Pastor's Bible Study

In part 1 of Prayers Without Power Are A Problem we see two things: 1) Our prayers can lack power because of warring 2) Our prayers can lack power because of wickedness

Our walk of faith is an all or nothing thing. Our faith is to be lived out in every area of our lives, including our speech. An untamed tongue is going to cause us trouble in our faith soon and/or eventually. 1. The Importance Of The Tongue (vv. 1-2) - The truth of who we really are is revealed by the words we speak. 2. The Influence Of The Tongue (vv. 3-5) - Our speech has the ability to influenc...

Is our faith working or worthless? 1. A profitless profession (vv. 14-17) The profession of our faith (our words) is no good unless we have works to back up our statement of faith. 2. A barren belief (vv. 18-19) How do we know a person's belief is true? It produces fruitful works. 3. A fatal faith (vv. 20-22) Faith without works is dead. We are justified by faith unto salvation without any works (...

There is a definite possibility of temptation. It is sure. Temptation is not a matter of if but when. And when it comes, it is singularly crafted for each individual. There is a divine impossibility of temptation. It is impossible for God to be tempted or to tempt any man. There is a direct responsibility of temptation. We're tempted when we are drawn away by our own lust and desires, therefore we...

Intercession is the work of pleading on the behalf of someone else. This what Jesus does for us; He pleads and prays for us and on our behalf. Intercession is the act of Christ whereby He appeals for believers as our “defense attorney” or ADVOCATE, defending us against Satan’s accusations of our sinfulness, thus guaranteeing the SECURITY of our salvation and giving us the right to approach God in...

Adoption is the act of God whereby He gives the believing sinner his position, standing, legal rights, inheritance as a joint-heir with Christ, and all the full privileges of an adult son/(daughter) of God.  Adoption is contrasted with regeneration. Regeneration is the new birth that changes us and imparts unto us the holy nature of our Father and makes us a child of God. Adoption does not change...

Regeneration is the act of God, whereby the Holy Spirit gives a spiritual new birth to the believing sinner imparting to him a new nature and new spirit and giving the spiritually dead new life. Regeneration can be described as a spiritual resurrection, becoming a new creation, and being born again.

Sanctification is the act of God whereby the believing sinner is set apart FROM sin (its penalty at salvation, its power in our lives, and its presence in eternity) and TO God, Christ, and righteousness.  This lesson focuses primarily on the practical aspect of sanctification, i.e. being set apart from the power of sin in our lives. Paul teaches us in Romans 6 four things that can lead us to livin...

Job asks the all important question in Job 25:4, "How can a man be justified with God?" Paul answers the question in Romans 5:1 stating that we are justified by faith. Justification is the judicial act of God whereby He legally declares the believing sinner to be innocent of all sin and as perfectly righteous as Christ. This act of justifying believing sinners comes only through faith and by the g...

The gospel is God’s plan to deal with man’s greatest need - the need of salvation. Our need is to be forgiven, to have our sins cleansed. The gospel is good news because it tells us that our sins can be forgiven through the finished work of Jesus on the cross.

Reconciliation (theologically) is the act of God whereby He replaces the state of enmity between God and man with a relationship of friendship through peace purchased by the death of Christ on the cross, which now places the believing sinner in a favorable position with God through the covering of the guilt of sin with Jesus' blood.  Before we are saved, whether we like it or not, we are the enemi...

What is it that drives God's plan of salvation and allows for all of its blessings and accomplishments to be bestowed upon believing sinners? Grace! God's amazing grace is what brings salvation to us. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, "For by grace are you saved through faith..." Salvation is by grace through faith. We cannot earn salvation. We cannot merit salvation. We are not worthy of salvation. Gr...

The gospel is good news to me because God grants (imputes) righteousness to me. God imputes the righteousness of Christ to sinners who place their faith in Christ, and He imputes the guilt of sinners to Christ. Through Jesus' death, he pays for the guilt of sin. As Paul teaches, the One who knew no sin became sin (a sin offering by taking our guilt upon Himself) so that we could be made righteous...

The gospel is good news because Jesus bought me! That is such a grand statement. We sing the song "Victory In Jesus." The lyrics say...he sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood. The idea of Jesus buying me is the doctrine of redemption. We should truly rejoice when we consider just how far reaching Jesus' redemption of us goes: 1) He paid our ransom price with His blood, 2) He bought us...

Our greatest need is the need of salvation from sin, the effects of sin, and the penalty of sin. It is a need that we cannot meet in our own strength, goodness, self-effort, or self-righteousness. Left to ourselves we're done for, hopeless lost and without a relationship with God. But praise God that because of His love for us, He has implemented a plan whereby we can be saved from our sin by His...

When we repent of our sins and disobedience, good result can come forth. When Jonah repented, he saw some amazing results: 1) A second chance to obey and fulfill God's call on his life 2) A spiritual change in his life 3) A willingness and desire to sacrifice in order to fulfill God's call 4) Salvation among the Ninevites

The thing that moves us to a repentance like that of Jonah is an understanding of our resemblance like Jonah. But here's the good news: if we repent like Jonah, we put ourselves in a place to see results like Jonah. What did Jonah's process of repentance look like? 1) The preparation of repentance. God prepared Jonah to repent using multiple perils like a storm, affliction, a big fish, etc. 2) The...

We have a tendency to go our own way and do our own thing in disobedience to God. And amazingly, it's possible to be at peace with ourselves while in disobedience to God. However, it is a false peace that is produced by our lack of concern for God's will and way. This is what happened to Jonah. He ran away from God in disobedience and yet found himself sleeping peacefully on ship in the midst of a...

We're all familiar with Jonah's story, but do we understand that we resemble Jonah more than we may want to. God called him to preach to a people that was different than him. He didn't want to. Instead of going the way God directed him, he went his own way. How often are we exactly that same? We resemble Jonah in many ways when it comes to sharing the gospel with those to whom God has called us to...

How can we stand against apostates? How can we protect our church? Or, how can a church right their ship? Jude gives us four exhortations: 1) Remember God's Word, 2) Build Up Your Christian Life, 3) Exercise Spiritual Discernment, and 4) Commit To Jesus.

The characteristics of an apostate that Jude shares shows us why apostates are so dangerous to churches and believers, especially the immature, uncommitted, apathetic, and young in Christ. Apostates are like "hidden rocks" (reefs) that sink ships. They can do great damage to a church.

Jude's little letter is a call to arms. As you read Jude, you will readily sense the military tone of the book. Jude, in essence, says that when it comes to "the faith" (that system of doctrine that was handed down from Jesus to the Apostles to the early churches) we must do everything we can to fight for it, i.e. to keep it pure, untwisted, etc. Jude says that false doctrine and false teachings w...

If we're going to be a disciple (follower) of Jesus, we must daily deny ourselves and take up our cross (i.e. being hated by the world, being surrendered to God, and being "spent", i.e. a living sacrifice). Following is not a haphazard, sporadic, every now and then choice. It is a regular, consistent, frequent, daily choice. It is a choice a disciple makes faithfully. It is a discipline.

What we see in the Great Commission is the mandate to make disciples (i.e. see people saved, baptized, and brought into the church where they can be taught to observe all things - beliefs, practices, ministries, etc.). If we have a mandate to teach, then the flip side must also be true. We have a mandate to learn. A disciple is a learner. And to learn we must have some discipline.  In Lk 2:46-47 J...

The one thing most of us lack when it comes to sharing the gospel is boldness. The early church and church leaders shared with boldness. It is what they were known for. How do we get boldness? Spend time with Jesus and pray for it. Take a listen to this lesson where we are encouraged to share Jesus boldly.