"O Death, Where Is Your Sting?"

 "Christ is risen from the dead/
Trampling over death by death/
COME AWAKE, COME AWAKE/
Come & rise up from the grave/
CHRIST IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD/
We are One with Him again/

O death, where is your sting?/
O hell, where is your victory?/
O Church, come stand in the light/
The Glory of God has defeated the night/
OUR GOD IS NOT DEAD!/
HE'S ALIVE! HE'S ALIVE!"
- Matt Maher ("Christ Has Risen")

 This year I am participating in the BSF Bible Study program. It's a multi-generational, world-spanning Bible curriculum that studies the Scripture verse-by-verse, word for word. This is my first year doing it, but I have learned a LOT & they are very doctrinally sound (from what I have seen so far).

BSF runs from September through May (following the "school year"). They break into groups based on demographics. My group has roughly 80 people in it. We're all together to sing hymns & hear a lecture on that week's Bible passage. Then they divide into smaller groups (men & women separated) to discuss the passage & answer questions. Each Group consists of roughly 6-15 members.

Anyway, this year we are studying most of the New Testament (mainly Paul's Epistles). So far we have read through Acts, Hebrews, & 1 & 2 Thessalonians. Now we are finishing up 1 Corinthians. The lessons are REALLY good, because we learn a LOT of history, context & culture in the lessons.

It took me 2 hours to complete this week's Bible Study homework. It was a TOUGH lesson (deep, hard, thought-provoking, etc). I had some worship music playing in the background.

I was reading in 1 Corinthians 15:55 & ran across these words- “Where, O death, is your victory?
   Where, O death, is your sting?" That is one of my favorite passages of Scripture (talking about Christ's death, resurrection & second coming). All of a sudden the song "He Has Risen" (with the above lyrics, written earlier in this post) started playing on my computer!  There are no "coincidences" with God!

One of the next questions for Bible study was "From 1 Corinthians 15:57-16:24, what could you do now to show that you believe in the Power of the Resurrection?" Highlights from those verses are- "But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain... Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love... I urge you, brothers and sisters, to submit to such people and to everyone who joins in the work and labors at it. If anyone does not love the Lord, let that person be cursed! Come, Lord!"

AMEN! Stand firm, my dear friends! The gates of hell shall NOT prevail against us! Advance!