Topic > Biblical Studies
The privilege of calling our Lord by a personal title, Father
Friday, August 10, 2012, Part 1
“In this manner, therefore, pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.’” (Matthew 6:9)
IDEA: When we address God as Father, we do so because Jesus who spoke to God that way invited us to do so.
PURPOSE: To help listeners to be motivated to pray because they are talking to God who is their “father.”
The radical nature of calling the Creator of the universe Father
Thursday, August 9, 2012
“In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours in the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen” (Matthew 6:9-13).
IDEA: When Christians talk to God in prayer, they can address Him as “Father” because Jesus did.
PURPOSE: To help listeners understand the privilege they have as sons and daughters of a heavenly Father.
The Lord’s Prayer is a foundation for our communication with God, but not the final word on it
Wednesday, August 8, 2012, Part 2
The Lord’s Prayer:
“In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours in the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen” (Matthew 6:9-13).
IDEA: The Lord’s Prayer can guide us as we pray.
PURPOSE: To help listeners see how the outline of the prayer can make prayer more meaningful.
How the pattern of the Lord’s Prayer can revitalize our prayer life
Tuesday, August 7, 2012, Part 1
The Lord’s Prayer:
“In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours in the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen” (Matthew 6:9-13).
IDEA: The Lord’s Prayer can guide us as we pray.
PURPOSE: To help listeners see how the outline of the prayer can make prayer more meaningful.
An overview of the Lord’s Prayer, and how it’s a great way to engage with God
Monday, August 6, 2012
The Lord’s Prayer:
“In this manner, therefore, pray:
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours in the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen” (Matthew 6:9-13).
IDEA: The Lord’s Prayer can be used as liturgy or as a model for prayer.
PURPOSE: To help listeners appropriate the Lord’s Prayer.
Self-Esteem: What Does The Bible Say?
Having a healthy and realistic opinion of yourself is a key element in your ability to succeed in life. In this booklet, author Mart De Haan shares a biblical perspective on the importance of self-esteem to help you gain a better understanding of whose opinion really counts in life. Discover what it means to trust the counsel, love, and power of God—the most significant Person in life.
The way God chooses people, and enables them to reflect His glory to the world
Thursday, July 26, 2012, Part 1
“For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption – that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).
IDEA: If we are proud of being chosen by God, we must boast in the Lord.
PURPOSE: To help listeners see ourselves as we really are.
How the chosen people of Israel impact our world and faith
Tuesday, July 24, 2012, Part 2
“You are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but, because the Lord loves you, and because he would keep the oath which he swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Therefore know that the Lord your God, he is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant with those who love him and keep his commandments; and he repays those who hate him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack with him who hates him; he will repay him to his face. Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them” (Deuteronomy 7:6-11).
IDEA: God deals lovingly with His people as they show their love to God by their obedience.
PURPOSE: To help listeners understand the extent and the limits of being God’s chosen people.
Have you ever asked if it’s possible to lose your salvation?
Friday, July 20, 2012
“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put him to an open shame” (Hebrews 6:4-6).
IDEA: In the Christian life you can’t go back to the beginning and be saved a second time.
PURPOSE: To help listeners understand how the word repentance is used in this context.
How the church can support those dealing with abuse in the home
We live in a fallen world. And Christian homes aren’t immune to abuse and suffering. Let's wrestle with the difficult subject of domestic abuse and how the church can help those dealing with it.
Biblical wisdom and hope for struggling relationships
Misapplying a biblical text can lead to dangerous consequences. We must realize that how we handle Scripture can have bad results if we misapply it.
Look at God’s ultimate design for marriage and find encouragement in the Scriptures
“Submitting to one another in the fear of God. Wives, to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband” (Ephesians 5:21-33).
Looking to the Bible for hope as we wrestle with the difficult subject of divorce
“Submitting to one another in the fear of God. Wives, to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband” (Ephesians 5: 21-33).
Discover powerful truths in Scripture to strengthen your marriage
When we interpret a passage in the Bible, we must pay attention to grammatical structure. People tend to put submit with head, but grammatically we need to keep clear about the pairs of words in the passage. What can happen when we fail to do that?
When we do that, we miss the image of the wife as the husband's body and Paul's point that they are "one flesh" (Genesis 2:24).
A controversial text in Ephesians and an important message for your marriage
For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband” (Ephesians 5: 21-33).
IDEA: When we interpret a passage in the Bible, we must pay attention to grammatical structure.
PURPOSE: To help listeners think about the structure of biblical texts.
