Tanglewood Bible Fellowship

Acts 17:16-34 Being “Too Cool to Care” is Chilling to the Soul Being “Too Cool to Care”…is Spiritual Deadsville! Take This To Heart God gives grace to the humble, but He resists the proud. Professing themselves to be wise they became fools, and the fool declares in his heart there is no God. IOWs: They categorically (on faith!) insist that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Triune God of Scr...

Acts 17:1-15 The Good News is Bad News to Many (What Does That Mean for Christians?) The Good News is Bad News to Many Which Among Other Things Means: Believers Should Expect Opposition When We Identify with Christ: So Let’s Get Over It and Live/Share the Gospel Anyway, the Right Way (with a Balance of Truth and Love, Tact/Timing) Take This To Heart Opposition Does Not Need To Stop Us, If: We Reme...

Jesus is the Answer…….to the Ultimate Question 1: The Savior Does the Work of Salvation/Sinners Who Believe are the Savees And So He, our Lord Jesus Christ Deserves All the Praise (His +R and SAS/LBSR) 2: Saving Faith is a Rational Act But It is Not a Meritorious Work It is ART = A-ctive R-eceptive T-rust in Jesus as Savior (John 1:12) “But to the one who does not work, but believes on Him [Christ...

Take This To Heart Speak to God Before You Speak of God to People Before, during and after we “do evangelism” we should pray that the Holy Spirit would convict the unsaved in our lives of sin, +R and judgment and that He would open their hearts to believe in Christ. But when we share the Gospel, rather than explaining the theological details of Efficacious Grace to unbelievers, we should simply sh...

Take This To Heart Relax and Rejoice! God Can and Does Use Us to Further His Program But He Does Not Need Our Help! So, We Can/Should Serve Him But While at the Same Time Never Notice How Great We Are But How Great He/His Grace Is.

James Mitchell discusses how God changes everything in our lives, using the second chapter of Judges as an example.

Spiritual Liberty: Love It! But at Times in Love Limit It! Paul (and Truly Mature Christians) are Firm in Their Doctrine/Morals But Flexible With Other People v1-5 Which One of These Three Types of Christians are You? IOWs: Do You Know/Apply the Biblical Principles of Spiritual Liberty?   1: Strong Believers: do understand/enjoy their spiritual liberty and are not surprised or offended with other...

Dealing With Disagreements God’s Way Furthers His Kingdom by Respecting Differences of Opinion among Believers and Refusing to Tear Down/Hold Grudges Against Those We Disagree With Dealing with Disagreements God’s Way 1: Paul & Barnabas talked to one another directly about the issue at hand 2: Paul & Barnabas agreed to disagree about the specific issue and then acted accordingly 3: Paul &#...

The ONE Thing The C-hurch MUST Get Right The truth that Gentiles are in fact saved from the penalty of sin/given the gift of everlasting life through faith in Christ is fully affirmed by the Jerusalem Council. IOW: Gentiles have no need to submit to OT rituals and/or to live under the Mosaic Law (before or after they trust in Christ and are given the gift of E-Life). However the Council DID ask Ge...

The End Was Just the Beginning The First Missionary Journey Acts 13:4-14:28 4/48AD to 9/49AD Validated the Fact That the New Testament Church Was the Vehicle God Was Pleased to Use to Bring Salvation to All Who Believed (13:38-39) in the Gospel of Jesus Christ…both Jews and Gentiles Take This To Heart Q: Where/How Does God Work? A: Wherever/However He Chooses Consistent with His Character. However...

Acts 14:19-20 For Believers, Death is an Enemy But it is Not the End Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 15:58 Take This To Heart We Have Been Spiritually Designed for a Person and a Place. That place is Heaven and that Person is Jesus Christ: our Savior, Lord, the Lover of our S...

Acts 14:1-18 Christians Are Servants Not Celebrities Celebrity status should not be sought or accepted by any Christian. Take This To Heart Every Believer is unique but the only true celebrity for Christians must be Jesus Christ our Lord

Acts 13:44-52 Salvation is of the LORD Salvation is of the LORD! Those Who Receive Salvation in Christ Have God to Praise… …Those Who Reject Salvation in Christ Have Themselves to Blame Take This To Heart As Augustine (a “Calvinistic” Thinker) Wisely Said Let Us Pray as Though Everything Depended on God, But Then Let Us Live/Work as Though Everything Depends on Us! May TBFers of Calvinistic convic...

Acts 13:14-43 The Gospel: Good News/God News For All (100%) Who Believe The Body of Paul’s Message v16-37 1: Preparation for the Coming of Christ in the OT Era v17-22 2: Presentation of the Perfect, Crucified/Risen Christ v23-37 The Conclusion of Paul’s Message v38-41 1: Forgiveness of sins is offered by God to us through Jesus Christ v38 This is the Basis of Salvation (Christ Period) 2: “everyone...

Acts 13:1-13 The Story of Mark’s Major Failure Isn’t the Whole Story!   Serious Spiritual Failure in the Lives of Christians Always Has Serious Consequences But God is Not Less Gracious to Believers Who Fail/Fall into Serious Sin Than He is to Unbelievers (“the ungodly who believe” whose “faith is reckoned as righteousness” Romans 4:5) Who Come Out of Sin to Christ to Salvation. Serious Spiri...

Acts 12:1-25 Dare Not to Compare! Take It on Faith We Never Have Enough Info to Legitimately 2nd Guess God Take This To Heart Self-Pityingly Comparing Our Circumstances To Those of Other People is an Absolute Joy Killer and a Serious Sin (Doubting God by Presuming We Know Better Than He Does) and Yet Most Honest TBFers Will Admit We are Often Tempted to Do It! Many People in Scripture Fell Into Th...

Acts 11:27-30 Free-Will “Proportional” Giving Not Strict Tithing is God’s Will/Way for NT Christians Take This To Heart Acts 11:29-30 A Superlative Example of Generous Giving-as an Expression of Christ Centered Giving/Compassionate Hearts. Rather Than a Specific % Given Because We “Have To” NT Believers “Get to Give” Based on a Higher Principle/: For Each of Us to Prayerfully Decide in Our Hearts...

  John 21:1-17   Unexpected Grace

“Christian” a Title of Spiritual Honor and Insult Acts 11:19-26 Some Might Be Able to “Be Cool” & Be a Christian, But Being a Christian Should Not Make Us “Look Cool” to the World. We Don’t Have to Be Socially Clumsy, But Living a Bibl Christian Life Will Tend to Make Us Socially “Obnoxious” to t/World. The Title “Christian” Has Been Embraced by Believers Worldwide for 2000 Years. Take This to...

Study of the Book of Acts 7/19/2015  Acts 11:1-18 Amazing Grace Can Be Awfully Confounding  Christian Critics Question Peter’s Message/Method Take This To Heart God’s Amazing Grace Can Be Awfully Confounding to People Including… …Too Many Christians?!?  Salvation by Grace through Faith Alone in Christ Alone is For All (Religious/Irreligious; Moral/Immoral; Rich/Poor; American/Afghan)! As Those Sav...

Study of the Book of Acts 7/12/2015 Acts 9:31-10:48  The Revolutionary/Controversial, Unbelievable  And Seemingly Too Good to Be True Gospel of Grace The Revolutionary/Unbelievable, Unbelievable and Seemingly Too Good to Be True Gospel of Grace Calls Sinners (Religious or Irreligious) to Place Childlike Trust in Christ to Receive the Full/Free Forgiveness of Sins Some malign it, some distort it, s...

Study of the Book of Acts 6/28/2015 Acts 9:1-30 A Funny Thing Happened on Saul’s Way to Damascus (Funny = “Unusual/Unique” Not “Ha! Ha!”) Take This To Heart and Into Your World 1: Nobody Is So Bad…..They Are Beyond the Grace of God Never Stop Praying for Them (Romans 10:1) 2: Nobody Gets Right With God…..By Religious Zeal/Good Works Never Stop Saying This to Them (Romans 10:2-4)

Study of the Book of Acts 6/21/2015 Acts 8:26-40 The Gospel of Christ Transcends Colors, Countries/Cultures Take This To Heart and Into Your World Contrary to Conventional Wisdom and Popular Opinion Today The (True New Testament) Church Is/Always Has Been Mega-Inclusive Precisely Because the Grace of God in/through the Gospel of Christ Transcends All Human Colors, Countries and Cultures God Makes...

Study of the Book of Acts 6/14/2015 Acts 8:1-25 Different Cultures, Colors and Countries But Only One True Church Take This To Heart THE UNIVERSAL Church of Jesus Christ is made up of Jews, Gentiles and (Even) Samaritans Who Receive the Grace of God Thru Faith in the Savior. This Inherent Unity is Not Man-Made But God-Given and Exists Even If/When It is Ignored, Overlooked or Underappreciated. Nic...

Study of the Book of Acts 6/7/2015 Acts 6:8-8:4 True Biblical Discipleship Involves Living on Earth with a Heavenly Perspective Take This To Heart Stephen’s Life/Death Is a Stellar Example of the Fact That True Biblical Discipleship Involves Living on Earth with a Heavenly Perspective Stephen’s Stand for the Savior Led to a Rejection by the World/a Painful Death on Earth But a Standing Ovation by...