around. In a dark corner, he spotted a bird cage and in the cage was a parrot.
-He asked the parrot: "Was that you who said Jesus is watching me?"
-"Yes," said the parrot.
-The burglar breathed a sigh of relief, and asked the parrot: "What's your name?"
-"Clarence," said the bird.
-"That's a dumb name for a parrot," sneered the burglar. "What idiot named you Clarence?"
-The parrot said, "The same idiot who named the Rottweiller Jesus."

Are you ready to serve?

2009-06-02T20:24:00.007-05:00

Did you ever like having to sit out? I never wanted to come out of a game and didn't want to sit on the bench for 1 second. As Christians, we should be the same way. Don't be satisfied by sitting on the bench. Jesus wasn't! Jesus said in Matthew 20:28, 'just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,...' If we are going to follow after Jesus then we need to be ready to serve. We learn in the book of James that faith without works is dead (James 2:26). Not to say that we are saved by works, we are saved by the grace of God and only by the grace of God through Jesus Christ. What James is telling us is that we live out our faith by our actions. So are you ready? Where do we start? The best way to find your place of service is to discover your spiritual gifts. If you don't already know what your spiritual gifts are, get with me Sunday morning and I will have a survey that you can fill out that will help you find them. Let's get in the game and become more like Christ as we serve Him.

David

Purpose of Parents

2009-05-31T21:23:00.002-05:00

I posted this a couple of months ago but I wanted to post again in case you missed it.

Purpose of Parents

Deuteronomy 6:1-25

1. Parents must start with the task of learning. (1-6)
2. Parents are to teach the family what they have learned. (7-9)
3. Parents are to set the priorities for the family. (10-19)
4. Parents are to be a witness to the family for Jesus. (20-25)

Proverbs 22:6
“Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

God's Timing

2009-05-26T06:51:00.000-05:00

-A young man once asked God how long a million years was to him.
-God replied, "A million years to me is just like a single second to you."
-The young man asked God what a million dollars was to him.
-God replied, "A million dollars to me is just like a single penny to you."
-Then the young man got his courage up and asked, "God, could I have one of your pennies?"
-God smiled and replies, "Certainly, just a second."

Running Hurts My Knees!

2009-05-13T20:28:00.005-05:00

I never liked running very much. Running while playing basketball was fine but just running to run always seemed boring. We now have the WI Fit and running is still not one of my favorite things to do, although it is better than the hula hoop (that is not a pretty sight). We can run for many different reasons; exercise, relaxation, or getting chased by a 4 year old. Running can sometimes make its way into our spiritual lives as well. We sometimes run from God. Read the book of Jonah and see how running from God can hurt you in your relationship with Christ.