Bible in a Year with Pastor Chris Dodge

Ecclesiastes is perhaps the most pessimistic book of the Old Testament.   It opens with these words, "Meaningless! Meaningless!" 
     says the Teacher. 
 "Utterly meaningless!     Everything is meaningless." Meaning in the end we all die and that everything the author thought important, was not. 
 It is fairly well agreed upon that Solomon is the author, though he is not mentioned by name. Solomo...

Song of Songs is a book that speaks of the kind of love that God intends for a husband and a wife to share with one another.   Song of Songs ⁃               Is the book in which there is the least amount of consensus on how to interpret this book. ⁃               Author traditionally seen as Solomon but might be written by him, written for him or possibly written of him. ⁃               Interpreta...

The book of Job speaks powerfully to the mind, heart and soul and expresses the heart of God in the midst of life's hardest and most difficult of trials..   Job ⁃               It contains historical material, poetry, proverbs, songs, prophetic words.   ⁃               It is hard to date this book as ⁃               We don't know when or where Job lived ⁃               It is unknown as to when the...

The Book of Proverbs is the truth of the Living God applied to daily life. It contains some of the most beautiful Hebrew poetry in existence, and conveys in poetic form powerful, fundamental truths that are absolutely life-changing.   Proverbs: ⁃               Solomon . Primary author (1 Proverbs 1:1 and 1 Kings 4:29-34) ⁃               Academic controversy over authorship - but internal evidence...

This study is part 3 of our study of the Book of Psalms.   Psalms Messianic Psalms - 2, 22, 110, 118 Penitential Psalms - 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143 Imprecatory Psalm - 137 Egyptian Hallel - 113-118 Acrostic Psalm - 119 Song of Ascents - 120-134   In this our final study of the Book of Psalms, Pastor kicks off the class with a look at Psalm 34. Saul is after David, so David leaves and goes to Ph...

This study is part 2 of our study of the Book of Psalms.   Psalms ⁃               The oldest psalm is psalm 90 - written by Moses. ⁃               While they are "old" they speak to us today ⁃               They convey incredible depth of feeling and heart-felt emotion. God tells us to rejoice in Him, to celebrate, to praise His name, but also invites us to weep before Him and to cry out to Him in...

This study is part 4 of our study of the twelve Minor Prophets.   Minor not because they are of minor importance, but rather minor because they are shorter than other books of prophecy like Isaiah and Jeremiah. We will also take our first look at the Psalms.   Zechariah ⁃                 We see that when God pushes in - there's pushback from the enemy, but there is also another reaction and that i...

This study is part 3 of our study of the twelve Minor Prophets.  Minor not because they are of minor importance, but rather minor because they are shorter than other books of prophecy like Isaiah and Jeremiah. Nahum: --Little is known about Nahum --Mentions fall of Thebes (663 BC) in the past - (Luxor - remains of temple can be seen today - statues of sphinxes)  --Brought a word of judgement on Ju...

This study is part 2 of our study of the twelve Minor Prophets.  Minor not because they are of minor importance, but rather minor because they are shorter than other books of prophecy like Isaiah and Jeremiah. The message of the prophets is: judgement will come unless the people of God are humble and repentant before Him.  God's people must repent first. Repentance must start with us. Amos: -- She...

We begin our study of the 12 books of the Old Testament that are called the Minor Prophets - Not because what they have to share is "minor" but rather meaning they are much shorter than the other prophetic books like Jeremiah and Isaiah which are much lengthier. The books of the minor prophets are packed with Messianic prophecies and with prophecies about fulfillment at the end of the ages when Me...

Pastor begins class by introducing us to Ezekiel: -- Priestly family -- He was exiled in 597 BC (2 Kings 24:12-14) approx age 26 -- Called as prophet at age of 30 -- His name means " God strengthens" He was warned that the people would not want to hear what he shares with them. And God tells him that he is a watchman. God uses  "son of man" to refer to Ezekiel. -- The book is characterized by prop...

This class takes us on a study of a fascinating book and an amazing man. Jeremiah's life as a prophet was an incredibly difficult one. He suffered much for his commitment to God. God raised him up at the most difficult time in Judah's history.  The Book of Jeremiah -- Longest book of the Bible (in number of words - not chapters) -- Jeremiah's painful life story - there are difficult days coming to...

Isaiah is a person that we do not know a whole lot about, but what we do know is amazing. He was married, and married to a prophet. He is the great evangelist of the Old Testament. He foretold the coming of Jesus.  The book of Isaiah is a controversial book because people have a hard time believing Isaiah could have foretold all he did with such accuracy.  BUT if God is God then He can predict the...

Bible In A Year - Week 15 - 1 Kings (part 3) & 2 Kings (part 2) The history found in the Kings 1 & 2 concentrates on what matters for eternity - a relationship with the Living God and the way we follow Him. The books teach that the welfare of the nation is dependent upon: …the nation's faithfulness to the Covenant with the Lord …the ruler's obedience to Torah and the maintaining of a God-honoring...

Our study continues with our study of Solomon and how he started so well and ended so bad. He builds the Temple and then his palace and he begins to wander further and further away from the Lord making horrible moral and spiritual choices that affected him and the people.  Solomon's Rise and Fall is characterized in these events: -- Queen of Sheba - 1 Kings 10 -- Foreign Wives - 1 Kings 11:1-13 --...

This class teaches us more about David and his son Solomon.  We pick up the story of David at age 30  at the death of King Saul who was killed by the Philistine army. David takes over as king of Judah. King David -- David King over Judah. At Saul's death the southern kingdom, Judah, takes David as their king, but the northern kingdom, Israel, takes Saul's son Ishbosheth for their king. (2 Samuel 1...

First Samuel can be summed up in one word: REVIVAL! It's a book that covers three main characters: Samuel, Saul and David. This week our focus is on David. David  - More chapters devoted to David than any other Old Testament character   - Author of over half of the Psalms   - Quoted more often in the New Testament than any other Old Testament figure.   - David was a great warrior   - He had a hear...

First Samuel is an important book because it helps to give us a fundamental understanding of God's salvation.  This book is more than history. It shows us how God works. It shows us God's plan, God's timing and the way God can turn things around. It is a very relevant account of what God wants to do today. It is a book about God moving in a powerful way and reversing what seems impossible to rever...

The Book of Judges has some of the most painful accounts in the Old Testament, one that highlights the sinfulness of human beings and emphasizes the importance of  repentance, turning back to God, but at the same time it shows us the faithfulness and patience of God. A book that shows us as we study the past we can learn from it. Judges refers not so much to a judge in a court, but rather a person...

Joshua is not just a book of history, it is God taking the events of the past to show us how we are called to live by faith in Him today, in our own walk of faith with Jesus, our Savior.   Authorship : Joshua 24:26 Dating : ~ 1406-1374 BC  Pastor encourages viewing the movie "Patterns of Evidence." And throughout the teaching shares archeological discoveries that support the scriptures.   Our fait...

Deuteronomy is written by Moses and is the last of the five book he wrote .(Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). Deuteronomy is the conclusion of the Torah. It is the final message God gives through Moses to the children of Israel.   Jesus considers this an important book.  Matthew 4 tells the story of Jesus' temptation and He uses the words of Deuteronomy three times to battle a...

Pastor considers the Book of Numbers to be one the more important books of the Bible. The Book of Numbers is the story of the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness starting 13 months after their deliverance and shares the importance of following God.  The book opens with God having Moses take a census. And we see that the group was as many as 2 million total. The numbers show the incredib...

Pastor takes us on an exploration of the Book of Leviticus, a book that many would choose as their least favorite book of the Bible. However, what we will see in Leviticus is the foundation of true worship, the foundation of God's plan for the world and His people. This book may surprise you - as you see it's filled with some really good instruction.   Exodus speaks of WHERE to worship God.  Levit...

This class continues our study of Exodus. Pastor opens with a look at the Red Sea and where it is traditionally thought that the Israelite crossing took place. But then shares new information that points to a possible different location. It's an exciting look at circumstantial evidence like trade routes, to a peninsula in the Gulf of Aqaba, an underwater "land bridge," and the possibility of havin...

This week we begin our exploration of the book of Exodus. We will spend 2 weeks examining this book that is the foundation for the biblical faith, that lays out the fundamentals of worship of the One true God and shows and tells us who He is, how He works, what He does and what that means for us.   In the book of Exodus we see God moving in a powerful way to save His people, to deliver them from b...