Category: Bible Study

Know the Words of Jesus: Fall 2024

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Go the extra mile.
Turn the other cheek.
Lord it over someone.
Practice what you preach.
Eat, drink, and be merry.

All over the world, millions of people quote the words of Jesus without realizing their origins. These and other sayings of Christ, including parables, conversations with his disciples, miracles, and scuffles with the Pharisees, will bring us all closer to the heart and mind of Jesus. We will shed light on hard-to-understand sayings and provide cultural insights, character close-ups, and did-you-know facts.
 

The Bible in Context: Fall 2024

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Ray Vander Laan outlines a handful of tools for students to use in their approach to reading the Bible as disciples. These include: learning the Eastern way of communicating; 6 categories of context and how to recognize them in scripture; the use of allusion in the Bible; recognizing theological chronologies; how parables were used, and so on. Once these tools have been introduced, RVL ends this unit by outlining the “central thread” that ties the Bible (and the mission of a disciple) together: the idea of bringing shalom back to chaos.
Season 1 of 4
· The Commitment—the Shema as foundational
· The Pond—an Easter vs Western mindset
· The Tree—the 6 categories of context
· The Coals—John 21:9, 2 Sam 22:7-9, Rom 12:20
· The Wine—John 2:7-9, Joel 2:1, 18
· The Stone—experiential knowledge, join the story, we are invited to be a part of it
· The Blind Man—Mark 8:22-26, do we get it?
· The Sand—parables, house, sand, Matt 7:24-27
· The Tohu—in the beginning, Genesis 1
· The Shalom—bringing shalom into chaos

This class includes a 113 page workbook to get the most from this ground-breaking study.
 

Luke in the Land

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Our upcoming Bible study will be on the book of Luke by Kristy McClelland. Please use the link below to purchase your book online. If you do not have an Amazon Prime account, I’m happy to buy your book for $26.50, and you can reimburse me when class begins.
 
Please take a look at some videos for our upcoming study.
https://www.lifeway.com/en/product-family/luke-in-the-land
 
Schedule:
September 03 – Gathering and luncheon
September 10 – Introduction to Luke
September 17 – Incarnation
September 24 – Inauguration
October 01 – Invitation
October 08 – Partnership
October 15 – Crucifixion
October 22 – Resurrection
October 29 – Evaluation: Luncheon/Dinner

Godly Stewardship of Life

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At the last Family Meeting (on December 3), we discovered that receipts are just keeping up with current expenses, however, when we put this information into context, it paints an interesting picture. If we plan to hire a new lead pastor and a full-time worship pastor (not to mention an office secretary) our current giving level will not sustain these desired positions.

So, your discipleship leadership team (in partnership with the finance committee) encourages you to be a part of a personal Bible study series on the stewardship of your life, which includes these important topics:

1) God’s Ownership Over All
2) Examples of Perfect Giving
3) Stewardship of Our Time
4) Stewardship of Our Bodies
5) Stewardship of Our Talents and Gifts
6) Stewardship of Our Possessions
7) Trusting God with Our Finances
8) Our Accountability to God

These lessons are not going to be taught in your Sunday class (like we did with the ReFocus Series). Rather, this series of lessons is for personal and family use. Perhaps many of our members have never studied in depth the topic of stewardship, which includes being good stewards of our time, talents, and treasure.

These lessons are now available at the church in the Welcome center and in the adult classrooms. We recommend going through one lesson each week (which has plenty of Scripture to read and reflect upon), allowing the Holy Spirit to guide your thoughts, your convictions, and your spirit regarding worshipful and intentional giving through your local church.

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