Bible Lessons
A Tale of Two Castles
Matthew 7:24-29
Illustration: The Three Little Pigs – The tale is about three pigs and a wolf. Each pig chooses to build his house with a different set of materials. The first builds his house with straw – it’s quick, leaving him time to play. The second builds his house with sticks – it too is quick, leaving him time to play. The third pig builds his house with bricks – it’s more expensive and time consuming, but this pig sees the bigger picture and deems the materials and the time worth his while.
A Little Game Of What If
Matthew 4:18-22 / Mark 1:16-20 / Luke 5:1-11
Marvel’s “What If?” – Marvel’s “What If?” comic premiered on my birthday in 1977. I was 14 years old, old enough to understand the significance of the question. Marvel took a pivotal moment in a story and asked the question, “What if?” What if it didn’t happen that way? What if it happened to a different person? Then, they ran with the story as if the second decision had been made. This, by the way, was the beginning of Marvel’s formation of the multiverse. The first question asked, “What if Spiderman joined the Fantastic Four and it became the Fantastic Five?” You’ll have to read it for the answer. For now, I move on to my point.
A House United
1 Corinthians 1:10-17
At the Illinois Republican State Convention on June 16, 1858, Senatorial candidate Abraham Lincoln said, “We are now far into the fifth year, since a policy was initiated, with the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only, not ceased, but has constantly augmented.
A God Who Wants to Give
(Matthew 7:7-12)
“7 Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 Who among you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him. 12 Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:7-12).
