Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Passage: Acts 18:1-5 & 1 Corinthians 2:1-3
Series: Acts (2010)
Duration: 1 hr 1 mins 39 secs
Looking for a little fun and action in a party town? In the 1st century you would head for the bustling, wealthy port city of Corinth with its many temples, games, and sensual pleasures. Find out how the Apostle Paul received personal guidance from the Holy Spirit to go there. Learn how he arrived dead tired and found a tent-making couple, Priscilla and Aquila, and joined with them in their business. See how he presented the gospel weekly by going to the synagogue and reasoning with the Jews in Corinth.
Also includes 1 Corinthians 4:12, 1 Thessalonians 2:9
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Passage: Romans 9:6-13
Series: Romans (2010)
Duration: 1 hr 4 mins 6 secs
Can we count on God to keep His promises? Listen to this lesson to learn how the Apostle Paul wrestles with this question concerning God's promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Find out what it means to be Jewish and how those long lists of generations in the Bible are not there to put us to sleep. Watch out for "wolves in sheep's clothing" who say they are our spiritual teachers but don't stick to Bible texts.
Tuesday, July 02, 2013
Passage: Acts 17:1-15
Series: Acts (2010)
Duration: 1 hr 1 mins 55 secs
Would it surprise you to learn you could probably ace a pop culture quiz? Every day, without even trying, we soak up pagan ideas like a sponge. Listen to this lesson to learn how the Apostle Paul countered the trends of his day by teaching logical, reasonable truths from the Scriptures. Find out how we can learn to clarify our beliefs effectively so we stop one-shot, "drive-by" witnessing. See what it means to search the Scriptures daily like the Bereans.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Passage: Acts 15:14-21 & Amos 9
Series: Acts (2010)
Duration: 1 hr 6 mins 28 secs
How did the early church use the Old Testament to settle disputes about the Gentiles' role in the body of Christ? James in Acts 15 goes to the book of Amos and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit uses a "fuller sense" of the text to apply to the Church Age. Listen to this lesson to learn how Christ now being seated at the right hand of God instead of on David's throne means the church does not replace God's promises to Israel. Find out how the Masoretes translated the scriptures in the early centuries to leave out any references to the Messiah.
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Passage: Acts 15:1-4 & Galatians 2:1-10
Series: Acts (2010)
Duration: 1 hr 3 mins 2 secs
After we're saved, do we have to work our heads off and follow a lot of rules to please God? This was the burning question being debated in the early church. Many of the Jewish-background believers demanded that new Gentile converts be circumcised and follow the Mosaic Law. Paul stood his ground, keeping his eye on the central issue of grace for both salvation and spiritual life. Follow the chronology of Paul's trips to Jerusalem and see the development of this issue as it is resolved. Understand the difference between legalists performing certain rituals to give them special standing in God's eyes and legitimate practices that lead to spiritual growth.
Tuesday, April 09, 2013
Passage: Acts 14:21-15:4
Series: Acts (2010)
Duration: 1 hr 1 mins 24 secs
Paul's first missionary journey ignites an explosion of new believers in Jesus Christ across Asia Minor. Not willing to leave these converts in their "diapers", he and Barnabas face extreme danger as they go back and teach doctrine to start these "baby" believers on the road to maturity. Meanwhile, some Pharisee believers insist that the Gentile believers must be circumcised. Listen to this lesson to see how Paul demonstrates the role of a pastor and how circumcision was not just a religious ritual but was an act of patriotism to the Jews. Find out what the political landscape was like in the 1st century and follow the dynamic timeline of the early church.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Passage: Acts 14:1-7
Series: Acts (2010)
Duration: 1 hr 7 mins 13 secs
As the church expands, we see a trend toward the future disconnect of Christian Jews as a sect meeting in the synagogue. The move is from a Jewish framework to a Gentile framework. Great multitudes of Jews and Gentiles in Iconium responded to Paul’s message in their synagogue. The Jews who were not obedient to the message of God’s grace stirred up a serious division. Paul and Barnabas had to flee to Lystra and Derbe where they continued to preach the gospel. Study all that is understood in the word believe. Is the word here for unbelieving the opposite of believing? How is this word translated in other passages?
Tuesday, February 05, 2013
Passage: Acts 13:13-38
Series: Acts (2010)
Duration: 1 hr 8 mins 3 secs
Scripture has seen many translations. The study of the origins of these translations is key to understanding their accuracy related to the inspired text. Here Paul presents Jesus to a Jewish audience, weaving Old Testament promises through his message which are fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Could a fuzzy translation compromise the fact that these verses are meant to be Messianic? Take a careful look at the clarity of promise in these Messianic passages. Develop the meaning of begotten, the shared natures of God and His Son, the timing of the Messiah’s reign on earth and the imagery in these passages which present Jesus as Messiah and clearly show His relationship to the Father.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Passage: Acts 13:13-38
Series: Acts (2010)
Duration: 1 hr 0 mins 49 secs
Paul is giving the gospel to Jews and God-fearing Gentiles in the local synagogue. Paul addresses them within the framework of their familiar as he anchors his message deeply within scripture, stressing their understanding of forgiveness of sin and justification. If it were only that easy to approach an unbeliever today, one who had such a deep knowledge of scripture. This is highly unlikely. Our approach must confront the realities of their position. The optimal starting point is for us to be profoundly familiar with the Word and to have a developed relationship with our audience. Paul will show us how to deal with a variety of circumstances so that we will have a pattern from which to launch our own approach and the assurance that rugged roadblocks aren’t necessarily terminal.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Passage: Acts 11:19-30
Series: Acts (2010)
Duration: 1 hr 4 mins 29 secs
Our passage backtracks in time to the scattering of believers after the persecution of Stephen. It is God who expands His Church. Compare God’s progress report on the expansion of His early Church to today’s Church Growth Movement and the compromises necessary to post growing numbers as an indication of success. Is it human methodology or transforming Truth that grows God’s Church? Learn the history of Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch where the Jewish believers fled and evangelized to the Jews. Follow Barnabas, the encourager, sent from Jerusalem to Antioch where he summons Paul for help and where the followers of Christ were first called Christians. See how the Church supports its own when Jerusalem suffers famine. Understand the focus of real growth in God’s plan for His Church.Hear an answer to claims of those who have “been to heaven and back” and write a book about it.
