The book of Esther deals with many issues that apply in the lives of young people.  Young people today are constantly facing times when they need to stand for something.  Like Esther, they deal with being a covenant person in a very Persian world.  Sometimes they are facing situations likeContinue Reading

I must say that I love the Old Testament.  There are just so many stories that relate to our lives.  The story of Elijah and his contest with the priests of Baal is a dramatic example of the power of the Lord over all the earth.  He is the supremeContinue Reading

Due to Ahab’s wickedness (1 Kings 16:33 – 1 Kings 17:1) the Lord sent a famine throughout the land of Israel.  After a time, Elijah is sent by the Lord to a widow that lives north of the land of Israel near Sidon in Zarephath (F1 on the map: GreekContinue Reading

Just about everyone at some point in their lives has played “King of the mountain”.  As young children we would go to the local hill, and the person on top was the king.  Everyone else would strive to take that person down off the top, thus becoming the new king.Continue Reading

1 Kings 11-14 tell the story of the division of the Kingdom of Israel.  We spent a few minutes setting up the circumstances surrounding the division of the kingdom as outlined in 1 Kings 11-12.  After establishing the narrative where Jeroboam decides to set up false worship in the northernContinue Reading

Today we had an interesting question come up in class.  A student mentioned that she saw a prominent member of her ward doing something that she did not think was appropriate to do on the Sabbath day.  She asked me if what she saw was “alright to do on theContinue Reading

The narrative of David’s downfall in 2 Samuel 11 is given with such detail and in such a matter of fact manner that it is impossible to miss the point.  David made a series of decisions that brought him and those around him misery.  There were several switchpoints in thisContinue Reading

2 Samuel 13 As the remainder of David’s life unfolds in the book of 2 Samuel, the narrative is filled will examples of how Nathan’s prophecies about David and his family are fulfilled.  The record states that one of David’s sons, Amnon, loved his beautiful half-sister, Tamar, who was theContinue Reading

The story in 2 Samuel 6 of Uzzah steadying the ark, although well known amongst adults in the church, is not known by our youth.  When asked if they had ever heard of Uzzah steadying the ark, my students responded that they had never heard the story before. To understandContinue Reading

The showdown between David and Goliath has many relevant parallels to the youth of the Church today.  In many ways Goliath represents the temptations and trials of the world.  He also represents the demands of the world that we must meet.  The author of the text goes on to illustrateContinue Reading