Men's Bible Study - RLC

James 2:14-26 - We examine James' classic perspective on faith, i.e. faith without works is dead. We try to answer the questions: What is faith? What is works? What is dead?

James 2:8-13 - We continued with James' discussion about partiality and his move to going beyond mere rule-keeping. If we pursue the true aim and goal of the commandments, we will understand mercy, show mercy, and receive mercy - a win, win, win. Genesis 24:66-67 - We wrap up the story of Abraham's servant pursuit of a wife for Isaac.

James 2:1-7 - We must not show partiality toward one another based on external appearances. We must judge rightly, taking all things into account. As Christians who bear His name, we must be impartial so we do not dishonor His name. Genesis 24:59-65 - Abraham's servant's travels back to Isaac - with Rebekah. We begin to discover evidence that Abraham has died sometime between when he sent...

James 1:16-27 - Contrary to temptation and sin, God is the author and provider of continual good gifts and gifts that truly fulfill us. However, for our part, we must militantly guard our tongues/speech and must turn our thinking/believing/knowledge into practical action. Genesis 24:54-58 - Abraham's servant's speech finally ends and everyone eats, drinks, and sleeps. The servant wishes to...

James 1:9-15 We discuss sincere praise regardless of circumstance and God's form of social justice. We also highlighted the difference between tempting and testing. Genesis 24:42-53 We examine the remainder of Abraham's servant's speech before they have a meal - both worship and negotiation? We noted the strange treatment of Bethuel in the text.

James 1:1-8 We identify who is writing, to whom he is writing, and when. We discuss what it is to have joy in tribulation and asking for wisdom without doubting. Genesis 24:34-41 We examine the first part of Abraham's servant's speech before they have a meal.

We look briefly at Laban inviting in Abraham's servant (and his men). We spend most of our time discussing Jesus' statement regarding His second coming and how it would be like the days of Noah - some are taken, some are left behind, but which is which?

We examine Rebekah's behavior toward Abraham's servant and we discuss the servant's hesitancy to consider his prayer answered! We also finish up our shallow dive into Paul and his Judaism. David gave another brief talk on Apologetics - is religion only a product of culture?

We examine Abraham's servant's preparations, his strategic planning and preparation, and his prayer to God. We saw how all of those worked together in our introduction to Rebekah. We also continue our look at Paul and his relationship with Judaism as the leaders in Jerusalem claim that he 'live[s] in observance of the law'.

We examine the details of Abraham sending his most trusted servant on a mission to find a wife for his son, Isaac. We also looked at Paul's circumcision of Timothy - why and the consequences and meaning. We also had a member of our group provide an intro to apologetics.

Though this talk was not a part of Men's Bible Study, it is included here in case there is any interest or curiosity. This talk was given as one session of the 'Committed' classes at RLC. The presentation and character attribute list can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mMt9VDO57NAjhsP85GPHKOav5SoGzumW/view?usp=sharing

We look at the death and burial of Sarah - including Abraham's negotiation for the Cave at Machpelah. We also examined the council at Jerusalem in Acts 15 and asked ourselves under what circumstances having that meeting would actually make sense.

We looked at the result of Abraham's willingness to trust God - even to the point of offering his son as a sacrifice. Abraham had kept his part of the covenant (walk before me and be blameless) and God recommitted to fulfilling his promises. We also looked at some new testament scripture that shows that Paul recognized the ongoing validity of 'the law'. (More to come...)

We examined how this story of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his son was actually intended to show that God is not like other gods and does not want human sacrifice. We also studied what Paul meant when he said he 'became' a Jew, a proselyte, a Gentile, weak, etc...

Well, we did it again. The conversation on the New Testament (Hebrews) took up our entire time. We're done with Hebrews for now, so we should be able to get back to making progress in Genesis. We studied how it was that Jesus was able to secure our forgiveness and redemption acting as both the High Priest and the sacrifice, applying His blood to the altar in the heavenly tabernacle. Good stuff...

We looked deeply at the faith of Abraham - and Isaac! When we say we are saved by faith, Galatians 3:7 infers that it is a faith like Abraham's (sons of Abraham). These passages give us an amazing and complex image of what that faith looks like. We also learned more about the earthly Tabernacle and how it helps us understand what God/Jesus have done for us.

This week, we got so into our look at a New Testament scripture we never even made it to our Genesis study! We discussed how it is that this new High Priest (Jesus, after the order of Melchizedek) operates on our behalf and how that relates to the Levitical Priesthood and to us.

We look at Abraham's 10th test - God commanding Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. We learn much about Abraham's character, God's character, and who we should be. We also began looking at the writer of Hebrew's argument for Jesus as eternal High Priest and what that means for us.

We examined the treaty/covenant between Abimelech and Abraham. We noted Abraham's unconditional agreement to enter the covenant and his later negotiations to secure his water rights. We also talked through the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. Why did they meet, what was the decision and what did it mean for the community of Jew and Gentile believers?

We covered the story of Abraham having to send away his first born son, Ishmael. Both Sarah and God seemed to think it was the right thing to do (God promised to care for him). This was a big test for Abraham and he responded quickly and completely. We also examined the wall of hostility that has been broken down according to Paul in Ephesians 2:11-22.

We see the righteousness of God on full display as He does exactly as He has promised - Sarah conceives and gives birth to Isaac. There is joy all around - or so it seems - for a while. We also saw how Paul starts his letter to the Ephesians by (v3-14) by making clear distinctions between Israel and the nations through his use of pronouns. This sets up Paul's overall message of distinctions wi...

We studied Abimelech's response to God (and Abraham). We also noted that his innocence may not have been as thorough as we first thought. Finally, we noted the parallels with the Abram and Sarah in Egypt story. We also looked at Peter's vision in Acts 10:1 - 11:18 and how the real message of that story is all about Gentile inclusion in Israel (i.e. the elect assembly) by faith (and has not...

We follow Abraham to Gerar where he appears to use Sarah poorly a second time. We learned of consequences for even unintentional sin and we get some indications that Abimelech's innocence may not be as complete as it first appears. We also learned a little something about Paul's everyday life as a (Jewish) believer.

We cover the end of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah - Lot and his daughters escaping to the hills - and the inception story of the Moabites and the Ammonites.

We discuss Lot's escape from Sodom with his immediate family and the subsequent loss of his wife.