Tuesday, October 30, 2012
by Robert Dean
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.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
by Robert Dean
Passage: Acts 13:1-3
Series: Acts (2010)
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?
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
by Robert Dean
Passage: Acts 13:1-25
Series: Acts (2010)
Duration: 1 hr 2 mins 33 secs
The gift of prophesy still existed in Acts before direct revelation ceased after the Canon was complete. The Holy Spirit, in specific divine guidance, actually called out Barnabas and Saul (who certainly had this gift), to take the gospel to these destinations. Learn the meaning of Saul’s name and the significance of his new name. Travel their path; encounter their resistance and the positive response. Learn about how the synagogue functioned. See how Paul spoke to these Jews, encapsulating Jewish history and focus in few words and introducing its long-awaited fulfillment through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We learn that evangelism may be most effective when the presentation is specific to the hearer.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
by Robert Dean
Passage: Acts 13:13-39
Series: Acts (2010)
Duration: 1 hr 5 mins 26 secs
As we see Paul focus on the gospel with the Jews in Antioch in Pisidia, we should be aware of some modern evangelistic challenges seen through a comparison of Lordship Salvation and Free Grace. Those in Paul’s audience knew the scriptures, so it was effective for him to string together prophesies pointing to Christ. Review many of these Old Testament promises and see the familiar terms imputation, justification, forgiveness, propitiation, righteousness, and Christ the Servant. How does the resurrection seal the fulfillment of the Messianic prophesies? Do these Jews respond to Paul’s message?
Sunday, December 15, 2013
by Robert Dean
Series: Bible Study Methods (2013)
Duration: 39 mins 55 secs
Content, Context, and Comparison
Hendricks,
Living by the Book, chapters 30 through 32
Sunday, December 15, 2013
by Robert Dean
Series: Bible Study Methods (2013)
Duration: 45 mins 59 secs
History of Biblical Interpretation - Up to the Reformation
Hendricks, Living by the Book, chapters 30 through 32
Assignment: Read Hendricks, Living By the Book, chapters 33-35.
Read Hendricks, Living By the Book Workbook, chapters 52-54. Continue working on the assignment in Habakkuk.