Life Lessons with Dr. Steve Schell

03 God's Top Ten: Using God's Name, Ex 20:7

Our mouths expose our hearts. Sooner or later our real beliefs and attitudes pour out of our lips. As hard as we may try to hide them it's impossible to filter everything, and in those moments when we drop our guard, our hearts speak what we really believe. That's why in these lessons on how to love God (Ex 20:3-11) He draws our attention to how we use His name. His purpose isn't simply to get us to patrol our speech more carefully; His concern lies much deeper than that. He wants us to love and respect Him and knows that if we do our mouths will speak accordingly. Jesus said, "For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart" (Mt 12:34), and again on another occasion He said, "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart" (Mt 15:18). So an honest evaluation of how we use God's name will tell us a lot about our spiritual health.

Today we'll listen to the warning God gives about using His name in vain, but we'll also look at the positive side of using His name. After all, as Christians we are people deeply associated with that name: we believe in His name, we pray in His name, we gather in His name, we serve in His name and we have been baptized in His name. Amazingly, we have been given the privilege to use "the name which is above every name..." (Php 2:9).

To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's newest book Study Verse by Verse: Hebrews, email us at info@lifelessonspublishing.com and ask for your copy at no charge! 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge.

 

 

02 God's Top Ten: No Other Gods, Ex 20:1-6

We learned in our study of the "law of Moses" that the purpose of the Ten Commandments is to teach us how to love: first, to love God with all our heart, soul & might (Dt 6:5), and then to love our neighbor as ourselves (Lev 19:18).

Considering these commandments as a whole, we see that the first four focus on loving God, and the final six focus on loving our neighbor. Today, we're going to look more deeply at the first two: 1) You shall have no other gods before Me (v 3); 2) You shall not make for yourself an idol (v 4). In order to understand them better, it's helpful to paraphrase verses 1-11. God's message in these verses is this: "I have already proved My love for you, My power, and My faithfulness by delivering you from Egypt and bringing you safely here. Now I'm asking you to 'marry Me,' that is, to love Me, to be loyal to Me, to treat Me respectfully, and to regularly spend time in personal fellowship with Me. I warn you, if you promise to do so and then don't, I'll react like a wounded spouse, and I'll punish you until you repent. But if you continue to love Me, be loyal to Me, show Me respect and fellowship with Me, I'll pour on you the blessings I promised generation after generation until the end of time." When we realize what God is saying in these verses, it is amazing how tender and vulnerable He was being toward Israel. Really He should never have had to say these things in the first place because if people really love Him, it would be automatic.

To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's newest book Study Verse by Verse: Hebrews, email us at info@lifelessonspublishing.com and ask for your copy at no charge! 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge.

 

 

01 God's Top Ten: The Law of Moses, Ex 20:1-21

The Law of Moses was the code of rules and regulations which Israel agreed to live by as people in covenant with God. Moses didn't invent these laws; he just wrote them down as God dictated them to him. And the "heart" of these laws is the Ten Commandments which the Lord Himself wrote down on two flat tablets of stone (24:12; 31:18; 32:15,16; 34:1-4,28). He gave Israel these laws so they would know how to lead holy lives, and therefore God's presence could dwell among them. His goal was to use their nation to evangelize all the other nations on earth (19:6). But, for the most part, things didn't work out as He intended. People either ignored His laws, or looked for excuses to avoid obeying them, or used them to put others under a form of religious slavery, or tried to earn eternal life by practicing a superficial level of obedience. Of course none of these was the reason God gave His laws in the first place. But misunderstanding and misusing His laws didn't necessarily end with the arrival of Christianity. Sadly some still misunderstand and misuse them. So today we'll let the Apostle Paul explain why God gave the Law to Moses and how He wants to use that law in our lives. As we listen to him we'll hear the good news of the gospel in a fresh way.

To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's newest book Study Verse by Verse: Hebrews, email us at info@lifelessonspublishing.com and ask for your copy at no charge! 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge.

 

Ep 05 Following the Call of God Series: Enduring in the Call, Pt 3

In order to be fruitful for God, it is not enough to simply realize that we are called to service, nor even to discover what that call is. We must give God time to produce fruit through us, and that means we must learn to be consistent in what we do and persevere in doing it over the long haul. But realizing this truth is much easier than living it out. There are many forces that are both within us and outside us that undermine our best intentions. Today's lesson will look at the last of ten different forces which make it hard for us to endure in the areas of service to which God calls us.

To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's newest book Study Verse by Verse: Hebrews, email us at info@lifelessonspublishing.com and ask for your copy at no charge! 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge.

 

Ep 04 Following the Call of God Series: Enduring in the Call, Pt 2

In order to be fruitful for God, it is not enough to simply realize that we are called to service, nor even to discover what that call is. We must give God time to produce fruit through us, and that means we must learn to be consistent in what we do and persevere in doing it over the long haul. But realizing this truth is much easier than living it out. There are many forces that are both within us and outside us that undermine our best intentions. Today's lesson will look at the next few of ten different forces which make it hard for us to endure in the areas of service to which God calls us.

To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's newest book Study Verse by Verse: Hebrews, email us at info@lifelessonspublishing.com and ask for your copy!

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge.

 

Ep 03 Following God's Call Series: Enduring in the Call, Pt 1

In order to be fruitful for God, it is not enough to simply realize that we are called to service, nor even to discover what that call is. We must give God time to produce fruit through us, and that means we must learn to be consistent in what we do and persevere in doing it over the long haul. But realizing this truth is much easier than living it out. There are many forces that are both within us and outside us that undermine our best intentions. Today's lesson will look at the first few of ten different forces which make it hard for us to endure in the areas of service to which God calls us. 

To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's newest book Study Verse by Verse: Hebrews, email us at info@lifelessonspublishing.com and ask for your copy!

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge.

 

Ep 02 Following God's Call Series: Finding the Call

What more appropriate response can there be of Jesus giving His life for us than us giving our lives back to Jesus? If we want Jesus, we come and give our life to HIm. We are talking about the call of God on our lives for the next few episodes. The first call is to a wedding. That's the call of salvation. But the second call is to service. It may be difficult for a person to know where to start serving God, so this episode focuses on where to begin.

To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's newest book Study Verse by Verse: Hebrews, email us at info@lifelessonspublishing.com and ask for your copy at no charge! 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge.

 

 

Ep 01 Following God's Call Series: Understanding the Call

Our lives are meant to be lived with clear purpose and direction. God doesn't waste anything. He doesn't waste any part of your life. If you feel that you are somehow on hold and being wasted, you simply don't understand what He is doing. The reality is God has much for us to do.

There is a call, a purpose and a plan for your life. This episode focuses on understanding the call that is on our lives. 

 

Ep 04 Maturing in Worship Pt 4, Gal 5:16–23; 2 Cor 4:7

In this episode, Pastor Steve goes into the practical aspects of worshipping God and gives some boundaries to worshipping in the Spirit so believers do not take the focus off the Lord.

To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's newest book Study Verse by Verse: Hebrews, email us at info@lifelessonspublishing.com and ask for your copy at no charge! 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge.

 

Ep 03 Maturing in Worship Pt 3, Gal 5:16-23; 2 Cor 4:7

A person who is maturing in worship has learned that they have a continual need to be transformed in the Lord's presence, no matter how old. When I am in the flesh, I will still be grumpy; I will still be the old me. God does not come and so change me that I become a really nice person with or without Him. Rather, a mature Christian becomes more and more dependent on the working of the Holy Spirit because I realize I can be filled with the Holy Spirit at one point but then slip back into my flesh at another. That is why I must learn to worship no matter how I feel.

This episode focuses more on the practical aspects of how we worship. 

To receive a free copy of Dr. Steve Schell's newest book Study Verse by Verse: Hebrews, email us at info@lifelessonspublishing.com and ask for your copy at no charge! 

Also check out our website at lifelessonspublishing.com for additional resources for pastors and leaders. We have recorded classes and other materials offered at no charge.