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Andy Sochor October 30, 2019

Why It Is Important to Study the Bible

“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17).

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:12).

The verses above affirm that the Bible contains the truth and reveals to us the mind of God. Yet it is important to understand that it is not a private diary of God’s thoughts that mankind just happened to discover. The Bible contains revelation. God has not revealed all that He knows, but He has revealed everything He wants us to know. Moses said, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:29).

Since God revealed His word for us, what are we to do with it? Paul reminded Timothy of the importance of studying God’s word: “Be diligent [study, KJV] to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). This is one of the things we must do with the word of God. In this article, we are going to consider seven reasons why studying the Bible is important.Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: good works, revelation, sin, study, teaching, temptation, understanding, wisdom, word of God

Andy Sochor August 7, 2019

Remembering Jesus’ Words

On the first day of the week following Jesus’ crucifixion, a group of women came to the tomb and discovered it to be empty (Luke 23:55-24:3). Instead of finding the body of Jesus, they saw two angels who explained why Jesus was not there:

“Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again” (Luke 24:5-7).

At this point, Luke indicated that they “remembered His words” (Luke 24:8). After that, they went and told others (Luke 24:9). In other words, remembering what Jesus had said led them to action.

In this article, we are going to discuss why we are to remember Jesus’ words, how to do this, and what we should do with His words once we get to the point of remembering them.Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: faith, Jesus, obedience, reading, remembrance, study, teaching, word of God

Andy Sochor April 11, 2018

Why Would Christians Follow Diotrephes?

“I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church” (3 John 9-10).

In John’s third epistle, he warned about a man named Diotrephes. We often talk about this man and his desire for preeminence, his rule over the church, and the trouble he caused. However, we usually do not talk about his followers. In this article, we will consider the followers of Diotrephes and why they would follow him.Continue Reading

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: apostasy, error, fear, fellowship, study, tradition

Andy Sochor April 12, 2017

You Have Become Dull of Hearing

In making a point about the superiority of Christ’s priesthood over the priesthood of Aaron, the Hebrew writer cited the priesthood of Melchizedek. Since Jesus was “a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 5:10; cf. Psalm 110:4), His priesthood was superior. He would go on to explain why this proved the superiority of Jesus’ priesthood later in the epistle (Hebrews 7:1-10).

However, he paused the discussion about comparing the priesthoods because it was “hard to explain” (Hebrews 5:11), even though it was certainly not impossible. The problem was not that the facts were difficult. Instead, the problem was that these brethren were “dull of hearing” (Hebrews 5:11). As the Hebrew writer would explain, this problem affected more than just their understanding of Jesus’ priesthood – it had the potential of costing them their souls.

We need to understand what it means to be “dull of hearing,” what the result is of being in that condition, and how to fix it.
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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: growth, hearing, maturity, study, teaching

Andy Sochor October 18, 2016

Why People Miss the Obvious (Sermon #4)

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Why People Miss the Obvious (Sermon #4)

We’re in between season 3 and season 4 which will start on October 25th. During the break we’re posting audio sermons each week instead of the regular episodes. The sermon for this week was preached on August 28, 2016 at the Eastside church of Christ in Morgantown, KY.

If you found this episode to be useful, please share it with others. Also, if you enjoyed the podcast, please leave a rating on iTunes or Stitcher. This also helps others hear about the podcast. Thanks.

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Andy Sochor August 3, 2016

Studying the Bible

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

Learning how to accurately handle God’s word is necessary for one to be approved to God. However, this process requires diligence. If we are to learn God’s will, we must be diligent in our efforts to study the word that He has revealed to us.

In this article, we will discuss how to study God’s word in such a way that will lead us to enjoy His approval. This involves preparations to study, developing a habit of studying, and also applying our studies to our daily lives.
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Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Bible study, habit, listen, obedience, salvation, study, word of God

Andy Sochor June 14, 2016

Why Do We Meet on Sunday Evening? (Season 2, Episode 8)

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Why Do We Meet on Sunday Evening? (Season 2, Episode 8)

A couple years ago I read an article about the declining number of churches having a second worship service on Sunday evening. The article mentioned several possible reasons for the decline – too demanding for busy families, too difficult for “pastors” to prepare two sermons each week, lack of attendance/interest by the members, etc. Though the article was written from a denominational perspective, the discussion of this trend is also helpful for us in the Lord’s church. Often, God’s people follow the trends of the religious world around them. Even if we ignore current trends of eliminating the Sunday evening service, it is generally true that attendance is lower on Sunday evening than on Sunday morning in the majority of local churches. The reasons why Sunday evening services are in decline among the denominational world are often the same reasons why churches quit meeting on Sunday evening or why Christians simply choose not to attend the evening service. So in this episode, I want to briefly discuss 7 reasons why we assemble on Sunday evenings.