One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.
— Psalm 27:4
Bro. Sam Diliberto
We are living in a time filled with great expectancy and anticipation. As we read our Bibles we should be aware of the signs that are specific to our day in 2016.
In this class we will take a deeper dive into the unique signs that are unique to our generation.
More importantly, we will talk about how do we understand the words of Jesus when he told us to "Watch", and "Be ye therefore ready"; and finally when he said, "Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing"
Watch for what?... how do we prepare and be ready. And finally what should we be "so doing" as we prepare to meet the King of Kings?
We are living in a time filled with great expectancy and anticipation. As we read out Bibles we should be aware of the signs that are specific to our day in 2016.
Bro. Mike MacDonald
What is in scripture a beautiful positive concept, a gift of grace from God, and a vision of God's ultimate goal for His creation, is often for us a point of contention, disagreement, and misplaced emphasis. Lord willing, during our week of study, we will appeal to scripture for guidance on the use, context, and emphasis of the term and concept of fellowship. We will look at fellowship as a gift of God, what needs to be in place for true fellowship to exist, and what our responsibilities are in response to this great gift. Primarily we'll examine fellowship's positive scriptural aspects, but fellowship also has relationships to other topics that often unnecessarily emphasize the negative, namely the topics of withdrawal and the memorial emblems. We'll examine these relationships- that of fellowship, associations, and withdrawal, and that of fellowship and the memorial emblems. Fellowship is a large and important scriptural concept that is well worth our study and attention, and our understanding and application of it can have a very positive or very negative impact on our lives in the Truth, and may even affect our very salvation.
Bro. Dan Richard
Are you selfish? I am. I really am. I'd much rather serve myself than others, yet God has been working in my life to teach me how, and why, to serve others. It's a journey that all disciples of Jesus must experience and learn. No one is born serving others. Someone who cared enough to raise you had to serve you. Someone had to feed, clothe, change your diaper and care for you. It is only later in life that we learn that service is a choice. We learn to serve because someone served us first.
We choose whether to serve ourselves, or others. We choose whether to serve God or man. We choose whether to serve at home, school, work or play. Service is a choice. It's not the easy road, nor the most natural. We are all naturally selfish and have to change our natural inclinations in order to serve.
Of course the best example of the ideal servant is the Son of Man, Jesus. Everything Jesus did was an act of service to others. He healed. He taught. He fed. He forgave. He loved. He helped. He believed. He cared. He died for you and me. Jesus served in practical and spiritual ways. He understood people's material needs and was sympathetic to all who suffered. "Servant" was actually one of the titles given to Jesus. He set a high standard when he washed his disciples feet, just hours before dying on the cross. Jesus "did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28)
Bro. David Pinkston
To many people in the world, the Revelation is viewed as a book full of hidden and mysterious teachings with a unique message that seems too complex to truly understand. What is our opinion of this book? As we look around at the events happening in the world today and try to discern the signs of the times, do we perceive that the return of Christ is imminent? If so why? Is our understanding based on the prophecies given to us in the Revelation or do we consider the Revelation to be a complex and mysterious message that is beyond our ability to truly understand? Did our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ intend for his brethren to understand this book? We should realize that the Book of Revelation is the last message specifically given to the ecclesias living in a Gentile world, therefore a correct understanding of this message is extremely important and something that we should earnestly strive to attain. In our class we will attempt to find the keys contained in God's word to unlock the message of this wonderful book and to realize that "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit". We will attempt to show that this is exactly what the Revelation is: The unveiling of Jesus Christ. "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the ecclesias" and "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand."
Bro. Rick Farrar
We live in challenging times for Bible-believing Christianity in all its forms, which is experiencing a sharp decline in terms of influence on society and numbers of active believers, (who are increasingly elderly, particularly in the developed nations of the West). Biblical morality and traditional social structures are under attack from the all-pervasive secular society which worships equality and regards acceptance of all behaviors as the highest good. The contents of Bible are increasingly unknown and the book itself is discredited and even despised, as is the God of the Bible. Science is regarded as the closest thing to objective "truth"----which is otherwise relative, personal, and contextual, but not absolute.
This class will explore how we can confront some of these challenges so that we can remain faithful servants of our Lord, and have confidence in answering questions raised by our children or other individuals who might be interested in our beliefs. The main focus will be on answering attacks on the Bible and the God of the Bible including challenges posed by alleged contradictions, problems in deciding what was to be included in the canon of Scripture, how to deal with the claim that God sanctioned a program of genocide against the Canaanite peoples, and the claim that the Bible supports the practice of slavery. Other challenges we will explore include the charge that Bible believing Christians are hypocrites and too judgmental, that Biblical attitude towards same -sex marriage and the homosexuality are in the 'dark ages', and that our 'patriarchal' approach to ecclesial duties is stuck in the 1950's.
Bro. David Stanley
It had been a period of about sixty years since Jeroboam had led Israel into apostasy, having placed golden calves of worship in Dan and Bethel, and instituted a "new" festival to compete with the Feast of Tabernacles. The northern kingdom was being ruled by Ahab, a man who Scripture describes as a king "who did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him." We find that Ahab was a weak man with half of a conscience. A man with a fear of God, but with an overriding desire for self-indulgence. He married the idolatrous Jezebel and re-introduced Baal worship to the kingdom of Israel.
It was into this dark period of Israel's history that God brings a rugged and imposing man from Gilead, the prophet Elijah. He is described as a hairy man wearing a leather girdle. He was a stark contrast to the ostentatious appearance of the king and his prophets of Baal. And he was brought into Israel to shake the people out of their lethargy and try to turn their hearts back to the true God. James the apostle described him as "a man of like passions". The account of his ministry is full of instruction and exhortation for those who, like Elijah, desire to be men and women of God in a society that is as immoral and godless as Israel in the time of Ahab.
He was affected by the same doubts and moments of weakness that we all encounter. Our goal for these studies is to examine the characters and events in Elijah's ministry and discover the lessons that he was teaching the Israelites, the lessons that the prophet himself needed to learn; lessons that are vital to our development as faithful servants of God.