Tag Archives: wisdom

Submit to Christ



Paul is still instructing the followers of Jesus in Ephesus (and us today) how to submit to one another, just like Christ. This time he is instructing parents and their children. And he speaks to masters and slaves. While Paul does not waste words about the institution of slavery, his instructions reveal the revolutionary perspective he has. All people are created by God and that God is not partial in His judgment like we are tempted to be.

Ephesians 6:1-9

Taught Sunday morning, December 8, 2024 by Brad D Harris

We hope that this online service has blessed you.  It is funded by the generous participants of Prairie Oaks Baptist Church.  If you would like to contribute to Prairie Oaks and their audio ministry, we have a donation page so that you can securely give online to help this ministry.  Thank you for listening and prayerfully supporting us.  I hope we continue to further you in your journey with Christ!


Filled with the Spirit



Walk carefully, make good use of the time by not living mindlessly but knowing and doing the will of God. Be filled with the Spirit and walk according His light. Let’s see what Paul means by that because it may surprise us how he understands it.

Ephesians 5:15-21

Taught Sunday morning, November 24, 2024 by Brad D Harris

We hope that this online service has blessed you.  It is funded by the generous participants of Prairie Oaks Baptist Church.  If you would like to contribute to Prairie Oaks and their audio ministry, we have a donation page so that you can securely give online to help this ministry.  Thank you for listening and prayerfully supporting us.  I hope we continue to further you in your journey with Christ!


Prayer to Know



The Gideons International Bible Ministry visited us this morning, so this is a short meditation on Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian church.  Because Paul knew of their faith and love, he thanked God for them and prayed for them to know God’s love and power for them as His church. They had much hope and power in Christ. Paul begins telling them more about it.

Ephesians 1:15-23

Taught Sunday morning, September 8, 2024 by Brad D Harris

We hope that this online service has blessed you.  It is funded by the generous participants of Prairie Oaks Baptist Church.  If you would like to contribute to Prairie Oaks and their audio ministry, we have a donation page so that you can securely give online to help this ministry.  Thank you for listening and prayerfully supporting us.  I hope we continue to further you in your journey with Christ!


Ten Commands – Part 2



The LORD spoke from the mountain these ten commands of His covenant with Israel but they have been taught much longer and wider than there. Jesus expounded them in His gospel of the kingdom (Sermon on the Mount). The apostles taught them and applied them to new Christians regardless of their ethnicity and culture. These are the timeless guidelines for honoring God by honoring His image in humanity.

Exodus 20:1-17
Fifth and Sixth Commands

Taught Sunday morning, June 2, 2024 by Brad D Harris

We hope that this online service has blessed you.  It is funded by the generous participants of Prairie Oaks Baptist Church.  If you would like to contribute to Prairie Oaks and their audio ministry, we have a donation page so that you can securely give online to help this ministry.  Thank you for listening and prayerfully supporting us.  I hope we continue to further you in your journey with Christ!


Be Reminded



The LORD had given very specific instructions for the children of Israel to remind themselves of the covenant with God upon entering the Promised Land of Canaan. Joshua saw the opportunity to obey early and obey fully what the LORD had commanded the Moses, His servant. Rehearse the commands of God now that they were receiving the promises.

Deuteronomy 27 and Joshua 8

Taught Sunday morning, April 21, 2024 by Brad D Harris

We hope that this online service has blessed you.  It is funded by the generous participants of Prairie Oaks Baptist Church.  If you would like to contribute to Prairie Oaks and their audio ministry, we have a donation page so that you can securely give online to help this ministry.  Thank you for listening and prayerfully supporting us.  I hope we continue to further you in your journey with Christ!


Accursed



The LORD declared that the possessions of Jericho would be banned from the Israelites – accursed like the sin of Canaanites and the valuables would be devoted to God and His tabernacle. But one man and his family chose to violate the ban and would treasure for themselves the accursed things. Thus they brought the curse upon themselves and corruption upon all the rest of the nation. How would God deal with this corruption among His own people? The same as He would among the Canaanites, they would be accursed until repentance and sanctification purified them again.

Joshua 7

Taught Sunday morning, April 14, 2024 by Brad D Harris

We hope that this online service has blessed you.  It is funded by the generous participants of Prairie Oaks Baptist Church.  If you would like to contribute to Prairie Oaks and their audio ministry, we have a donation page so that you can securely give online to help this ministry.  Thank you for listening and prayerfully supporting us.  I hope we continue to further you in your journey with Christ!


Crossing Jordan



Our gospel songs often depict the end of this earthly life as crossing the river into the promised land of heaven, the land of bliss and rest. But that is not what happens in the days of Joshua. The children of Israel cross over the Jordan River in order to begin the hard work of cleansing their promised land of wicked enemies and those shameful practices, without becoming wicked themselves. The scene is of a mighty King crossing with miraculous power, surrounded by His army. The enemy knows, the Lord of all the earth has arrived.

Joshua 3 – 4

Taught Sunday morning, March 17, 2024 by Brad D Harris

We hope that this online service has blessed you.  It is funded by the generous participants of Prairie Oaks Baptist Church.  If you would like to contribute to Prairie Oaks and their audio ministry, we have a donation page so that you can securely give online to help this ministry.  Thank you for listening and prayerfully supporting us.  I hope we continue to further you in your journey with Christ!


Be Courageous



It had been forty long years in the wilderness for the children of Israel. Yet there would be apprehension and fear. Moses had died, the Promised Land had scary and mean people in it, and they were not sure they had what it took to succeed. But the LORD reminds the new leader, Joshua, just what true success looks like – relationship with the LORD who will not leave us not forsake us.

Joshua 1:1-9

Taught Sunday morning, March 3, 2024 by Brad D Harris

We hope that this online service has blessed you.  It is funded by the generous participants of Prairie Oaks Baptist Church.  If you would like to contribute to Prairie Oaks and their audio ministry, we have a donation page so that you can securely give online to help this ministry.  Thank you for listening and prayerfully supporting us.  I hope we continue to further you in your journey with Christ!


Finishing Well



Jesus on the cross finishes His journey well – both as Substitute and as Example. He cares for His mother, teaching us the importance of family, in particular the family of God. He teaches us about the limitations of our humanity as He thirsts helplessly on the cross. And as always, Jesus shows the utmost priority He made of His relationship with God – finishing what what the Father gave Him to do and not worrying about the other seemingly unfinished tasks.

John 19:25-30

Taught Sunday morning, December 10, 2023 by Brad D Harris

We hope that this online service has blessed you.  It is funded by the generous participants of Prairie Oaks Baptist Church.  If you would like to contribute to Prairie Oaks and their audio ministry, we have a donation page so that you can securely give online to help this ministry.  Thank you for listening and prayerfully supporting us.  I hope we continue to further you in your journey with Christ!


Two Women, Two Paths



Jehoshaphat brought the house of Ahab into the house of David and nearly brought the end of the line of David with it. In two generations, there seemed to be none left to carry on and the promise of God in jeopardy. But God is faithful. And He is often at work in ways we cannot see.  And two women are pivotal in this story, each taking a different path to greatness.

2 Chronicles 21-22

Taught Sunday morning, August 20, 2023 by Brad D Harris

We hope that this online service has blessed you.  It is funded by the generous participants of Prairie Oaks Baptist Church.  If you would like to contribute to Prairie Oaks and their audio ministry, we have a donation page so that you can securely give online to help this ministry.  Thank you for listening and prayerfully supporting us.  I hope we continue to further you in your journey with Christ!