Weekly Bible Study Review
January 2, 2011
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

In This Issue
Cafe Class
Read-to-Believe Class
Dichotomy of the Week
Class Schedule
Go to www.theocentrix.org click on the "Events" tab
for maps and more information.


Cafe Class
Culture Cafe
1359 N Altadena Drive
Pasadena CA 91104
Wednesdays 10:00 am

classroom
Read-to-Believe Class
Lake Avenue Church
Family Life Room 201
309 N Lake Avenue
Pasadena CA 91101
Thursdays 6:30 pm

peacock 1
Arbo Class
LA County Arboretum
301 N Baldwin Ave
Arcadia CA 91007
Saturday 12:00 noon
Once per month
January 22
February 26
March 26
 April 30
May no class
June 4
July 9
August 13
September 17
October 15
November 12
December no class


PCC Class
"How to Read the Bible  with Confidence"
Pasadena City College
Extended Learning Center
www.pcclearn.org
February 8 and 15, 2011

clock in sand
 
Waiting for God
or
Waiting with God

1. What's the difference?
2. Which are you doing?
 


topofpageGreetings! 

This newsletter is sent to everyone who attends Sandy's weekly Bible studies. The left column has a table of contents and the current class schedule. Be sure to watch for the links in each article. Clicking on them will lead you to charts, diagrams and additional articles related to your class.  
Anyone can subscribe to this free newsletter by using the link in the upper left corner. If you would like to forward this issue to a friend all you have to do is click on the link below.

Forward this issue to a Friend


cafeclassWednesday Cafe Class 
Hebrews

  

Hebrews 11:20-32

We're in the faith chapter. The author of Hebrews has already told them that faith is being "sure" and "certain." The readers were sure that God created the universe, that Abel's sacrifice was accepted by God, that Enoch did not experience death because he pleased God, and that Noah and Abraham both had faith in God.

Faith is not just believing that God exists but also that He is good and rewards those who seek Him.


v. 20 Isaac, son of Abraham, was a man of faith. He blessed his own sons, Jacob (Gen. 27:27-29) and Esau (Gen. 27:38-40).


v. 21 Jacob, grandson of Abraham, was also a man of faith. He had 12 sons and claimed the first two sons of Joseph as his own. Before he died Jacob blessed Ephraim and Manasseh (Gen. 48:15-20).


v. 22 Joseph, great-grandson of Abraham, was a man of faith. He was sold into slavery by his brothers but later rose to become second in command of Egypt. He reconciled with his brothers and later died in Egypt. Joseph believed the promise God made to Abraham so before he died he made his descendents promise to take his bones with them when they left Egypt to go to Canaan (Gen. 50:22-26). This happened later under Moses (Exodus 13:19).

Click to read more...


rtbclassThursday Read-to-Believe Class  Ephesians

Colossians 2:6-3:17

2:6-7 the readers "received" Christ when they became believers. Paul wants them to continue in their faith.

v. 8 A "hollow and deceptive philosophy" is based on human traditions and worldly principles instead of being based on Christ.


v. 9 Paul makes a powerful statement here-- the fullness of "the Deity" lives in Christ's physical body. Christ is not simply a part of God that came to earth. Rather all of the Deity lives in Him in the flesh. Paul was probably emphasizing this because of false teachers who were denying or minimizing the divinity of Jesus.


v. 10 The readers "have been given fullness in Christ." Past tense. Think about it. All of God is in Christ and the readers are in Christ. Christ is head over every authority that exists.


v. 11-12 People who are in Christ have experienced a spiritual circumcision which is the "putting off" of the sin nature (done by Christ). They have been symbolically buried with Him in baptism and raised to life with Him. Their faith is now in the power of God. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead.


v. 13 The readers used to be dead in sin and uncircumcision (before they came to faith in Jesus). But now God has made them alive with Christ and forgiven their sins.


v. 14 Not only that, but God has canceled the written code (the Law of Moses) and taken it away by "nailing it to the cross."

How was the Law nailed to the cross? The Old Covenant was a legally binding agreement between two parties-- the Lord and the Israelites. It was sealed with blood (animal sacrifice) and could only be broken by the death of one of the parties. But the Lord is immortal and cannot die, right? And if all the Israelites died then there would be no one with whom to make a new covenant. Jesus was born so that He would be able to die and break this Old Covenant so that a new and better covenant could be made with all nations, not just the Israelites. The Law was "nailed to the cross" in the sense that when Christ died there it finally brought an end to the condemnation that was upon all those who broke the Law. The cross ushered in the New Covenant that was also sealed with blood (Jesus' blood). It's a better covenant that will last for eternity. (We'll get into why it's better when we study Hebrews.)


v. 15 The evil powers and authorities in the heavenly realm have been "disarmed" by what was accomplished on the cross.

Click to read more...
Dichotomy of the Week
The apostle Paul often uses dichotomies to explain the Gospel. In other words, he divides people into two groups that do not overlap. It's impossible for a person to be in both groups at the same time. Here's a list of some dichotomies that are found in his epistles:
           "in Adam" or "in Christ"
           "under law" or "under grace"
           "darkness" or "light"

In the third chapter of Colossians Paul continues to discuss the life and death dichotomy. In verse 3 he says believers have died and their lives are now hidden with Christ. Sometimes we have to take a moment and think about what it means to be alive. A person can be physically alive and spiritually dead. Conversely, one can be physically dead but spiritually alive.

In verse 4 Paul uses the phrase "When Christ, who is your life, appears, you also will appear with him in glory." The believers are intimately connected with the life of Christ. It's important to realize that a radical transformation has taken place in their lives. In some profoundly miraculous way, their life is hidden with Christ. The type of life Paul's talking about here is not dependent on whether one is physically alive. Spiritually, the old nature has died and they are now identified with Christ. Although believers can still sin, they are forgiven in Christ. How thankful we can be to know that we are alive in Christ and will be with him forever!
--Albert Baroody

Since ancient times the Bible has been read aloud to groups of people who were eager to hear the words of Life. We're really no different today. Believers still look to the Bible for wisdom and instruction. We belong in the Word together. Thank you for your participation in these classes. I hope you will pass this email on to others and invite them to attend a Bible study.

Grace and peace,
Sandy Blank

Forward this issue to a Friend
cafeWednesday Cafe Class (continued)

Hebrews 11:20-32
v. 23 Moses' parents had faith in God and hid their baby so he would not be killed. The king was threatened by the sheer number of Israelites and tried to control them by killing all the male infants (Exodus 1:8-2:10).


v. 24-25 Moses also had faith. He grew up in Pharoah's household but was willing to suffer with his own people, the Israelites.


v. 26-28 Interestingly, the author says Moses "regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ" although Moses would not have known the name of Jesus Christ. Moses was looking ahead to his reward and was willing to suffer. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. He kept the Passover and put blood on the doorposts so the firstborn of the Israelites would be saved the night the Egyptian firstborn all died (Exodus 12:1-12, 29-30).


v. 29 The Israelites demonstrated faith when they passed through the Red Sea. The Egyptians did not have faith and they drowned (Exodus 14:19-31).


v. 36 The Israelites also showed their faith when they marched around the city of Jericho seven times and then God made the walls fall down.


v. 31 A prostitute in Jericho (not an Israelite) named Rahab demonstrated faith in God by hiding the Israelite spies (Josh 2:1-21, 6:17, 22-25). She believed them when they told her their God was going to destroy the city. She was saved while all the other inhabitants of Jericho were killed.


The readers would have been very familiar with all these examples because they would have grown up hearing these stories. These men and women were their national heroes. Today we need to take a little time to familiarize ourselves with them by going back and reading about them in the Old Testament. Next time we'll continue with more examples of people who lived and died by faith.

--Sandy Blank

Back...
readtobelieveThursday Read-to-Believe Class (continued)

Colossians 1:21 - 2:15

v. 16-17 Since the readers (believers) are not under the Law they should no longer be judged according to the Law's commands. These commands were only a shadow and were in effect only until Christ finished His work on earth. "The reality is found in Christ."


v. 18-19 Paul is probably referring to false teachers who claim they've had powerful spiritual experiences but they have actually lost connection with Christ and are only speaking from their own human understanding.


v. 20 Again Paul reminds the readers that they've died with Christ and do not belong to this world anymore. Although some of the things that were promoted by the false teachers might appear to be wise they had no real power to restrain people from sinning.


Chapter 3

v. 1-2 Because they have already been raised with Christ into the heavenly realm, Paul advises the readers to set their hearts and minds on things above.


v. 3-4 They've died and their lives are "hidden" with Christ. When Christ returns they too will "appear" with Him in glory. Paul says "Christ, who is your life." The readers have no life of their own anymore. Christ is their life.


v. 5-8 Now everything of the earthly nature must die. Paul lists several areas of sin and calls them idolatry. Idolatry is putting something else in the place of God. All these lesser gods the readers used to have must come down.


v. 9-10 The readers have to "take off" the old self and "put on" the new self. This new self is being continually renewed in knowledge.


v. 11 No matter what they used to be (Greek/Jew, slave/free) they are in Christ now. Their identity has changed. The way they see themselves and one another has changed.


v. 12-14 Therefore, they must live differently now. They must be kind to each other, forgive each other and truly love each other because they are all one in Christ.


v. 15 They were called to peace. Not just peace with God but among themselves. The readers, though they come from diverse backgrounds, must now be at peace with one another and be thankful.


v. 16-17 They are to wisely teach one another and worship together with gratitude to God. All that they say and do should be done in the name of Jesus.

 --Sandy Blank

Back...
This newsletter is maintained by Sandy Blank (Ph.D. Educational Studies, Biola; MA Biblical Studies, Grace University). If you would like further information about any of her classes or would like to know how to start a Bible study in your area please contact her at [email protected]. This newsletter is sponsored by Theocentrix, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting God-centered Bible literacy. Visit www.theocentrix.org for more information.