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Messianic Psalms & Mark
"The King of Glory Comes!"
When God formed the nation of Israel, God Himself was their king. They were like no other nation on earth, all of whom had men as kings. But to Israel, the living God, maker of heaven and earth, pledged Himself to protect and provide for them as their king. In spite of this, there came a time when Israel, wanting to be like all other nations, asked for a man to be their king. Though God knew that in asking for this, Israel was rejecting Him, He gave them a king, the first of many. To the second king, David who was a man after God's own heart, God promised an heir on the throne forever.
Hundreds of years later, when God sent His only Son to redeem mankind from sin, Jesus in His humanity was descended from the line of David. He would be the King of glory for eternity, the King who at the end of this creation delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father of all! Join us this year as we study Psalms that speak of this coming King, followed by a study in the gospel of Mark. May we, too, be among the throngs who rejoice that the King of Glory comes!
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Ezra & Nehemiah
"
Restored!"
That word evokes the joy we have in recovering precious things that had
been lost, of reuniting with dear ones from whom we had been separated,
of returning to places we had once left behind. When the sinfulness
of God's beloved people caused Him to send them into exile and captivity
in Babylon, He sent them with a promise. God would return Israel
to her land and fulfill all the good He had promised to them.
Join us for a study in the Old Testament books of Ezra
and Nehemiah, the chronicles of Israel's return to the
Promised Land and the rebuilding of the temple of God and the city of Jerusalem. As
we study, may we also be encouraged to believe God for
His restoring work in us.
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Jeremiah
"A Future and A Hope"
Jeremiah was a prophet called to an apostate people.
Judah, though enjoying a brief time of reform under King Josiah, would
return to her rebellion and idolatry upon his death. God sent Jeremiah
to prophesy to Judah of her destruction and captivity if she failed to
repent. Turning a deaf ear and hardened heart to the prophet's warnings,
Judah was conquered by Babylon, witnessed the destruction of the temple
of the Lord, and was led to exile. An anguished Jeremiah watched the fulfillment
of the word of the Lord that he had delivered. And yet, exile was not God's
final word to His people. Jeremiah had also prophesied of the Lord's redemption
of His people, a future day of Israel's restoration to her land and a fulfillment
of all the promises God had made to His beloved people. He had promised,
following years of captivity, to restore them, to give them a future and
a hope! He would again be found by His people.
God has promised to all His children a future and a hope.
Whatever our circumstances, we must remember that we serve a God who restores,
redeems, and fulfills everyone of His good promises. God's final word to
us is Life!
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Various Books of the New
Testament
"Samplings"
On the menu of many restaurants, you will find an item called a Sampler
Plate. Should you order the Sampler Plate, you will find yourself presented
with a variety of the establishment's delicious offerings. This study will
enable you to "sample" from the treasure of New Testament writings.
You'll sample letters from the Apostle Paul to two churches, to one beloved
friend, and to two men charged with the responsibility of shepherding the
flock of Jesus Christ. You'll sample two short letters written by the Apostle
John to two people dear to him, as well as the only letter written by a
disciple named Jude.
Through these living letters, you, too, will feast on
the Word of God, the food that feeds our souls and nourishes our spirits.
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Romans
"Good News that Upset the
World"
Good news. Don't we all hope for it? Good news about a health concern,
good news about our financial situation, good news concerning someone
we love. It gives us cause to rejoice. When God sent us good news, He
sent it in His Son Jesus. He had come to be the sacrifice for the forgiveness
of the world's sins. How strange then that many who heard the proclamation
of this good news railed against it, rejected and sought to destroy it.
They described the messengers of this good news as "men who have
upset the world, saying that there is another king, Jesus." And they
were right. God's good news of forgiveness through His Son does upset
the world––the world's system, the world's values, the world's
very existence.
In the book of Romans, the apostle Paul systematically and profoundly
lays out the gospel, the good news that upset the world and saved us from
our sins!
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The Acts of
the Apostles
"The Promise & Power
of God"
To a ragtag group of disciples, Jesus declared, "I will build My church
and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it." How would this amazing
utterance come to pass, especially when the One who made
the promise would soon be gone from the earth? The answer to this seeming
dilemma came in the Promise and Power of God as He sent forth His Holy Spirit
to accomplish this unique building project! Through the ministry of the
Holy Spirit, the church that Jesus promised would be built. It is a building
project that continues today. Join us as we study the beginnings of the
Christian church in the book of Acts and as we consider our part, through
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, in this eternal building.
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Matthew
"Jesus
Our Savior "
In one of many interchanges with the Pharisees, Jesus reproved them
by saying, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in
them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me;
and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life." (John
5:39-40) They would not receive His invitation to come to Jesus that
He might give them rest for their souls. As we search the Scriptures
through this study of the gospel of Matthew, may we know in ever greater
measure Jesus, our Savior. May we come to Him and find life and rest.
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A History
of Israel throughout the Old Testament
"In the Company of the Saints"
As people whom God has loved and chosen, we walk a path that countless
others have already traveled. We can receive valuable help on our
way
by learning from their experience and example. When
God set out to choose a people for Himself, He began
by calling a man named Abraham
and making incredible promises to him. Through Abraham,
his son Isaac, and Isaac's son Jacob, God sealed a promise
that began with the people of Israel and extends to all
peoples and nations in God's Son, Jesus Christ.
In this
study we will journey together through the Old Testament
to see the beginnings of Israel. We will wander with
the Israelites in the wilderness, enter the Promised Land
with Joshua, study life under some of Israel's judges,
kings and prophets. We will suffer the exile with Israel
and return with the remnant to the Promised Land led
by Ezra and Nehemiah for the restoring of all that had
been destroyed.
As we study the history of Israel, our
desire is to learn more of God's ways with His beloved
children, His ways with you and me.
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I and 2 Corinthians
"One Body in Christ"
We hear much talk today about maintaining health in our physical bodies.
Proper diet, rest and exercise all contribute to being healthy. If we're
concerned to maintain our health so we can function more fully, we shy
away from those things which would introduce sickness and disease into
our bodies.
When we believe in Christ Jesus, we are placed into His Body, to become
functioning members of an eternal body. If health in our physical body
is important to us, how much more important is the health of our spiritual
body, the Body of Christ! If we avoid that which would damage physical
health, how much more should we shun that which would disease and sicken
Christ's Body.
In 1 and 2 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul addresses health
issues in the Corinthian church, encouraging them to rid themselves of practices
which are tearing down the health of the church and to adopt those things
which bring health and maturity to their spiritual body. May we, too, learn
these lessons, being members who do not introduce disease and breakdown
but rather contribute to the edification and strengthening of the Body of
Christ.
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Hebrews
“Entering His Rest”
“Rest” is a word that many of us long to experience in our
lives. To His people, God has promised to give rest. He has spoken to us
of our souls finding rest. Is this promised rest simply the cessation of
activity, a leisurely vacation until we’re taken into glory? The
testimony of Scripture and the lives of God’s people would seem to
say no. What is it then?
God’s rest for the Israelites who were delivered out of Egypt was
to be found in the Promised Land, the place to which God was bringing them,
the inheritance He had for them. Yet the writer of Hebrews tells us that
they were not able to enter His rest because of unbelief and disobedience.
To each one who comes to Jesus, He promises rest. As we take His yoke
and learn from Him, we find rest for our souls. Like Israel, might the
presence of unbelief and disobedience keep us from entering into all that
Christ has for us? Let us, together, lay aside those things that
would hinder us from entering into all the promises God has for us in His
Son Christ Jesus.
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Selected Psalms
and Ephesians
"Planted by the Waters"
The world offers us many enticing places in which to deposit our "trust"––position,
possessions, power, people. But all the places of trust which the world
offers are temporal. Though they may seem secure, they are passing away.
In marked contrast, the Scriptures exhort us to place our trust in the
Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth, with Whom there is no changing. The
one who trusts in the Lord receives all the benefits of every spiritual
blessing with which God has blessed us in Christ Jesus. The one who trusts
in the Lord receives help from on high. The one who trusts in the Lord
will never be ashamed. The one who trusts in the Lord will continue to
bear good fruit and green leaf even when surrounded by drought.
In this study, may we find our roots sinking deeper into the good soil
of faith nurtured by the living waters found in Christ Jesus. Let us encourage
one another to be the "blessed ones" whose trust is the Lord
God Almighty.
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A Study of
the Lives of Samuel and David
"Forgetting What Lies Behind ... Reaching
Forward ... I Press On"
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Portions of John, Acts and Romans, followed by the books of Galatians and 2 Timothy.
"When the Spirit Comes"
All that the Father has for us, all that the Son has gained for us, comes to us on earth through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. At the end of His earthly ministry, Jesus said it was better for His disciples that He go away so that the Father would send the Holy Spirit that they, and we, not be left as orphans. At the end of Revelation, there are two who stand on earth calling for the Lord's return. It is both the Spirit and the bride who say, "Come, Lord Jesus."
As believers we are the Bride of Christ, and it is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to prepare the Bride for her coming Bridegroom. Through this study, it is our desire to receive in greater measure the ministry of the Holy Spirit that "we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, [may be] transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3)
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1 & 2 Peter and the Life of Peter
"Preparing the Bride"
As a symbol of her purity, a bride is clothed in a white gown. When the Bride of Christ – His church – is made ready she, too, will be clothed in fine linen, bright and clean which is the righteous acts of the saints. The Bride will be made pure for her Bridegroom. Recall the words of Jesus on the mount, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God;" a pure Bride will see her Beloved Bridegroom.
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James, I John and Selected Portions of I Corinthians
"Tending the Flames of Love: Walking the Path of Change and Maturity"
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Exodus, Numbers & Deuteronomy
"The Journey Home"
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John
"Come into His Presence Giving Thanks and Praise"
Upon Israel's completion of the tabernacle, the glory of the Lord so filled it that Moses was unable to enter. Hundreds of years later as the temple in Jerusalem was finished, the priests could not enter because the glory of the Lord filled the temple. For Israel, the glory of the Lord, the Shekinah glory, dwelt in that place where God had put His name.
Of Jesus Christ, the apostle John writes, "And the Word because flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." The glory of God would no longer be in a place, but in a Person – Jesus Christ. And of those who would believe in Him, Jesus spoke to the Father saying, "The glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just as We are one." May this study in the book of John help us to walk in the love and unity which is in Jesus Christ, encouraging one another, being refreshed in the presence of the Lord, and in increasing measure, beholding His glory.
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Colossians & Ruth
"A Woman's Heart of Devotion"
This series deals with a woman's devotion to God, her family, to others in the Body of Christ and to those who don't yet know the Lord.
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