Finding Hope Through Discovery in Bible Study

  You Are My Hiding Place “The Tithing Contract”   January 21, 2023 Larry R Evans   Introduction Whoever  dwells  in the shelter of the Most High will rest  in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is  my refuge and my fortress, my God,  in whom I trust .”  (Psalm 91:1,2)   It is good to  praise  the LORD and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming your love  in the morning and  your faithfulness  at night, . . .   (Psalm 92:1,2) Last week our introductory Scripture reading was Psalm 25:1,4,5. There we found a reflection by David showing that he could place his trust in the LORD--the covenant God. That trust led him to pray for the LORD to show “me your paths” and to “guide me in your truth.”  Later, in verse 10, David gives his testimony, “All the ways of LORD are loving and faithful.” As we saw last week, experiencing God’s presence and guidance is at the heart of the Christian’s greatest desires.   This week we will be looking at the practice of returning

  Experiencing God  Through His Covenants with Us   January 14, 2023 Larry R Evans   Introduction In you, LORD my God, I put my trust… Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me , for you are God my Savior, and  my hope is in you  all day long.           Psalm 25:1,4,5 When we speak of covenants we are speaking of agreements or promises. The underlying principle is that of trust. In a wedding ceremony, we repeat our vows and in doing so we are telling our future life partner that we are trustworthy and reliable and that we will be faithful.  You can count on me, and I can count on you to look after our personal interests. Faithfulness to the marriage vows is important. As is said in Marriage Encounter,  “Love is a decision”  and that decision is based on an agreement we’ve made with each other. There may be tough situations in the future, but we’ve made our decision regardless of future challenges.   When David prays, “In you, LORD my God, I put m

  “All in the Family” January 7, 2023 Larry R Evans   Introduction The year 2022 was quite a year!  We lived through it together. Not all was bad, of course, but some serious concerns were raised. ·         2022 was the year we had a war break out in Europe.  ·      We had another year in which mass shootings made headlines  o   around an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas,  o   a grocery store in Buffalo, New York,  o   a Fourth of July parade in Chicago. ·      We read about  o   supply chains,  o   quiet quitting,  o   and border crises. ·      Fentanyl deaths, sexual abuse in the church, and pushback on Covid regulations. ·      Gaslighting and goblin mode were words of the year, depending upon whether you asked Oxford or Merriam-Webster. If you asked Dictionary.com, the word of the year was woman, and I think we all know the reason why. People had trouble giving a definition. ·      We had Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health.  ·      We had a new Supreme Court justice,  ·      and we