Wednesday Bible Study | Evergreen Church

Often associated with the Christmas story, these verses reveal that the Incarnation did not begin with angels and shepherds, nor end with a manger and wise men. But rather, it began long ago in the very mind of God; and it continues in the redeemed lives of God’s children in every generation. This is the gospel Paul is defending.

Having emphasized the superiority of grace, Paul now explains the purpose of God’s law. It has two chief functions: first, to probe the hidden soul for sin, and second, to prepare the desperate soul for salvation. The law is diagnostic, not curative.

Paul continues his instruction against legalism by pointing to the Galatians’ own experience of justification by faith and not by law. He then defends this doctrine from the Old Testament, exposing the misinterpretations of the false teachers. Biblical faith accomplishes something that good works alone can never do!

The awakening that had broken out at Antioch brought a massive influx of Gentiles into the church. Sickened by the godlessness of heathenism and weary of the moral decadence of paganism, they were drawn to the lofty religious ideals of Judaism. But even here they were put off by self-righteous arrogance and legalism. In the grace of Christ, however, they found the satisfaction of their souls.

Focusing now on Jerusalem and Antioch, centers for Jewish and Gentile Christianity respectively, Paul details his encounter with the false doctrine of the Judaizers. He recognized that if they succeeded, the Jerusalem church would be the mother church, Peter a high priest, Christianity just another Jewish sect, and Gentile Christians second-class citizens in the Kingdom of God. The Gospel itself w...

Having delivered the message that there would be and could be no compromise of the gospel, Paul now turns his attention to his personal salvation story. He wants the Galatians to know how he received the message that he preaches with such passion and persuasion.

About 12 years after Jesus commissioned the disciples to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, the converted Pharisee, Saul of Tarsus, set sail on his first missionary journey to the Roman province of Galatia. The challenges that he faced on the road later grew into the conflicts addressed in his letter to the churches a short time later. As with any conversation, context is the key. In the ca...

Galatians has been called the “Magna Carta” of spiritual liberty and the Christian’s Declaration of Independence. This Pauline letter embodies the germinal teaching on freedom which separated Christianity from Judaism, and which launched the global missionary enterprise. The heart of the gospel, salvation by grace, is a theological “line in the sand.”

A study from the ministry of Walk Thru the Bible, Crucible looks at the life of David and how that applies to the choices we make.

Can we trust the Bible? How do you know? Pastor Christian Kemp tackles some of the issues related to this question in tonight's lesson.

A study from the ministry of Walk Thru the Bible, Crucible looks at the life of David and how that applies to the choices we make.

A study from the ministry of Walk Thru the Bible, Crucible looks at the life of David and how that applies to the choices we make.

A study from the ministry of Walk Thru the Bible, Crucible looks at the life of David and how that applies to the choices we make.

This week, Randy Osborn takes us through David's life looking at the responses to life's circumstances. Are we going to exhibit fear or faith?

Pastor AJ Gonzalez brings us a word from 1 John tonight as we examine what it means to love as Jesus loves.

A study from the ministry of Walk Thru the Bible, Crucible looks at the life of David and how that applies to the choices we make.

Daniel 11:36-45 deals primarily with the global political and religious aspects of the time of the end. Chapter 12 relates this same period to the people of Israel—what will happen to them (judgment and deliverance) and what that all means to us. This is history’s closing chapter.

Now finished with his preliminary words (chapter 10), the heavenly messenger is ready to take up the message that he had come specially to deliver in response to Daniel’s 21 days of prayer. The detail of history presented here offers one of the most remarkable predictive sections in all the Bible.

Today’s Naturalistic philosophies teach that only what is material and physical may be considered real.  The Bible teaches of another realm of reality which intersects the visible world.  Is spiritual warfare a real thing?  What is the point of prayer?  What does God think?

God’s response to Daniel’s prayer arrives immediately through the angelic messenger Gabriel. Surprisingly, his request was in regard to the seventy years of exile, but God’s answer was so much beyond that concern—a look at the His plan for the Jews throughout the remaining years of earthly history. This is the great gift of prophecy, of history recorded in advance.

Isaiah’s Servant songs (42:1-9; 49:1-7; 50:4-11; 52:13-53:12) have long held the attention of interpreters and scholars through the ages. Who is this servant and what will he do? Christians have believed based on New Testament teaching (1 Peter 2:21-25) that Jesus is this Servant. But how can that be true? How do we make sense of this scandal?

This extended prayer by the godliest man in the Old Testament teaches believers how to fight both the visible and invisible battles of every generation through prayer. America’s future ultimately depends on God, but it can still be shaped by purposeful Christian engagement.

Interest now turns to a second vision, which concerns a part of the sweep of time covered in the first. The clash of Persia and Greece culminates in the rise of a despicable ruler, Antiochus Epiphanes. This man stands as the antichrist of Old Testament time, who prefigured the Antichrist of last days. Daniel is given unprecedented access to God’s plans.

As Daniel contemplates further the vision given to him, the weight of the revelation from God overwhelms him. Information about the future is never to satisfy curiosity, but rather to inspire holy action in each present generation despite momentary appearances.

To a people in exile wondering if their God had abandoned them entirely, the Most High God reveals His plan for human history. Given to Daniel, a trustworthy and credible messenger, the centuries beyond are unfolded so that the holy ones of God will have an unshakable confidence no matter what assails them in all subsequent generations.