Sat, Jul 14, 2012
Passage: Colossians 3:15
Duration: 51 mins 51 secs
We come to know the will of God through the accumulated wisdom of His Word. God no longer gives special revelation and examples of our set of circumstances may not be in Scripture. Learn the different categories of God’s will with illustrations from Scripture. Peace in this verse is the vertical peace of reconciliation which brings the horizontal peace within the Body of Christ. The real question in every life is, “How can I best serve God with my life?” With that focus, prayer and trust, the will of God is no longer a guessing game.
Tue, Sep 25, 2012
Passage: Acts 9:1-21
Duration: 1 hr 14 mins 23 secs
This class is taught on the eve of Yom Kippur. In recognition of that, Dr. Dean began class with a
short video of Aveinu Shebashabaim, a Hebrew prayer for the State of Israel, sung by the Chief Cantor of the Israeli Defense Forces. As Christians we recognize the importance of supporting Israel and the Jewish people in light of Genesis 12:1-3 and we appreciate how God’s love for Israel lives forever in His covenants and promises. Understand the real threats Israel and the Christian world face today and the Christian’s role in support of Israel.The conversion of Saul of Tarsus is an example of another witness for the faith shown throughout Acts. Was Saul, in his thorough knowledge of the scriptures, an Old Testament believer or was he covered in layers that suppressed the Truth in unrighteousness? How long after the crucifixion did this event take place? Did Saul’s commission include more than just the Gentiles? Get the sequence and significance of events that began on the road to Damascus and led to Paul’s baptism and the beginning of his ministry.
Sun, Sep 30, 2012
Passage: Colossians 3:18-21
Duration: 1 hr 0 mins 34 secs
Marriage can be a great source of joy, or suffering, depending on whose rules of relationship you apply. See how relationship roles predate creation and how elements of creation communicate and reinforce God’s design in role distinctions. Where is the equality in marriage? Does headship imply greater value? Does submission imply lesser value? See how God’s original purposes for man and woman were directly frustrated because of the Fall. Appreciate how God did not abandon us in the hopelessness of judgment but provided a solution in ultimate redemption through Jesus Christ and spiritual recovery in time through the Holy Spirit and the Word.
Sun, Oct 21, 2012
Passage: 1 Corinthians 13:18 & Ephesians 5:22-27
Duration: 1 hr 3 mins 30 secs
This passage is for every member of the family. Key words addressed to women, here and in parallel passages, are submission, fear (respect), authority, suffering, humility, and obedience. These concepts have application in everyone’s life. Originally woman was meant to co-rule. The Fall changed everything. The redemption solution for women emphasizes submission. Do women want to be part of the solution or contribute to the intensification of the consequences of judgment? If suffering and sacrifice are related to submission, they are temporary teachers, necessary for growth and as a witness to angels and men. Submission is addressed to the woman’s volition and may require patience and endurance, but through obedience, God is honored, we are blessed and rewards are granted.This lesson also includes 1 Peter 3:1-6 and Titus 2:3-5.
Tue, Oct 23, 2012
Passage: Acts 10:9-43
Duration: 1 hr 5 mins 25 secs
Jewish religious practice at this time observed strict separation from Gentile culture, even though the Jews did have a level of missionary activity. To disrupt centuries of tradition was truly revolutionary. Peter’s encounter with Cornelius, carefully orchestrated and revealed by God, signals a complete change of direction from strict observance of the law exclusive to the Jew, to universal inclusion of the Gentile in Grace. Peter had to contemplate the enormity of this change, but lost no time in obeying God and going to Cornelius in Caesarea. Cornelius and his family responded to Peter’s revelation of Truth. See how Cornelius and his family acted to fulfill God’s sign to the Jew of a judgment to come for national rejection of their Messiah.
Tue, Dec 11, 2012
Passage: Acts & Topical
Duration: 1 hr 7 mins 38 secs
These Apostles fulfilled Jesus’ mandate to take the gospel to the uttermost parts of the world. The focus of our documentation of the church, after it spread from Jerusalem, was to the west. We lose access to documents from the Eastern Church, but there are ancient records with information that can be considered, but not always reliable. Follow the biographical information available for these Apostles from scripture and historical tradition. Learn what we can know of their lives, the area of their ministries, confusions that may have been caused by names, relationships and martyrdoms. Erase any doubt with the understanding that Judas Iscariot was not a believer. As church age believers, what is our mandate?
Tue, Dec 18, 2012
Passage: Acts 13 & Matthew 16:15-18
Duration: 59 mins 1 sec
Acts is a transition, a historical narrative that is descriptive, not a prescriptive pattern of what happens in the Church today. The phenomena of the church growth movement in the late 60s based church growth on sociological issues and stressed experience as a validation of the Bible. As is often the case with Satan’s plan, this method seemed to work. But understand fully the instruction Jesus gives Peter to feed His lambs while He builds the church. Jesus doesn’t tell Peter to manage an organization through techniques in church growth, but instructs him to proclaim and teach. Review Paul’s journeys and allow instruction from his many discourses to teach us how we can maximize our approach with the message of God’s Word to people in our lives with differing backgrounds.Also includes John 21:15-17
Tue, Jan 15, 2013
Passage: Acts 13:1-3
Duration: 1 hr 4 mins 19 secs
Our scene is in Antioch in a well-established, conservative congregation, about 15 years after Pentecost. Antioch thrives with commerce and the decadent culture of the times. It also has a large Jewish population, within which are Christians, viewed as a sect of Judaism. Teachers and prophets gather to minister to the Lord and fast. What does it mean to minister to the Lord? What does fasting accomplish? Today a fast can be an initiation into a weight-loss program, a systemic purge, a social protest or a mystical manipulation of God. What was fasting about as it was practiced scripture? Is it a prescribed ritual for us? Is Biblical fasting an anachronistic term in our modern culture. Should we fast?
Tue, Feb 05, 2013
Passage: Acts 13:13-38
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.
Tue, Jun 04, 2013
Passage: Acts 16:6-16
Duration: 1 hr 6 mins 49 secs
Dreams and visions sometimes gave the Apostle Paul his marching orders on his second missionary journey. Can we depend on them to give us a helping hand? Listen to this lesson to learn how direct revelation has ceased but how the Bible has all the answers we need now. See how the Holy Spirit made it possible for a wealthy businesswoman to understand the good news of the gospel. Find out about Paul's run-in with a slave girl and a demon and how demon influence can impact all of us today.