Posts by Billy Arnold (Page 5)
Asking “What If…?” of the Great I AM
Exodus 4:1Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?” Does God—the Great I AM, YHWH—take questions? In the classic 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz, when Dorothy and the band of misfits that she had collected along the yellow brick road finally come into the throne room of “Oz the Great and Powerful,” she begins to ask him basic questions. The first questions are met with anger, fury…
Awed, Not Overwhelmed
Be in awe of God more than overwhelmed by anything else that comes your way! This was the essential theme laid out last Sunday as we launched into a year of study we are calling, Knowing God. Just contemplate that for a minute: Be in awe of God. The story from which we are launching our year is Moses’ encounter with God at the burning bush (Exodus 3). Essentially, Moses was just minding his own business, tending the sheep. He…
Knowing God: The Great I Am
This Sunday, September 11, we are launching into our third year of study and sermons to help us grasp the whole of Scripture. To remind you… Year 1 (2020-21) — The Book of Jesus We explored the idea that ALL of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is ultimately about Jesus and God’s rescue plan. Do you remember our memory verse? Colossians 1:15Christ, the visible image of the invisible God… Year 2 (2021-22) — Building His Church We sought to…
Gospel, Meet World
This Sunday I’ll be teaching again on the overall theme of the gospel and our culture. I’m going to be laying out some practical things from scripture about raising up a church family with the identity that we can find in Christ. I’ll teach some practical ways in which the body of Christ relates to the rest of the world and helps the world discover their identity as a creation of God. This is a bit challenging, because the church…
LifeWay and the Desna Cup
The Desna Cup story and LifeWay’s long connection with it This coming Sunday, we are closing our building, leaving our church property, and heading to join a handful of local churches for a group worship service at an event called the Desna Cup. The worship time is at 10:30 a.m. and the basic instructions are highlighted for you in this week’s newsletter. Some of you, for the last several years, may have driven by Saghalie Middle School on a mid-August…
The Gospel in Our Culture
During the month of August, we are taking a few weeks to explore how to take the gospel into the very complicated culture that surrounds us. We are hopping around a little bit: On July 31, I launched the series by beginning an unfinished message about sexual identity. Last Sunday, Chris Berry taught about our government—and more importantly, how we should navigate our own relationships when we disagree politically. This Sunday, I am picking up where I left off on…
God and the Government
“My country, ’tis of thee…” From an American background, those words sound so patriotic and wonderful. We (especially those of us who are a little older) grew up saying the Pledge of Allegiance at school and singing the national anthem for ball games. I even remember taking a patriotism class when I was young; such classes can be helpful, and they’ve come to us historically in our American culture because we grew up being taught to love and support our…
Good News!: Our Missions Pastor Goes Full-Time
The Council of Elders at LifeWay, including Pastor Billy Arnold, are proud to announce that Heather Althoff is moving to full-time status as Missions Pastor at LifeWay, beginning August 1. Heather has been part of our pastoral staff team for over 14 years, having been on mission with her husband, Matt, in Germany for 5 years previously. During those 14 years, she has served LifeWay both as the Discipleship Pastor and also in her current role leading our mission work, which…
The Gospel and the Sexual Identity Crisis
Last week, I began a series of teachings wrapped up in the subject of the gospel and our culture. The plan is to address on Sunday mornings a few issues with which we all seem to be faced, and about which we are often confused. The intent is to deal with a few specific topics this August, and from time to time pick this theme back up and deal with a few more. This Sunday, July 31, I am addressing the gospel…
The Gospel and Our Culture
When the Church (Ekklesia) was being planted in Gentile territories in the 1st century, they quickly realized they were having to deal with issues that had long since been settled in the Jewish world of Israel—prostitution worship, emperor worship, allegiance to the government, paying taxes, polytheism, animism, child sacrifice, and many, many, many more issues. The issues today are not all the same, of course, but amazingly, most the core concerns of the historical church are the same core concerns…
The Final Exam
Last Sunday, I laid out the final exam for the series we have been teaching through this whole academic year, entitled Building His Church. If you missed last Sunday, I ask you to get a copy of this 4-page test, sit down with someone, and walk through this together. It would be great if you would turn your completed test in to me. The most important part of why I am doing this is that we, as His Church Body, must…
A Note About Elders
This past Sunday morning, Mark Neidlinger, the chairman of the LifeWay elders, brought us a wonderful sermon about the critical role an elder plays in the life of a church, what an elder actually does, and the character traits elders are to display in their lives. If you did not hear this sermon, I encourage you to go back and watch it online. In addition, here are the accompanying sermon notes to help you review the tasks and qualifications of…
Finals Week
“It’s Finals Week! Time to take the test!“ Those words struck terror for me in college and seminary. The pressure was on to go back and try to remember all that had been taught, all that I’d read, and then to articulate it on an exam. As a Religion major, most of my classes were the kind that required an essay of explanation in the old blue book, as opposed to math problems and equations. With every spring came final…
Guarding the Flock
What do church leaders do for the church? Guard the flock! Acts 20:28-31Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! In 1978,…
Mother’s Day Responses
On Mother’s Day—Sunday, May 8—as part of our worship service, we asked the kids (kids of all ages, that is) to fill out a questionnaire about their moms. We were able to share some of the responses with our congregation. Their answers will put a smile on your face. Enjoy! If I could give my mom anything, it would be… Food Cookware Pay off our mortgage! A world 3-month cruise Snuggles A diamond ring Me—her well-behaved handsome son My love A…
Rome or Bust!
Acts 23:11 (NIV)“Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.” “California or Bust!” In the 1930s, there were two great disasters that affected thousands of American families. On the great plains of the USA, a huge drought led to what is called in history the Dust Bowl days, affecting farmers from Texas to South Dakota. These farmers were left with unproductive dirt and unmanageable debt. At the same time the stock market…
Keys to the Kingdom
Have you ever been given the keys to something of great value? The day I got my driving license was on my actual 16th birthday. I will never forget it. It was a landmark day for me, as it is for all of us when that important new chapter in our life comes. I could now get in the driver’s seat, take a drive and be alone behind the wheel of this wonderful invention we call an automobile! I had…
Cinderella Sports Stories
2 Corinthians 12:8-10Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. We just recently completed the month of March, which,…
Preparing for Easter Sunday
As you get ready for this coming Easter Sunday, I ask you to do four things. Make sure you have spent time in the daily Passion Week devotionals. These videos are about 5 minutes long and feature seven LifeWay leaders who have spent time reflecting on the deeper meaning of Jesus’ last words on the cross. We began these devotionals last Sunday, and they will finish on Saturday this week. They are powerful. Read the Easter story on your own:…
What Can Happen in Only One Day?
2 Corinthians 6:2 (NIV) Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. Almost every morning, I have a routine. With a fresh cup of coffee in hand, I get out a couple of the bibles that I use for my quiet-time scripture reading. Then, after my scripture time, I spend time in prayer in a patterned way. I highlight this to give you an insight into how my prayer begins (I have this written down): “Thank you…
Ministers of Reconciliation
As commissioned members of Christ’s Body (the Church), we are ministers of reconciliation! Focus verses for this Sunday: 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 In preparation for this Sunday, read all of 2 Corinthians 5 (it’s only 21 verses long, but it is a loaded chapter!). I have family members who were commissioned into the army as officers. I attended the commissioning ceremonies where they received their stripes and a new title, and they pledged themselves to the commissioned duty to defend our…
The Greatest Treasure Held in Jars of Clay
Have you ever bought a super-valuable diamond ring and then thrown it in a brown paper grocery sack? Why would you do that? Normally, you would put that ring in a special box and make sure that it was kept in the most secure of locations. Years ago, a couple of us raised a lot of money to help purchase a piece of property that would be transformed into Christian campground in a nation that desperately needed it. The problem…
Mapping Out My Life
Have you ever mapped out your life—where you’ve been, what you’ve done, what has disappointed you, what has surprised you? Recently our pastoral team has been going through the exercise of putting our lives in identifiable chapters. Each chapter is marked with highs and lows of events, people marked as special, and accomplishments during that time period. One thing that became clear to me when I did this exercise was that when we dedicate ourselves to Christ, God doesn’t waste…
The Commission Wall
What we are called to and where we go This coming Sunday morning, March 13, I will launch us into the 4th and final wall of our diagram of understanding how to Build His Church in this world. We are calling this wall the Commission Wall. Here are some basic instructions on how to prepare yourself for this study. Let’s review: 1st wall: the Kingdom (“Basalea”) Wall This first wall reminded us that we are now citizens of, and buying…
The Resurrection Gospel
Resurrection. Gospel. We hear these terms a lot in gospel churches, and rightfully so. But do you really understand the full impact of both of those words—resurrection and gospel? One is an event that happened at Easter, and the other is a message we have. We are coming to the end of our third Wall (the Ekklesia—the set-apart and called-out ones) of theological understanding on how we are BUILDING HIS CHURCH. Let’s remind ourselves again: what is the Church? The…