Christ Church Studies

Jesus is the Wisdom of God made flesh: not only the wisest man who ever lived, but also the very source of all wisdom! In our final session, we compare the wisdom of Solomon to the wisdom of Jesus and ask how we ought to relate to Jesus as the Wisdom of God.

Decisions are an essential part of everyday life. Some decisions can have significant and long-term impacts on us and others. But what ought to guide our decision making? In this session, we look at what Proverbs says about wisdom and decisions.

“He who commits adultery lacks sense.” Proverbs thus summarizes sexual intimacy outside of marriage. Forbidden pleasure may seem enjoyable for a moment, but it inevitably results in hurt, regret, and heartache. At the same time, Proverbs celebrates the blessings of marriage and the intimacy of a husband and wife.

The Bible talks about money more than almost anything else in human life. Though we often look for advice to obtain money or advice to keep it, Proverbs asks about the proper use of the money we have. In this session we explore the wise use of money and how to avoid spiritual mistakes.

Work is a good part of creation, and good work is neither drudgery nor degrading. Proverbs, therefore, encourages us to work diligently. In this session, we examine the wisdom of work, answering not only the question of how we should work but also why.

Americans have fewer and fewer friends. We’re busy and distracted, yes, but perhaps the decline in friendship has more to do with how little we understand its value and purpose. In this session we explore why friendship matters, how can we protect it, and what it means to be a good friend.

Words have power. They can wound and they can heal. They can strengthen and they can weaken. They can inspire a person to action and they can destroy a person’s spirit. Words have power. So how and when and in what ways should we use them? How should we speak and how should we listen? What does it mean to do this with wisdom? Those are the questions that we’ll discussion in this session.

Frequently, Scripture commands us to listen. Moses does so to the people of Israel before they go into the Promised Land. Likewise Jesus instructs his followers as he proclaims the kingdom of God. But why is listening so important, and how do we listen well?

How do we acquire wisdom? In this first session of our study in Proverbs, we examine what the Bible means when it talks about wisdom and how God’s people are to become wise.

What do we really know? Does certainty change the way that we ought to live? Again and again throughout John’s letter, we assess what we know with certainty, especially in the final chapter when John reminds us that we know that we have eternal life, we know that God hears us, and we know the true God.

“Little children, love one another.” It is thought that the elderly apostle John repeated this message to early Christians every time he joined in their gatherings. This simple and profound message gets right to the heart of this letter. In this session, we reflect on why John places such a heavy emphasis on love and what effect love has on the world around us.

Are you a child of God or a child of the devil? To ask such a question may seem shocking, even offensive, but these are the categories John appeals to in his epistle. If you are a child of God, then that should be evident in the way you live and in the way you love.

1 John 2 tells us truths about what Jesus has done for us, the love which now defines our lives, and who we are as children of God. These truths do more than satisfy our curiosity, but show us how to live in the greater reality of God’s love.

We all want to truly know and to be truly known, but where can such community be found? In his first epistle, the apostle John offers us some initial answers to that question. True community means living in the light, and he both points us to the Light-giver and denounces the lies that keep us in the dark.

Thomas, though often remembered as a skeptic, is also the disciple who first referred to Jesus as God, undoubtedly the most profound of Jesus’s titles. It is also the claim that draws the most criticism from modern skeptics. In this session, we address the arguments of those who deny the truth of Thomas’s words and explore the remarkable implications of Jesus as our Lord and God.

John the Baptist gives the first answer to the question of who Jesus is: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” These words are a vital clue to understanding Jesus and why he matters for us, and so in this session, we examine what John meant.

Christ is so commonly applied to Jesus and used so repeatedly in the New Testament that many today assume it is part of his name. But it is a title: Jesus is “the Christ.” In this session, we explore what that means and why it matters to us today.

Jesus is certainly more than a great teacher, though we ought not skip over what it means for Jesus to be just that. In this session, we consider what people thought of Jesus’s teaching, what kind of a teacher he is, and what it means to be his student.

Who is Jesus, really? People debated it in Jesus’s day and continue to debate it today. Is Jesus a gentle savior, a fierce revolutionary, a kind friend, an uncompromising prophet, or a warrior king? In this session, we examine the implications of these answers, for how we answer this question often says more about us than it does about Jesus himself.

“Praise the Lord!” This three-word exhortation begins and ends the last five psalms in the Psalter. Why is praise important, and how can we join the psalmist in praise, seeing the world as he also sees it? This sixth and concluding session of our study of the Psalms addresses these questions.

What should you do when you are anxious or afraid? The answer Psalm 121 offers is very similar to what we experience in our Anglican liturgy. When we feel afraid, we look away from what troubles us, we lift up our eyes and hearts to God, and we take refuge in the One who promises to keep us.

Jesus said the poor in spirit, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers will experience true happiness, yet those who seem to be having the best life often care little about what Jesus has to say. Why are we tempted to lose faith in the promise of Jesus? If you have ever found yourself wondering, then Psalm 73 is here to anchor you.

In a time of deep disagreements, conflicting facts, and moral confusion, where can we turn for guidance? In this session, we turn to Psalm 19. Through this psalm we discover what it means to attend to God, hear his voice, and have our troubled souls healed by his wise and comforting words.

Why does God remain silent as we suffer? Why does he forsake us? Many believers throughout the centuries, including Jesus himself, have asked this and turned to Psalm 22. It is through this psalm that we discover therapy for the soul who feels abandoned and alone.

Philosophers say that we live in a therapeutic culture that invests its time and money into therapy, but neglects the therapy that God himself has provided for us in Holy Scripture. In this session, we discuss how psalms offer therapy to our souls, both by diagnosing what ails our hearts and minds and also by offering a cure.