Though Your Sins Are Like Scarlet
2025 May 25
Isaiah 1:1-6, 18: Jehovah speaks against Israel’s sin, providing us a better understanding of how our God views sin. Sin is discussed as being relational, judicial, and disease. But Jehovah also gives hope stating that no matter how bad our sin is, we can be white as snow. Many of these thoughts were inspired and borrowed from Jim McGuiggan’s book: The Dragon Slayer, chapter 2: The Road leading to Bethlehem and Golgatha.
He Does Not Deal With Us According to Our Sins
2025 June 1
Psalm 103:10: The story of man is the story of sin. In this lesson we will examine sin and why a holy and loving God would deal with sin. For many of us, our first thought is that Jehovah dealt with sin because of His wrath. This seems to be an incomplete answer. Rather as a loving Father he dealt with sin to bring us back into a righteous relationship with Him. Many of these thoughts were inspired and borrowed from Jim McGuiggan’s book: The Dragon Slayer, chapter 2: The Road leading to Bethlehem and Golgatha.
God With Us
2025 June 8
Matthew 1:23: How does Jesus deal with sin? He did it by becoming one of us and joining with us in the battle. He did it by being the one who has never given in to sin. Many of these thoughts were inspired and borrowed from Jim McGuiggan’s book: The Dragon Slayer, chapter 2: The Road leading to Bethlehem and Golgatha.
War
2025 June 29
Revelation 12:7-12: There is a war of world views: God v. Satan. The world’s view is opposed to God, violent, corrupt, and selfish. How does God reconcile the world to himself? Not through power (force), but through the humble obedience of Jesus, who lovingly sacrificed himself for us. It is through the cross that we have forgiveness and reconciliation. The ideas of this lesson were borrowed from Jim McGuiggan’s “The Dragon Slayer”, chapter 4: The Rise and Fall of Pandemonium.
I Have Come Out to Oppose You
2025 July 6
Numbers 22: Balaam was facing the wrath of God but didn’t know it. His donkey saved him three times, yet Balaam beat him each time. Each of us is facing the wrath of God, because of our sin. How has mankind tried to deal with their sin? Wisdom, pleasure, work, psychiatry, drugs, denial, blame, redefining, false gods, and altering the scriptures. Have any of these worked? No. Sin is pervasive in the world. When we try to cope with sin by our own might, we are part of the problem. There is only one solution: Jesus Christ.
I Have Sinned
2025 July 20
1 John 1:9: What does it mean to confess our sins, since it is necessary for forgiveness. In this lesson we look at the examples of the Pharisee and Tax Collector and the contrast between King Saul and King David to better understand what confession from our hearts involves: humility, pleading for mercy, introspective acknowledgement of our sin, sincerity, seeking reconciliation, facing a just judgment, and healing.
Our Father The Judge
2025 July 27
1 Peter 1:17: Most tend to think of our salvation (sin, salvation, atonement and judgment) as being primarily judicial. In this lesson we will see that it is vital to also see our salvation as relational. Based on thoughts from Jim McGuiggan, The Dragon Slayer, Page(s): 208-210.
With What Shall I Come Before Jehovah?
2025 August 3
Micah 6:6-8: In this lesson we consider the purpose of sacrifice, learning that sacrifice is not about the sacrifice itself, for God is not pleased with the blood, rather it is about our obedience. Jesus demonstrates for us the importance of this obedience in His life and death thus providing salvation for us.
Making Propitiation
2025 August 10
Hebrews 2:17: Jesus is our propitiation that takes away the sins of the people. In providing for our salvation we see the greatest act of love and the greatest act of obedience. This sermon is background for the next lesson in the series.
He Bore the Sin of Many – part 1
2025 August 17
1 Peter 2:24: We know that Jesus bore our sins. But the false idea of his death being vicarious or a substitution is not what the Bible teaches. Passages used to support this idea are discussed making it clear that sin is not transferable; Jesus was not made sin, nor forsaken by His father; He was without sin and bearing our sins is about removal of sins, not transferring.
He Bore the Sin of Many – part 2
2025 August 24
1 Peter 2:24: We know that Jesus bore our sins. But the false idea of his death being vicarious or a substitution is not what the Bible teaches. Passages used to support this idea are discussed making it clear that sin is not transferable; Jesus was not made sin, nor forsaken by His father; He was without sin and bearing our sins is about removal of sins, not transferring.
He Bore the Sin of Many – part 3
2025 September 7
1 Peter 2:24: We know that Jesus bore our sins. But the false idea of his death being vicarious or a substitution is not what the Bible teaches. Passages used to support this idea are discussed making it clear that sin is not transferable; Jesus was not made sin, nor forsaken by His father; He was without sin and bearing our sins is about removal of sins, not transferring.
He Bore the Sin of Many – What It Means
2025 September 7
1 Peter 2:24: You’ll learn in this lesson what it means that Jesus bore our sins. It is not just what happened on the cross, that’s the climax of His holiness. Rather it’s everything about Jesus coming to be a man and identify with us in our sin and guilt and through his love and compassion be the sin offering so that we can be reconciled to our Father. This lesson is modified, but almost completely, Jim McGuiggan’s (Jim McGuiggan: The Dragon Slayer, Chapter 7: Not Ashamed to be Called their Brother (p. 212-250)
Mighty to Save
2025 September 28
Isaiah 63:1: God’s righteousness is illustrated by his mighty warrior salvation, fighting against sin. His full righteousness is seen in Jesus as our Redeemer defeating sin on the cross. Based on thoughts from Jim McGuiggan’s book The Dragon Slayer, Chapter 8: The Blood-Stained Marcher from Edom, p. 251-265, Nook Edition)
The Holy One
2025 October 5
Isaiah 6:1-7: What does holy mean? Often define as separation, sacred, set apart. What does it mean to be holy like He is holy? All are true, but there’s more to holiness, seeing that our God desires to be with us. God is holy in that He is greater than, more worthy than, higher than anyone or anything else.
Holy Love
2025 October 12
Psalm 56:9: The false dichotomy of God’s holiness and God’s love that is often propagated in our society comes from a failure to fully understand what holiness means and what love means. When we understand these properly, we come to see that it is our Father’s Holy Love that moves against our sin to provide life through His Son so that we can be holy as He is holy. Based on thoughts from The Dragon Slayer by Jim McGuiggan, Chapter 9: So This Is Love?
Without the Shedding of Blood
2025 October 19
Hebrews 9:22: Sacrifice, especially bloody sacrifice, is difficult for many of us. In this lesson, we’ll examine why blood is necessary for forgiveness; along with God’s grace and man’s humble repentance. The Dragon Slayer by Jim McGuiggan
Jesus: The Better Sacrifice
2025 October 26
Hebrews 9:23: Most Christians are familiar with the fact that Jesus was sacrificed for our sins. In this lesson, we’ll explore the meaning of that sacrifice, including how it differs from the first covenant sacrifices and the implications of Jesus’ sacrifice for our daily lives. Based on “The Dragon Slayer” by Jim McGuiggan