LHIM Classes

Download: Mission Expansion Crowds Follow Jesus (3:7-12) The news about Jesus keeps spreading: “and a large crowd from Galilee followed him. And people from Judea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and from beyond the Jordan, and around Tyre and Sidon” (vv. 7-8). Mark 3:7-8 highlights something profound and often overlooked: the diversity and widespread appeal of Jesus’ ministry early on. Broad...

Download: Disciples, Healings, and Conflict Calling The First Disciples (1:16-20) Depicts the radical commitment of the people that Jesus called and they way that they abandoned their occupation to follow him. It vividly portrays the authority and power that Jesus had, and which people apparently recognized. Four Healings (1:21-2:5) Jesus Casts Out An Unclean Spirit (1:21-28) Jesus Heals Many In C...

Download: Kingdom Inauguration Mark 1:14-15 (REV) After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the good news of God, 15saying, “The time has been fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God has drawn near. Repent and believe the good news.” The Kingdom of God Modern understanding of “kingdom” is a fixed, geographical territory ruled by a king, queen, or monarch. Example : The Roman Empire (sho...

Download: The Beginning – John & Jesus Mark 1:2-13 (REV) As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Look! I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare the road for you. 3A voice of one calling out in the desert, ‘Make the road ready for the Lord! Make the paths straight for him!’” 4John came baptizing in the desert and preaching a baptism  that was a sign  of repentance for the...

Download: The ‘Gospel’ Gospel Meanings Many idiomatic expressions using the term “gospel.” Take it as gospel It’s the gospel truth Preaching the gospel Spreading the gospel According to the gospel of [so-and-so] What Does “Gospel” Mean? The word “gospel” is from the Old English gōdspell Gōdspell means a “good spell” (i.e., “good story”) The Old English word spell comes from the Proto-G...

Download: Four Gospels, One Jesus The Gospels The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) form the first four books of the New Testament. Purposes for the Gospels Historical —the need for a faithful and authoritative record of the words and deeds of Jesus. Catechetical —the need to instruct converts in the Christian faith. Liturgical —the need for worship material in the church. Exhortatory —to en...

Download: Concluding Thoughts on 1 Corinthians Major Issues in 1 Corinthians Factions (1:10-11) Approving sexual immorality (5:1, 11) Lawsuits between Christians (6:1-2) Sexual Licentiousness (6:12, 18) Christian marriage and singleness (7:1, 10-11) Food sacrificed to idols (8:1; 10:19-20) Gender distinctions in worship (11:4-5) Schisms at communion (11:17, 33-34) Selfish spirit manifestations (12...

Download: Eschatology of 1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians 1:7-8; 3:12-13; 4:5; 5:5; 6:2-3, 9-10, 14; 11:26; 15:3-8, 12-14, 20-28, 35, 58; 16:22 Eschatology: belief about the last things or end times. 1 Cor 1:7-8 There is an end: the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor 3:12-13  The day of judgment and reward 1 Cor 4:5 When the Lord comes, the truth will come out. 1 Cor 5:5 Salvation will be complete on t...

Download: Love and Edification in the Corinthian Assembly 1 Corinthians 12:12-29; 13:1-13; 14:1-40 The Body Analogy 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 The Christians in Corinth should think of themselves as one unity body. Discord is like a festering disease in the body: “[I]f one were to run through the entire list of citizens, I believe he would not discover even two men in Tarsus who think alike, but on th...

Download: Speaking in Tongues in 1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians 12:7, 10; 13:1, 8-12; 14:2, 4, 6, 11, 13-19, 27-28 Acts 2:1-11; 10:44-46; 11:15-17; 19:6-7 Greco-Roman Background for Speaking in Tongues We’ve looked at Corybantic male dancers, Bacchic female revelers, Sibyls, and oracles. The closest description to speaking in tongues we encountered was Lucan’s. Oracle in a frenzy: “When she found it,...

Download: Inspiration and Divine Speech in 1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 13:1-2; 14:2-4, 27-33 Divine Speech in 1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians 12:4-11  This list is a Christian perspective on how God’s spirit miraculously shows up (manifests) through those who are in Christ. Speech acts include utterances of wisdom, utterances of knowledge, prophecies, various kinds of speaking in tongues, int...

Download: Communion in 1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 Dining in the Ancient World 1 Corinthians 11:17-22 Paul criticized several behaviors, including divisiveness, unequal distribution of food and drink, and humiliating those who have nothing. Seneca the Younger: “All is quiet within the schools of rhetoric and philosophy. But how crammed the kitchens are, and how many young people crowd aro...

Download: Women in 1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians 11:2-6, 10, 14-15; 14:34-36 Women in the City Women attended the theater, went to the forum, and watched the games. We have evidence from an inscription at Delphi mentioning three women who competed in 200 meter race in the Isthmian Games, including Tryphosa, Dionysia, and Hedea, who also won the war-chariot race in ad Sometimes women became their own...

Download: Money and Benefaction in 1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians 8:9-13; 9:1-27 Paul’s Example 1 Corinthians 8:9-13  Rather than eating idol food and bragging about it, the strong in the church should consider how their freedom affects the weak. 1 Corinthians 9:1-17 Paul turns the attention to his own privileges as a bonafide apostle. He could bring a wife along with him; he could get paid for his w...

Download:Christology in 1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians 3:22-23; 8:4-6; 11:3; 15:23-28 1 Corinthians has much to say about Christ Christ is the domain in which we exist (1:2, 4, 9; 6:11, 15, 17; 7:14; 12:12, 27). Christ’s death is the message of salvation (1:23-24; 2:2; 3:11; 5:7; 15:3-5). Christ is whom we have communion with (10:16, 21). Christ’s name has real spiritual authority and power (1:10; 5:...

Download: Food Sacrificed to Idols 1 Corinthians 8:1-13; 10:14-11:1 Elite Christians with “Knowledge” 1 Corinthians 8:1-3 contains a Corinthian slogan, “all of us possess knowledge,” to which Paul responds Paul Gardner: “We [the truly ‘spiritual people’ at Corinth] know that we all possess knowledge.” Being “puffed up” (φυσιόω) involves the flaunting of something for one’s own benefit or to stress...

Download: Divorce and Remarriage in 1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians 7:1-16 1 Corinthians 7:1-2 v1 Paul had received a letter from the Corinthians. From 1 Cor 16:17, we learn the letter carriers were Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achiacus. Paul responded to their specific inquiries in 7:1, 25; 8:1; 12:1; and 16:1. Their question (or statement) here was, “It is good for a man not to touch a woman.” Paul re...

Download: Lawsuits in 1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians 6:1-11 1 Corinthians 6:1   The Corinthian Christians were taking each other to court in the city. Although chapter 5 had dealt with sexual immorality (incest) and the second half of chapter 6 also dealt with sexual immorality (prostitutes), this section (1 Cor 6:1-8) deals with lawsuits. What ties this together? Dale Martin: “What underlies and con...

Download: Homosexulaity and Singleness in 1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Greek and Roman Pederasty The Greeks had institutionalized consensual pedophilia between citizens of equal rank. An older man would enter a sexual relationship with a preadolescent boy that included mentoring and, ultimately, business opportunities. The Romans likewise practiced pederasty, but never within the same rank a...

Download: Sexual Immorality in 1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians 5:1-3; 6:12-20 Venus (Aphrodite) and Prostitution Venus, the Roman goddess driving physical attraction, romance, and fertility was a big deal in Corinth. She had a temple on the Acrocorinth. Strabo: “The sanctuary of Aphrodite was so rich that it possessed more than a thousand temple slaves—hetairas—who had been dedicated to the goddess by...

Download: Philosophy and Wisdom Most people encountering the Corinthian Christians would not have thought of Christianity as a religion. In the Roman world, religions were about collective duty to the gods, usually expressed in ritualized sacrifices and festivals carried out by trained priests and their assistants on behalf of the city. Christianity had no flamines, sacrificuli, victimarii, harusp...

Download: Factions and Status at Corinth 1 Corinthians 1:1-3   Paul sent this letter to the Corinthians along with Sosthenes, the synagogue official (Acts 18:17). Paul calls them sanctified saints, emphasizing the idea of separation from the world. Lastly, he includes a statement that they are part of the larger family of God throughout the world. 1 Corinthians 1:10-13   Chloe was probably a busin...

Sessions 14 & 15 Notes Download Matthew 7:1-5    As disciples with pure hearts who are merciful, we see the needs and faults in others and desire to help them. Galatians 6:1    Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted. We are warned against adopting...

Sessions 14 & 15 Notes Download Matthew 6:1-18    Three examples are provided – righteous deeds, prayer and fasting. Jesus indicated that all three were practiced for he used the word “when” and not “if”. Matthew 6:1-4    As we live according to the beatitudes, we are different than the religious and the non-religious, but we are not separate from the world. We are the salt of the earth and th...

Sessions 12 & 13 Notes Download Matthew 19:3-9. We should interpret the shorter in the light of the longer. Remember a lot of Jesus’ teaching was to confront the wrong doctrine propounded by the religious leaders. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, there was controversy about divorce between two rival rabbinic schools (that of Rabbi Shammai with a rigorous line and of Rabbi Hillel wit...