OIA for sermon on 04/29

This week Joe went into further detail on the topic of Covenant Theology. Continue in your discussions from last week to gain further insight into this topic. It is extremely important that we all have a good understanding of this, as it is the basis for understanding the scriptures appropriately.

Observation
1. Are there any cultural or background issues that are important in understanding the listed passages?
2. What key word(s)/phrase(s) really stand(s) out to you in these passages of scripture? Why are/is they/it important?
3. Which scripture passage did you find most intriguing or interesting? Why?
4. If you had to sum up this large portion of scripture in a few sentences, what would they be?

Interpretation
1. Compare at least 3 of the used passages with at least 3 other Bible versions (NIV, ESV, NASB, NKJV, Ect.) What similarities/differences do you observe? Share with your group.
2. Are there any verbs, commands, prepositions, or conjunctions, that seemed to stand out (if any)? What? Why? Share.
3. Read through at least 2-3 commentaries on the listed passage and share what your learned with your group. Here are some free online resources. (http://net.bible.org) (http://www.blueletterbible.org/) (http://biblia.com)

Application
1. Research and discuss “Covenant Theology” with your group.
2. Share and discuss the 5 main “Epics” that were given in the sermon pertaining to scripture. What are the main themes of each epic, and how does each epic support the next?
3. Why is it important to see the Bible as being broken up into specific “Epics”? Share.
4. What has been the most prominent thing that you have learned through the lecture series so far? Share.
5. Why is it so crucial that one have a proper theology of God and the Bible. (I know this is a no-brainer, but I want you to really think about this.) What are the repercussions of poor theology? Discuss.
6. How is your understanding of Covenant Theology changing the way you view Scripture? God? The Church? Share.


In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity

Emmaus Christian Fellowship is almost eleven months old (born June 5, 2011). In some ways it feels as if we have been together for a long time, but in other ways it feels like we have just begun. The past eleven months have been filled with a lot of hard work for the Elders and Leadership core here at Emmaus; lots of study, lots of meetings, lots of writing.

In particular, we have been working hard on the Foundation Documents of Emmaus Christian Fellowship. These documents will include things such as our statement of faith, confession, bylaws, membership process, mission statement, as well as other core documents which will bring clarity to the beliefs, policies, and vision of ECF.

These documents are important and I’m looking forward to the day when we will give them to the people of Emmaus for review and feedback (I have a date in mind as a goal but I rather not say given that rushing these documents for the sake of meeting a deadline would be foolish and potentially harmful to the decades of ministry that await us).

I write this post because we are approaching a time when the beliefs of Emmaus Christian Fellowship will be stated with great specificity. My concern, as we grow in our understanding of the scriptures, is that we maintain a disposition of heart where we are able to, one, stand firm upon our convictions and, two, be humble and gracious towards those who might disagree with us on the non-essentials of the Christian faith.

Maintaining this balance is no simple task. Christians have struggled throughout the ages with this interplay between standing for truth and loving those who might disagree. It has been a struggle because it is a complicated endeavor.

I think the motto, “In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity”, is potentially helpful for three reasons.

First of all, the motto acknowledges that there are essentials to the Christian faith that all must agree upon in order to be a Christian. As a result, there are some things worth fighting for. Consider Paul’s words to Titus concerning the qualification of an Elder within the church: “He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” (Titus 1:9, ESV)

Second, the motto acknowledges that within the church we must leave room for liberty in the areas that are non-essential to the Christian faith. Consider Paul’s words to the Romans concerning the diversity which existed within the church of Rome: “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.” (Romans 14:5–6, ESV)

Third, the motto encourages us to do all things with charity, which I take to mean, humility, graciousness, and out of a heart of love. Paul encouraged the church in Colossae in the same way saying, “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” (Colossians 3:14, ESV)

We must be careful at this point given that we have made a mess of this “love” concept in our modern day supposing that it means that we are never to disagree, confront, or rebuke. To those who hold the view that love is being perpetually passive I would ask the question, have you ever read about Jesus in the gospels or Paul’s writings to the churches? These men confronted boldly from time to time and yet they did so out of love.

Consider the contrast concerning Paul’s dealings with the church of the Thessalonians. First he says, “But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children.” (1 Thessalonians 2:7, ESV) And then a few verses later he says, “For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.” (1 Thessalonians 2:11–12, ESV) Paul uses the imagery of a nursing mother and an exhorting father to illustrate his care for the believers. Both tenderness and exhortation can and should emanate from a heart of love.

In regard to the charity principle, the point is this – we must be sure that whether we are encouraging or exhorting that our hearts are truly humble and filled with love, even for our enemies. To be perpetually passive or constantly confrontational will not do. It is possible to be passive out of a heart of hatred just as it is possible to confront in love.

The issue is the heart. This is my prayer for Emmaus Christian Fellowship, that our hearts would be pure. We must stand for the truth of the gospel and do so because we possess a true love for God and our fellow man.

Click here for more thoughts on the motto, “In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity.”


Covenant Theology and Dispensationalism

Hello Church,

I noticed that Russell encouraged you in the O.I.A. discussion questions to do some research on “Covenant Theology” in preparation for your Gospel Community Groups. It seems that I am a little behind on this (it is Thursday already and most of you have met) but here is a good resource on that subject. I assume that this will be useful for your discussions next week as well.

I recently came across this chart put together by a Pastor friend of mine from Murrieta Valley Church. I met with him shortly after we started Emmaus Christian Fellowship and he was a great encouragement to me. It was nice to see his work pop up when I Google searched, “Covenant Theology Chart”.

Blessings,

Joe


No Youth This Week – 4/26

Both Mike and Nessa are unable to be at youth this Thursday to lead worship and I have a meeting for work (school) that evening therefore we are cancelling youth for this week.

See you either Sunday or next Thursday.

-Phil

Posted in Youth, Phil Anady, Posted by Phil. No Comments

Catechism Insight – Doctrinal Standard WSC #23

Doctrinal Standard #23

  • Q. How is Christ our redeemer?
  • A. As our redeemer, Christ is a prophet, priest, and king in both His humiliation and His exaltation.

Memory Verses

  • “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,  that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you” (Acts 3:19–20, ESV).

Scripture

  • Study Passage: Psalm 110
  • Support Passages: Acts 3:11-26 – Christ the Prophet; Hebrews 5:1-10 – Christ the Priest; Isaiah 9:6-7 – Christ the King; Psalm 2, 45:1-9; Luke 4:18-19; Acts 2:29-36
  • Bible Story: Genesis 14

Thoughts

  • “Redemption means deliverance from some evil by payment of a price. It is more than simple deliverance. Thus prisoners of war might be released on payment of a price which was called a ‘ransom’ (Gk. lytron). The word-group based on lytron was formed specifically to convey this idea of release on payment of ransom. In this circle of ideas Christ’s death may be regarded as ‘a ransom for many’ (Mk. 10:45).[1]
  • As both Psalm 110 and Genesis 14 explains redemption requires action from the redeemer. The action that was required of Jesus Christ was to live a perfect life and suffer a painful and shameful death on the cross as a ransom for all those who have and will believe in Him.
  • The love of God is magnified in the fact that Christ is our redeemer. The love of God is shown in that Christ would humble himself by becoming a man and take upon the sin of His followers when He himself had never known sin.

Discussion Questions

  • What does it mean to redeem something?
  • What is required in redeeming something?
  • How has Christ redeemed people from sin?
  • What does this teach us about God?


[1] Wood, D. R. W., & Marshall, I. H. (1996). New Bible dictionary (3rd ed.) (1003). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press.

 

 

 


OIA Sermon 04/22/12

This week the sermon was mainly a recap of the sermon series up to this point. No scripture passage served as the main text, therefore the application questions will serve as the primary questions for this week. However, use the OI questions as needed.

Observation
1. Are there any cultural or background issues that are important in understanding the listed passages?
2. What key word(s)/phrase(s) really stand(s) out to you in these passages of scripture? Why are/is they/it important?
3. Which scripture passage did you find most intriguing or interesting? Why?
4. If you had to sum up this large portion of scripture in a few sentences, what would they be?

Interpretation
1. Compare at least 3 of the used passages with at least 3 other Bible versions (NIV, ESV, NASB, NKJV, Ect.) What similarities/differences do you observe? Share with your group.
2. Are there any verbs, commands, prepositions, or conjunctions, that seemed to stand out (if any)? What? Why? Share.
3. Read through at least 2-3 commentaries on the listed passage and share what your learned with your group. Here are some free online resources. (http://net.bible.org) (http://www.blueletterbible.org/) (http://biblia.com)

Application
1. Research and discuss “Covenant Theology” with your group.
2. Share and discuss the 5 main “Epics” that were given in the sermon pertaining to scripture. What are the main themes of each epic, and how does each epic support the next?
3. Why is it important to see the Bible as being broken up into specific “Epics”? Share.
4. What has been the most prominent thing that you have learned through the lecture series so far? Share.
5. Why is it so crucial that one have a proper theology of God and the Bible. (I know this is a no-brainer, but I want you to really think about this.) What are the repercussions of poor theology? Discuss.


Catechism Insight – Doctrinal Standard WSC #22

Doctrinal Standard #22 (2 of 2 weeks)

  • Q. How did Christ, the Son of God, become man?
  • A. Christ, the Son of God, became man by assuming a real body and a reasoning soul. He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary, who gave birth to Him; yet He was sinless.

Memory Verses

  • “For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26, ESV).

Scripture

  • Study Passage: 1 Peter 2:11-25
    • Support Passages: Isaiah 53:9-12; Matthew 26:59-68; John 18:33-40; Romans 8:3; II Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 4:4-5; Hebrews 7:26-28; I John 3:5
    • Bible Story: John 5:1-18

Thoughts

  • It is difficult to fathom living a whole life without sin let alone a day, hour, or minute! But our Lord Jesus lived a sinless life and it was for our benefit.
  • Wayne Grudem explains this truth rather well in his chapter on the Atonement. “If Christ had only earned forgiveness of sins for us, then we would not merit heaven. Our guilt would have been removed, but we would simply be in the position of Adam and Eve before they had done anything good or bad and before they had passed a time of probation successfully. To be established in righteousness forever and to have their fellowship with God made sure forever, Adam and Eve had to obey God perfectly over a period of time. Then God would have looked on their faithful obedience with pleasure and delight, and they would have lived with him in fellowship forever.”
  • “For this reason, Christ had to live a life of perfect obedience to God in order to earn righteousness for us. He had to obey the law for his whole life on our behalf so that the positive merits of his perfect obedience would be counted for us.” Martin Luther refers to this as the “Great Exchange.” [1] Christ’s righteousness is placed upon the believer as the believers sins are placed upon Christ on the cross. Praise God for the perfect life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ!

Discussion Questions

  • Did Jesus every sin? Explain the various struggles and temptations He must have faced.
  • What is the significance or importance’s of Jesus living a sinless life?
  • What did Jesus’ sinless life do for those who believe in Him?
  • What did Martin Luther mean when he said Jesus’ life and death is the “Great Exchange?”


[1] Grudem, Wayne (1994). Systematic Theology. Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA; Zondervan Publishing House.


OIA for sermon on 04/15

This week Joe shared the story of Joseph. Genesis 37-50 will serve as the primary scripture text. The following is a list of OIA questions based on this message.
(See sermon page emmauscf.org/sermons/ for a complete list of scriptures used)

Observation
1. Are there any cultural or background issues that are important in understanding the listed passages?
2. What key word(s)/phrase(s) really stand(s) out to you in these passages of scripture? Why are/is they/it important?
3. Which scripture passage did you find most intriguing or interesting? Why?
4. What key word(s)/phrase(s) really stand(s) out to you in this passage of scripture? Why are/is they/it important?
5. If you had to sum up this large portion of scripture in a few sentences, what would they be?

Interpretation
1. Compare at least 3 of the used passages with at least 3 other Bible versions (NIV, ESV, NASB, NKJV, Ect.) What similarities/differences do you observe? Share with your group.
2. Are there any verbs, commands, prepositions, or conjunctions, that seemed to stand out (if any)? What? Why? Share.
3. Read through at least 2-3 commentaries on the listed passage and share what your learned with your group. Here are some free online resources. (http://net.bible.org) (http://www.blueletterbible.org/) (http://biblia.com)

Application
1.How does looking at the full story of Joseph (12 chapters) in one sermon give a different perspective and understanding than just looking at small portions of the story?
2.What specific portion of the story of Joseph was most power to you? Why? Share.
3.How does this story help one in fully understanding the sovereignty of God? How could this portion of scripture be useful in ministering to a “hurting” brother or sister?
4.Where are you at personally with your acceptance of God’s sovereignty? Do you still struggle with it? Why? Share AND encourage.



"Him we proclaim,
warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom,
that we may present everyone mature in Christ."
(Colossians 1:28, ESV)

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