Category: Bible study

Happy New Year!

by laurelhillumcBible study / Missions / Upcoming Event

Happy New Year 2018January makes a fresh start for all of us. In the messages for the month, we will make a fresh start in remembering the things of God that are revealed as vital and enduring for us. We will make a fresh start in our Administrative Council and in our ministry together. You can see this and more in our January Newsletter and Calendar.

You can also be reminded of those who will be serving as nominated leaders in the year ahead and of our 2018 budget.

Also, you can read the sermon from December 31st on How to Make Holy Resolutions, if you would like some guidance from the Bible about making 2018 a truly new year.

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Are You Committed to the Lord?

by laurelhillumcBible study / Missions / Upcoming Event

octoberOctober is a special month for Laurel Hill.  It is a month to gauge and grow in our commitment to the Lord.  It is a month when we will celebrate Laity Sunday, October 8th in both services. It is a month when we will host our annual Charge Conference with seven other churches participating on October 15th!

It is also the month for collecting books, DVD’s, and stuffed animals for our ministry partnership with the Children’s Hospital of Richmond and the Pediatric Emergency Room.  Make sure you’re helping and participating in this great outreach.

Also, at the end of the month, on the 28th, Laurel Hill will have a Fall Festival for our children and our families.  Find out all about it in the newsletter and get it on your schedule as you check the monthly Calendar.

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Love Constrains Us

by laurelhillumcBible study / Uncategorized

compeledThe Bible speaks of how the love of God draws everything and everyone in our lives down to a singular relationship with Jesus. We don’t live for ourselves. We live so that others would know what the crucifixion and resurrection means for them. But, the Apostle Paul says their is something more ontological that we need to know that shapes our faith and witness as an ambassador for Jesus Christ and that raises the dead to life.

It comes from reading 2 Corinthians 5: 14. “For the love of Christ constrains us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead.”

What are the implications of all being dead? What has to happen for all (or anyone) to go from being dead to being alive? For that, we’re going to tell the story of love from John 3: 13 – 21.

State the Facts: “No one has ever gone (ascended) into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.”There are two groups of humanity. The first group is ‘the all’ who cannot ascend into heaven. The second group consists of the One who can.

Share the Faith: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

See the Future: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Show a Singular Focus: “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Start the Funnel: “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

The Simple Framework: “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that the works they have done that they are wrought in God.”

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Finishing 2016, Starting 2017

by laurelhillumcBible study / Pathway of Grace

How can you make the end of a year a point of breakthrough instead of just a place you start over? Realize God is drawing us forward to repentance. Now is not the time to substitute regret for things undone with repentance of dead works. When we repent, we are aligning ourselves with the new grace and mercy God is giving us today.

What’s the one thing God is fervently stirring you to do? Let every other resolution or goal reflect that priority. You may pursue multiple goals but what you won’t let yourself do is change the order of those goals until God commands you to do it. I’ll repeat that to remind you: We may pursue multiple goals but we won’t change the order of those goals unless God commands us.

Don’t fall into the trap of your day determining your actions. Instead, let’s make sure our actions determine the day! And, let’s make sure our actions reflect our priority.

Remember, God has assured us of the Holy Spirit’s guidance and the instruction of His Word to conform us into the image of His Dear Son. Let us remember to follow.

Norman Ramsey

P.S. Don’t fall into the trap of having priorities – plural. Have a priority. Do it first and then everything else can get in line after that.seekfirst

P.S.S. Read the Laurel Hill United Methodist Church January newsletter and calendar.

P.S.S.S. Read the Norman Ramsey Ministries 2016 Year End newsletter and be blessed as you move into 2017!

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