Understanding Scripture
True Worship
Many Christians seem to know little about true worship. In many churches today, worship has become a disinterested performance of duty. When worship is reduced to disinterested duty, it ceases to be worship. God is not honored when we celebrate our relationship with Him out of a mere sense of duty. True worship is to seek the presence of God the way a thirsty deer pants after water (Psa. 37:4). True worship is to render honor and adoration to God. Many of us have forgotten what our true purpose on earth is: it is to worship God, our Creator.
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7 For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture,
and the sheep of His hand. (Psa. 95:6-7)
According to the Psalmist, we are to worship God Almighty because He is our Creator and our God, and because we are His people. In Mark 12:29-30, Jesus quoted Deut. 6:4-5 and called it the greatest commandment:
29 “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.”
The greatest commandment is really a call to worship. It affirms worship as our universal priority.
In Matt. 4:10, Jesus quoted Deut. 6:13: “For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.'”
For six weeks we will seek to learn how we can worship God the way that we should.
Week 1 – True Worship as a Way of Life
Week 2 – Our Worship Must be Acceptable in God’s Eyes
Week 3 – Faith – the Fundamental Requirement for True Worship
Week 4 – Understanding the Holiness of God Will Revolutionize Worship
Week 5 – The Essence of True Worship
Week 6 – How to Glorify God
The Spiritual Truths Revealed by Jesus Christ as Recorded in Matthew
Knowing Jesus Christ is the most important objective we can do according to John 17:3: “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” To help accomplish this, we make a point to teach the words of Christ on a regular basis. You may recall our most recent series on “The Authoritative Commandments of Jesus Christ”, based on the commands given by Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry. But over the years there has number of series on the words of Jesus Christ. These have included “The Sermon on the Mount”, “The Upper Room Discourse”, “The Parables of Jesus”, “The ‘I Am’ Sayings of Jesus” from the Gospel of John, “The Hard Sayings of Jesus”, and “The High Priestly Prayer” found in John 17. This series is on some of the spiritual truths found in the Gospel of Matthew that were revealed by Jesus during His earthly ministry. These truths are not commands and they are not promises. Instead, most of these spiritual truths can help us to understand the fallen condition of mankind. Some of these truths explain why most people rebel against God and reject Jesus Christ. Other truths show that many people who claim to follow Christ are actually not following Him. The final spiritual truth that we will study explains the purpose of Christ’s coming.
The 12 lessons are as follows:
OUR TRIUNE GOD
The Trinity is an unfathomable and yet unmistakable doctrine in Scripture. Although the doctrine of the Trinity is far beyond our ability to comprehend, it is exactly how God has revealed Himself in Scripture – as one God eternally existing in three Persons. The Bible makes it very clear that God is one God, not three, but that the one God consists of three simultaneously distinct Persons.
However, what else would you expect from an awesome God? If God is so awesome and incomprehensible, shouldn’t you expect His Being to be awesome, incomprehensible, and absolutely unique from everything else in His creation? A truly awesome God should be a Being that we cannot fully comprehend.
If you don’t believe in the Trinity, then you don’t understand who God is – He is one Being in three Persons. To deny the Trinity is to deny the God that is revealed in the Bible.
If you don’t believe in the Trinity, then you don’t understand who Christ is – He is God in human flesh. To deny the Trinity is to deny the Incarnation.
This is a six week series on Our Triune God which will hopefully give you a better understanding of the Trinity. The series included the following lessons:
Week 1 – Our Triune God in Revelation
Week 2 – Our Triune God before Creation
Week 3 – Our Triune God during Creation
Week 4 – Our Triune God in Salvation
Week 5 – Our Triune God in Sanctification
Week 6 – Our Triune God in Supplication
The Epistle of James
God is always looking to test our hearts. In the following verses, we find that testing is a fact of life for the believer:
- I know also, my God, that You test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. [1 Chron. 29:17a]
- For the righteous God tests the hearts and minds. [Psa. 7:9b]
- The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the hearts. [Prov. 17:3]
- I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. [Jere. 17:10]
- But as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts. [1 Thes. 2:4]
It is through His testing of our faith that we become spiritually mature and complete.
Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. [Jam. 1:3-4]
In the Epistle of James, James writes about 14 different tests that the Christian can expect to face in his life. One of the purposes of these tests is so that we can take spiritual inventory of our lives and determine our spiritual maturity. Come join us each Sunday morning as study the Epistle of James and come to a better understanding of how and why God brings testing into our lives.
The Epistle of James Lessons:
Week 1 – Introduction to the Epistle of James
Week 2 – The Test of our Response to Trials – James 1:1-11
Week 3 – The Test of our Response to Temptations – James 1:12-20
Week 4 – The Test of our Response to the Word of God – James 1:21-27
Week 5 – The Test of our Showing Partiality – James 2:1-13
Week 6 – The Test of our Doing Righteous Works – James 2:14-26
Week 7 – The Test of the Proper Use of Our Tongue – James 3:1-12
Week 8 – The Test of the Use of Godly Wisdom – James 3:13-18
Week 9 – The Test of our Proper Interaction with the World – James 4:1-10
Week 10 – The Test of our Proper Interaction with our Brothers – James 4:11-12
Week 11 – The Test of our Dependence on God – James 4:13-17
Week 12 – The Test of our View of Wealth – James 5:1-6
Week 13 – The Test of our Patient Endurance – James 5:7-11
Week 14 – The Test of Honest Speech – James 5:12
Week 15 – The Test of our Commitment to Prayer – James 5:13-20
Knowing Christ
In Phil. 3:8 Paul wrote: “I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.”
According to Paul, the most important thing in his life was that he knew Jesus Christ. Scripture frequently describes Christians as those who know Christ. There are numerous verses that indicate that true salvation involves a personal relational knowledge of Jesus Christ. For example:
- “And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” (John 10:4)
- “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own.” (John 10:14)
- “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3)
- But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (2 Pet. 3:18)
And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true. (1 John 5:20)
This is a four week series on what it means to know Jesus Christ which includes the following lessons:
Week 1 – What does knowing Jesus Christ involve?
Week 2 – How do we know that we actually know Jesus Christ?
Week 3 – What is the biggest stumbling block to knowing Jesus Christ?
Week 4 – What are the benefits of knowing Jesus Christ?
Why not take the opportunity to study “Knowing Jesus Christ”?
Amazing Grace
We have just completed a seven and one half month series in the adult Sunday school class on the “Authoritative Commandments of Jesus Christ”, based on the commands given by Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry. We learned that there are three major reasons why we must be very familiar with Jesus’ commands:
1. We show that we love Jesus when we keep His commandments [John 14:15, 21].
2. We show that we abide in Christ when we keep His commandments [John 15:10].
3. Jesus’ final command as stated in the Great Commission requires us to be “teaching them [new disciples] to observe all things that I have commanded you” [Matt. 28:20a – NKJV].
However, we must be careful that we do not begin to think that everything is up to us and that our performance is all that matters. We must never get to the point where we think Christianity is all about working harder and making Jesus proud of our performance. We tend to think that although we are saved by grace, we earn or forfeit God’s blessings in our daily lives by our performance. When we focus on performance, we forget the meaning of grace: God’s unmerited favor to those who only deserve His wrath. For fourteen weeks, we focused on the grace of God, but not just in God’s grace at salvation. Grace is every bit as important for growing as a Christian as it is for becoming a Christian. We must always remember that the grace of God that brings salvation teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age (Titus 2:11-12).
Week 1 – The Definition of Grace – 1 Cor. 15:10
Week 2 – The Need for Grace – Rom. 3:23-24
Week 3 – Love, the Response to Grace – 2 Cor. 5:14-15; 1 John 4:19
Week 4 – Obedience, the Evidence of Grace – Tit. 2:11-12; Phil. 2:13
Week 5 – Holiness, the Gift of Grace – Rom. 6:14
Week 6 – Liberty, the Call of Grace – Gal. 5:13a
Week 7 – Wisdom, a Benefit of Grace – 1 Cor. 2:16b
Week 8 – Fellowship, the Sharing of Grace – Phil. 1:7-8
Week 9 – Ministry, the Blessing of Grace – Rom. 12:6a; Eph. 3:7
Week 10 – Difficulties, the Tools of Grace – 1 Pet. 5:10; Phil. 1:7
Week 11 – Rescue, the Purpose of Grace – 1 Pet. 1:10
Week 12 – Reconciliation, the Object of Grace
Week 13 – The Appropriation of God’s Grace – 2 Tim. 2:1; Heb. 4:16
Week 14 – What are the Benefits of Knowing Him – 1 Pet. 3:18
Authoritative Commandments of Jesus Christ
Previously, we have studied two series on the sayings of Jesus. In the autumn of 2011, we had a 10 week series on the “I Am Statements of Jesus Christ” from the Gospel of John which clearly indicate that Jesus claimed to be God. In the autumn of 2012, we had a 14 week series on the “Hard Sayings of Jesus Christ”, based on some of Jesus’ difficult statements that were highlighted by F.F. Bruce in his book of the same name. Beginning on New Year’s Day we will be starting a new 28 week series in the adult Sunday school class on the “Authoritative Commandments of Jesus Christ”, based on the commands given by Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry. There are three major reasons why we must be very familiar with Jesus’ commands:
- We show that we love Jesus when we keep His commandments [John 14:15, 21].
2. We show that we abide in Christ when we keep His commandments [John 15:10].
3. Jesus’ final command as stated in the Great Commission requires us to be “teaching them [new disciples] to observe all things that I have commanded you” [Matt. 28:20a – NKJV].
Therefore, it is imperative that we know the commandments of Jesus Christ. How else are we going to show others that we love Christ? How else are we going to confirm to ourselves that we abide in Christ? How else are we going to teach others to observe His commandments? If you have never studied the commandments of Jesus Christ, now is the time to begin. Coming to this class would be a great New Year’s resolution for every true believer in Jesus Christ.
The list of commandments that we will study during this series has been taken from John Piper’s book “What Jesus Demands from the World”.
New Series Subject: The Authoritative Commandments of Jesus Christ
Week 1 – “Be born again.” – John 3:7
Week 2 – “Repent.” – Matt. 4:17; Luke 13:3, 5
Week 3 – “Come to Me.” – Matt. 11:28; John 5:40; 6:35; 7:37
Week 4 – “Believe in Me.” – John 14:1
Week 5 – “Love Me.” – John 8:42
Week 6 – “Hear Me.” – Mark 7:14; Luke 8:8, 18
Week 7 – “Abide in Me.” – John 15:4
Week 8 – “Follow Me.” – Matt. 8:22; 16:24; 19:21; Mark 1:17; John 8:12
Week 9 – “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” – Mark 12:30
Week 10 – “Rejoice.” – Luke 6:22-23; 10:19-20
Week 11 – “Fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” – Matt. 10:28
Week 12 – “Worship in spirit and in truth.” – John 4:23-24
Week 13 – “Pray and not lose heart.” – Luke 18:1
Week 14 – “Do not be anxious about your life.” – Matt. 6:25, 34; 10:18-19
Week 15 – “Become as little children.” – Matt. 18:3-4; 23:12;
Week 16 – “Forgive men their trespasses.” – Matt. 6:14-15; 18:34-35
Week 17 – “Do the will of My Father in heaven.” – Matt. 7:21
Week 18 – “Enter by the narrow gate.” – Matt. 7:13-14
Week 19 – “Your righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees.” – Matt. 5:20
Week 20 – “Love your enemies.” – Matt. 5:44; Luke 6:27-28
Week 21 – “Love your neighbor as yourself.” – Matt. 22:39
Week 22 – “Love One Another” – John 15:12
Week 23 – “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” – Matt. 6:19-21
Week 24 – “Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No’.” – Matt. 5:37
Week 25 – “What God has joined together, let not man separate.” – Matt. 19:6
Week 26 – “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s …” – Matt. 22:21
Week 27 – “Do this in remembrance of Me.” – Luke 22:18
Week 28 – “Let your light so shine before men.” – Matt. 5:16
Week 29 – “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” – Matt. 28:19-20
Book of Jeremiah
The purpose of the book of Jeremiah was to proclaim judgment and give warnings to a “backsliding” nation. “backsliding” is mentioned 13 times in the book. There is much in this book that is relevant to us today, because we also live in a backsliding nation. In fact, some have described Jeremiah as the prophet to today’s church. Much of what Jeremiah had to say to the Jewish nation prior to Nebuchadnezzar taking Judah into captivity is applicable to the American church today.
The 22 lessons will be as follows:
1. Introduction (Jeremiah 1:1-3)
2. Backsliding and Rejection (Jeremiah 2:1-19, 31-37)
3. The Love of a Father (Jeremiah 3:11-22)
4. The Search for a Man (Jeremiah 5:1-31)
5. A rebellious nation (Jeremiah 6:10-19)
6. Boasting (Jeremiah 9:23-24)
7. Hear what the lord has to say to you (Jeremiah 10:1-12)
8. Characteristics of a nation about to be judged by god (Jeremiah 10-13)
9. Jeremiah’s ministry (Jeremiah 14:1-16:9)
10. Some spiritual principles (Jeremiah 17:5-10)
11. God is the sovereign potter (Jeremiah 18:1-12 & 19:15)
12. The persecution of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 20:1-13)
13. Jeremiah’s message to the king (Jeremiah 21-22)
14. Jeremiah’s prophecies regarding the birth of Christ (selected passages)
15. Jeremiah’s message concerning false prophets (Jeremiah 23:9-32)
16. Judah’s reaction to Jeremiah’s message (Jeremiah 25:1-11 & 26:1-16)
17. God’s plans for his people (Jeremiah 29:1-14) & God’s previous covenants with his    people (Jeremiah 31:31)
18. The new covenant (Jeremiah 31:27-40)
19. Jeremiah’s view of god (Jeremiah 32:17-25)
20. Responding to god’s guidance (Jeremiah 42:1-43:7)
21. A commitment to excellence (Jeremiah 48:10)
TRUE DISCIPLESHIP
Christian believers are to be engaged in the work of ministry for the edifying of the church according to Eph. 4:11-13: “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ_.” In order to do the work of the ministry, every believer should be a disciple of Christ. In this short series, we will look at what it means to be a disciple of Christ and how to become a disciple of Christ.
In Lesson 1, we will look at Jesus’ reaction to lukewarm churchgoers, that is, those who attend church but essentially are no different than their unbelieving neighbors. They claim to know the Lord, but they are skin-deep, nominal Christians who are not involved in any ministries. In Lesson 2 we will be looking at the definition, the requirements, and the characteristics of a true disciple of Christ. In Lesson 3 we will see that the term most often used in the New Testament to describe a follower of Christ is slave. This means that our primary concern in life should be to please our Master and to do what is right in His eyes. Finally, Lesson 4 will show that the only way one can become a true
disciple of Christ is to regularly attend a Bible believing church where sound doctrine is taught, where the leaders lead by example, and wherethe believers in the congregation exhort one another to love and goodworks.
The 4 lessons are :
1. NO SUCH THING AS A LUKEWARM DISCIPLE (Rev. 3:15-17)
2. THE ESSENTIALS OF TRUE DISCIPLESHIP (Luke 9:23; 14:26, 27, 33)
3. A TRUE DISCIPLE IS A SLAVE OF CHRIST (1 Cor. 7:22b-23)
4. THE BREEDING GROUND OF TRUE DISCIPLES (Heb. 10:24-25)
The Key Events of Jesus’ Life and Ministry
To be a Christian is to know Christ, but how do we get to know Christ. The only reliable sources we have for knowing anything about Him are found only in the Bible. If we are going to know Christ, we have to know what the Bible has to say about Christ. During this series, we will be looking at nine critical events in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ which will help to give us a true portrait of who Jesus is and what He has done. The events that we will look at during this Sunday school series are suggested from the chapters in the book Ichthus written by Sinclair Ferguson and Derek Thomas.
The 9 lessons will be as follows:
1. THE BIRTH OF CHRIST – HIS INCARNATION (John 1:1-18)
2. THE RIVER OF JORDAN – HIS BAPTISM (Matthew 3:1-17)
3. THE WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE – HIS TEMPTATION (Luke 4:1-15)
4. THE MOUNTAIN TOP EXPERIENCE – HIS TRANSFIGURATION (Luke 9:28-36)
5. THE GARDEN EXPERIENCE – HIS DECISION (Matthew 26:36-46)
6. THE CROSS – HIS PASSION (Mark 15:1-39)
7. THE TOMB – HIS RESURRECTION (John 20:1-23)
8. THE THRONE – HIS ASCENSION (Luke 24:50-53 & Acts 1:1-11)
9. THE SECOND COMING – HIS RETURN (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
Paul’s Epistle To Titus
Titus was one of the men into whom Paul had poured his life and with whom he shared his ministry. Although Titus is never mentioned in the Book of Acts, Titus probably came into Paul’s life during Paul’s first missionary journey, as he accompanied Paul and Barnabas to the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15, Gal. 2:1-3). He was with Paul at Corinth and is mentioned nine times in the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, having delivered that letter to the church at Corinth (2 Cor. 8:16-19). Paul described Titus as “a true son in our common faith” (Tit. 1:4), as “my brother” (2 Cor. 2:13), and as “my partner and fellow worker” (2 Cor. 8:23). At the time of this epistle, Titus was in Crete, having been left behind by Paul to set in order the churches on the Island of Crete (Tit. 1:5). This letter was follow-up instructions from Paul on how to build up the local churches so that they would function well and so that the believers in those local churches would be recognized as the people of God by the surrounding local communities.
There is much that we can glean from this epistle that will help us to be the church Christ wants us to be.
The 8 lessons will be as follows:
1. The Leaders’ Commitments To God’s People (Titus 1:1-4)
2. Leading God’s People (Titus 1:5-9)
3. Protecting God’s People (Titus 1:10-16)
4. Training God’s People (Titus 2:1-10)
5. Purifying God’s People (Titus 2:11-15)
6. Reminding God’s People (Titus 3:1-5)
7. Motivating God’s People (Titus 3:5-8)
8. Warning God’s People (Titus 3:8-15)
Holy Spirit
There are two major errors in the contemporary church regarding the subject of the Holy Spirit:
The charismatics tend to focus obsessively on the Holy Spirit to the point that personal experience is elevated over the objective truth of Scripture, while the non-charismatics tend to ignore the Holy Spirit altogether resulting in man-centered ministries operating as if the Holy Spirit was unnecessary. Both errors are spiritually debilitating. If we misunderstand the role of the Holy Spirit, or if we ignore Him altogether, how can we truly be empowered by Him?
We must remember Paul’s words to the Galatians: “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?”
The Holy Spirit is vital in the life of the church; He is the antidote for every error, the power for every weakness, the victory for every defeat, the answer for every need; and He is available to every believer. The goal of these lessons is help us to have a better understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit in the church today, and to show us how we may better rely on Him both individually and corporately. ” ‘Not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit’, says the Lord Almighty.” (Zech. 4:6)
The 10 lessons will be as follows:
1. Introduction – Who Is the Holy Spirit?
2. The Role of the Holy Spirit in Old Testament Times
3. The Filling of the Holy Spirit – The Spirit Filled Life
4. Transformation – The Main Agenda of the Holy Spirit
5. The Transforming Ministry of the Holy Spirit
6. The Guiding Ministry of the Holy Spirit
7. The Sealing Ministry of the Holy Spirit
8. The Gifting Ministry of the Holy Spirit
9. Baptism with the Holy Spirit – What Is It?
10. Blasphemy of The Holy Spirit – What Is It?
The Messianic Psalms
In one sense, practically all the psalms could be considered as prophetic of the coming Savior (Luke 24:27; 44), but there are some psalms which are so explicitly clear in their description of the person or work of Christ that they are described as the messianic psalms. Their prophetic descriptions are so accurate as to be outside the range of speculative probabilities and thus they provide powerful evidence of the divine inspiration of Scripture. Follow the links below to get a copy of the lesson:
1. Psalm 2 – Christ, the Son of God
2. Psalm 16 – The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
3. Psalm 22 – Christ on the Cross
4. Psalm 23 – Christ, the Good Shepherd
5. Psalm 24 – Christ, the King of Glory
6. Psalm 40 – Christ’s Meditation as He Hung on the Cross
7. Psalm 68 – Christ Setting the Captives Free
8. Psalm 69 – Christ, the Man of Sorrows
9. Psalm 82 – Christ, the Judge
10. Psalm 102 – Christ, the Eternal Savior
11. Psalm 110 – Christ, the Eternal Priest
12. Psalm 118 – Christ, the Chief Cornerstone
