The DVD course that I am watching is called NT Survey:Acts and Paul. The instructer is Dr. Kevin Hester. I will be watching four more DVDs this week. The title of my book is called PAUL: APOSTLE OF THE HEART SET FREE. The author is F.F. Bruce. I will be reading five chapters this week.
First of all, I want to say that camp was awesome. It was so good top see all those kids learning about Jesus. We also did a project in front of the sanctuary. The kids worked well together and finished the job. It looks really good and I am really proud to say that I was a part of it. They got to do something that no other group has done. That landscaping will be there forever. It will be neat, one day, when they can bring their kids to camp and tell them about teh year that they done that. God is so awesome!!!
Chapter twenty-six is about Paul's stay in Ephesus. Paul said that he had many opportunities to witness to the people there, but there were also many adversaries. I guess that wherever there is a mission field, the enemy is also looking to throw trouble into it to try to stop the spread of the Gospel. Some think that Paul was even imprisoned at Ephesus.
Chapter twenty-seven talks about Paul's view on life after death. Paul tells what will happen in Thessalonians. The story of the "rapture" is comforting to believers, but must be scary for the lost. Paul also believes in a bodily ressurection where we will be changed to a glorified body.
The DVD that I watched was a bout 2 Corinthians. The instructor talked about two other letters that Paul wrote to the church at Corinth. The first one was lost, and so was the third. Some think that the third letter is actually in 2 Corinthians chapters 10-13. I think that God knew what He was doing when He inspired the New Testament. The theme for 2 Corinthians is "glory and pain in the gospel ministry". We are given some of the blessings of the kingdom, but not all of them. We must stay here after we are saved to spread the gospel. This will bring persecution. Paul dealt with this all through his ministry.
The DVD that I watched was about Paul's third missionary journey. He went to some of his established churches to check on them and to collect funds for the church at Jerusalem. He wet to Ephesus for about three years. This is where the seven sons of Sceva tried to cast out a demon, it answered them saying "I know Jesus and I know Paul, but who are you?". There was also an uprising started by Demetrius. He was a silversmith who was losing money because he could not make idols as much. Paul leaves Ephesus after this. He then goes through Greece to Macedonia and on to Jerusalem. Philip the evangelist had four daughters who told Paul that if he went to JErusalem that he would be imprisoned. Agabus also prophesied that Paul would be imprisoned. Paul new it was the will of God that he should go to Jerusalem.
Chapter twenty-nine talks about the gospel according to Paul. He really lays out the plan of salvation well in the letter to the Romans. I actually have the Roman Road to Salvation at my desk at work. Paul gives a detailed account of what he is all about in Romans. He talks about grace and the way that we were chosen by God just like the jewish people. There is so much more that I could talk about, but there would not be enough room to write it.
The DVD that I watched was about the epistle to the Ephesians. Some scholars don't believe that Paul wrote this book, but the instructor does, and so do I. Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter. The primary them is "In Christ". Paul thanks God for several different blessings that we have, predestination, adoption, redemption, inheritance, the Holy Spirit, and the power of God. Paul also talks about going from being dead to living in our sins and being slaves. We are all equal through Christ. We have unity with all believers in Him.
I think that Paul knew that he would not be back there. Even if Paul had not been arrested in JErusalem, he had planned to go to Spain. Paul also realized that these churches were doing well and could now grow on their own. I think that Paul knew that he would eventually die for the cause of the Gospel.
Chapter thirty talks about Paul coming to Jerusalem. He went back through some of his churches before they came to Caesarea. People there warned him not to go to Jerusalem, but Paul felt that it was God's will for him to go. It is similar to Jesus when people warned Him not to go to Jerusalem. Paul was accused of taking a Gentile into the inner part of the temple. That is when he was arrested.
The DVD that I watched was an intro to the book of Romans. No one really knows how Christianity was established in Rome. Paul just wante to stop there on his way to Spain. The book of Romans became a prime source for Protestant theology. This book is the best source of Pauline thought and the Gospel that he preached.
I have a prayer request, a man that I worked with passed away on Monday. The funeral is today. His name was Jack Morgan. Please remember his family in their time of need.
I have been preparing a message for next Wednesday evening. God has really opened up some doors for me in His word. I can't help to be excited about this message. Were there any times when you have dreaded having to preach a certain message?
Honestly, when pastoring and having to come up with two or three messages a week, sometimes it is a burden to think about having to come up with something new and fresh.
The nice thing, though, when you know your messages are based on the Word, you have the promise that His Word will not return void.
Sometimes it is better to take the pressure off and just come up with a message without worrying about how good it is.
We have to let the Lord empower our messages anyway.
But, yes, I would have to say there have been messages that I have dreaded preparing for.
You will notice some posts below that relate to various topics of discussion by our online community of preachers.
One of the purposes of Preachers' Meeting is to provide a place for young ministers or those recently called to preach to interact around the principles in a course of study recommended by our local group of preachers in the Southern Illinois area.
We invite you to look in on our conversations. If you would like to add comments as a guest, you are welcome to do so. If this looks interesting to you, you may join us as we start a new session. You can look in the side bar (or sometimes it is moved to right below this post) to see the weekly requirements. We start new courses every 8 or 9 weeks. As already mentioned, you are welcome to comment as a guest before that time.
Below these posts, you will see the word, "comments." Just click on it, and you will see a box on the right side of the screen where you may add your comments.
Look around. Enjoy yourself, and come back often!
Weekly Requirements
Here is a review of the general requirements for each week.
You have three assignments each week
(1) Make at least two initial posts in your posting area. The first one will be the name of the course, and the names (or numbers of the DVD's) of the chapters or lectures you will be covering during the week. The second one will be a comment on one of those chapters. You will receive one point for getting the first post in on Tuesday or Wednesday. You will also get a point for getting at least one more initial post in.
(2) Go to your fellow student's posting areas, and ask them a question or make comments about their intial posts. You will recieve one point for completing this assignment before 12:00 a.m. on Friday morning (that would be before midnight on Thursday).
(3) Answer the questions asked.
(4) On Fridays, I will also give directions for making remaining posts during the week. Be sure and read those, and take them into account when making at least one of your remaining posts.
In all, we want to make at least nine posts during the week. You will receive points for that as follows:
9 or more posts - 12 points
6-8 posts - 10 points
3-5 posts - 6 points
1-2 posts - 3 points
You will have the extra points you had accumulated by getting things in on time. Those are bonus points that will be used only to move your grade closer to 100 if you need them. They will be awarded each week if needed to move your grade up to 12 for the week. If you do not need them for that week, they will be carried over to the next week(s). Remember the posts that count for points will be at least three sentences long.
Thoughts on Application
Roger gave some good thoughts on application:
"Chapter 75, titled: 'Apply Within' is a lesson in application. The writer explains why it is sometimes difficult applying a sermon to real life situations. I will list some of the reasons application is not applied to our lives.
"First it is "hard work", it is hard to find application to every situation in the congregation,
"second, is wrong assumptions, assuming the audience is able to apply any and all biblical truths is totally a wrong assumption,
"third, is fear, fear of being to deep or to simplistic in the text and failing at application, and then there is training or lack thereof,
"many preachers know the text, and the history and the order of things but are totally untrained in application. One gentleman said it this way," how can you be a good football player when you can pass the ball, or when you can kick the ball, or when you can run with the ball but you don't know the rules of the game."
If you live in the souther Illinois area, we would like to invite you to a Couples' Marriage Enrichment Seminar on Saturday, February 27. It starts at 6:00 p.m and will run to 9:00 p.m.
After the welcome, there will be a dinner. Then there will be an opening session, followed by two breakout sessions, then a short closing.
The Keynote Speaker is Dr. Randy Carney (That's me :)!) and Roger and Janet Dutton will be speaking during the breakout sessions (That's Roger, who is commenting on this blog during this term!). Randy and Rhonda (my wife!) Carney will also have a breakout session discussing "Keys to Marital Bliss."
The Keynote Address will be on the topic of "The Way to a Successful Marriage: The Shocking and Surprising Truth."
Roger and Janet will be talking about "Hope for Restoring your marriage."
The cost is $15.00 per couple and that includes a dinner and all seminar materials. A nursery and childcare will be available. (Please indicate that you need these services when you register.) A book table with resources from Handfuls on Purpose Christian Bookstore will be available.
The seminar is for couples of all ages, ranging from newlyweds to marriage veterans!
To register, call 618-627-2228 to let the church know how may will be attending. Payment can be made at the event. (Make checks to TFBC.) For more information, call the church at 618-627-2228.
The Greatest Love
Since Valentine's Day falls on Sunday this year, I imagine there will be a ton of sermons going out on the topic of love.
Paul talked about love and respect in marriage (Ephesians 5), but he was really saying that that was an illustration of the relationship between Christ and the church.
Christ
Left Heaven to come to this earth.
He
Overcame adversity while here. He even conquered death!
He
Valued mankind so much that He gave Himself on the cross.
He desires fellowship with us. He reconciled the world to Himself, so that people could have an
Intimate realtionship with Him.
He meets all of our
Needs.
He is the supreme example of
Giving.
Do you see the word, LOVING, there? That is what He is--our LOVING Savior! Because of that, we should love one another.
Course 11 Week 4
Scroll down to the week 4 area to begin commenting.
Dealing with the Closed American Mind
One of the chapters Roger is reading is entitled, (something like) "Dealing with the Closed American Mind." I don't know if it is mentioned in the chapter, but I suspect that if you tak about something where a person has a felt need, you can gain their hearing somewhat.
What are your thoughts?
You may scroll down and comment in the week 3 comments area. Visitors are welcome to comment also.
Connecting with Postmoderns
This is something most preachers do every Sunday. If you have young unchurched visitors in your church, you will be trying to reach postmoderns. Even some of your church youth are more influenced by postmodernism than by their previous Sunday school teaching.
Here is my reply to one of Roger's posts:
"Roger, what tips stand out to you for commecting with postmoderns? I think the term modern referred to an age in history that related to new thoughts in science, etc. (If I am off base, refresh my memory.) Post modern refers to the time following that era. Connecting with postmoderns is something you have to do, whether you realize it or not, almost every time you preach."
I will post some of his answers here if he sees the question in time.
Preaching--Proclamation of God's Word
Preaching, by one definition, is the proclamation of God's Word. As such, a person, can take the Scriptural passage and find some of its main points and emphasize those points.
While I believe we should learn all we can about the grammatical construction of the words of Scripture, and that we should learn all we can about the historical setting for when those words were originally spoken; the nice thing about proclaiming the Word is that you can just take what the text says and emphasize it. Then the Word will not return void.
People with all different types of backgrounds have been called to preach throughout the centuries. Some very "unlearned" (as the world would put it) men have had great results by simply taking the main ideas of Scripture and simply emphasizing them. As long as we do not twist the meaning, this simply shows the amazing power of the Word of God.
New Format
I am going to try putting my comments for each day in this left sidebar. The comments areas for the remaining weeks are displayed to the right. That is where you will place your comments for each week.
15 comments:
The DVD course that I am watching is called NT Survey:Acts and Paul. The instructer is Dr. Kevin Hester. I will be watching four more DVDs this week. The title of my book is called PAUL: APOSTLE OF THE HEART SET FREE. The author is F.F. Bruce. I will be reading five chapters this week.
26. Ephesus: Open Door and Many Adversaries
27. Paul and the Life to Come
28. Farewell to Macedonia and Achaia
29. The Gospel according to Paul
30. Last Visit to Jerusalem
First of all, I want to say that camp was awesome. It was so good top see all those kids learning about Jesus. We also did a project in front of the sanctuary. The kids worked well together and finished the job. It looks really good and I am really proud to say that I was a part of it. They got to do something that no other group has done. That landscaping will be there forever. It will be neat, one day, when they can bring their kids to camp and tell them about teh year that they done that.
God is so awesome!!!
Chapter twenty-six is about Paul's stay in Ephesus. Paul said that he had many opportunities to witness to the people there, but there were also many adversaries. I guess that wherever there is a mission field, the enemy is also looking to throw trouble into it to try to stop the spread of the Gospel. Some think that Paul was even imprisoned at Ephesus.
Chapter twenty-seven talks about Paul's view on life after death. Paul tells what will happen in Thessalonians. The story of the "rapture" is comforting to believers, but must be scary for the lost. Paul also believes in a bodily ressurection where we will be changed to a glorified body.
The DVD that I watched was a bout 2 Corinthians. The instructor talked about two other letters that Paul wrote to the church at Corinth. The first one was lost, and so was the third. Some think that the third letter is actually in 2 Corinthians chapters 10-13. I think that God knew what He was doing when He inspired the New Testament. The theme for 2 Corinthians is "glory and pain in the gospel ministry". We are given some of the blessings of the kingdom, but not all of them. We must stay here after we are saved to spread the gospel. This will bring persecution. Paul dealt with this all through his ministry.
The DVD that I watched was about Paul's third missionary journey. He went to some of his established churches to check on them and to collect funds for the church at Jerusalem. He wet to Ephesus for about three years. This is where the seven sons of Sceva tried to cast out a demon, it answered them saying "I know Jesus and I know Paul, but who are you?". There was also an uprising started by Demetrius. He was a silversmith who was losing money because he could not make idols as much. Paul leaves Ephesus after this. He then goes through Greece to Macedonia and on to Jerusalem. Philip the evangelist had four daughters who told Paul that if he went to JErusalem that he would be imprisoned. Agabus also prophesied that Paul would be imprisoned. Paul new it was the will of God that he should go to Jerusalem.
Chapter twenty-nine talks about the gospel according to Paul. He really lays out the plan of salvation well in the letter to the Romans. I actually have the Roman Road to Salvation at my desk at work. Paul gives a detailed account of what he is all about in Romans. He talks about grace and the way that we were chosen by God just like the jewish people. There is so much more that I could talk about, but there would not be enough room to write it.
The DVD that I watched was about the epistle to the Ephesians. Some scholars don't believe that Paul wrote this book, but the instructor does, and so do I. Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter. The primary them is "In Christ". Paul thanks God for several different blessings that we have, predestination, adoption, redemption, inheritance, the Holy Spirit, and the power of God. Paul also talks about going from being dead to living in our sins and being slaves. We are all equal through Christ. We have unity with all believers in Him.
What stands out to you in that Paul had to say farewell to Macedonia and Achaia?
I think that Paul knew that he would not be back there. Even if Paul had not been arrested in JErusalem, he had planned to go to Spain. Paul also realized that these churches were doing well and could now grow on their own. I think that Paul knew that he would eventually die for the cause of the Gospel.
Chapter thirty talks about Paul coming to Jerusalem. He went back through some of his churches before they came to Caesarea. People there warned him not to go to Jerusalem, but Paul felt that it was God's will for him to go. It is similar to Jesus when people warned Him not to go to Jerusalem. Paul was accused of taking a Gentile into the inner part of the temple. That is when he was arrested.
The DVD that I watched was an intro to the book of Romans. No one really knows how Christianity was established in Rome. Paul just wante to stop there on his way to Spain. The book of Romans became a prime source for Protestant theology. This book is the best source of Pauline thought and the Gospel that he preached.
I have a prayer request, a man that I worked with passed away on Monday. The funeral is today. His name was Jack Morgan. Please remember his family in their time of need.
I have been preparing a message for next Wednesday evening. God has really opened up some doors for me in His word. I can't help to be excited about this message. Were there any times when you have dreaded having to preach a certain message?
Oh, yes,
Honestly, when pastoring and having to come up with two or three messages a week, sometimes it is a burden to think about having to come up with something new and fresh.
The nice thing, though, when you know your messages are based on the Word, you have the promise that His Word will not return void.
Sometimes it is better to take the pressure off and just come up with a message without worrying about how good it is.
We have to let the Lord empower our messages anyway.
But, yes, I would have to say there have been messages that I have dreaded preparing for.
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